Back to School with A MLK Freebie

It's the first day back at school for me today and I have mixed feelings about it.  I have missed my lil' pups but I am sure going to miss the carefree days at home with my family.  I was up early this morning so I wanted to post a little FREEBIE before heading off to school.

This FREEBIE is part of the Martin Luther King Literacy Unit.  Hope you are able to put it to use in your classroom over the next few weeks.

You can check out the full unit by clicking on the image above.

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New Year's Traditions Around the World

Raise your hand if you will be spending a lot of time this week trying to get ahead on you planning for January!  I know I certainly will be!!!  I wanted to share a quick FREEBIE for you from one of my favorite units to teach this month.  This FREEBIE focuses on the New Year's traditions in Switzerland and includes a reading comprehension passage, text based comprehension questions, graphic organizer, and a word search.  This FREEBIE is part of the full New Year's Traditions Around the World pack that takes kids on an 8 country journey around the world.  You can download this FREEBIE sampler pack for use in your classroom by clicking on the image to the left.

Take a look at this unit for the resources to take your students on the full eight country journey.  

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Looking Ahead to the New Year

I took some time this past weekend to work on my plans for after the Christmas break.  I want to have everything school related FINISHED when I walk out the door on Friday afternoon so I am free to enjoy a few weeks with my family without having to worry about lesson planning.  We will begin focusing heavily on nonfiction text during the second semester.  My lil' pups always love digging into nonfiction text because they are like little sponges always wanting to absorb new knowledge.  

I am excited for my lil' pups to get their hands on these.  They loved learning about Christmas traditions around the world because it was easy for them to relate to and make connections.  I just know that they will love learning about New Year's traditions just as much.

We will be learning about New Year's Day traditions in the United States, China, Mexico, Australia, Israel, Denmark, Switzerland, and Greece. 

My lil' pups will also be working on writing their own nonfiction informative paragraphs. 

I know my lil' pups will just love keeping track of the countries that they visit using this World Passport.  

I have placed this unit on sale for 50% for the next 48 hours. 

 Click on the image above to see a full preview of everything that is included. 

This product is linked up with The Primary Gal's 12 Days of Christmas.  Check out the other great deals by clicking on the image above.

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Holidays Around the Blog: A Gingerbread Man Exchange

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  The holiday season is my absolute favorite time of the year in an elementary classroom.  The joy in the children's eyes is a daily reminder of why I became a teacher in the first place.

One of my favorite holiday activities during this time of the year is participating in a gingerbread man exchange with other classrooms from all over the United States.  This year I am excited to be hosting a gingerbread man exchange.

What's a gingerbread man exchange you ask?  During the month of November, your class will create fifteen gingerbread men and decorate them in any way you would like.  No later than December 2nd, you will mail 15 gingerbread men to other classrooms across the United States.  You will also need to include in the envelope a brief letter from your class telling about your school, the area you live in, etc.  This can be a letter that you write together with your students and simply make a copy to send with each gingerbread man.  Then, sit back and wait for the gingerbread friends to arrive at your school.  

Picture Courtesy of Growing in Pre-K via Pinterest

The kids can't wait to find out where each gingerbread man and letter is from and to read a little bit about the kids who sent it.  I like to display the gingerbread men and the letter with a map so that the kids can get a better idea of where each gingerbread man came from.

In past years, I have opened the gingerbread letters and shared with the class on the day that they arrived.  This year, I am planning to save all the letters and open them during a special Gingerbread Celebration.  We can snack on gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate while we open all the special letters to our class.  

Due to the postage expense, participating classrooms must be in the United States.  The gingerbread man exchange is also limited to kindergarten through fourth grade classes.  By signing up, you are agreeing to have your class create fifteen gingerbread men and mailing them on or before Tuesday, December 2nd so that they will arrive at their destinations in time to be enjoyed before the Christmas holiday breaks.  If you would like for your class to be part of this year's gingerbread man exchange, you can sign up by clicking on the image below.  

The sign-ups will only be open for the next couple of days or until the maximum number of participants have signed up.  Once the sign-up period has closed, I will send out an email with more details to the participants.  

I love being able to "give" during the holiday season!  I am excited to be joining up with an amazing group of bloggers for this spectacular giveaway!  You will definitely want to take a moment to enter the giveaway below.  You will have a chance to win over twenty products for your classroom and $170 Amazon gift card....that could translate into some serious Christmas shopping!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I am so excited to check out the other posts that are part of the Holidays Around the Blog Linky.  There are so many fabulous ideas to be discovered!  If you have a fun holiday tradition in your classroom, we would love for you to link up below and share it with us!

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