Christmas Crazies!!

Ho ho holy crow - I can't believe there are only 10 more school days until Christmas break! Jeepers! We have had a total blast with holiday activities this week and the kids have been super excited, which has led to a bit of chaos. I'm not sure my little friends can handle all the excitement without totally losing it. But honestly, who doesn't freak out a little at this time of year? It's just so fun!!

Last week we got ourselves ready by creating our countdown chains. The kids hang them next to their desk and we cut off a link each day until we reach the top! When we cut the final link off, it will be Christmas! You can create countdown chains with your little ones too by clicking here!

 

 

On Monday, we decorated the room to spread some Christmas cheer :) We decorated the tree together and put up our lights. It was so sweet to see them working together. This was the first time decorating the tree for some of them and it just warmed my heart.

 

  

They are so cute!! I also added a bit of charm this year by creating a fireplace in the room to hang our stockings. I am in LOVE with it. It makes me feel like I am still up north :)

At first I put the the bow above it, but it just didn't do it for me. SO I went out and bought a cute little wreath to hang above it. The kids love sitting and reading their books in the library next to the big fireplace.

I use the stockings as part of our special December behavior management system. Because our classroom has a Rockstar theme, we call them their "Rocking Stockings". Each day in December that they end the day on a good color (green, orange, purple, or blue), they earn a special treat to put inside their rocking stocking. I just use little goodies that I pick up from Walmart, the Dollar Tree, and Oriental Trading. Things like stickers, pencils, erasers, candy, etc. They really do work harder to earn good behavior colors! They get to take their stocking home the day they leave for Christmas break.

 

Outside of our room, I always create a huge gingerbread house. The kids always get excited when they see it. I added a little something different this year by putting some fun sparkling snow toward the bottom. I put some lights on the floor and covered them with polyfill. Then I sprinkled some glittery buffalo snow on top. It looks much better in person, it was hard to capture the "magic" in a picture.

This week we also began our Holiday Behavior Books! These things are a blessing in my room. It is just the right amount of bribery to use this month. Read below to see how it works!

 

 Santa delivers the books to our classroom in December. It has a special rhyming note on the cover from Santa explaining how it works. There are three pages for the three weeks in December before we leave for Christmas break. Each page has 5 missing pictures. At the end of each day, all of my little ones who are on a good color get to add a sticker to their book. On day 1, they put their sticker in box 1 (it is a little cat sitting in front of the fireplace). On day 2, they put their sticker in box 2 (a gift under the tree) etc. They are sooooo sad when they don't get to add their sticker. But it's good, because they work harder the next day! At the end of the week they get to color their picture in. The next week, we move to page 2, and so on!

HOLIDAY BEHAVIOR BOOK PAGES

DAILY BEHAVIOR BOOK STICKERS

That is just the beginning of our Christmas fun!!

This week I will tell you all about our crazy, mischievous little elf visitor.

Here's a preview of what he's been up to...

A lot of SUGAR and a little SPICE!

Has it really been 6 days since I have blogged last? Time is just flying by! Sorry I didn't ever get back to you about our gingerbread fun, I will definitely be doing that now! I am finally on Christmas break and it could not have come at a better time. With all the sadness and fear surrounding the past few weeks, having some time to appreciate those I love most is a perfect way to end this year! And in order to celebrate my fantastic and amazing TPT and Blog followers, I am throwing a 3-day sale starting today and ending on December 26th. Please enjoy 20% off of all holiday items in my store! Just click the picture below to take you there!

I just had to share this beautiful family picture! We took this in my friends backyard and we were so excited with how it came out! We used Walgreens photo center and had it blown up onto a framed canvas to give to our parents for Christmas. I was super impressed that we managed to get one where all the dogs were looking. Also, there were ants biting me the entire time so thankfully I managed to smile!!

 Anyway, let's get down to business! I created a large gingerbread house outside of our room and the kids just went crazy over it! My mom found the adorable gold candies at Michaels. They were originally $25 a piece! OUTRAGEOUS! Luckily there were on sale and we got them for under $5 a piece! Woo hoo!

 We started our gingerbread fun by reading 6 different versions of the classic "Gingerbread Man" story. We created a Gingerbread Story Comparison chart and compared the elements from each story, including the: title, characters, setting, refrain, and ending. To snag your copy for next year while it's on SALE, click the picture below!

 We also graphed our favorite version! The graph parts are also included in the download above.

 

After reading the stories, we had to make gingerbread cookies of our own! The kids mixed all the dough and used cookie cutters that I found at Walmart. We brought them over to the cafeteria to bake. After a little while, we went back to get them and the cafeteria staff explained that they had opened the oven and our gingerbread men had escaped! We went around the entire school asking everyone if they had seen them. A fellow teacher saw them run past her room and the office staff said that we just missed them. We went back to our room and planned to set a trap to catch them. The kids brainstormed and came up with the idea to use gumdrops as bait. We set a trail leading to a jar and left to go home for the night.

 

The next day when we got to school, we saw that our trap had worked! We had caught the gingerbread men!! The best part was decorating them. YUM!

 Our sweet little Sprinkles the elf also had a delicious treat for us. A homemade gingerbread house!

The next day, we did a funtastic lesson from Deanna Jump's Gingerbread Man Fun Unit. The kids each took only one bite from their gingerbread cookie and put it down. They each received a cute picture that showed a gingerbread man with a bite in the same spot they had bitten. We graphed our results and found that most people bit either the leg or the head first!

 As a culminating activity, we did a gingerbread science experiment. Our key question was: 'What would have happened to the gingerbread man if he had tried to swim across the lake?' After making predictions in their Science Smarts notebooks, each group placed a gingerbread man into the 'lake'. We drew and wrote about our observations at different time intervals. I was so surprised that they didn't dissolve quicker. Must be all the preservatives they put in! Even after 72 hours, they still held their shape. Gross.....

 After 72 hours, I let the kids poke them (which I think was their favorite part of the entire experiment). They separated a bit, but still stayed in big chunks. Not at all like I predicted! And with that, it was the weekend and almost the last week of school. My next post will be allll about our Polar Express week. We had so. much. FUN. Can't wait to share it with you! Hope you are having a wonderful holiday!