Grinch Day :: Reindeer :: Polar Express

Hello. It's Me. I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet...

A little Adele anyone?! Ha!! But seriously. HELLO!! From the other side of this computer!!! It's been awhile since I've blogged and I've really missed my little corner of cyberspace. I wasn't sure where exactly the best place to pick back up, but what better place than smack dab in the middle of the present?! It just so happens to be December. Teaching in December. It's not for the weak of heart!! But in the midst of all the crazy, it's fun to work in some magical moments! 

This past Friday was our annual Grinch Day! The kids love it every year and I have yet to ever tire of it. Here's a peek at ours with a few FREEBIES to snag along the way. 

The day before I send home a little note with my class so that everyone can get into the Grinchy green spirit.

Of course, reading the story is an absolute must!!! All the kids want to tell me about the movie. I like to let them know that the movie is based on this original story. 

Then we  listen to the You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch song and jump into adjectives. Together the class brainstorms words describing him and his heart before it grew. We come up with words to complete the sentence:

"You're a __________ one, Mr. Grinch!"

Writing about How to make the Grinch Grin is always worth a few laughs. Some of the kids wrote about giving him cars, hats, and big presents from Santa, but you can read my favorite two below. This writing sheet is a freebie from A Cupcake Teacher that you can grab on her blog, here. 

We also make some Grinch faces to display alongside our writing. 

Another activity I re-use each year is this Grinchy Green Word Scavenger Hunt I made with "ch" words. (You can download it here.) This one is always a lot of fun and can really been done in 10-15 minutes.  I love the top shot I snapped of my little green mob as they were entering the lobby to begin the hunt! 

When the hunt is complete they earn their Grinch licked candy canes. It was a Grinch Day miracle y'all!!! The ALL green candy cane boxes were back this year at Walmart ($2). And this tiered teacher heart grew a few sizes upon finding them. For the past few years I have made a class set by hunting down multiple boxes of the Starburst multi flavor candy canes, but this year I was in and out in less then ten minutes!! I adore these tags from Cara and have used them year after year. They're a freebie here on her blog. The kids get a kick out of telling everyone who will listen that the Grinch went and licked their candy canes green!! 

We've also been learning All About Reindeer this month! Nonfiction studies in the classroom are a always a favorite. This month was no exception!!

We start with our reindeer mini- readers. I put these up under my doc camera and together we read through them and highlight all of the important vocabulary words as we find them. 

These words also remain on display throughout the unit so that the kids can refer back to them and continue to use them in their writing. Right now they're hard at work putting the finishing touches on their very own Nonfiction Reindeer books. 

And finally, these cute little reindeer are the first thing you see when you enter our room and they bring a smile to my face every time!!! Too cute!! 

Our last day before break is Polar Express Day! This is the hot chocolate bar that my teammate and I set up for the kids last year. I can't wait to replicate this cozy table of treats again this year. Crockpot hot chocolate is a MUST!!! Along with PJ's and a reading of the original story. 

I pull from my pack of Polar Express Day activities to keep the theme rolling all day!

Whew. That was a lot of December for one post! 

I'll leave you with these final words of December wisdom.

"KEEP CALM AND MAKE IT TO WINTER BREAK"

#twastheweekbeforechristmasbreak #teachingindecember