Happy New Years with a little SALE!!

Good Morning, friends! Kerri and Lindsay here...

This is just a quickie post to say "Happy Almost New Year!" and to let you know that both of our little shops will be on sale on today December 31st and tomorrow, January 1st! All our items will be 20% off! Holla holla-savin' some dollas!!

Here are some goodies you might need for the new year from Kerri's TPT shop...
Remember the Winter Olympics last year??

Learning about Snowmen??

Or maybe you're doing an Arctic Animal Unit??

Want your kidlets to write all about Wintery Words??

Or maybe your 100th day of school is coming up?

Here are some fun Wintery/Valentiney type items from Lindsay's shop...
Mittens and Marshmallows??

  
Be Mine, Valentine!

Or perhaps you would like to have fun with some Wacky Weather??

Have a safe and happy New Years Eve today!!

XOXO Kerri and Lindsay

Gingerbread Hijinks + Santa Pig Steals My Heart {A Complete December Wrap-Up}

Happy Christmas break friends!  Lindsay here . . .

 

Isn't being on break THE. BEST. THING. EVER?!  I had my in-laws visiting from Florida last week, and my mom is coming into town today (YAY!) and its just soooo nice to be "stay-at-home-mommy" for two weeks with my little guys. 

 

Except on the days when the baby refuses to take his second nap.

 

Or when my three year old pees in a public parking lot.

 

Yup. Both true stories . . . just from yesterday.  But I digress . . .

 

So December when by in the blink of an eye.  I should have known - it ALWAYS does, right? 

 

Room 17 was a busy place this December.  We made cards for the troops, gifts for our parents, did a whole unit on gingerbread stories AND had our holiday program . . .

 

I saw this cute cartoon and just about died.  Is this not totally true??

 

(I think my favorite is always the Super Loud Singer.)

 



 

 

 

I really enjoyed all of the fun gingerbread-y activities that went along with our gingerbread unit.  I was on maternity leave this time last year and I really missed all of the fun holiday activities . . . such as  . . . our Gingerbread Hunt!!

 

Last year our grade level team decided to have each student decorate their own gingerbread man ornament (made of salt dough) to take home . . . only to have them DISAPPEAR.

 

(Insert dramatic gasp here)

 

You know what happens next folks: a clue magically appears which leads the students through the school right to the runaway gingerbread men.

 

THIS YEAR I was totally excited to join in on the fun!  Except that I REAAAAAALLY wanted to up the drama factor.  It went a little something like this:

 

Teacher (straight-faced): Boys and girls, when I call your color row I would like you to take your gingerbread man ornament off the back table where it was drying and put it in your cubby.  Red row . . .

 

(Red row goes to back table.  Students look around, start milling about in a highly confused manner . . .)

 

Student #1: I can't find them.

 

Student #2: Me needer (neither)!

 

Teacher (still straight-faced . . . should probably get an Academy Award for the ability to keep this face going for so long): They are ON the table boys and girls.

 

Students: No they're not!

 

Student #3: I know!  They ran away!

 

Entire class: (GASP!!)

 

Yup.  It was goooooooooooood!

 

So obviously the first thing you need to do when your gingerbread man runs away is make a WANTED poster.  So we did.  I LOVED all of the reward ideas they came up with, and the creative places in the classroom they chose to hang their posters . . .

 

 

WANTED poster template

 

 

 

Student (dressed as Santa) working hard on his poster . . .

 

 

 

Using color words to describe what his gingerbread man looked like . . .

 

 

Seriously, my favorite one!  The reward: WfAAOZin (one thousand) trophies and pigs.  And yes, he decided to just draw the trophies and pigs rather than sounding out the words.  Funny kid . . .

 



 

 Another great reward: 1000 Xaviers (student in our class)

 

 

Our room was COVERED in their little posters.

 

 

Then, of course, our first clue arrived . . . leading us to the cafeteria.  So we tiptoed all around the school, following our clues . . .

 

 

 . . . until we found our runaway gingerbread men in the library!!

 

 

Later that day we sequenced the events of our hunt by remembering all of the places the clues took us and drew & labeled them here:

 

 

If you would like to check out any of the resources I used in my hunt, just click on the picture below:

 

 

 

Well, that's it for now folks . . . I will be back soon to talk about some great January activities that I am prepping soon!  Hope you all enjoy the rest of your break with your friends and loved ones . . .

Talk to you soon!

Lindsay

P.S. Almost forgot the MOST important part of this entire blog post . . . my Christmas gift from one of my students.  Meet . . . Santa Pig!  I mean, it doesn't get any cuter than that, right? (Did I mention I am a crazy pig collector lady?!)  Folks . . . I never woulda guessed that I would be the proud owner of a three foot light-up pig lawn ornament - but here we are.  And I kind of love it. And I hope my neighbors do too! ;)

 

 

 

 

 

It's a BIG OLD TPT SALE!!!

Happy Sunday folks!!  Kerri and Lindsay here . . .

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a super successful Black Friday!! Well, get ready to shop AGAIN because TPT is having a GINORMOUS Cyber Monday and Tuesday SALE!!

That's right. You can get 28% off all of the products in both of our stores! BAARGAIN!!
Here are some goodies from Kerri's shop you might want to pick up for the Holidays and the upcoming New Year...

You can get a closer look by clicking on any of the pictures above! Thanks friends!!
Kerri B

Here's Lindsay...

Here are some of the items you can check out in my store (click the cover image to be taken to my TPT store):

I am finishing my Science Notebook Winter Edition as we speak and it will be uploaded to my TPT store tonight, just in time for the BIG sale!!

Merry & Bright {Holiday Math and Literacy Centers} - a great way to add some fun holiday cheer to your centers with 10 ready-to-use activities!

Mittens & Marshmallows {Winter Math and Literacy Centers} - 10 wonderful winter-themed activities for your little learners.

And finally . . . The Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy CVC Practice Pack {Tools to help your beginning readers}.  This is a great resource to use all year 'round, and especially great for your little kinder kidlets in the winter/spring as they start reading and writing like crazy!! :)

Magic Elf is back and ready to meet my kidlets!!!!

Good Evening!! Kerri B here...
Did you all have a fabulous Turkey day yesterday?? I know my family did. We did it up right, complete with a giant dinner, football in the front yard AND on TV, and some Black Friday (almost) ONLINE shopping (This girl prefers to do her shopping online, thank you very much!!)
On the subject of the holidays, have you met Magic Elf??

Magic Elf magically appeared in my classroom last year to teach my students about the true meaning of Christmas! On December 1st, my students walked into my classroom and saw this little guy...

...holding a note that explained why Santa had sent him-to remind my class all about the true meaning of Christmas, namely that Christmas is a time for joy, sharing, love, family, being neighborly, and many more things! Each night, he flew around the room and landed in a different spot. When the children came in the next morning, they would find him with a new note!

People, my kidlets went cuckoo for Cocoa puffs over this little guy! Like, for reals! Magic Elf also would watch for good behavior and report back to Santa the students who were following the rules and showing each other the true meaning of the holidays. I kid you not, my students' behavior was AMAZING the month of December, and as we all know, most kids' behavior gets a little, shall we say, NUTSO the month before Christmas! Am I right??

Some days, certain well-behaved students would walk in to find a certificate from Magic Elf on their desk, congratulating them on showing the true meaning of Christmas. My kids ATE. IT. UP! 

We also had a Magic Elf book that we worked on the whole month, and each day we would write what Magic Elf had taught us for the day and illustrate how we could show that to others. At the end of the month, my students took the book home to their parents so they could teach them all about the true meaning of Christmas. It was truly precious!!

Would you like to experience the Magic in your own classroom?? 

Presenting, my Magic Elf Writing and Activity Pack!!

Here's what you get...

Magic Elf and Daily Messages-Purchase a stuffed elf or laminate the clip art elf that is included in this packet. Laminate messages for durability and cut out. Each morning before your students arrive, hide “Magic Elf” somewhere in your classroom along with one of his messages about the true meaning of Christmas. I have included 17 days worth of messages, so you can choose the ones that work best for you, depending on how many days you are in school the month of December. 

Magic Elf Story Paper-Students can write a story about Magic Elf visiting their classroom, and then illustrate their story.

Magic Elf Letter-Students can use the writing paper to write a letter to Magic Elf about what he has taught them, or what they would like him to tell Santa!

Magic Elf Book-Copy the cover and inside pages back to back, including as many inside pages as there are school days in December. Instruct students to draw Magic Elf on the cover. Every day, after reading Magic Elf’s clue each morning to your students, instruct them to write what Magic Elf’s meaning of Christmas was for the day and illustrate what that means to them. At the end of the month, your students will have their own book on the meaning of Christmas to take home and share with their parents!

Magic Elf Acrostic- Students can write their own acrostic poem about Magic Elf, or write one together as a class!

Magic Elf Certificates- Let Magic Elf pass these certificates out to students who are caught showing the true spirit of Christmas! My students find their certificate on their desk each morning!

Magic Elf Scramble-Students can unscramble the Magic Elf sentence, glue it in the correct order, write it, and illustrate it!

Magic Elf Art Project- Students follow directions to create their very own Magic Elf art project. These look great mounted next to the acrostic poem or Magic Elf Story on construction paper and displayed for all to see!

Here is a picture of our Magic Elf art and Acrostic Poems from last year... sooo fun!

You can use ANY elf at all as your Magic Elf. Two years ago, I has a tiny one that I found at Target. I also found this huge one at a grocery store last year and he was so darn cute too...

You can even do this project without any stuffed Magic Elf at all, and simply use the provided clip art elf that I included in my Activity Pack! 
But, here are a couple of links to AMAZON if you would like to purchase a stuffed Magic Elf (they have both boy and girl varieties-sooo cute!!)...
                                                         


Would you like some Magic Elf FREEBIES?? Click on the Magic Elf poster above to download your own poster via Google Docs!

Also, here is a Magic Elf Sentence Scramble FREEBIE on TPT (click picture to head over to TPT)...

and to complete your Magic Elf collection, you can also check out this Magic Elf creation, combining Christmassy math and literacy centers, available now at my TPT shop...

Have a wonderful week friends and a beautiful Thanksgiving!!

XOXO Kerri B