Finally, it's Friday!

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday.

We had our Welcome Winter Breakfast Party this morning. We had cinnamon buns, mini bagels and Santa strawberries (so cute and delicious). It was a small amount of food so the party was quick and simple and no leftovers.

I read the MOST AMAZING book today - Silver Packages: An Appalachian Christmas Story by Cynthia Rylant - to all three third grade classes. Then each class went off and wrote a letter of appreciation to a parent or another family member.

The kids wrote letters from their hearts. Here's an example of one of the letters:

Here's the link if you would like to download the template for the letter:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Holiday-Gift-Idea-Silver-Packages-Freebie-1023964

Then I put the letters in a manila folder and covered the folder with aluminum foil.

The best part of this amazing book is that it is based on a true story of a rich man who had a car accident and was cared for by local people in the Appalachian Mountains. To repay his debt, he brought gifts wrapped in silver packages to local children by train. Even thought this is officially a Christmas story, the message is timeless - try to check it out if you can.

Of course, I have to give total credit for this idea to Gina whose blog is at:

http://beachsandplans.blogspot.com

This is why I love blogging so much - I get the best and most incredible ideas from other teachers who are so generous to share. I'm so thankful to Gina for sharing this lesson because it is definitely a new tradition. My coworker, Mrs. J., said, "I have 4 words. This is a keeper." Now those are words of high praise!

Our class was totally fortunate to have a parent who is also a teacher, come to class to make a craft with the kids. Mrs. Gibbons helped the kids make painted salt and pepper shakers which she brought home to bake in the oven at a low temperature to set the paint. She also provided gift bags. How amazingly generous is that! A BIG thanks go out to Mrs. Gibbons for her exceptional generosity and creativity.

On top of that, she's totally photogenic!

We finished our chapter on Landforms and had our big 4 page chapter test. We didn't get to our weekly Spelling test due to all the excitement, but that's ok - once in a while.

On a personal note, my husband has been in Florida for the last 2 weeks as his father was in hospice care. His father died yesterday (Friday, December 20). In about 30 minutes, I'm headed off to the airport to retrieve my husband. I predict that my dog, Gabi, is going to be the happiest dog very shortly.

Happy Holidays and Happy Vacation!