New Year's Bucket Fillers

Cultivate classroom friendships with my New Year Bucket Filler notes!

Click to download

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Top 3 Posts in 2011: Bucket Fillers, Veterans Day and Classmate Memory Trays

I've not yet blogged a whole year, but my Top 3 posts viewed so far are:

#1  Classmate Teambuilding Memory Trays (2,277 views)

#2  The Value of Bucket Filling  (2,002 views)

#3  Veterans Day (1,143 views)

One of my most recent posts is a personal favorite though because I learned some very touching things about my students. They wrote about Prized Possessions, and one of my students brought in a necklace from the program "Beads of Courage" for children dealing with cancer and serious illness. Can I say that was POWERFUL!  For me that is a TOP post even if it only has 200 views.

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Let it Snow

Let it snow with these fun snowflake generators!

Do you "snow" which one is your favorite? Leave a comment and share.

Find more great ideas on my Pinterest page or TPT store

Snow Globe Craft Project

If you missed my original post about my Snow Globe Project, take a look at some of these cute snow scenes.

It's Abe Lincoln in a Snow Globe!

The Big Apple in a Snow Globe

What I love BEST about this project is the variety of characters and stories created!

Year after year, I continue to be delighted with the creativity.

 This is a project you can do in January too!  Go grab it {HERE}.

Prized Possession Writing for Possessive Nouns

My class got practice with perfecting possessives today with a partner writing activity.

Each student brought in a prized possession to share.  I took a picture of each student and then they partnered up and wrote about another classmate's object. So fun and eye opening. One of my students brought in a very touching item, a Beads of Courage necklace for children dealing with cancer and serious illness. Can I say that was POWERFUL!

 

 

(This photo below is from my original product file. It has since been freshly updated with new fonts and layout. Check it out.)

Want this perfect lesson for possessives? You can get a copy {HERE}.

You might want to do this writing activity after the holidays with each students' favorite holiday gift.

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Acrostic Poem for the Holidays

My students are writing about their holiday happenings acrostic style this week.

Click and print

Have yourself a merry little holiday!

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The Bell Still Rings Polar Express Art

My class rang in the season with this jingling display.

Do you still believe?

Click and print if you truly do!

Enjoy!

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Bucket Fillers with Holiday Cheer

I'm spreading holiday cheer because..... 

My holiday bucket fillers are here!

Click and print

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Snowflake Snowman Door Decoration - Winter Activities for the Classroom

After reading the story The Biggest Best Snowman I've had my classes create a snowflake snowman to decorate our classroom door. This was at a previous school which had a standard door. The school I'm at now has a bigger window right in the middle of our door which we cannot cover, so if I decide to do my snowflake snowman it will have to be on a doorless object. So, back to my snowman. This is a collaborative snowman, similar to little Nell getting help from her animal friends to make a snowman in the story read aloud.

Give your kiddos die cut circles and have them create a gobzillion snowflakes out of them. Then make 3 snowballs and decorate your snow guy!

This snowman multiplication and division fact family craft would also be fun for your winter classroom activities.

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Holiday Ornament Gift

My students did this beaded ornament project for a family gift.

We used Fast Grab Tacky glue to stick the beads to the ornament and let dry overnight.

If there were bare spots the next day, we did touch up gluing of beads.

Then we wrapped the gifts and added this sweet little note:

Click picture to download notes

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Multiplication Card Games: Deck Out Your Holidays with a Deck of Cards

Give your students a holiday gift that keeps them learning!

I put my rhyming skills to practice with this little number:

"Your teacher is so smart

She wants you to do your part

For learning fame

Do a card game"

I typed up the rhyme and 4 card game directions.

I made 2 different versions: One set focuses on addition and subtraction and the other set includes addition, subtraction, and multiplication.

Attach a deck of cards to the game set and you have a gift for students to "Deck Out their Holidays"

Like this idea?  Grab your copy {HERE}

2 packs of cards at Dollar Tree makes your gift only 50 cents per student.

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My Teacher in a Snow Globe

I mentioned in my Snow Globe project post that a previous student put ME into her snow globe and wrote the cutest story ever. I pulled it out of my FOREVER file to share with you!

The story adds even more cuteness:

It was a day before Christmas and Ms. T was sleeping with a snoring cat beside her. Then, within a step from the cat, there was a tricky mouse. Suddenly, the cat woke up and the cat started to chase the mouse all around the Christmas tree. To escape, the mouse ran up the tree. Then the cat knocked the Christmas tree over! As the tree fell, a snow globe ornament fell on Ms. T's head. She woke up and the water from the snow globe made Ms. T shrink. Of course, Ms. T was horrified when she shrank. She was as tiny as her cat, Mr. Wiskers. Mr. Wiskers started to chase Ms. Tiny T.

Then Ms. T yelled, "Help, help, I need help."  After a little while a cricket heard and said,

"Do not fear, Mr. Cricket is here." The cricket said to Ms. T, "You should go inside the snow globe." She replied, "In the snow globe?" and the cricket said, "Yes!" So, Ms. T ran inside the snow globe. While she was in the snow globe she realized it was cold, but she felt safe. So my teacher was happy inside her snow globe especially when we would pick up the globe and shake it around.

Let your class try their own creative writing efforts. Get the project {HERE}

Acrostic Synonym & Antonyms

I loved the acrostic poem idea I found {HERE} for antonyms and synonyms.  I retyped and "cutified" them!

Click image to grab your copy!

Take them or leave them

Like them or hate them

I'm on an antonym and synonym roll!

Gifts of Giving Bags

My class is treated to "Gifts of Giving" goodie bags just prior to our winter break. The basic idea is to have students bring in a class set of goodies like seasonal pencils, candy canes, erasers, or holiday Dollar Store items. I send home a donation letter to parents, and those that want to send treats in do.  All students decorate their gift cover and glue it to the front of a paper bag. As donations come in I fill the bags with all the treats and on our last day together every student has their own "Gifts of Giving" goodie bag. You can take a peek at my sample letter below and also grab a copy of my "Gifts of Giving" cover.

Grab a copy of the bag cover:

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My Window

I snapped this picture this fall Thanksgiving morning. This is the beauty that greets me every time I sit at my laptop to blog, grade, or lesson plan. I love my view from my kitchen window.

"I look out this window and I think this is a cosmos, this is a huge creation, this is one small corner of it. The trees and birds and everything else and I'm part of it. I didn't ask to be put here, I've been lucky in finding myself here."

~Morris West~

Thinking of Thanks

I'm joining Oh Boy 4th Grade and What the Teacher Wants Thankful linkies.

Harley & Me

I'm currently typing this post as a one eyed teacher due to eye surgery this morning. I have a huge eye patch over one eye and it's taken me FOREVER to correct all my misspellings.  But I'm recovering with gratitude because IT is the way, even though the doc says I'll be black, blue and bruised for Turkey Day. Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving vacation.

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It's Snow Globe Time

I know I mentioned that my No Cost Gift writing was a favorite of the season, but my Snow Globe project is on the top of my list too.  I have my students do this as a take home project, but you can also complete it in class. Students create a character inside their snow globe and then write a story about how the character came to be inside it. The stories always turn out fabulous! My favorite story was one titled, "My Teacher in the Snow Globe". I've saved that one in my FOREVER file.  I'll have to dig it out and post it for you...it's adorable I must say.

Get this project {HERE}

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No Cost Gift Writing

My FAVORITE December holiday writing activity is related to No Cost Gifts.

I assign each student an item that costs nothing monetarily, and they write about how they appreciate it in their lives.  

Grab it at my store

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Tongue Twisters...A Twist of Fun!

Today we had a "Twist of Fun"! My students presented tongue twisters.

I assigned each student a tongue twister to practice at home, copy, illustrate, and color.

Then the tongue tying fun began!

Here are some samples:

You can get this project file {HERE}

It includes a direction cover, writing paper and a list of 33 tongue twisters.

Four furious friends fought for the phone

Does the shop stock socks with spots?

I saw a saw that could outsaw any other saw I ever saw.

Farmer Mac Nugget's Turkeys

What a classic read for Thanksgiving!

For my first grade blogger friends I ran across a math story mat lesson I used to do with my firsties following this story.

I guess now I can enrich this same lesson by dividing or multiplying turkeys and haystacks for my 3rd graders!

These mats used turkeys and hay stacks to build subtraction word problems.

I laminated the mats for reuse.

Thankful Bucket Fillers

Have your students fill buckets this week in a thankful way!

Click each photo to download each bucket filler note.

~Enjoy~

I recently started a Facebook Group for teachers to share ideas, questions, and inspiration. 

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