A sale, a freebie, and HAPPY December!

     Happy December!  I hope you had a Thanksgiving full of blessings, laughs, family, friends, and lots of yummy food!  I was feeling most thankful for my maternity jeans after all the food I ate this weekend.  Yikes!    (I am still trying to figure out why all pants are not made with those glorious stretchy waistbands.)

     My long weekend was extended an extra day because I am patiently awaiting my ultrasound appointment in a few hours to *hopefully* find out if our little sweetie is a boy or a girl!  You could say I'm just a taaaddd excited!  I may or may not have already checked out some cyber Monday deals online so I can do a little pink or blue shopping this evening. ;)

     I think we got our fill of all things TURKEY last week in first grade,  and now it's on to Christmas...so hard to believe!

 These scrapbook paper turkeys turned out to be one of my favorite projects we did. Adorable! 

If you are getting an early start on Christmas projects like we are...here is a little freebie to get you started.  We are participating in the Macy's "Believe" Campaign as a school.   We are all sending letters to Santa to support the Make a Wish Foundation.  Our local paper also publishes their letters...so our deadline is soon.

Here is a template for your Santa letters.  Click to download.

We are working on asking vs. telling sentences this week so in our letters, we will TELL Santa something, make two wishes, and then ASK Santa something. We also talk about *nice* ways to ask for something so it's not an I want, I want, I want letter. ;)

Here is an example from last year...

Dear Santa,

I am in first grade now and I lost two teeth!  I would like a Monster High doll.  I would also love to have a stuffed kitten with blue eyes. How are your reindeer doing?

Love,

a first grader :)

Do you have this book??

It is a precious read aloud to use when you are ready to write your Santa letters!

I am participating in the big TPT sale today and tomorrow!  20% + 10% off....yes please! 

Here are some Christmas & Winter math stations, games and activities galore to get you going this holiday season.  Click the images to check out the free previews!

Don't forget to use the code CYBER for an EXTRA 10% off from TPT on your purchases!

OK...almost time to head to my appointment! Yippee! Fingers crossed that our little booger cooperates (and his/her legs are NOT crossed!) ;)

Boy or girl?? Any guesses??

Happy Monday & Happy Teaching to you!

Geometry & Patterns: Hello Winter!

I hope you all had yourselves a VERY merry little Christmas.  Andy and I are at his sister's house in Nashville for a few days visiting with our adorable little niece and nephew....while we patiently wait for a sweet niece (and goddaughter) on the other side of the family (my brother and his wife) to make her arrival!  Exciting times! 

This post will be short and sweet because we are back on the road today, but just in case anyone is being REALLY good and already planning for your return in January, I wanted to share a few  fun math projects that we'll be working on when we get back.  We will take our "short week" to review addition and subtraction strategies before we dive into patterns, geometry, and comparing/ordering numbers to 100.  

My brand new "Hello Winter" math pack includes:

 -a winter story problem book (15 pages concentrating on addition/subtraction)

-backwards story problem templates 

-addition/subtraction independent practice sheets (to 12 OR to 18)

-a geometry book for introducing vocabulary (closed vs. open shapes, sides, vertices, etc.) and attributes of basic plane shapes 

-list of geometry books available to enhance your teaching

-"At First it Was a Shape..."  book (my absolute favorite!) which incorporates creative writing into recognizing plane shapes in our environment

-"Draw Me!" independent practice and/or assessment sheets to monitor students' understanding of attributes of basic plane shapes AND ability to construct them

-pattern block cards

-winter pattern picture cards (to use in centers/stations OR as a whole group/small group)

-Pick the Pattern independent practice and/or assessment sheets to monitor students' understanding of how to extend shape/color patterns

-"Between Teens" partner/small group game and coordinating number cards to introduce and practice numbers 10-20 as well as concepts of one more/one less  

 

Examples:

 

 

 

 

I am really proud of this product and excited to use it with my own kiddos when we return.  I will be back soon to show you more of this pack in detail.  Right now...I think there is a dance party starting upstairs in our nephew's room with a Yo-Gabba-Gabba CD and I don't want to miss it. ;)  

If you're interested, there is a lengthy preview available to download on TPT to see if it's something you might want to use.

Click on over to my TPT store and grab this Hello Winter math pack while it's on sale for $5 through the end of the year!

Happy end of December to you!

Freebie Friday!

Short and sweet tonight, ladies (and gentlemen? maybe?). 

 

I am all kinds of exhausted but wanted to make sure I linked up...and reminded everybody to check out all of the awesome freebies today at Teaching Blog Addict!

 

 

I'll be back soon to share all of the red glitter, glue, gingerbread, grinch, elf, Santa festivities that will be taking place in Room 106 beginning MONDAY!

 

Until then...try a BACKWARDS word problem with your kiddos next week!  I like to tell them they will STRETCH their brains.

 

Sometimes, they stretch mine too.

It doesn't take much. ;)

 

I originally saw this idea on pinterest as a whole group activity, and I made a few for my babies to do on their own (with LOTS of modeling) to include in my Dazzling December math pack because we tried them out at Thanksgiving and LOVED them. 

It's an awesome way to integrate math and writing and challenge our students to use some higher level thinking skills.

 

Enjoy.  Be sure to check out all of the freebies at TBA! 

Click on the picture below to grab this one. :) 

 

 

 

Happy December!