Christmas in the Classroom & Enjoying the Season

WOW! We made it teacher friends!  I love my kiddos but I also LOVE a long Christmas break!!! The last few months have been crazy busy for me!  It's been filled with love, death, sadness, fun, hope... I could go on... Definitely a roller coaster of emotions for the people that I love.  One thing is for sure... you definitely have to treasure the small things in life. I have to remind myself daily to not take a single moment for granted.  Each laughter, hug, smile, moment of silence {that comes few}, kiss, conversation...

My children have definitely made me see things in a whole new light.. or maybe it is just getting older! Being older definitely makes you wiser and more appreciative, but is sure does suck loosing people that you love.

I have enjoyed EVERY moment with my family this season... 

We took a fun trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee with Nan and Pap.  I really wish I took more pictures!!

Santa is bringing us a new puppy!  We went for a visit, but my girls don't know that this little guy will be the newest member of our family very soon!

Our new house has a TON of trees... that means there is a TON of leaves!  My girls love it... my husband... not so much!!! 

I walked into the kitchen to find this.... There is just something about water, bowls, and bubbles that all children love!  

Sophie had her first preschool program at school...
We have done a LOT of dressing up...
And, that cute little girl in the middle of my two girls is my precious niece, Hayden.  I have a feeling these three girls might get into some trouble together as they get older!!!

We made gingerbread houses... {YES!  We are ALWAYS in our pajamas!  And... YES! Our hair does always look like a bird's nest!!} Gotta keep it real!

My girls were so tired one day that I found them both asleep.  If this happens they are TIRED.  This is a RARE occasion in my house.  My kiddos think they don't need sleep!

We got to sit in the back of a police car!  We hit a deer, totaled the car, and a VERY kind family helped us out!  Then.... we got to sit in the very COOL police car with the kindest officer ever while we waited for my husband to pick us up.  It was a LONG night, but it definitely reminded me to be thankful.

We went to the Newport Aquarium with Gigi and Papaw. My girls love staying in hotels!!!!

How cut are these girls? They were on their way to their great grandfather's funeral...

Now........ In the CLASSROOM.....

We've been SO busy!  I feel like I have crammed two months worth of activities into the last two weeks! We've been learning about character change, character traits, culture, holidays, proper nouns & possessive nouns, time to the quarter hour {YUCK}, place value, area, perimeter.... and SO MUCH MORE!

Here are just a few of the highlights...

We began the month learning about the various holidays, cultures, and traditions around the world.  My students are extremely diverse and celebrate many different holidays.  It was fun comparing and contrasting our various traditions.  My students were amazed that all of our holidays include the symbol of candles or "light".

These holiday informational passages have been super handy... They have been perfect for guided reading groups.  After reading this passage about the Dreidel game, my students played the game and made editable dreidels. 

We completed a ton of other activities.... Horrible Harry and the Holidaze was perfect to teach us about Three Kings Day, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and Japanese New Year!  I used all of the activities from this holiday unit!

We also had fun learning about how various countries celebrate Christmas.  My team and I each took a different country.  Our students packed their suitcases and traveled the world.  They had a BLAST... I taught about Christmas in Mexico {FOUR TIMES}!!!! 

We had some area and perimeter fun with our Gingerbread math.. You can grab this FREEBIE Here if you are interested for next year!

The last week of school was CRAZY! The week before Christmas break just seems to be filled with parties, concerts, and plays!  There was nothing normal about this week in our classroom! So... instead of our normal guided reading groups we read a TON of books and completed even more FUN but also engaging and educational activities.  All of this fun came from my Christmas Extravaganza Unit....

We wore elf hats on Polar Express Day... I really wish I could post pictures of my kids.  They were so cute!!  This is a picture of my daughter last year!!!

 Of course, we had to write a letter to Santa explaining why would be good elves!

 This Christmas Tree craft was my FAVORITE!  We read an informational passage about Christmas Trees and then read Pete the Cat.  We wrote about the beginning, middle, and end of the story inside the trees.

And... who doesn't love Mooseltoe???

My kiddos LOVE Black Lagoon books.  You can grab this FREEBIE HERE. 

Here is a close up of all of my Christmas Activities... That I didn't take pictures of!!! I am so bad about taking pictures!  I have to get better!!! 

Mooseltoe, Tacky's Christmas, A New Improved Santa, Olive The Other Reindeer, and Snowmen at Christmas! That's what we were all about last week...

And... if you're in need of some Holiday and Christmas themed informational passages... You can find all of the ones that I used throughout the month of December HERE.

That's it for now!

Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Hollie