Well, we’re wrapping up another calendar year, and getting ready to go back to see our little "Kindies" again! For me, that’s next week on Monday. So this week, I’ll be telling you about some things that I have planned for next week.
This past week, my husband and I started making fresh video tapes of Sing and Spell Volumes One and Two! He is working on making them available as digital media, for use with interactive whiteboards and custom Powerpoint presentations for teachers who would rather use this in their classrooms than DVD’s! This will give you the ability to customize your lessons by rearranging the songs in any order, just by moving the song slides around to your liking. I think that this will be a great tool! Here is a picture of me in our “studio” which is our really just our garage!!!
Meanwhile, I wanted to mention that Kelly Mikesell is hosting a HeidiSongs CD Give-Away Contest on her website, so be sure to check that out. She’s got lots of different ways to enter, and we’ll be providing the prizes. Her website is also “chock-full” of great ideas, downloadable materials, and even teacher PODCASTS that you can watch if you want to learn how to do a new thing or two! Just think- if a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a video worth? Now that’s a great way to learn how to give a lesson!
1. Winter Themes
I always begin my unit on winter when the children come back from school in January. So we begin by learning the Winter song from Little Songs for Language Arts, and talk about the difference between fall and winter. This can sometimes be a challenge out here in southern California, where the change in seasons often seems minimal! I actually had a second version of the Winter song recorded especially for use in my own class that has slightly different words in it. Here is the real, published version:
It’s winter time, it’s winter time! There’s snow outside to play in! I have to wear my jacket and my fuzzy hat and mittens! Let’s all build a snowman, And have a snowball fight! And then we’ll go inside And have some hot chocolate tonight!
Now my “warm climate version” of the winter song goes like this:
It’s winter time, it’s winter time! There’s snow up on the mountains! I have to wear my jacket and my fuzzy hat and mittens! Let’s drive to the mountains, And go play in the snow, Cause you can’t build a snowman where there isn’t any snow!
The funny thing is that I taught both versions to my class last year, and they were disgusted with the one about there not being any snow to play in around here, and only wanted to sing the “cold climate version.” So I just let the “warm climate version” drop. So much for reality based season songs!
We also usually make the Let’s Build a Snowman book from Little Songs from Language Arts, but this year it looks like time will permit us to just make the last page of the book. Well, that’s the fun part anyway! So we’ll just do that, but also learn the song with it as well. Another song that goes well with this unit is the “Snow” song from my play, “The Mitten.” The kids always enjoy that one, too!
2. Beautiful Bulletin Boards!
Another thing that we do is study “winter” animals such as penguins and polar bears, read books about them, and then make a related art project. We also spend one day talking about Eskimos and the fact that they are Native Americans from Alaska, and then we make an Eskimo project as well. I cover up the bottom half of my walls with white felt so that it will look like snow, and then add an igloo that I drew onto butcher paper and laminated. I love the way it turns out!
B. Penguin:
This little penguin can be posed in lots of different ways! I like to show the children how to make him dance, run, or stand still, based on how his feet or glued on. You can find the directions and tracer pattern here.
3. Nature’s Best Photography Magazine- FABULOUS Pictures for Teaching!
I stumbled upon my first copy of this magazine several summers ago on vacation in Washington, D.C., while visiting one of the Smithsonian museums. They had some of the most beautiful animal pictures blown up very large and hung on the walls there. Later, I discovered that they were actually displaying some of the prize winning photos from the Nature’s Best Photography magazine! They were selling copies of the current version in the museum store (don’t you just LOVE those gift shops???) for about six dollars. I opened it up to find some of the most fascinating photos of animals that I had ever seen anywhere, and I just knew that I had to have a subscription to this magazine! It only comes out four times a year, and the annual subscription cost me $25, I think. Each time it comes out I just want to pour over that magazine! Then I cut out any pictures that are relevant to any theme that I teach and file them away with that art project. I usually post them using magnets on my white board easel each day when I set up the art project for the next day after school.
That way, when the children enter the classroom the next morning, they usually come in and are immediately AMAZED at the beautiful pictures that they see right there at eye level! Then I hear things like, “I know what we are making today- a LION!” etc. The pictures are fascinating and are great conversation starters- not that Kindergartners seem to have any trouble coming up with anything to talk about!! In any case, I ordered a bunch of their back issues of their remaining copies of previously published issues and was able to really fill out my file cabinet with gobs of wonderful pictures of practically everything! The neat thing about it is that if I happen to lack a certain non-fiction book about a certain animal or season, etc., I can usually just “fake” my way through a lesson just by discussing the pictures that I have collected. I highly recommend this magazine for building a picture file!
Well, I wasn’t planning on publishing a blog this week, but there seem to be plenty of folks out there who are still teaching for a few more days next week, so maybe these resources will help out in a last minute pinch! For those of you who, like me, are all finished teaching for now and are just beginning two weeks of vacation, then maybe you can file these things away until next year!
First of all, thanks to all of you who voted for my blog, because we did make the top 3 in one category of the Edublog Awards! HeidiSongs Blog received an award for Second Runner Up in the Best Use of Audio Category! Apparently, there were quite a few of the early childhood teacher blogs that won awards, so as a group, I think we all did pretty well. Here are the category winners:
So kudos to everyone, and thanks to everyone for voting!
1. Poinsettia Book Buddy Project
I posted a picture of this beautiful art project on my HeidiSongs Facebook page, and several people asked me to share the pattern for it. So I brought home the file and got to work on it, and I am sharing it with you today as a free download! I do want to point out that making the points on this poinsettia is rather tricky, and NOT something I would attempt to do with Kindergartners without plenty of help! We always do this project with our third grade book buddies, or not at all. The hard part is wrapping the petal around a finger to form a point. Then the child needs a drop of glue to make it stick, and then they have to count to 20 or so and hold it while it dries. The rest of the project is a snap! The directions are included in the download. These poinsettias certainly make a beautiful bulletin board border or decorative edge on a window, etc. I put them along the edges of our classroom loft and the banister of its stairway.
2. Elf Color Word Worksheet
It always seems relaxing to me to sit with the children while they color in a color word worksheet, so I made another one for my class to do this week. I like to sit and chat with them, and ask them to read me the words on the page. We also usually wind up spontaneously bursting into song, and singing all of those color word songs as they try to figure out each word! If you are not familiar with the color word songs, check them out on Sing and Spell Vol. 2. This CD/DVD is a staple in my class. I also sing these songs with the class acappella (meaning with no CD) while I explain the art project each day. For example, as I cut out a piece of red paper, I say, “What color is this?” The children call out, “Red!” and then we start singing the red song. I think that this keeps them engaged while I demonstrate how to make each part of the project. We also have a song about the word, “cut” that we sing all the time while I cut when we get tired of the color word songs, but it is not recorded yet! I guess it will have to go on a future project! But this is how it goes: (One of these days, I’ll video tape my kids singing it and post it on Facebook so you can hear the tune, for those of you that have a well developed musical memory!) Unfortunately, this song is to the tune of a very old German “Orchestra Song” that my mom used to sing with me when I was little, and I doubt many people would know it! But if you do know it, this snippet of the song comes from the piano “pling, pling, pling” section.
Keep the scissors straight ahead,
Straight ahead, straight ahead,
Turn the paper round instead,
Cut, cut, C-U-T!
3. Gingerbread Man Counting Worksheet
We are still working on identifying the numbers from 11-30, and on counting out numbers in groups of tens and then counting on from there. The songs from Jumpin’ Numbers Vol. 2 are great fun in practicing that! My class’ personal favorite right now is the song for number 17. Here is another free download of one of those worksheets that help kids practice that! We have done GOBS of practice with manipulatives, (especially using those number Christmas Trees from my blog’s entry on week 16) and I think that the children really have this concept down now. During our calendar time, another thing that I have done is start asking the children to tell me a certain number that I am pointing at, and then ask them which number comes before, and which number comes after it. This gives them extra practice identifying the numbers in addition to practicing the concepts of before and after. When they were having trouble getting it, I decided to line a few of the children up, and designated a line leader. Now most of them could tell me who was before and who was after a certain person! Now all we need to do is transfer that skill to a number line.
4. Gingerbread Man Graph and Project
Some of the Kindergarten classes at my school this year put on my Gingerbread Man Musical play, and I took my class to go see both performances of it! It is such a fun play to watch - I love to see the children singing and enjoying themselves! In fact, even though I chose to have my class “sit this one out” and wait until May to put on my newest Wide Mouthed Frog play (which I absolutely LOVE), I felt quite a few twinges of regret that my own students were not up there performing, too! But the reason that I have cut it down to performing just one play a year with my class is that my traveling and presenting schedule during the school year is quite demanding. My calendar is just plain FULL of presentation and staff development dates, and if I don’t pace myself I run the risk of getting burned out and sick.
ANYWAY, my class still very much enjoyed the shows, and we read the books and did the activities that go along with the show anyway! And I also made this little graph that goes along with the Gingerbread Man story, and I am including it as a free download this week! I ran it front to back with the counting worksheet above, and they easily finished both sides in about 15-20 minutes, with a little time to spare to color in some of the pictures.
My class also painted Gingerbread Men this week, and they turned out absolutely darling! To make this project, simply give the children a tracer of the Gingerbread Man and let them trace and cut it out. I like to give them a variety of brown colored sheets of paper to choose from. After that, they can paint it using regular tempera paints mixed with lots of white paint to give them a pastel shade.
Here are some great multi-cultural Gingerbread Man books to check out!
1. The Gingerbread Cowboy by Janet Squires
This is a REALLY fun southwestern version of the traditional tale. “Giddyup, giddyup, as fast as you can, you can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man!” My kids absolutely LOVED it!
2. Musubi Man: Hawaii's Gingerbread Man by Sandi Takayama
I just ordered this one from Amazon myself, so I haven’t read it yet. But the reviews were SO good, and it was only seven bucks! Let’s just say that I LOVE adding to my “Gman collection!”
5. Runaway Radish by Janice Levy
Here’s another one that I’ve heard of but haven’t yet read. I just ordered it online! I can’t wait to read this one- it looks like fun! There’s a bilingual version, too, but it is more expensive than the English only version. This story is set in Mexico, and it’s a radish that runs off. Go figure!
6. Alaska Gingerbread Moose by Phyllis Adams
Okay, now I’ve heard EVERYTHING! The author says that she and her grandson made this up while improvising their own bedtime stories. (Okay, I want THAT child in my class!!!)
7. Stop That Pickle! by Peter Armour
Go, pickle, go!!! I have heard this book read aloud in a conference presentation and giggled myself silly! I’m so glad that I just found it again online! And NOW I have to STOP SHOPPING!!!!!!
5. Make Your Own Rudolph Book into a Sound Effects Story!
Here's something fun to try! Add some sound effects to make a Sound Effects Story out of any book you have! We did that today with my existing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer book. (I just shared this on Facebook, but I was thinking that just in case some of you might have missed it, I would add it here.) The idea with a Sound Effects Story is that each time the reader comes to one of the key words, he or she pauses a second and the kids must respond with a certain sound and/or motion. I have found that if you start the motion for the kids, they will all start saying the sound. This jogs their memory, just in case they need it. These are the motions for my Rudolph Sound Effects Story:
* When the kids heard the word "Rudolph" or "nose," they pointed to their noses and said, "Blink, blink, blink!"
* When they heard the word, "Santa," they all said, "Ho, ho, ho!"
* When they heard the word "reindeer," they all said, "Reindeer!" in a sing-songy way, as in the echo from the Rudolph song.
* When they heard the word, "elf" or "elves," they pretended to hammer something and said, "Work, work, work!"
* When they heard something sad, (such as when the reindeer wouldn't let him play,) they all said, "Awwww!"
* When they heard the word, "presents," they shouted, "Hooray!"
It was WAY fun! You can do this with any version of the story that you have. My kids even were started spontaneously adding their own sounds and motions as I went along!!! They are SUCH a sweet group!
6. Sing & Spell Giveaway!
Check out the "Doman, ABA, Dayhome and Homeschooling Momma" Blog for an upcoming giveaway of one of our Sing & Spell DVDs. Monique is a talented and dedicated dayhome provider who endlessly tests and reviews early childhood products with her kids. Check out her blog and sign up for the giveaway.
Are we all busy yet? Are we all TIRED yet? I’m so glad that I have just about finished all of my Christmas shopping done and am now rounding the bend towards a nice two week vacation. And I haven’t even caught a cold yet, so it might be a really GOOD vacation! YIPPEE! I am really “loading” this week’s blog with lots of goodies, because I am planning on taking a “break” from blogging next week, considering there won’t be any school to blog about anyway. So enjoy, and have a happy holiday!
The Edublog Awards Are Open For Voting!
Do you like this blog? Would you recommend it to a friend? If so, then consider voting for it on the Edublog Awards Site! The HeidiSongs blog was nominated by for Best Educational Use of Video and Best Educational Use of Audio. Follow these links; it only takes a moment! Thanks so much to Vanessa Levin of Pre-K pages for the nominations! I had no idea that these awards or this site even existed!
Daily Ideas on the HeidiSongs Facebook Page!
I have discovered how easy it is to post little, easy ideas and updates on my HeidiSongs Facebook page, so I am planning on doing that more and more often! (Okay, it might not be DAILY, but it is definitely going to be more often!!!!) So if you are a Facebook user, click the “Like” button on my HeidiSongs page for more ideas like the ones in this blog! There is never enough room to post all of the things that I want to say! And some things are just little classroom management tips that “come to me” here and there. I would love it if others would post their ideas also!!! We could make it a teacher forum for great ideas!
1. Christmas Guided Drawing Directions
Back by popular demand, here are the instructions as a free download and some pictures for a Christmas themed guided drawing picture. Remember, the kids draw along with the teacher in a following directions and visual perception type of exercise that results in a fun drawing! My kids always wind up including these little drawings as illustrations for the sentences they are learning to write. I also use these same drawings to illustrate my Christmas themed words on my word wall. Enjoy!
2. Christmas Tree Matching Sets 0-30
I decided that I wanted to make a holiday themed matching sets activity that went all the way from 0-30, so I came up with the idea of putting a number on the star at the top of the tree and putting that number of ornaments on the tree. You cut the top of the trees off, and the children have to count the ornaments and match up the correct tree to the correct star. I am including the file as a free download this week!
We have been working on this concept using manipulatives for quite a long time, especially using the egg cartons and holiday erasers, farm animals, or spiders, etc. However, it is still quite difficult for the children to count out that many objects correctly when they are merely pictures of the objects and not the real thing! Still, it was very good practice for them. It seems to work best to do it in small groups with an aide or another helper so that they can practice counting up the groups of tens in the ten frames, and then counting on from there. I recommend only keeping the cards for 21-30 totally separate and getting them out only when you are sure that your students have mastered 0-20. The cards are large, so if you are sure your students have already mastered matching sets from 0-10, just give your students 11-20 only and there will be more space to work in and less confusion!
3. Sight Word Santa Game
We have been working on our sight words, of course, and one thing the kids always love to do around Christmas time is to sing the "Here" song (which is sung to the tune of Jingle Bells) from Sing and Spell Vol. 1 and shake some jingle bells while they sing. I have six jingle bells to shake, so sic kids can shake them at a time, and we just take turns.
Another way to practice sight words is through this new game I made up called the Sight Word Santa Game. Remember that Turkey Tails game that I posted? Well this is just about the same thing, but with Santa on the cards rather than the turkey! I am including the file for you as a free download this week, too! Here’s how to play:
To Prepare: Duplicate and cut apart the Sight Word Santas and the present. Mix up the Santa cards.
To Play: Have your students make a circle, all sitting on the floor. Once seated, scatter all of the Santa’s on the floor. (I have been thinking about playing this game off of a pocket chart instead this time- but the Santa’s might be too tall to stay put. We’ll have to wait and see!)
Have the children hide their eyes while you hide the picture of the present underneath one of the Santa’s. Ask them to lift their heads up when you are done hiding the present.
Then have the children chant, “Santa, Santa! Ho, ho, ho! Santa, Santa, where did it go?” Chose one child to tell you the sight word Santa that he or she thinks the present is hidden under. Once he or she says the word, that person may lift up that card. If the present is hidden under there, then that child is the winner of that round. If not, then another child gets a turn to guess. Play continues in this fashion until the present is found. If you wish, you may let the child that finds the Santa be the next one to hide him. However, be aware that this likely means that every single child in the class will want a chance to hide the present, so in a whole group situation, this may not be advisable because the game would be too long. Have fun!
4. Count by Tens Christmas Tree Hat
We have been learning to count by tens, and singing the Count by Tens song from the Musical Math CD. So to further reinforce that, I decided to make an art project about it! So here’s another free download for you! We are giving you the instructions for the Christmas Tree Hat and the template for tracing. You can thank my husband Greg for getting the template done for me, or this wouldn’t have happened! In the past, I have always just had my students make this hat without any numbers on the ornaments. But this year, I had too many art activities for the time that I had, so I decided to turn it into a math activity instead. Actually, you could have the kids write any numbers that you would like on this hat! But I decided to have them write the numbers from ten to one hundred, counting by tens. After completing this hat in just one day at our math table center, I decided that next year I would break it into a two day project. So this is what I would recommend:
Day One: Write the numbers on the squares of paper so that they are ready to go. I wanted my students to use a fine tipped black marker to write the numbers so that they would show up better on the construction paper, so we needed to have some extra papers for them to use if they made a mistake writing the numbers, since marker cannot be erased. Then when they are finished writing the numbers, they can cut the corners off of each square of paper, and practice putting them in order if there is time. I would have them put their squares in an envelope with their name on it to save for the next day.
Day Two: Cut out the pretraced hat. Put the numbers in order on the hat, and check with an adult to make sure that they are ordered correctly. Then glue them down. After that, when the hat is done, they can read the numbers back to an adult. Then the adult can staple the strip onto the back of the hat and fit it to the child’s head.
5. Christmas Worksheets: Free Downloads!!!
Here are the latest in some holiday worksheets that I constructed for my class and coworkers this week. I hope that they are useful to you!
Christmas Graph Worksheet: This little graph has got a Santa, some elves, some reindeer, and some presents to count. Christmas Counting Worksheet: This worksheet gives kids practice counting out quantities from 11-20. It’s a lot like last week’s worksheet, but the children are counting bells rather than ornaments. Christmas Tree Color Words Worksheet: This color-by-number worksheet helps kids practice the color words and also the numbers 11-17.
Last weekend I had the pleasure of presenting at the Staff Development for Educators (SDE’s) Kindergarten Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was a whirlwind trip that took two days total! I flew out on Sunday morning, arriving on Sunday night due to a two hour layover in Las Vegas and the three hour time difference between California and Indiana. I presented all day, doing four different sessions that seemed to go very well. Then it was immediately back to the airport to fly back home! I got home at 11:00 PM on Monday night, and got up and taught Kindergarten all day on Tuesday, of course! Although the trip was super quick and I really didn’t get to see anything more than the hotel and the airport, but the teachers I met at the conference were wonderful and friendly people! I thoroughly enjoyed the conversations that I had with them, and I am really glad that I had the opportunity to present at this conference!
People often ask me why I don’t come to their state to present at conferences there. The answer to this question is that in most cases, I must wait to be invited by the conference planners to present at a conference before I can go. This is definitely true of the conferences put on by SDE. So if there is an SDE conference that you would like to see me present at, I would encourage you to contact SDE either through their website or by phone and request that they bring me out to their next event near you. They keep track of these requests and try to plan their conferences accordingly. The same is probably true of other organizations that put on Kindergarten, Pre-K, or First Grade conferences. I rarely present at conferences anymore unless I am specifically invited by the conference organizers, so this is definitely the best way to bring me out somewhere near you! For a current list of my upcoming presentations, please see my website for a list.
In the spirit of the holidays, I'm offering you all a FREE SHIPPING CODE, for anyone wants to use it for that last minute project or gift! It's only good until December 12 at midnight, so check it out soon! Use "FreeShip10" in the Discount Code box when you order. We are also offering gift certificates this year which include even more savings!
1. Jingle Bell Bang!
Many years ago, I came up with the idea for this little game, and I made using holiday stickers on index cards. I wrote the directions up on a separate piece of paper, and I have used the game every year since! I have shared the directions for this game many times on the Teachers.net Kindergarten Chatboard, but was never able to share the actual game cards because I made the game with stickers that I found at Stater Brothers! Well, I finally found the time to draw the artwork for the game on the way back and forth to the conference in Indiana! I drew it while waiting in the airport, on the plane, and also in the hotel room! In any case, the game is all done and ready to go! A volunteer played the new version with my students this week (below), and they liked it a lot!
This game plays a lot like the previous games that I created, such as Halloween Boo and Barnyard Bang, but this one has a Christmas/Santa theme. The question cards that I have included cover sight words, alphabet, numbers 0-30, and counting out quantities from 0-30 using sets of tens and counting on from there. I usually choose either the math or the language arts cards. There would be way too many question cards to use all of them, in my opinion. There are blank cards included also for you to use if you would like to write different words on them or use different pictures.
At this point in the year, I differentiate instruction by making at least two sets of this game: one for my higher groups and one for my lower groups. Depending on the achievement gap that exists in that particular class, I may need three different game sets! This is especially true if you have one group still working on the alphabet and another that is working on learning the sight words, etc. Also, many children will NOT be ready to count out such large quantities of objects past twenty in Kindergarten without using real objects that they can touch. In this case, do not use those question cards for these children. I tried to include cards that could be used from Pre-K to first grade, so there is a good variety included here. I would NEVER use them all in one game! Here are the instructions:
1. To prepare, duplicate all of the cards and mix them up. The dealer gives each child a card in turn. The child attempts to read the word or answer the question. If he does not know it, he still gets to keep the card; there is no penalty.
2. If the child gets a “special” picture card, he does the following:
* Jingle Bell Bang!: The child says “Jingle Bell Bang!” and gets to shake some jingle bells. Then he or she gets all of the cards at the table, except for the dealer’s cards.
* Santa: The child must say, “Ho, Ho, Ho!” and then must give another child at the table one of his cards (but not one of the special cards).
* Gingerbread Man: The child says, “Run, run, as fast as you can! You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man! Then the child gets up from his seat and runs around the table once. Then he changes places with any other child at the table, leaving his pile of cards behind. (So the children switch seats as well as cards.)
* Candy Cane: The child must say, “Yum, yum!” and then receives a treat, such as a piece of cereal.
* Christmas Tree: You get a present! (An extra card/turn!)
* Elf: The elf just played a trick on you! Give that card back to the dealer. (The dealer should put these cards in a separate stack or this game will never end!) Play reverses in the opposite direction. You can have the dealer wear an elf hat just for fun, if you like (if you can find one!). A Santa hat will probably also work; just tell the kids that the dealer is the elf. If you put a little sign on the hat that says, “Elf,” they will probably learn to read that word pretty quickly, too!
* Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer: Child gets to pretend to be the lead reindeer on the team. The rest of the children in the group must follow him as he flies around the table or room (teacher’s choice!). It’s also fun to make a big red nose out of construction paper and stick it on his nose with double stick tape while he flies. You could go “all out” and give him a set of antlers on a headband, but if head lice is an issue, you may need to avoid this altogether. (Eww!)
3. When the dealer’s cards are all gone, the child with the most cards is the winner. If you started with a “Bang!” card at the bottom of the stack, this would presumably be the child that received the last card. This makes the winner of the game a completely random thing, giving all children an equal chance at winning, regardless of their skills. Fun!
I suggest that you “tweak” the game to make it work for your kids as much as needed. You may find that you need fewer picture cards, so you may want to discard one of them that you think your kids won’t enjoy as much. The parent volunteer in my class felt that the game worked best if she kept the picture cards in one stack and the question cards in another. She went all the way around the table with the question cards a few times, and then around again, giving everyone a picture card. Again, the point of the game is to give the children a fun way to practice some basic skills, so I just tell my parent helpers to do whatever they need to do to make it work for each group, and keep it fun. And that seems to work just fine!
2. Light a Candle for Hanukkah!
In my class this year, I do not have any children that celebrate any other holiday in their homes other than Christmas. So it seems to me that this is all the more reason to introduce them to the idea that we do not all celebrate the same holidays or believe the same thing! So I spend a day teaching them a little bit about Hanukkah, and then we’ll also spend some time talking about different holiday traditions around the world. My class is going to make this Hanukkah Candle next week, and I am including the pattern and directions for you as a free download today! I hope that it is useful to you. All the children have to do is add a flame to it cutting off the corners of a yellow rectangle and then adding some paper squares to make a pattern. We do this candle as a math lesson on patterning.
Here are some books that I recommend for teaching about this holiday:
Chanukah by Marx, David F.
This is one of those “Rookie Readers” that does such a good job of explaining non-fiction topics with short sentences and simple pictures.
The Matzah Man by Naomi Howland
This is actually a Passover story rather than a Hanukkah story, but it is a Gingerbread Man “type” of tale that is fun to read either when you study Hanukkah or Passover.
3. “No School Today!” Calendar Picture
This month, when I went to change the calendar to December, I once again ran into the yearly problem that I needed to mark off two weeks as “No School Today” on our classroom calendar. So this year I decided to actually DO something about it, and share it with you here on my blog! I drew a picture of a little girl closing a door, and on the door it says, “No School Today!” I printed several copies of it and added it to my December calendar. l also printed a few extras to keep on hand for the other months when needed. I keep each month’s calendar supplies in a large manilla envelope and label it with the month. Now I can just keep as many as I need in each envelope and not have to search for them or move them from month to month if I run out.
4. Number Pattern Blocks from 0-30!
Remember those alphabet pattern blocks that I told you about in September that we used to make words out of? Well, my wonderful husband Greg just finished the NUMBER pattern blocks set from zero to thirty! I think that this is a wonderful resource and another good way to get kids to notice the shapes of the numbers. The more experiences they have with the numbers and the more chances that they get to talk about them and identify them, the better off they will be! Right now, these number pattern blocks are just a download, so it’s strictly a “print it yourself” download at the moment. Hopefully, we will soon have them printed out on nice glossy cardstock as we have done with the alphabet pattern blocks. But this may not happen for a couple more months, since we have a lot of other projects going on at this time as well. Meanwhile, I am just printing them out in black and white and having the children glue their colored paper pattern blocks down. Then I am having them add the correct number of stamps above the number as shown in the picture.
To further reinforce identification of these “tricky teens” and counting out these quantities, I made a worksheet to include in next week’s homework. I am including it as a free download this week! I hope that it is useful to you. :)
5. Great Books for the Holidays
Here are my favorite book picks for the holiday season, (not including the ones listed above pertaining to Hanukkah, of course!)
* The Elf on the Shelf
This is a really fun book and doll set that my kids are REALLY enjoying this year! In the book, the elf winds up in a different spot each morning, and when the children wake up, they must find him. It seems that he has been keeping an eye on them so that he can report back to Santa who has been naughty or nice! Incidentally, our classroom elf seems to wind up in new spot, too, every single morning! This causes GREAT excitement first thing in the morning. (Maybe a bit too much sometimes... but in the spirit of the holiday season, I think I can handle it!)
* The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie DePaola
This is a lovely story about a little girl whose humble gift of “weeds” turns into the beautiful red flower of the title. The children are always fascinated by this story, and it also talks about some holiday traditions typically celebrated in Mexico and by some families here in the United States.
* Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto
I love this story about a Latino family that is making tamales for their holiday meal! The little girl wants to help knead the masa, but also decides to try on her mother’s ring without permission, and soon the ring is lost in the masa. I’ll leave it to you to figure out how all of the cousins try to help the little girl locate that ring! I enjoy bringing in some tamales for the kids and having everyone sample some, and then graph whether or not they like tamales. This is a wonderful way to honor the culture and traditions of so many of my little ones!
* Pancho’s Piñata by Stefan Czernecki and Timothy Rhodes
This is a legend of how the first piñata came to be made as a gift from a poor villager to the children he loved. His star shaped piñata becomes the Christmas Star in the end of the story.
* Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Random House
This book has pictures from the classic movie that most of the kids have probably seen. It’s a fun retelling of a classic story. I read it when we make our Rudolph projects that I wrote about last week.
* That's Not Santa by Leonard P. Kessler (Hello Reader Level 1)
In this cute little easy reader book, Santa cannot find his suit, and so tries on lots of other costumes, such as a cowboy, etc. Every time he does this, the kids say, “That’s not Santa!” The children always enjoy this one, and it’s a quick read.
* The Littlest Christmas Elf by Nancy Buss (A Golden Book)
Children can easily relate to this story about an elf that is considered too small to help and therefore just in the way. But he finds a larger, friendly elf named Nicholas that doesn’t think he is in the way, and knows just how he can help! Guess who Nicholas turns out to be?
* The Dog Who Found Christmas by Linda Jennings
In this book, a family does the unthinkable: dumps an unwanted pet somewhere out of town. The poor little guy finds some Christmas carolers and a friendly old man that happily welcomes him into his home and takes care of him. Together they have a wonderful Christmas. Though this book is a little sad, it does have a happy ending, and I do like the opportunity to talk to the children about the proper treatment of pets. We also discuss the fact that if you ask for a pet for Christmas, you need to be prepared to take care of this animal no matter what, or find a new home for it.
* The Bears' Christmas by Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain
I love this funny rhyming story about how Papa Bear tries to show his son how to safely use his holiday presents. He does everything wrong, of course, and the children find this hilarious!
