Free Legend of the Poinsettia Activities!

The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola is one of my favorite Holidays Around the World books to read! I thought I would share some of the comprehension and vocabulary activities I use each year {of course, all "gussied up" with better borders and fonts than I used in the past}.

In case you're reading the same book and need some free activities just click below:

There is a simple, retelling sheet, a comprehension question page, and some vocabulary that I point out to my first graders.

I also included a directed drawing for a poinsettia. They are super, simple to draw which usually means success for ALL my students, artistically inclined or not ;)

Enjoy!

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Christmas Writing Prompts, Printables and Crafts

It can be hard to keep your young students' minds focused on school when the holidays come around. Heck, it can be hard to keep your own mind focused on school when the holiday lights are up, the Christmas songs are on the radio, and the air starts to get a little chill!

Holiday writing prompts were always an easy fix. I throw a little holiday music on in the background, allow lots of choice in my students writing and my students get to writing. It is a wonderfully relaxing time. 

I threw together some of my favorite prompts I've used over the past few years in a little Christmas writing unit. It is designed for teacher ease! 

This unit includes:

14 narrative writing prompts

14 informative writing prompts

14 opinion writing prompts

elf craft

Santa craft

reindeer craft

There are plenty of writing paper options, print-and-write sheets, and the crafts are only 3 or 4 pieces with plenty of space for your students to personalize and make it their own.

To take a closer look at some of the writing included, click below and download the preview:

Happy holidays!

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Parent & Student Holiday Gifts!

Christmas break is HERE!!

The past week was wild and fast and fun... but I am glad it is over and I am even gladder(?) that I am relaxing in my hometown of Salem, MA. 

I wanted to do a quick little post on some cute n' crafty parent gifts we made this year!

My friend, Janie, has been making these for years and I finally hopped on board! They came out so cute and they were really easy. First, we used a die cut and some poster board to make the green circles. Then the students glued on puzzle pieces in 3 layers. Janie spray-painted them all (green for Christmas wreaths and white for snowflakes for our little ones who don't celebrate Christmas). We added a little ribbon, some berries(wreaths) and glitter(snowflakes) and VIOLA! 

We put them in some rudolph gift bags and now they are hanging from Christmas trees all over Vegas.

Janie told me this craft has been around for a while so I did a bit of searching and found directions for the craft HERE!

I also had to share these Reindeer Kit treats that a 1st grade room mom made!

Mother of the year award?!? I think so!

She made one for each kid in the class.

Contents:

"reindeer food" - carrot sticks

"melted snow" - ranch dressing

"reindeer antlers" - pretzels

"reindeer noses" - grapes and 1 tomato for Rudolph

"snowballs" - marshmallows

1 homemade reindeer cake pop!

SO CUTE! I must remember this when I am a momma!

Happy holidays to you all!

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Back At It... With Holiday Photos!

Monday was filled with hugs, learning, and laughter.

It was exactly what we needed to get back into the swing of things in our little classroom.

Today... was jam-packed with holiday fun!

This morning we read The Gingerbread Man and retold the story using headbands and a little reader's theater action. The students picked their parts in the play, colored in their headbands, and retold the story to the class! They did a great job and they were pretty darn funny. I love that we practice, and practice, and practice. Then the students get in front of the class and go BLANK.

My friend, Tracy got these cute little headbands from this book. It has some classic stories for the kids to read and practice retelling in order.

  

To kick off our math block, we used Deanna Jump's gingerbread cookie graphing activity found in THIS pack. The students were each given a gingerbread cookie and they were told they could take 1 bite from the cookie. After they took their bite they came to the mat and we graphed which part of the cookie they ate first: the head, the arm, the leg, or the tummy! The students thought this was hilarious. Then, they went back to their seats and filled in their graph independently.

 

Next up, we reviewed fact families and made Kelley's Gingerbread Fact Family Houses.

My students lovedddd making these and they turned out adorable! It was the perfect activity to review these skills before break.

Lastly, we traveled to our second stop - MEXICO - to learn about how Christmas is celebrated. The students created this adorable poinsettia and completed their Christmas around the world journal created by the ever-amazing, Stephanie, from Falling into First.

 You can get her pack HERE!

That is about it for our fun-filled day. I hope all you other teachers out there are getting back into the swing of things with your students and enjoying the last few days together before break!

T-minus 3 days!

WOO!

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Holiday Scratch n' Sniff & Reindeer Writing

My Christmas countdown is ON! Is yours?!?

We started a few holiday activities today and let me tell you, the kids were SO excited! I picked a few of the most exciting ones to highlight this evening.
 

First up: Holiday Scratch n' Sniff 
 

Peppermints, gingerbread cookies, cinnamon and some pine needles (or just a green marker and some imagination).
 

That is all you need for this holiday activity! My first year teaching, my friend, Carisa, introduced me to this and I knew I had to try it. I made a few adaptations over the years and I tell can you this is a BIG hit in my class! The kids loooove it!

First, you put some holiday scents into unmarked containers. This year I chose peppermint candies, crushed gingerbread cookies, cinnamon, and a Christmas tree. Now... in the past I have crushed up the peppermints and added them to an unmarked container as well. This year, I don't know what type of dang peppermints I got, but these ones would NOT break... I tried everything... except a hammer...and that is mostly because I don't have a hammer at school. Soooo I just glued a whole peppermint candy to the paper. 

You can also see that the Christmas tree is clearly not real. Parks and I aren't getting a real Christmas tree this year due to the fact that we have a teensy-weensy apartment, but thankfully, many of my students already have one. I just had them draw a Christmas tree and they wrote down some words to describe it on their own.

[In the past, I would snip the ends of a few branches off the tree and bring those in.]

Now, onto the activity...all students need to do is dab a little glue in each box and "sprinkle" the holiday scents onto the paper. Once each scent has dried, students lightly scratch each box and sniff away! They think this is hilarious and I love watching their faces as they smell each one. Afterwards I have my students write down some adjectives to describe what they are smelling and they try to guess what each smell is. It is a simple little activity, but it brings a lot of giggles and my room smells like Christmas for the rest of the day!

How can you beat a room that smells like Christmas and is filled with the sounds of little kids laughing?!? You can't! It is amazing.

 

 This one cracks me up...

Christmas tree - "smells super good"

Cinnamon - "smells excellent"

Peppermint - "it's kind of good"

Gingerbread cookie - "smells bad"

After it is all said and done, I reveal the mystery scents and we all have a goooood ole time!
 

Some other scents I have used in the past:

-Candles: this one is easy, you can find SO many holiday scents. Just hide the label and have students take turns smelling!

- Peppermint oil (one drop goes a longggg way)

- Nutmeg

- Ginger

- Crushed sugar cookies

Activity 2: Reindeer Writing

At the end of the day, we made these cute little reindeer writing activities:

 

^^Tee hee^^

 I told my students that Rudolph was taking a vacation for Christmas and they needed to write a how-to piece for the other reindeer to "step up their game" and become the new Rudolph! My phone died before my kiddos were finished (Santa is bringing me a snazzy, new camera for Christmas), but they thought that the new lead reindeer had to be strong, smart, funny and one little guy said he had to be "a good guider through the winter night."
 

If you'd like to get your hands on either of these activities, they are in my Sleigh Bells Ring Pack!

{This pack is currently on sale for only $3.50!}
 

The next few weeks will be jam-packed with more fun activities, but for the next 48 hours, I am going to unplug and enjoy family, friends, and a relaxing deep-tissue massage. Have a splendid weekend everyone!

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Spread the Holiday Cheer with Stocking Stuffers!

HAPPY DECEMBER!!!!!!

The holiday bug has officially bitten me and I am counting down the days until Christmas back east with the family! This will be the first year that Parks and I are spending the holiday together :)

We have 3 more weeks at school and I have my schedule jam-packed with fun, holiday activities to keep my students engaged and learning! Last year, I created a "stocking stuffer" class activity that I did to spread the holiday cheer before we went off to break. This year, my group of students reallllllyyyyy need some community-building so I spruced it up a little bit and turned it into a freebie for you!

Essentially students create this quick n' easy stocking craft:

I put a little envelope under each stocking and hang these up on the wall right outside our classroom. Over the next few weeks, my students will use free time (Daily 5 - work on writing??? or those extra few minutes before/after lunch) and write one another notes! We secretly put them in the envelopes and I make sure the students know they aren't allowed to read their notes until right before break! Of course, I write them each a cheerful note and put in their envelope so they can remember how much Ms. Moran appreciates them as well. 

:)

I encourage each student to try and write a note for every.single.classmate before the break gets here. When we have our holiday party, we take our stockings off the wall and read our lovely notes! It is a such a fun, *feel-good* activity to remember how much we appreciate each other before the holidays!

I hope you enjoy the freebie and the next few weeks of fun before your break!

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Sleigh Bells Ring!

Deep breath. . .

I can finally relax and enjoy my Thanksgiving mini-vacation in Chattanooga!

My holiday centers are up:

{Sleigh Bells Ring}

There are 4 math and 4 literacy centers to help your little ones through the holiday season! Here are a few highlights:

(Place Value Penguins)

I use these adorable little place value penguins for many games in the winter time! Student can simply match and record,  or play many partner or whole-group games like Quiz-Quiz trade, mix-n-match, memory, Go Fish!, you name it! Cards like these are a must for place value practice in my classroom. Once we dive into place value (usually in late December), I have themed cards like these for each month. My kids always need as much practice as possible when it comes to tens n' ones!

(Rockin' Reindeer Writing Prompts)

 Students can make this EZ-PZ reindeer and answer one of three writing prompts. I included a narrative prompt, an informative prompt, and an opinion prompt for you or your kids to choose from! I didn't have any light brown construction paper, but I think if I did I would've made the reindeer's head the light brown to help differentiate from the antlers - but you get the idea!

Here is a preview of the rest of the activities in my pack:

 Two last things for you...

(1)

Teacher's Notebook is throwing a ginormous 3-day sale this weekend (Saturday - Monday) and everything in my store will be 25% off and TN is giving you an additional discount at checkout!!

[My TN Store]

(2)

I am giving away my new pack to the first 2 people who can remember what my favorite Thanksgiving food is!! Leave your emails!! I will email the winner's by Friday :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

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