May Your Students Be Merry and Bright {Kim from For a Love of Teaching}

Hello again!  It's Kim from For a Love of Teaching, and I'm so excited to share with you today one of my favorite ways to keep students MERRY and BRIGHT during the holiday season!

During the month of December I encourage my students to practice random acts of kindness not only in the classroom, but also outside of school.  I give them a 25 Random Acts of Christmas Kindness Calendar.

I have students keep the calendar in their 3-ring binder that goes back and forth with them from home to school each day.  Most acts of kindness on my calendar can be accomplished without an adult, so I don't allow any excuses for not trying! :)  I have students place a red X over each day they performed that particular act of kindness. During the month of December we have a contest to see who can get the most red X's on their calendar.  When we come back to school in January, we share our calendars. Those students with the most red X's win a prize (usually a trip to the treasure box or their choice of 2 classroom coupons).  Most students really get excited about this project!  They compete against each other to win - while at the same time learning a valuable character lesson in "kindness" and "Paying it Forward."  I also teach a kindness lesson from my Character Education in the Classroom unit which ties in nicely with this project.  It can be found here. 

Along with this challenge, I provide my students with "You've Been Racked" gift tags.  I encourage my students to put them on any gift, letter or special treat they give someone during the month of December.  I usually give students 2-3 tags to start with, then I leave a bunch of these in a basket for students to pick up when they need one.  I also love to make Christmas crafts with my students.  We typically make ornaments, door hangers, picture keepsakes, etc.  I use these tags to place on our finished products, because they are usually going to be given to a family member, a.k.a Mom or Dad. :)  

After I introduce the 25 Random Acts of Kindness calendar and ways to use the "You've Been Racked" gift tags, I have my students make a Stocking Stuffer craft.  They each color 2 stockings, place their name at the top, and cut them out.  We place the stockings back-to-back and staple closely around the edge - leaving the top open. Then, we place them on a bulletin board or our classroom door.  I made compliment cards for students to use as they write a kind compliment to each student in our classroom. I distribute the compliment cards to students (each student gets as many compliment cards as there are students in the classroom - not including themselves).  After they have written a compliment to each student, they secretly stuff each other's stockings!

  

Afterwards, they can place a red X over Day 1 on their calendar!

I leave the compliment cards in a basket in the room, so students can stuff stockings throughout the whole month of December.  No one is allowed to read their compliments until right before we leave for Christmas break.  During the last week of school before break, we have a little party and read our notes of kindness!  

Students LOVE this and can't wait to read what their friends have written to them!  It's also fun to make a stocking for yourself and add to the mix.  Students love stuffing their teacher's stocking with compliments!  (They are fun to read, too!) :)

One more thing before I go!  This activity ties in perfectly with the book Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud.  An activity for it is included in my Character Education in the Classroom Unit on Kindness.

I hope you enjoyed my ideas for keeping students MERRY & BRIGHT during the holidays!  If you would like to challenge your students with the 24 Random Acts of Christmas Kindness, grab my free calendar here!  You can find the complete product with my calendar and stocking stuffer craft AND my Character Education the Classroom: Kindness printables in my store!  Click on the images below for a direct link.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

May Your Students By Merry & Bright with {Stephanie from The Learning Chambers}

Hi y'all!  This is Stephanie from The Learning Chambers and I'm super excited to share a few reading tips to keep your students merry and bright.

There is nothing better than celebrating a good book!  Once we return from Thanksgiving break, I LOVE stocking my classroom library with holiday themed books.  Here are a few of my favorite holiday themed books.

Another reading tip is to have a special read-a-thon day before the Christmas break.  We wear pajamas and have fun reading activities all day!  The teachers invite special guest readers and we share hot chocolate and cookies.  The kids LOVE it and it's a great way to celebrate reading.

My last reading tip is to include different reading response activities in your library.  I created this Christmas themed BME flap journal for you to use in your classroom.

Your students can use it with their favorite holiday book.

Click on the product cover below to grab this freebie.

 
If you are looking for more reading response flap journals, you can find more HERE and the full Christmas edition HERE.

May Your Students By Merry & Bright with {Stephany from Primary Possibilities}

Hi!  It's Stephany from Primary Possibilities and I am here to share a few tips for keeping your kiddos merry and bright this holiday season!  So here comes the Winter weather which can mean many things.... beautiful snow, slippery ice, freezing temps... and INDOOR recess.  Indoor recess can either be a blessing or a curse depending on how you handle it.  I love using Roll, Add, and Color activities during this time.  The kiddos still get to socialize so they are MERRY but they are also learning at the same time so they are getting BRIGHTer.  I am also very MERRY because I can get some things done around the classroom while they are working on their Roll, Add, and Color.

You can pick up Set #1 HERE, Set #2 HERE, or the BUNDLE HERE!

Another great activity to keep your kiddos merry during the holiday season is a classroom elf.  Everyone who uses the an elf has their own activities to go with it!   On the last day as the busses were leaving, our elf made an escape from the classroom window... all the kids could see it from the bus and they flipped.  It was great!

I created this fun little unit to use with your classroom elf!

Happy Holidays!

May Your TEACHERS Be Merry & Bright!!!

Hello Friends~

I'm so glad to be back again here on our collaborative blog: The Elementary Entourage! I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!

Today I'm going to talk to you about keeping your TEACHERS merry & bright! See, I haven't had my "own classroom" since 2009. I have had my Title I groups so I considered them "my class" but this year, no kiddos for me:-( It is really sad when I think about it... So I'm coming from a view of Coaches, Admin, Counselors or any other person in a school building without their own class. 

Before I start you need to know, that I believe that gifts you've created or creatively put together are more meaningful than anything else. 

Also, that none of these gifts are my own ideas. They are from other crafty people that I've found online. So here we go ----->

First before we get to the teachers, I want to talk about how to keep your office staff merry & bright! I can't give enough to these special people. Yes we are a school, but it is a business. Everything that keeps the building operating comes from them. They are even more underpaid than teachers & often work longer hours. Yes, they take home work. Yes, it is a different responsibility than teachers, but I think everyone knows the ladies who smile so sweetly when some crazy parents walk in the office. The best is when the parents come in the office and don't even know their child's teacher!!! I could go on and on, but every school is lucky to have the office staff. It is not an easy job at all!!! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that everyone honors their office staff during the holiday season!

So if you are in a school position outside of the classroom like me, or looking for ideas for your team members to let them know you care about them, then I think you'll like these ideas. They are from the heart, thoughtful & budget friendly! 

Here are a few ideas for your teachers. CLICK ON THE TITLES FOR A DIRECT LINK/TUTORIAL:

1) Hand Written Cards: Yes, that sounds crazy & long! But, writing each individual teacher a hand written note letting them know you appreciate them & care for them is #1 in my book! A simple act of kindness is the best. As an adult in our profession, if someone takes time out of their day to sit down & write to you only their feelings, that means a lot. It also helps build the working relationship!

2) Clipboards: We made these a few years ago for my staff! They were a hit! Who works in a school that doesn't need an extra clipboard? You can personalize them as well!

3) Lemon Sugar Scrub: Healthy & easy to make! What teacher wouldn't love a great natural skin exfoliating scrub for the holiday break? 

4) Hot Cocoa Cup: What teacher doesn't love monograms? Add a little hot cocoa set & you'll be thought of as the curl up on the couch one evening with your little treat!

5) Monogram Soap Bottles: Hey crafty people... Have you tried to etched? So simple & you can find great looking soap pumps for cheap!!! Teachers can use it in their classroom or at home! 

6) Personalized Pocket Hand Sanitizer: Yup, you can do it! Who doesn't love those little hand sanitizers from Bath & Body Works? Add a little thoughtful touch & the staff loves it!

7) Stress Relief with a Funny Twist: I just think this gift is so hilarious & fitting for this time of year! So simple & will definitely make everyone smile with also reminding them that you understand!

I hope you enjoy these ideas! Happy Holidays!

May Your Students Be Merry and Bright {with Mrs. Dailey's Classroom}

Hey, Sweet Friends!

So I'm sad to say my "birthday month" is over... but now on to another great time of the year... it's the holiday season {can you hear me singing from here?}

This month we're gearing up to share ideas of how to keep your students engaged during the holiday season. There are so many fun things going on at home and school that kids can get overwhelmed. Who can blame 'em?

My tip for keeping students engaged while teaching your standards is to make sure that your involving them with hands on materials so they feel like they are doing crafts fun activities. I try not to just choose activities because they are cute. I make sure the activity has a purpose and help to solidify a concept or skill into a student's mind.

Exhibit A: "Symmetrical Snowflakes"

Part of our introduction to geometry was learning about symmetry. One way of tying in the winter season and getting those sweet hands moving was by creating these symmetrical snowflakes. 

Here's a little How To: 

First, cut enough blue strips of paper for your students. Each snowflake needs four strips of paper. Make a cross with the first two pieces. 

Next, put two more pieces of paper on the snowflake. If your think your students are capable, they can even do this themselves with some guidance. Don't forget to put tape on the back!

Finally, we used our 3-D shapes as tracers on white paper and the students used the shapes they cut out to put onto the snowflake.

Not only did this activity help with a skill that we were working on in math, my students had a really fun time making it.

Here are some of the final products!

I hang them up back to back with ceiling clips so you don't see any of the tape.

As a *freebie* for stopping by, I've put up my report card tag that I made just a few weeks ago!

You can use it as a holiday gift, or attach it to one that you will be giving to your students this season.

Don't worry! You can edit it to type your name on the tag!

You can download it here {clickable link} or click on the picture below.

Before you go, don't forget that today is the last day of the TpT Cyber Sale! These sales only come around a few times of the year. I know I'll be clearing out my wishlist pronto!

May Your Students Be Merry and Bright with {Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten}

OMG how is it December already!?! Are your students already in holiday mode? If so, we have some great ideas in store for you here at The Elementary Entourage! We are all excited to share some ways to keep your little sweeties happy and engaged during this busy and stressful time of year.

One of my absolute favorite things to do starting on December 1st every year is introduce the Elf on the Shelf. I know a ton of you probably already know about this classroom management tool cute and fun little friend for your students. Let me tell you that he was a lifesaver for me on many occasions with my kinders.  I also loved finding ways to incorporate him into our daily learning just to spice things up.  Here are a few resources I LOVE for Elf on the Shelf fun:

First this Elf Antics pack from OWLways Learning by Kristina Stankovich is too cute and a great place to start. I absolutely adore the way she included "Magic Gloves" so her students could touch the elf just once! Stop by and check out all of the resources in her pack.

Another benefit to having that mischievous little elf around is that it takes the place of my morning work for the month! Of course my kiddos first order of business every day is finding the little trouble maker and laughing at his crazy antics. So after they get a good giggle in, they work on a journal about what he is up to. I just copy a journal with enough pages for the month, Easy Peasy! I love this one from Sunny Days.

It is part of her Elf Classroom Resources. This pack is also great because it includes resources that range from kindergarten to 5th grade!

And last, I made a little Freebie for you! I have seen a million cute Elf on the Shelf ideas on Pinterest and can never remember any of them when it is time to move that elf for the next day.  So I like to write ideas for each day on a calendar at the beginning of the month so I'm never scrambling for an idea.  You can grab my Elf on the Shelf Calendar for FREE here!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, I'd LOVE to hear how you use Elf on the Shelf or other tools to keep things going all December long. And don't forget to check out TPT today and tomorrow for the awesome Cyber Sale.  Click on Shop above to see what deals you can grab from our Elementary Entourage Authors.