Christmas Trees And More

Greetings!  First off, don't forget that my entire TpT store is 20% off until Wednesday!  Head over and snag my Christmas centers!  My kids started them today and LOVE them!!

Thought I would share this fun little project I had my kids do at their seats during reading groups instead of centers the other day. They turned out much cooler than anticipated!  Decided to make little sight word trees to brighten up our hallway! I drew the outline of a tree on large paper and ran off enough copies for the class. Then, since I don't have any fancy scrap-booking circle makers, I folded construction paper a bunch of times and used the letter "i" on the die-cut to make a gazillion little ornaments for our trees! This was the most time consuming part of the project, but it honestly wasn't that bad. I let the students use the sight word wall to choose which words they needed the most practice with (mostly so they would get into the habit of using the sight word wall). I had them write 1 letter of each word onto an ornament then "string" them onto the trees.  Here's a picture of my example and a few of the ones the kids made. Love the way they turned out!

Also thought I'd share what our little elf on the shelf has been up to lately! Last Friday, since we had a spelling test, I decided to have him hang out on the whiteboard wishing the kids good luck. This worked out ESPECIALLY well because one of the kids had whispered to him where he should hide the day before. I, of course, took the opportunity to say "Ooo, that's fun!  Where did you tell him to hide?!" Imagine the look on his face when the elf really listened! Today our elf took one of the paper lanterns in my room and turned it into a hot-air balloon.  This was REALLY fun because I moved it around the room every time we left, so it was like he was floating all over the place!  Too funny.

Have a good night!

Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving, ya'll! I love this holiday because it's an excuse to eat like a pig without anybody judging you! My wife and I are spending the day with (very Italian) family today, so it will be a non-stop eating adventure, with red wine flowing, from the moment we walk in the door. Our cocker-spaniel, Charlie, is in the doghouse with Uncle Angelo right now because he stole a piece of cheese off the antipasto while it was being delicately prepared last night. Oops!

Yesterday was our first day of Thanksgiving break, as Tuesday was a Hurricane Sandy make-up day. I decided, what better time to decorate my room for Christmas!? I've now got a delightfully tacky Christmas classroom that I can't wait for my kids to see! While I was there I took some pictures of our little Turkey project that we made just before break.  Meet my wild bunch of sight-word turkeys!

I told the students to choose 6 sight words off the word wall that they needed the most practice with! It was neat to see them reading the whole wall and deciding which words to write on the feathers!

I don't know about your students, but mine sure go gaga for googly eyes! They really enjoyed making these little guys, and it was a neat way to throw in a craft (which there's never any time for) and keep it a learning experience. Do you have any fun ways that you like to practice sight words with your students? 

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Sight Word Fun!

Who's just a little SUPER pumped to practice those pesky sight words in reading groups tomorrow morning?  THIS GUY!  I ventured to my local Wal-Mart to pick up some other things and naturally got sidetracked, as any good primary teacher does.  You know the deal -- when we find something cool, we buy all they have.  Tonight was no exception for me.  I've heard of other teachers using fly-swatters to practice reading sight words, but check out these bad boys that were only 40 cents...

Oh my gosh.  I know.  I bought 12.

Can't wait to try them out tomorrow.  I'm going to write down all of our first marking period sight words on index cards, then call out a word - first student to SPLAT the word gets to keep it.  Whoever has the most cards at the end of the game wins!

I'm beyond excited.