Past Winter Freebies

Sometimes I forget what I've got out there.  If I forget then you might not even know it's available, right?

Here are some of my past Winter Freebies if you never picked them up the 1st time around!

Parent Winter Gift Addendum . . .

One thing that I meant to mention when I posted about the Winter gifts we made for the parents is this:
as teachers we see a lot.  We see a lot of good parenting and poor parenting, and we focus on the effect is has on the kids.  I think sometimes we forget that we are also in a position where we can help not just our students but their parents as well.  There's so much more behind the scenes that we don't realize and sometimes we need to remember to try to minister to the parent as well . . . be it in small ways or large.

When I explained to my kids that with this Winter gift we would be essentially complimenting our parents in telling them what makes them so special and unique one of my very intuitive and bright students raised her hands and said, "Mrs. Wilcox - I think this is a very good idea because mommy thinks she is just terrible."  If you know this child, you know that she is raised very well.  I literally had to quickly make a statement to agree with her on the importance of what they write to mom and dad in this activity and move on because I was tearing up.  To imagine . . . mommy thinks she is just terrible.  These gifts may be just a small gesture, but I pray that the words my kids wrote to mom and dad truly touch their hearts and put a smile on their faces because no mom or dad who loves their child should think they are "just terrible."

(Click here to go to the actual Winter Gift for Parents post.)

Winter Gift to Warm the Parent Heart

Every year I try to work with the kids to make a gift for their parents. This year I intended to take this last week of school before vacation to have the kids work on them. Unfortunately my daughter got sick and I missed a couple of days with them so that combined with other programs scheduled during writing meant I had to rush to finish the gifts last minute on the last day!!! Regardless-I love the results!

We started by reading Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon. Then we watched the Brainpop video about snowflakes. I asked them to think hard and find something these 2 things had in common. How were Molly Lou Melon and snowflakes alike? Of course what I was getting at is that Molly Lou Melon wasn't like anyone else. She was different and unique. It's what made her special. So we, like Molly Lou Melon and snowflakes are (in the kids' words) different, special and unique.

This was their gift to their parents. They would write and tell their parents what they loved about them that made them so special...like no one else. It took some coaching but once they understood that this was essentially "complimenting" their parents, the students wrote done truly heart-warming and touching things.

Here are the results along with some of my favorites!

Winter Writing Prompts

I love to write . . . when I have the time, that is!  That's why I love to teach my kids Writing.  I teach them in the hopes that they too will come to love this form of expression. 

I've noticed over the years that some students are just bursting at the seems with ideas of things to write about.  Sometimes when we make our list of writing ideas in the back of our Writing Notebooks, some students have difficulty getting started on a writing piece because they have so many ideas they want to add to their lists!  I've also noticed, however, that there are some students who can't seem to come up with an idea on their own . . . they need a little help getting started.  Give them a prompt and watch them go!

Here are some Winter themed writing prompts I came up with to help some of them get going.  I like to use these prompts in my Writing center during Guided Reading centers.  I just print out enough copies and let the students cut out a prompt and glue it in their own notebooks.  Less work and less copies for me (and y'all know how important it is to save on copies!).

These are free to you . . . so click and download away!

I Heart this Site!

A couple of years ago when I was pregnant with my daughter, my husband started bringing me home magazines from the pediatrics office where he works.  They were a great mix of pregnancy, parenting, and kids magazines.  I love looking through these magazines because articles and features are quick reads so they fit in well with our busy lifestyle.  One day my husband brought me home a new magazine I hadn't seen before and that was it . . . I wanted my own subscription because I didn't want to miss out on any of the good stuff!  If you have seen the Disney Family Fun magazine, you may know what I'm taking about!

Games, DIY, crafts, recipes, etc.  Each issue was jam packed full of wonderful stuff!  That's where I got the idea for my daughter's cupcake owl cake for her 1st birthday!  There are so many cute ideas in it that I can't do with her yet since she's only 16 months, but I'm keeping these magazines on file for later use when she can enjoy the activities.

Anyhow some years in my classroom I'm really blessed with a great PTA room mom to help with events such as the Winter and Summer (End of Year) parties.  I can just hand it over to them and they plan an prepare all the goodies, games, crafts, and snacks.  This year . . . no such luck.  That's why I need to find some really quick, easy, and inexpensive activities for my kids for our Winter Party.  A quick Google search brought me to the Disney Family fun website!  So many great ideas!

If you were in my positions . . . looking for something to do with the kids that wouldn't take to much prep (or money) but still packed lots of fun, you may want to check it out.  The website url is http://familyfun.go.com/.  Check it out for your students or for your own little ones!  I plan on doing the Winter Wonderland snow globe ornament, igloo cup game, and am contemplating a few others.  The more I look the more I want to do!

This is the Winter Wonderland ornament from Family Fun 

(picture taken from the Family Fun website)

Enjoy!

Penguin Punctuation!

Here's a fun center to get your kids practicing their punctuation!

Use the punctuation snowballs to determine whether the sentence gives a statement, asks a question, or uses lots of feeling.  It's great as a pocket chart or game center.  Just print, laminate, and cut and the penguins are ready to rumble!  A follow-up worksheet is included for teachers to monitor student work or even count it as a grade!