Hello December

     I absolutely love teaching in December.  We get to use very rich literature in ways that are much more fun than the curriculum maps and Houghton Mifflin can be.  The kids are excited to see what will happen each day. 
One of the new items is decorating the door.  Here is our new door for December:

     The elves are from a unit on TPT called Let's Make an Elf.  The kids will be making them after we read the book Santa's Secret Helper.  The writing on the tummies will be how they could help Santa and why they should be chosen.  Still need to work on sentence starters for differentiation.

     I have used the Holidays Around the World theme in December for years.  Some of my projects came from my oldest daughter's kindergarten which was 20 years ago!!  I show the kids her projects and they still ohh and ahh.  There are a few days set aside to teach Kwanzaa and Hanukkah and then I choose different countries each day.  I always do Norway and reindeer on Dec. 1 which is Jan Brett's birthday and mine! 

     Well, time to search for new ornament and parent gift ideas.  I have used some of my projects since I first started teaching Kindergarten 18 years ago.  I think it is time for a few new ideas.  See you soon with lots of pictures and ideas.  Hello December!!  Mrs. B



Howdy Pilgrims!

Can not believe that it is already November!!  Where has the time gone?  Had fun decorating my door today for Thanksgiving.

     Have friends looking out for me and sending me messages about other door ideas they have seen on Pinterest to keep me going.  I now have an idea for December (on my Pinterest page already) and one for January- a snowman of course.  Need ideas for the rest of the year.  Had a former student suggest a groundhog for Feb.  May try to do something for the 100th day. 
     Tomorrow is our 50th day of school.  The whole grade level is dressing up and having a sock hop in the afternoon.  I plan on using a powerpoint about Then and Now from Martha Sheehan's site to discuss the differences in technology and fashion.  One of our teacher's was sent pictures of a student's grandmother from the 50's so I am going to look for pictures of my parents to show the class.  We are going to play Race to 50 with dice at math and enjoy rootbeer floats at snack time. I love what I see on other sites but have to watch the curriculum maps closely here. 
    Next week begins my Thanksgiving lessons in earnest.  Can't wait to try out some of the new ideas from TPT and Teacher's Notebooks as well as the wonderful blogs I read. 
Have a great week.  Mrs. B