I know some of you have been buried under snow already, which I can not even imagine! Down here we've had a few really nice chilly days in the 50's and we're loving it! Cool, crisp days like that make it a lot easier to get into the holiday spirit!

I've been into Christmas since before Halloween. I have issues...
One of the things that really got me in the mood was updating my December Printable Pack. I've already updated it a couple of times since I posted it two years ago, but this time it got a major overhaul. I updated the fonts and graphics on all of the pages, adjusted some of the activities slightly, and added a few more as well. There are 26 activities in all, plus answer keys. I love to have these on hand for homework, sub plans, early finishers, or even a quick center. If you have to sent home a practice pack over winter break, this might do it for you! If you already own the original version, be sure to download it again so you've got all the new goodies.

This next one has been rolling around in my brain for a really long time. I had scrap paper "prototypes" spread out all over my dining room table for weeks! I'm calling it the 3D Grammar Tree Craftivity. It's actually easy to put together and just about every part of it is editable, so if you want to modify the parts of speech your kids practice, you totally can!

And while we're on the subject of Craftivities, check out Rudolph! He also comes with lots of options and step by step directions. I've also included a version that the kids can just color, if printing and cutting all the pieces separately isn't your thing.

So I'm sure you've heard, but the big Cyber Monday sale on tpt is this happening now - December 1st and 2nd. Be sure to add the promo code tptcyber at checkout. You would not believe how many times I've forgotten to do that!

After you're all done shopping, be sure to come back to the blog each day between December 2 and 14 for some awesome daily giveaways courtesy of some very generous friends! See ya tomorrow!

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Last year I shared a wonderful classroom kindness project made by Susan at TGIF. It was definitely one of the highlights of the holiday season with my class. I'm in the middle of it with this year's class and again, it's proving to be just as wonderful this time around. It's really not too late to start this little project this year if you're still in session though this next week, like me. <insert prayer for strength here>

I actually started a little later than usual this year, so I took some time saving shortcuts myself. Instead of making the stockings using Susan's cute pattern, I picked up some stockings from the Dollar Tree. I let the kids pick theirs and wrote their name on it so it will become part of their gift from me this year.

I gave each student a class list and a few pages of blank notes. They must write at least one note to each student in the class so the list helps them keep track.  {The were a little excited about that...}

Last year I had them write the notes and put them in a basket and I would get up on a stool every day or so and stuff the stockings. This year I hung them low enough so the kids could just stuff them as they wrote them.

We talked about what kinds of things to write that would be appropriate. It really came down to write something you'd like to read about yourself. I told them to start noticing what other people are good at, how they help you or a friend, or a talent or trait they admire. So far, so good. I've been doing a few spot checks, just in case. But my kids really are pretty good...

On the last day before break I'm going to slip the rest of my gift to them inside and we'll open our stockings together. Here's a peek at what that looked like last year.

I think I'm looking forward to "opening day" as much as they are!

Ok, believe it or not, I still don't have my own Christmas tree up, so that's on tap for today. And I thought I'd give you a head's up for tomorrow's My Truth Monday in case you want to get your post ready today. Tomorrow I'm going to ask you to share your favorite app. It could be for personal, fun, or classroom use...anything goes! {Well, almost anything...}

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Don't throw yellow snowballs at me, but yes - I'm one of *those* teachers. This will be the third year I'll host my little hollow-legged felt elf.  I'm not sure who likes it more, me or the kids!

I'm often asked how I handle the kids who don't celebrate Christmas or just plain don't believe. That is definitely a sticky situation. This year I already had one little stinker announce super loud to the rest of the class that Santa doesn't exist. I knew it was coming because the question of the week seemed to be "Are you Christian or Hanukkah?" <--lots of misconceptions to clear up there...  My second graders are at a vulnerable point where they might be questioning things, so I had to stop what were were doing right then and there and have an impromptu class meeting. I always tell them that Santa is real, if you believe that he is. I also tell them that it's ok not to believe, but it's not ok to tell someone else that their beliefs are wrong. We make a pact to let everyone have the right to believe what they believe and for everyone, Christians or "Hanukkahs", to just enjoy the fun of the season. I usually have a pretty split class with close to half of my kids celebrating Hanukkah, half Christmas, and some who celebrate both and this little discussion always helps. I just like clearing the air and getting it all out there. If I hear any other chatter, I usually pull aside the child and have a one on one about it. I do whatever I can not to let the magic of the season be ruined by one little buster. Oh, and when the kids ask me, of course I tell them I believe! I do. {Hear me, Santa?}

I devote lots of time to both holidays so all of the kids feel equally included. I also make a special effort to include any other holiday my kids might celebrate. Once in a while I do have a child who doesn't celebrate anything, but I usually have a talk with the parents to find out how much their child can participate. In 20 years, I've only had 2 kids whose parents would not allow them to participate in anything seasonal. Usually, once I explain that we're just learning about how other people celebrate, not actually forcing their child to celebrate or believe a certain thing, they're pretty tolerant. 

So, if you're hosting a visiting elf this year, you might want to follow this Pinterest board of mine. I've added lots of pictures from my own adventures along with lots of other great ideas I've found online.

I used to have an Elf on the Shelf unit on tpt, but there were some copyright conflicts, so it's been unavailable for about a year. After getting several sweet emails asking me where it is, I decided to revamp it and list it again. If you already own it, be sure to download the newest version.

It includes two different journal ideas to write about the mischief created by your elf, as well as some other printables you can use to tie in the visit with your academic focus.

You can check it out here on tpt if you want to join in on the fun!

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I've spent my fair share of time walking down hospital hallways and I swear sometimes the only thing that distinguishes a hospital hallway and a school hallway is the student artwork lining the walls. I find this to be especially true in the newer schools, like the ones in the community where I teach. Now with the added layers of security and fire codes,  it's even more important to make an effort to add warmth and whimsy to the school environment.

We can't go all crazy with tons of paper and hanging decorations, but we do have a nice sized bulletin board in the hallway and a long cork strip. As much as I understand the importance of decorating these boards, the time to do it can be hard to come by. I also have a difficult time putting things out that are strictly crafts without a clear academic component. So I created a couple of things that fit all of my needs.  First up is a writing craftivity called "Oh, no! What's in my Cocoa?"

I wanted to help my kids write better sentences. Sometimes I ask them to describe something and they say "big" or "red". I always kid around and say things like "Elephants are big, is it an elephant?" when what they were trying to describe was a house, or building. They get the idea, but it's still hard for them.
So, this writing activity has them focus on really describing an object that is unseen to the other students.  Since my kids are a bit older, I'm going to use this form of the craftivity {I love that teachers have totally made that a word} My kids will write clues on the smaller paper that will go on the cup. That paper will only be glued at the top so it lifts up to reveal the hidden object.

There are lots of other versions and paper sizes so that you can choose what works for your kids. I also played around with adding marshmallows and a real spoon. I'll post some more pictures when my kids make theirs, but I wanted to share these with you now because I'm guessing you're planning your winter boards already.

I have a bit of an obsession with these bright colors lately! I got this pack of paper at Office Depot. It's super vibrant card stock that's two sided, so one pack has about 4 different colors that all coordinate.

For the long cork strip I'll be using one of the banners from my 25 Quick and Creative Bulletin Board Banners set. You might remember these that I did in the fall. You'll notice I like to keep things intentionally generic so I can leave them up though a season, like October and November, or December to February... I try. I don't always get away with it. 

These also work great if you have a clothesline hanging in your room. I really try to make things with big visual impact, but minimal teacher prep that won't take the kids a ton of time to work on. These banners fit the bill pretty well. They even make a great homework project!

I'll be making the ice skates for my hallway. They were designed to fit on legal paper to give the kids a lot of room to write and fill up lots of wall space, but they print out equally well on letter size. Sometimes I cut regular construction paper to legal size and run it though my printer. Can you believe I didn't even know that was possible until a couple of years ago?

There are a few winter options and even a New Year's banner as well if the ice skates don't float your boat. With 25 banners to choose from and only 9 months in the school year, you can use two each month and still have plenty to spare!

While you're planning for December, you might also want to check out this post from last year with eight different freebies!

"Oh, No! What's in my Cocoa?" Writing Craftivity

25 Quick and Creative Bulletin Board Banners

Update alert!

I've added new activities to my December Printables Pack and added a classroom friendly version of December Homework Helpers be sure to update the new versions!

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December was a whirlwind, as usual. Here's a little recap of what went down in our little corner of the world. It's a little late for you to do most of these this year, but thankfully Pinterest makes it easy to save for next year!

The awesome melted snowman craftivity is from Tanja at Journey of a Substitute Teacher  

and the gingerbread cuties were from Alisha from The Bubbly Blonde.

Our class adopted a less fortunate family this year. The kids brought in gifts and we wrapped them and sent them off with big smiles before we started our party. Upper right: trying to fan an ornament across the rug as a minute to win it game and an impromptu conga line. Bottom row: our ice cream cone candy trees, mini doughnut reindeer and our newest obsession: Factory Balls on ABCYa.com

The kids were busting to open the stockings that we made. Original post here. They were so cute! The notes they wrote to each other were priceless!

I had out some puzzles that I made last year (original post here). Then a couple of my little nuggets asked if they could make their own puzzle! I told them to write the questions and answers they would use and gave them just a little guidance, but they pretty much did it all themselves. They were so excited about it and they just couldn't wait for one of their friends to try it out. I just thought that was so cool. Good thing I had some extra puzzles!

I realized late in the week that I didn't have a parent gift to send home with the kids. We're talking really late, like Thursday late. Luckily a friend suggested this awesome craft from Yvonne Dixon's gingerbread unit! I had never seen this before and they came out a-maaaa-zing! I cut the big circle out on Thursday night, laminated them and then the kids traced and colored the design onto the laminated circle. Then they cut out the whole thing and added a string. This is definitely going to be a yearly tradition!

You know you have a great class when you actually miss them over the break! I had one little guy a bit confused over whether or not he'd still be in 2nd grade when we came back and if I was still going to be his teacher. When I reassured him that I would be, he was pretty excited. Me too, little guy, me too.

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Today is the last visit from my guests for this holiday season. It's been great having so many of my friends stop by and it was just awesome that they all brought a gift for you! Today  I'm welcoming a new friend, Gina from Third Grade Tidbits. She's got a fantastic lesson for you today that I know you're going to love!

I am so glad to be here spending time on Denise's blog! She has so many great ideas (as I am sure you know)and I feel honored to be able to share with you here! Today I am going to share a way to get your kids to think about Christmas outside of their box!

Do your kids get wrapped up in the Christmas chaos? Always thinking about what gifts they might get, are they on the nice list, what will they do over break? Or even worried about what Christmas will be like (for the less fortunate)? Each year I try to take the time to get my students to think outside of their world and think about the rest of the world. Where there are people that may not get to celebrate like they do. Where these people might just want a warm place to spend Christmas eve and maybe a meal to eat on Christmas. The people who have loved ones overseas fighting in war and just want them home. I have my kids think about what ONE gift they would give to the world if they could.

It starts off with a whole group activity, completing a circle map of gifts we would give the world if we could. Students have come up with things such as: money, housing, jobs, ending war, peace, toys for kids that don't have any, shoes/clothes for people who need new ones, etc. Afterwards, students do individual bubble maps, followed by flow maps. Finally they work through the rest of the writing process. The packet includes all of the pre-writing pages (I included two different flow maps, the one seen below and another type that we have used in my class) as well as "fancy paper" for your kids to write their final copies on. My class just loves having "fancy paper"!

Once students finish, you can turn this into a display by covering the writing with some wrapping paper. I usually use wrapping paper but have not done this activity yet this year with my kids and wanted to give an idea of how to put it together. If you don't want to use wrapping paper, you can easily use construction paper like I did below (don't mind the messed up bow... I never said I was an artist). Of course their writing will be on the fancy paper, not plain paper, but I didn't have it printed at the time. (This is why I am now taking pictures of everything we do in class just in case I ever need it again! Before this year I hardly took pictures of work... so I have no pictures of former displays of this-sad face).

Any way you choose to use this idea (with or without my pages), it will be great to get kids thinking outside of the little part of the world they live in. A lot of kids have no idea what it is like outside of their town. And some kids, sadly know all too well what it is like to be less fortunate. But this way, instead of writing a wishlist for all the material things they want (and some that some kids may never get) they can think about how they could spread their love and joy to the world.

You can download this FREE writing activity on Teachers Pay Teachers. Thanks for letting me visit!
-- Third Grade Tidbits

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On some level it feels wrong to go forward, to start blogging again as though things are back to normal and the world has resumed spinning as it should. While we all know that the world has been forever altered, what would be wrong is for us NOT to go forward. The best way to honor the brave teachers and souls lost at Sandy Hook is to return to our classrooms with the vow to be the best teachers we can be to the students entrusted to us. So, with that, I can't think of a better way to start moving forward than to welcome one of my very best friends to the blog today. She has an incredibly touching book and activity to share with you. Please welcome my friend Gina from Beach Sand and Lesson Plans.

I am BEYOND thrilled to be a guest blogger today!! Denise is one of my very best friends, as well as one of the best teachers I know.  Denise and I have known each other for almost 20 years....I just figured that out and I'm shocked. LOL!  We are currently not teaching in the same school,  but we did teach together for many years. We have collaborated on many lessons and activities and shared lots of laughs along the way! Denise is my bloggy mentor and my TpT cheerleader. For that, I owe you, Denise, a debt of gratitude. ♥

Thinking about Denise and gratitude leads me to one of my most favorite holiday activities. Using the mentor text, Silver Packages by Cynthia Rylant, students get a chance to think about who they might "owe a debt of gratitude" to and then create their own silver package.

This beautifully written story tells about the Christmas train that travels through Appalachia every year. A wealthy stranger, who was helped by one of the townspeople years before, repays the people by delivering silver packages to the children each Christmas. Frankie wishes for a doctor's kit each year, but instead gets things he needs. Mittens. Socks. Hats. Scarves and a few little toys.  Frankie grows up,  moves away, and becomes a doctor. He goes back to Appalachia to "repay his debt" to the town that gave him so much. I can not make it to the end of this touching story without a few tears.

After reading the story, I have a class discussion about what it means to "owe a debt".  (For 3rd graders, this can take some time.) We discuss gratitude and being thankful for not just "things" we are given, but for what people do for us. I ask the children to think of someone they "owe a debt" of gratitude. We use our writer's notebooks for preplanning by making a list of people and what we want to thank them for (I'm saying "we" because I write with the students).  We narrow it down to one person and draft letters. I  guide students towards writing from the heart.  I do help them edit their work as well. When the letters are published, they simply fold them in half twice and wrap them in tin foil. I give them a bow to place on top and a To/From label. A Silver Package.  It is a simple, truly heartfelt gift!

Here are some my 3rd graders wrote this year. I was so impressed.

 This one is my personal favorite. It's the first one that a student wrote to me! I was touched!

A few years back my now 12 year old son, Dane, was in my class and we did this activity.  Dane put his silver package under the tree and gave it to his dad on Christmas morning who cried when he read it. Dane's letter is simple, and doesn't seem like much, but to his dad it meant the world!

I used to give the kids printed winter stationery for publishing their letters. Recently, I created lined paper for them. Click ❅here❅ to download a copy of the papers and some simple gift tags to add to your silver packages.

Enjoy the season and think about someone YOU might owe a debt of gratitude!

Happy Holidays!

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