Santa's Book of Names - Book Extension

One thing EVERY little person wants to know is if they are on "THE LIST." Well, all could have been lost one Christmas if Edward hadn't saved the day.   In 

Santa's Book of Names, 

Edward, a little boy,  who can't read finds Santa's Book of Names that was dropped on Edward's floor as Santa was leaving. Edward has to catch Santa. Santa asks for help reading the names as he drives, so Edward goes along for the ride.  See if he is able help Santa, when Santa loses his glasses and can't read the list. This is a great book that all first graders love and can really relate to.   

If you are looking for a way to get your children excited about reading, especially at this exciting time of year, try this book extension for December. This book is a fun story about Santa's book of children's names. There are anchor charts for the genre fiction. There are also many engaging activities for reading, writing, and more. Students will be learning about sequencing, plot, and story elements in a fun way, as well several activities that teach alphabetical order. The children will enjoy making text to self connections and comparisons with their own Christmas experiences. Check it out by clicking below. 

Click here to get this extension.

Party To Go - Reindeer Games

   Need a quick and easy Christmas Party for your kiddos? This Party to Go package makes your Christmas party easy as pie.  All you have to do is print the parts you want to use, laminate or put in page protectors (or both) and you will be set.  After having a couple of years without a homeroom mom, we decided to put together our own party package that could be pulled out year after year, with little or not planning.  Inside you will find everything you need to keep the children engaged so that they have fun and are not wild and out of control  overly excited and louder than normal. Ha! And if you are lucky, you can just hand it over to your homeroom mom and say, "Here you go, run with it."  

   Included in the package is a plan for how to start your day and progress through the games. YOU MUST STATE YOUR PARTY RULES (included)  if you expect the kids to follow them. We always start the morning off with a coloring contest.  We have these about once a month to encourage neatness and a love of art, so they already know what to expect and that no scribble scrabbles are acceptable.  The prizes are rewards from the reward box we already have in class or they may choose ice-cream from the teacher with their lunch. We send them to be judged by our impartial office aide Terri , who by the way LOVES getting to participate. She even has to enlist the help of the school nurse when she gets down to the finals sometmes. LOL! Anyway, this starts your day quietly and calmly as you wait for the party to begin, if you have it early like we do.  We release from school at half day, so our party has to be first thing in the morning.    

   Next you move to a game you can play away from your desk while moms fix our plate of goodies.  This year we had snowy treats that were suitable for morning. I googled Frozen Parties.  LOTS to choose from on Pinterest.  Anyway, we played the Reindeer Scrambler game where the kids are given all the letters needed to spell all the reindeer names.  They are placed in teams of four (teams drawn from a miniature toy bag of name tags from our Santa's Book of Names extension), given a baggie of letters and they begin when you say GO!   The first team finished with all the names jumps up and yells Reindeer Rock! Or whatever you want them to say. I have a list of reindeer names from the previous day that I put out after about 7-10 minutes.  They can use it for a reference,  

    Next, we move back to our seats to eat our snacks while we play Pin the Nose on Rudolph.  This is a good game to play while they eat since you only need two students at a time.  I call  up two students (from the name bag), hand them a red nose with tape on the back, and an piece of construction paper to cover their eyes. This helps to keep us germ free and they can toss the paper or keep it to draw on when their turn is over.  I spin them around two times, and they pin the nose on. The winner of the two players (whoever gets closest to the real nose) gets  2 Christmas stickers.  The other player gets one for being a good sport--if they earned it. After eating we go to one of the other games depending on how much time we have.  I always try to get in the Reindeer Walk at the end when they are bursting with sugar joy and about to leave for Christmas.  I don't use all of the numbers, but we included them if you need them.  I just used 10.  The rule was whoever is in front of the number called is out.  The next game I changed it up to whoever is behind the number.  You can make it your own to suit yourself.  A little cleaning up and they are out the door and YOU are not pulling your hair out and writing all their names on the Naughty List.  This has been a real lifesaver for sure.  To get your own, click below.

 

Click here to get this PARTY TO GO.

The Biggest Christmas Tree Ever - Book Extension

We love reading then making The Biggest Christmas Tree Ever every December. We use this book to teach visualizing, sequencing, retelling, and vocabulary. It is also a great story starter to see where your children get their Christmas trees.  Be ready for some really fun stories about where Christmas trees come from. We created a book extension filled with things we do with this book in our classrooms.  Click below to be redirected to our TPT store and then click the preview to see what is included.  We even have a pattern to make the Biggest Christmas Tree they have Ever made, so far anyway.   Happy reading!

Click here to get this extension.

Santa's Stuck - Book Extension

Isn't it realistic (if you are 6) to think Santa, with his jelly belly COULD get stuck in the chimney? What a fright that would be! Anyway, this book is always a hit with our first graders as we get ready for that jolly elf's visit.  Check out some of the things we teach with this book by looking at our book extension that goes with it in our TPT store.  Click below to be redirected, then click on the preview to see what we do with our kids.  This book is a must have for Christmas!!!

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The Polar Express - Book Extension

This book is such a touching story about believing in things you can't see.  It is a must have for reading aloud before Christmas holidays.  As a first grade teacher, we always get that big question, "Is Santa real?" and our answer is always the same,  "He is real as long as you BELIEVE he is real."  And isn't that true?  He IS real, for a little while at least.  Haven't you ever, even as an adult, listened in the quiet time before falling asleep on Christmas Eve, hoping to hear the sounds of those jingle bells?  Does the magic ever really end??? 

Check out some things we do in our classrooms with this book by clicking below. You will be redirected to TPT where you can click on a preview to see what is included.  
Happy Holidays 

Everyone!

Click here to get this extension.