Christmas Craziness

I am TIRED!  Can I say that?  It has been a crazy week, with crazy fun, and crazy kids, and not enough time to do it all.

I am joining with other bloggers to share some of that fun on this last Friday of the year! ( Did I say tired?? )  Oops!, there is not a linky this week....but here are Five crazy things I have been up to in my classroom.  Enjoy and have some Christmas Break fun!

First up is Jingle our Classroom Elf.  He made his appearance late in the first week of December and has been having fun in our room ever since. 

He brought crayons and snow, he has put up a tree and paper chains, he hung out in the tree house with Jack and Annie, and he was the first thing everyone looked for each morning.  Today he was on top of the globe with the list of good boys and girls.

Jingle has kept us busy.  We wrote about him each morning, so along with tasks he brought from time to time, he has been a great asset to our journal writing.

Next is a shout out to my WONDERFUL husband....who suffers through itchy wigs to play Santa.

Our music program was this week.   Not only did our music teacher do a great job, but a fellow teacher gave up all her preps these last two weeks to play the piano for each class during their music class and got us organized with some backdrop decorations.  I work with awesome teachers!

I guess it is not Christmas without parent gifts....this year we made glittery candle holders with old jars, glue, glitter, and battery operated tea lights.  They were easy peasy and the glitter didn't scatter too much, but they did take a couple of days to completely dry.

We wrapped them up in Rudolf paper bags.

Today was party day.  We did a gingerbread house/Santa's workshop party.  I had several projects hanging around that we didn't have time to do, plenty of  paper, jewels, glue, markers and such, so my students got to choose and create while we helped them assemble their houses.  After lunch, when the houses had a chance to set, we added the candy.

All was finished just in time to head home.  Pack up was easy because we had paper bag "suitcases" that we started filling first thing in the morning.  As projects were finished into the bag they went.  The end of the day went....get your lunchbox and backpack, put on your coat, pick up your bag, hold on to your house and out to the bus you go!

Have a wonderful Holiday Season!  I am going to spend time with my crazy crew....

An elf is coming!

Do you have an elf coming to your classroom? An elf is coming to mine.  He is scheduled to arrive the Monday after Thanksgiving.

I believe he will be coming via the Arctic Express.  I suspect he will be traveling in something that will insulate him from the cold.

We will invite him to stay with us the whole month of December.  He may need a name and perhaps a spot where he can keep an eye on us.  If we do not behave properly he may need to travel back to the North Pole for a day or two.

Our elf will have many adventures while he is with us.  Many of them we will journal about.  We will read about his adventures at the North Pole here in this emergent reader.

He will find his way into helping us with our math centers.  He will help us play games, eat snacks, create gifts, and do random acts of elf service.

You can pick up the emergent reader in my tpt store or by clicking on any of the pictures above.  What else do I use?  These products from other wonderful bloggers,

 and my own math and literacy pack (it is almost ready).  Here is a freebie from that pack:

Missing Addend recording pages

Stay tuned for the further adventures of our elf by following my facebook page.  We should have daily updates.  Join in the fun and let us know what your elf is doing.

Don't forget cyber Monday tomorrow...stock up on everything you will need at a great price.  Checkout code: cyber