Christmas Catch Up!

So I’m sure you all have been super busy. I’m having a hard time fitting all the festivities into the last few weeks of school. Add to that a sick kiddo at home and Christmas tree debacle of sorts at our house and all I have to say is that I’m BEAT!
Yes you heard that right. My sweet Drew has the dreaded FLU. Despite the flu shot my baby is seven kinds of sick. I feel so bad for him and his sweet little red nose. In the midst of that nonsense I had a bright idea to buy a new tree. We had a pathetic pre lit, but I wanted a real tree this year. So I picked out a ginormous tree that when cut out of it’s traveling wrap, literally opened up into the Griswald family Christmas tree. I bought 2 large boxes of lights, started wrapping them around the tree and quickly realized that this real tree was going to need about 15 more boxes of lights to be complete. So guess where that tree might be now…

Yep, that would be our backyard.

Instead I made a trip to Costco and bought a beautiful new pre lit. It’s so tall I need to get a ladder to put the bow on the top, but I’m super happy with our new fake guy!

Now onto other news. Like I said, we have been all kinds of busy in our classroom. Here are some pictures from last week.

Here are our piñata pictures we made after reading about Mexico and their use of piñatas during their holiday celebrations.

We also made menorahs and edible dreidels after traveling to Israel.

During our morning message last Thursday we found homophones. Homophones aren’t listed specifically in the first grade common core, but they are a great way to build vocabulary, which is a common core standard for first grade and helps out immensely in comprehension. So when we finished our search in our message we continued it by doing a Merry Christmoose Homophone Hunt. My kiddos were so excited to find hidden homophone around the room. When they found their homophone and a friend with a match they filled out the form below. It will go in our homophone class book.

During indoor recess a big group played our homophone memory game.

We’ve also been working on partnerships, and retelling during the partner portion of our Reader’s Workshop. We have been discussing how partners need to be good listeners and we also practiced retelling.

Here we are following the “Yellow Brick Retelling Road” courtesy of my sweet friend Cara Carroll.

We just finished a writer’s workshop unit on Narratives. My kiddos’ stories were amazing! I loved their creativity. Here they are at their writer’s celebration sharing their stories in small groups. Nothing like a good story, snacks and a Capri Sun toast to end your week.

If you are still looking to plan your week ahead, here is a peek at my week.

I’m really excited about my new elf unit. I really tried to make it very Common Core based and hit standards that we often forget. There is a little bit of everything included. There is even classroom elf activities and a letter from the elf. I know it’s a little late for that, but you can put it in your pocket for next year. If you need some elf fun in your life, click below.

Have a great week friends.

PS. If you do have an elf in your room and you want him to bring a little decor to your classroom, here is a freebie banner from Santa himself. Click the picture below.