Ho,ho, ho ~ Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to you!  

 
Thank you so much for checking in as I link up with Andrea, Erika,and Narci for Friday Favorites;and Anna Nuttall's Bloggers Link-Up.

A Must Read Holiday Book!

Silver Packages by Cynthia Rylant is based on the real life event of the Santa Train that travels and delivers presents to children in the Appalachian Mountains.

 

Click on the book to read more at Amazon!

Every year Frankie hopes for a doctor's kit in a silver package.  Instead he gets mittens, socks, a police car.  Frankie leaves his home in West Virginia and returns as an adult.  Your students will LOVE this book!

After reading, I have my students write a letter from their heart which is then wrapped in an aluminum foil folder.  This "silver package" becomes the holiday gift for their parents.  Check out these two examples:

I think it's so important for the kids to thank their parents ~ at least once and a while!  Plus, a gift from the heart is the best gift of all!

Winter Has Arrived!

In addition to the Winter Solstice and the week before Christmas, we had a full moon ~ which is a rare occurrence.  Luckily, it was also "Look on the Bright Side" Day!

Are you a Fruit Loop or a Cheerio?  I am definitely a Fruit Loop for many reasons!

As always, thank you for visiting the blog today, and I wish you the BEST of holidays!

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Happy December Weekend!

Hello there, and welcome to another edition of Friday Features from the Blended Blog
and Bloggers' Link-Up from Anna Nuttall:

Gallery Walk of Writing = A Great Experience!

My students and I are extremely lucky to have our Reading Specialist, Mrs. Seminara, visit us twice a week to work on writing using Lucy Calkins' Up the Ladder Program!  One of the activities involved doing a writing gallery walk in which students had to opportunity to read and comment upon their classmates' writing:

Still in School Next Week ~ ?

If you're lucky like me, you'll be in school until next Friday looking for educational and fun activities.  I just wrote a blog post at my Conversation From The Classroom with some FREE activites:

Storybird = Writing on the Computer = FUN FOR ALL!

I recently discovered Storybird which is a FREE web site that offers kids the opportunity to write picture books or poems on the computer.  

Now that we have Chromebook carts, it's so much easier to use the computers.  First the kids work on Lexia or Freckle which gives the kids reading and math practice.

After 20 minutes, the kids can make Powerpoints on Google slides or head over to Storybird.  The kids LOVE to write and create on the computer!

Ivory Ella = Excellent Shirts for an Excellent Cause!

If you're tired of spending a LOT of MONEY for famous named shirts, head over to Ella Ivory where you can purchase elephant-themed clothing and jewelry at a more reasonable price point.  In addition, the company donates part of the profits to Save the Elephants and other charitable organizations:

Do you have any fun suggestions for holiday activities or gifts?  Please let me know in the comments!

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Currently ~ It's A Delightful December!

Happy December everyone!  Time is flying by which means that it's time to link up with Anne of Anne in Residence for:

Gifting

I found this great mini-Cornhole game in Marshall's, but you can get it on Amazon for less:

My younger son, Andrew (age 25), liked it so much that it ordered it on the spot on Amazon Prime from his phone.  Unfortunately for me, it was out of stock last weekend, and I needed it for a party last night for a Yankee swap gift so I had to use the one I purchased in Marshall's. 


Baking

I only bake cookies if they're break and bake:

Next time I make s'mores, I'm going to make them in the oven.  Click here to check out that recipe.  Now that's my type of baking when it's too cold to go outside to make them at the fire pit!

Singing

In sixth grade, I was the only girl who didn't make the chorus ~ due to being totally tone deaf.  Consequently, I do not sing ~ except with my third graders in the morning when we do morning exercises!

My favorite holiday song is the piano version Schroeder plays!

Mailing

My students completed all their gingerbread men with their letters about Massachusetts for our gingerbread exchange.  They came out really cute!

These are last year's gingerbread, but we used the same "accessory packs" for this year's version!



Decorating

I'm still trying to put away my autumn decorations!  It seems like December came so fast, and it's still technically the fall.  I do decorate with snowmen though so that I can keep my decorations up all winter!

Thanks for visiting the blog today!  I'd love to hear how you're doing!  Happy Weekend!

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