A Christmas Stocking Freebie and Teacher to the Core Giveaway Galore!

I just wanted to share the news of an amazing "Teacher to the Core Giveaway Galore" going on at Katie Knight's blog Teacher Core! (OR REMIND THOSE THAT ALREADY KNOW)
12 Days of Giveaways!!!

Be sure to swing by and see if you can snag some cool teaching resources!! Tell her I sent you! ;)

(Oh, I'm participating in her giveaway too (along w/ many amazing bloggers, so be on the lookout!)She's got TONS of items lined up to dish out to YOU! Congrats to Teacher to the Core on the "200 Followers" milestone!


AND FOR AN ADDITIONAL FREEBIE FROM ME...
In case you've missed my primary freebie in my Teachers Pay Teachers store, I wanted to share it with you (being perfect timing and all...)--It's a quick little activity you can do with your kiddos to instill the magic of "GIVING" during the Christmas Season! I call it "Fill Someone's Stocking with Cheer..."
We all know it's more important to give rather than receive, so without any further rambling, check it out:

Homemade Ornaments to Match Our Winter Poetry!

I love doing this activity with my students. The beauty of this lesson is that you can assess students on use of vivid language but on their appropriate levels! So, this fun and festive assignment is great for a variety of ages!

Should you be hunting a writing activity to go along with the Christmas or "Winter" season, this is a great one!! 

You'll find guidelines, suggestions, a grading rubric, a pre-writing template, and a rough draft handout to help guide the students through the very important writing process!

Pre-writing Handout! 
What I hear, see, etc...

The focus is on writing, obviously, so an ornament is included in activity only to serve as a visual supplement. So, the ornament creations are left entirely up to the students -HOWEVER they choose to make them should be JUST PERFECT. 

Grading Rubric &
 Rough Draft Handout

Eliminating any limitations leaves the doors wide open for creativity and imagination, encouraging students to utilize available materials they have at home. I discourage store bought items in order to cater to student imagination and it helps with those who are unable to go buy materials to make ornaments. The purpose of the added craft is to create a visual supplement that is totally homemade by gathering items lying around the house...the result being a creation representative of the child's Christmas/Winter term assigned! 

Guidelines/Suggestions

A super festive idea is to string some colored lights across the top of the dry erase board, a tree, or just across your classroom wall, hanging the ornaments on the lights (or hang them on fishing line if you are afraid to hang them from light strands... lol). 

Poof! Automatic Christmas/Winter display, student work display, and festive fun all crated by the students...no work on your part! 

In addition to the ornaments on display, you can put their poems up too, under the lights/ornaments or on wall around a tree, depending on which way you'd like to display it all! 

Oh, just a little tidbit...I use the terms "Christmas" and "Winter" because many students in my classes over the years have different beliefs and/or religions and I do not want to single anyone out or offend anyone--so if considering it our "Winter Poetry" writing assignment handles that issue.

---AFTER ALL, the purpose is to write a poem about an assigned word, stay on topic, and dazzle the reader with vivid language in connections with an assigned term. And, the visual display (craft) is supposed to represent the student's term! So, it hardly has to be dedicated solely to Christmas, which allows us all to take part in the fun writing/craft activity! You can find this item in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store or in my Teachers Notebook Shop! (Those links are on the top right of blog--or click images to go straight to the TPT product!)

I ASK YOU...

What do you incorporate as seasonal fun into your lessons? 
Please share some ideas below!! Who knows, if enough ideas are out there, we could keep the kids involved in seasonal fun until we are on Winter Break!

Happy Writing,

Valentine Freebies 4 U!!

Sweet, Incredible Adrianne Meldrum of Kids Cog Works has an awesome post up with quite a few Valentine Freebies! Get them fast and use tomorrow!! Click on her Blog Button below! Have a super Valentine's Day!!! 

Thanks to Adrianne for Providing Such a Great Idea!

Regards,

Unique, Significant, and Some Bizarre Holidays/Dates to Note & Maybe Share in Class:

We are all aware of the many well-known holidays such as New Year's Day,  Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Holiday (Birthday observed), Groundhog Day, Lincoln's Birthday, Valentine's Day, Presidents' Day...just to name a few!  

BUT, Did You Know These???

Dates I Don't See on My "Usual" Refrigerator Calendar & I Think Are Pretty Cool!
NOTE: I've started beyond today's date!

Though some dates are the same each year, others vary year to year---

Dates below are for January & February 2012

Those Noted in RED Tempt Me to Plan a Unique Lesson for Class! 
Certainly these make for spectacular writing prompts in various subjects!! 

JANUARY:

Bath Safety Month

National Book Month   --Everyone should find a new book to read!

National Volunteer Blood Donor Month  

National Thank You Month--to remind us to say "Thank You" when we should!

National Eye Care Month

National Braille Literacy Month

National Hobby Month

Days in January:

17th Ditch New Years' Resolutions Day (lol...if you must)

18th Thesaurus Day; Maintenance Day; Winnie the Pooh Day

20th National Penguin Day

21st National Hugging Day & Squirrel Appreciation Day

23rd Chinese New Year* & National Handwriting Day---AND Measure Your Feet Day 
                    (I won't even comment on the feet...)
24th Belly Laugh Day
26th Australia Day 
28th National Fun at Work Day   (I will be sure to announce this at school!)
     *2nd New Moon after Winter Solstice-- Chinese New Year!

FEBRUARY:

American Heart Month

Black History Month (Yes, I knew this & currently teaching a Unit involving it. :))
National Children's Dental Health Month
Chocolate Lover's Month   (Here's a teacher's excuse to eat chocolate for a  month!)
National Bird Feeding Month (I will have to add another bird feeder to my backyard!)
Days in February 
1st   National Freedom Day
2nd National Change Your Windshield Wipers Day
4th Thank a Mailman Day
8th  Boy Scout Day & Kite Flying Day
11th Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day (Anyone Teaching Idioms?)& Make a Friend Day
17th Random Acts of Kindness Day; National Public Science Day
20th Love Your Pet Day
21st  Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras
22nd Be Humble Day, Walking the Dog Day (uh oh...I have 5 dogs...)
26th Tell a Fairy Tale Day
27th Polar Bear Day
28th National Tooth Fairy Day
29th LEAP DAY----Woah---I didn't realize it until today! 
           I am usually pretty good about donating blood, so I will be sure to put that on my "to-do" list for January! February, I must go for my dental check up, especially if I intend to use the chocolate excuse!  
It seems I have lots of planning to do---there are too many good lessons to be taught!

           I truly hope you found this post enjoyable, as I have thoroughly enjoyed conjuring up all sorts of things to do in class....knowing some of these unique holidays! I've enjoyed it so much that I think I may have to do this for every month!! Tune in For Upcoming Months!!! 

Regards,

What is your favorite Fall or Halloween Activity? Share it on this blog!