Layla Henry- Fancy Free in 4th- Blog

Fancy Ideas for the Everyday Classroom

We Teach 3-4-5’s Merry & Bright Tips and Giveaway

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     Keep calm dear teacher friends… It is almost time for Winter Break. Today I am teaming up with the fabulous We Teach 3-4-5 bloggers to share some Tips to keep you Merry and your kiddos Bright for this last push before Winter Break.  There is also a fantastic Winter Prize Bundle that one lucky reader will win, so keep on reading!

     The last week of school before Winter Break is also Parent- Teacher Conference Week. Monday is a non-student day where we conference all day and the rest of the week we are out early and hold conferences in the afternoon. It is nice in one sense but it also adds an extra layer of chaos to the mix.  To stay Merry and Bright during this week I like to have our  have the class focus on giving back to our school community in different ways throughout the week. Here are three ways I do this in December!

   Giving Back to the school library of a lower grade class:  Have a Booky Christmas Giving Tree in your classroom. #saywhat 
     Simply, have your students look through their gently used books and bring a few
to class. Have a wrapping party in class. You can reinforce measurement, are and
perimeter! Deliver the books to your school library or a lower grade class!  It is a free and wonderful way to spread cheer to your school!
    Giving back to a buddy class: My second tip is to pair up with a lower grade classroom for something fun and festive. I have a first grade teacher friend at my school site, and at the beginning of the school year we decided to collaborate and have “Little Buddies” our classes.  Each week we go to her classroom for 10 minutes to do fluency reads, decodables, sight words work, read library books or study their math facts. 
           
Parents donate all the supplies, and no we aren’t talking those expensive kits, just graham crackers, frosting and candy. We hand out all of the materials and as a team, they have to figure it out. 
    If you can throw this together next week, I highly recommend it because it is a great time to see them work together, problem solve and collaborate.  If you want something simpler to do, pair up with a lower grade class and have your kiddos read to their class any of those fantastic winter books out there or do a festive craftivity.  This shows your class the value of working with others who are not their peers and hopefully inspires them to do this in other ways. Many of my students love to help these lower grade teachers during their lunch breaks too. It sets a tone of giving is better than receiving and that sometimes the best gifts aren’t things.
    Giving back to your coworkers: Lastly, I love to share the holiday cheer with my coworkers by giving them a little something to say Happy Holidays!  As teachers, need that support from one another during this time of year! This year I made these cute yogurt pretzel snowman jars.
   It was inexpensive, took no time at all to put together AND they turned out sooo cute!
    All you need are pretzels, buttons, felt, Mason jars and a hot glue gun and bam. Instant Christmas cuteness!
    Now, one lucky reader has the chance to win this awesome Winter Prize Bundle put together by these amazing upper grade bloggers.  
a Rafflecopter giveaway
 There are so many fantastic prizes in this bundle to help your class stay bright this Winter! From Close Reads to math activities all set for when you come back in January, you won’t want to miss your chance to win this bundle. I am giving away my beloved Winter Grams!
These are going to not only make an awesomely, cute Back from Winter Break bulletin board BUT it will give my class the opportunity to share all the fun things they did over their break. I am going to have them present it in groups for a little extra oral presentation practice because my class this year like to chit chat but not in an organized fashion, if you know what I mean!

     Make sure to peruse through all of these blogs to see their tips and tricks too.  We’d love to have you link up with us to share how you are planning on staying Merry and Bright for this last week before break!

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