Starbuck's Cheer for the New Year

I'm spreading some cheer.

I'll send a lucky follower a $15 Starbuck's card to help get back in gear for the new 2012 school year.

To win make sure you are a follower and comment in any of the following ways:

1. Be or become a follower of my blog ( 1 comment)

2.  Spread the word and blog about my giveaway. (Worth 3 extra comments)

Leave a link in your comments to your blog entry. 

Winner will be announced on January 6th.

New Year's Bucket Fillers

Cultivate classroom friendships with my New Year Bucket Filler notes!

Happy 2012 my bloggy friends!

See more New Year's idea here:

Top 3 in 2011

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.

Want to share your Top 3 posts? Join Fern Smith's Linky Party {HERE}.

Let it Snow

Let it snow with these fun snowflake generators!

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

It's a Snow Globe Sale

If you missed my original post about my Snow Globe Project, take a look at some cute snow scenes from this year's class.

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 my students create!

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

My last day before break is tomorrow and in celebration I'm offering my Snow Globe Project for 33% off through New Year's Eve!  This is a project you can do in January too!  Go grab it {HERE}.

Perfect Possessives

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

Inspiration for this activity that I extended for my 3rd graders came from  Mrs. Bumgardner's 1st grade class. They wrote about their most prized possessions {HERE}.
Take a look at our twist on it.
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.

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.

My class loved it so much, that I might just do it again too after vacation!

Acrostic for the Holidays

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

Click and print

Have yourself a merry little holiday!

The Bell Still Rings

My class rang in the season with this jingling display.

Do you still believe?

Click and print if you truly do!

Enjoy!

Bucket Fillers with Holiday Cheer

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

My holiday bucket fillers are here!

Click and print

I give each student a holiday themed bucket filler to add to a classmate's
"Gifts of Giving" Bag. Read more about the bags {HERE}.

Snowflake Snowman Door

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!

Add your Snow Day Ideas to Pitner's Potpourri Link Up {HERE}

Sidenote: Can anyone tell me how my blog header title "Yearn to Learn" is appearing on your computer? On my mac when I'm on Safari, it is a generic default looking italic font, but when I check my template in Bloggr it shows the correct Calligraffiti font. If I view my blog on Firefox browser it shows the calligraphy font as well. So is this just a Safari thing?? Any guesses??? It's been like this a couple of days now.

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

Join the fun.

Share your holiday gift ideas over at Finally In Firsts Linky.

Deck 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.

The first 2 followers to deck my blog with a comment and their email will get a free copy!
Let me know also in your comment which version you prefer, the one with multiplication or without.