Giving Back: Paws 4 People


Hello!
One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is the giving spirit all around us. This Sunday, December 14th, a group of Teachers Pay Teachers sellers are linking up to donate to charity. We are each choosing one charity that is close to our heart. I decided that I want to donate 100% of my sales for the day to Paws 4 People.
This amazing organization helps to provide wounded veterans with much needed service dogs. They also work with children with special needs. The dogs are trained to help with everything from mobility issues, seizure detection, to PTSD. I was fortunate enough to attend a Service Dog Graduation and fundraising event last month. I have never seen so many dogs in one place (and all so well behaved)!! Witnessing the difference these dogs have made in the lives of their new families is truly incredible and inspiring. The organization goes above and beyond to take care of the dogs and the families. Now, feeling like the proud God-dog mother that I am....a few pictures of my favorite service dog Sherman and his adventures. I promise....he does a lot more each day than just have photo shoots ;)



 Sherman was such a great helper setting up my classroom this past summer. Of course he had to take time to do some reading and learning!



If you are interested in learning more about Paws 4 People please click here and remember all of my sales for the day will go to this great cause. If you are interested in making a direct donation please consider making it in honor of Sherman. Please help spread the word!

To see all of the other sellers participating in this wonderful Giving Back event please click through the link up below. Happy shopping!


Classroom Kindness Elf Ideas & Freebie


Ok, so I must admit...I was nervous about jumping on the "Elf" bandwagon. After all, do students really need one more reason to lose their minds get excited this time of year? Finally I decided that the answer is YES! My first graders are at an age where magic and mystery fill the season and I wanted to create special memories for them. I decided to add a twist to my visitor's purpose and have been using him to help implement random acts of kindness each day. 

******** This post has been updated to include ideas from the last several years of using a classroom kindness elf, along with some shopping ideas (affiliate links) for some of my favorite accessories for Elvin D Elf. I can now say for sure this is one on MY favorite parts of the year!

Delivery

 
Each year I like to plan a special frozen delivery which usually requires the help of a team mate. Last year the speech teacher acted as my special helper by delivering the package. I had placed it in the freezer the night before (next to peppermint ice cream of course!) and then again in the freezer at work. The "frozen" package arrived from the North Pole nice and cold, complete with glitter snowflake confetti


Once we opened the package I read a little letter to them from my Elf Inspired Acts of Kindness freebie. 

Acts of Kindness & Elf Antics

My plan is always to leave one note each day with an act of kindness or a little treat (gift for others, writing task, cleaning, kind words, etc.). BUT, I usually have waaaaay too much fun and the elf moves around a little extra. My poor co-workers are probably over my obsession with Elvin D Elf but I just can't help it! The squeals of excitement are SO worth it.

Sometimes Elvin causes a little mischief, but his main goal is to help spread holiday cheer and kindness!







 

 
 

 
  
 
 
  
Elf Sized Accessories

When I first started having the elf visit back in 2013, Dollar Tree was my best friend for elf sized fun, and is still a great spot for inspiration! Over the years I have slowly added to my collection with fun new outfits and accessories, especially designed for elves. Too cute! 
 

 



 


Elf Mailbox and Letters to the North Pole

My kiddos are equally obsessed with writing our classroom elf letters.  They seriously BEG me to go to Work on Writing during our Daily 5 time each day. Teacher win right?

The first year I had him I really didn't know what to expect so I had to improvise with our mailbox (Jack-o-lantern).

Last year I upped my game for sure! I found this little mailbox and printed some colorful Christmas paper. I used some to write personalized notes to each child (using a cute elf like font) and left the rest blank for them to send letters back with. You should see the pure joy on their face when a custom note was left praising them for a recent achievement or sending them well wishes when something was challenging. 


I also decided to enter the 21st century by having an email address set up for Elvin. I just created a gmail account and sent notes back and forth to my school email. My class helped me write responses. Like I said...I got a bit obsessed! 

This was an easy way to help reinforce the fact that the elf was watching their great choices (and not so great). It also meant I could come up with something on the fly and not have to worry about elf fonts and printing. 

I hope you enjoyed getting a sneak peak in my classroom and found some new ways to add kindness and excitement in your own classroom. Don't forget to check out the pre-made shopping list with tons of elf inspiration. I am looking forward to seeing what antics he comes up with next!


If you want to use your special classroom elf as an extra way to keep kids on the nice list, be sure to download my freebie. I included a letter from the North Pole, notes from the elf with classroom ideas, and a materials list. Enjoy!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Elf-Inspired-Acts-of-Kindness-1586663

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Elf-Inspired-Acts-of-Kindness-1586663
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Elf-Inspired-Acts-of-Kindness-1586663


1st Grade Halloween Ideas


Happy Friday! Who is in the mood for a few tricks and treats? I have tons of great crafts, recipes, and lesson ideas for you so sit back, relax, and enjoy!
Now I'm going to be honest....Halloween is not one of my favorite holidays. I'm a big scaredy baby. I do not like haunted houses, scary movies, or spooky anything really. Maybe I just had to go to too many haunted houses when I was little but the thought of all the blood and gore does not appeal to me. I was definitely the kid that wanted to dress up like a bride (until the monster stole my veil!) or something else cute.

Although I'm not big into the scary side of things, I do enjoy celebrating first grade style with my students. In my classroom this means tons of bat, spider, and pumpkin lessons/projects all month long! This week we focused on bats by reading Stellaluna and a variety of other fiction and nonfiction books. We also welcomed a new (low maintenance) class pet into our family. Students decided to call her Stellaluna, although several boys still insist that her name is Batman.No judgements.



During math time we let loose with our Before & After Bats (number sequencing). My firsties still need some practice ordering numbers so what better way than with bats. They chose one number card to place in the middle of the bat and then wrote the number that came before and after. For my students who needed a challenge I had them find 10 less or 10 more than the number.




 I used some of the leftover bat cards to write simple subtraction facts on. Some of my students loooooove to add even when they see the minus sign so this week we used plastic bats and had them fly away (gently tossed to the side) as we were solving equations or subtraction word problems.




Another math center this week was "Whoooo" has 10? Catch this owl themed freebie to practice ways to make 10 with your own students. Students can play go fish, memory, matching, or use the cards during whole group movement activities.


Next week is going to be spider week (eww). I found some awesomely creepy plastic spiders to use as props during math and writing which I am excited for. My Fun Friday activity during this unit is usually to make spider cracker sandwiches. Students spread peanut butter on two crackers to create a sandwich. They then add pretzel stick legs and M&M eyes (stuck on with peanut butter). This year we have to avoid peanuts like the plague in my room so I am still modifying the plan in my head....maybe chocolate frosting on vanilla cookies?


Last thought of the night....the following equation is true correct? (It's almost Halloween, candy is a given...plus they do almost count as fruit right?) These are my two all time favorite candies! Growing up my sister and I used to pour all of our candy on the floor when we got home from Trick-or-Treating and began the long process of bartering and rationing the goods. Ahhhh, the good old days!


I hope you found some new Halloween inspired math ideas. Happy Halloween teacher friends!