Polar Express PJ Popcorn Party!

Our Polar Express Party was P-riffic! :)
All the kiddos came in their pajamas!
We started off the morning by handing out Magic Polar Express Tickets.  Now of course the tickets had to be earned so each child was given a letter.  They then had to tell me the sound and name of the letter!  They did great and were so excited to hold their magical ticket that I got as a FREEBIE on TPT from Mrs Jones' Creation Station.

Next we turned our tables and chairs into a train and set the mood by turning off all the lights except our class Christmas Tree.

The children sat mesmerized while I read the Polar Express Story!  They were so excited and so quiet at the same time!  Definitely some Christmas Magic in the air!

Each child then made their own jingle bell necklace that only those who truly believe can hear!

Here are some pics of the centers we did:

I found this cut plastic Christmas Tree box at Walmart.

The students traced a pattern and cut out their own tree to place inside.

Then we used glitter glue and jingle bells to SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE!

Finally we finished off our Christmas Trees with Christmas Stickers!

 We also decorated our class tree!  Remember it is the PROCESS not the PRODUCT! :)
I Love how the garland hangs straight down to the floor!  Will I change it once they go home?  NO WAY!
They worked so hard to make it this beautiful and I am way proud of them!

We reviewed the letter P.  They loved telling me all the things we did that started with the letter P.  (PJ’s, Pillows, Polar Express)

Then it was time to do some fun popcorn math graphing.  You can get a freebie by clicking HERE of my recording sheet using Scrappindoodles clipart.

I started by asking the kids which kind of popcorn they liked best…I held up some un-popped microwave popcorn and some regular popcorn kernels.  I showed them the microwave and the hot air popper.  We then had them vote on which kind they liked best.  We recorded it on our graph.  I also put a colored mark on their hand so they could remember which one they voted for J! Most of the each class voted for microwave popcorn at first!  Except the class that I actually opened up the microwave popcorn bag first to show what was inside! (Yuck!  They did not think in would be good with all the yellow stuff with it.)

We decided we better have a popcorn taste test for snack.  Soooo…. We popped and popped and popped!  The giggles and squeals as the popcorn burst in the air was contagious!

After our taste test they then got to vote on which one they like the best now that they had tried it!  Guess what?  Teacher Andrea’s OLD FASHIONED HOT AIR POPPER won!  YAY!

We finished up our day with a fun Stop and Go Pillow Fight (non violent of course and only on legs! ;))  We had a quick demonstration on how to swing your pillow back and forth onto legs instead of up and down onto heads.  The key to a fun pillow fight is to play music (we used Jingle Bells) and stop the music about every 45 seconds.  They have to freeze and it gives them time to regroup and remember the rules!  Most of these kids have older siblings that came to ABC school and they look forward to our PJ/Pillow fight all year!

We then settled down by reading/listening  to Pete the Cat Saves Christmas! We discussed was we could "GIVE IT YOUR ALL"  for our Moms this Christmas!  They came up with fabulous service ideas!  YAY!

FABULOUS GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY! $80!

YAY!  Just in time for Christmas Shopping!  I am part of my first gift card giveaway!  Katie at I Want to be a Super Teacher is hosting it!  Thanks Katie!

Visit her post for instructions!  Just click on the picture below!

The giveaway will run from now until Sunday December 9th!

The winner will recieve...A $25 gift card to the place of your choice from Katie, $20 to Target from me, $15 to Starbucks from Lesley, and $20 to Amazon from Jen. The contest ends on Sunday, December 9th.  

You can choose how you'd like to enter and don't forget to go back to Katie's post daily to pin, Facebook, or tweet about the giveaway for extra entries.  

Good luck and Happy Holidays!

December Preview

IT'S  HERE!

"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!"

I'm joining the Blog Hop!  Where teachers can share their plans for Christmas.  Here is a sneak peak of some of the fabulous things we will be doing this December....

NAME RECOGNITION(first and last)

 We will be using this fabulous game...  Students will practice their FINE MOTOR SKILLS by cutting out the letters in his/her name and then hanging them on yarn in the correct order.  We will be hanging these from the ceiling to help decorate our room for Christmas!  You can print these off at home FOR FREE by going to either my Teachers Pay Teachers Store or to Teachers Notebook!  These are a great way to help them learn to write their name.  Children can not be expected to independently write their names until they can recognize it! :)  Remember...Always let the children see and write their name with a  Capital letter followed by ALL lowercase letters. (i.e. John  not JOHN!)  This also helps with letter recognition!

LETTER RECOGNITION:

We will also be playing fun hide and seek games with these colorful bulbs.  Searching for certain letters.

FINE MOTOR SKILLS

We will be cutting and writing all month to help develop our strength.  These skills are essential to success in kindergarten and beyond.  Our Santa Countdown will help reinforce these skills at home!

This is also from my TPT and TN stores.

MATH & LITERACY

The letters we will be focusing on this month are P F J.

We will kick off the month with a Polar Express Pajama Party!  YAY!  So fun and snuggly!  We will SNEAK in learning by using some of the games in this darling Polar Express Kit I purchased on Teachers Notebook by LittleAdventuresPreschool.

We will also be bringing home beginning readers that the children will be "writing" by filling in the blank.  this will be part of our Write the Room with the Gingerbread man!  This unit has an adorable beginning reader with the site/dolch words Can, A, See, I.  You can find it HERE or HERE.

Next we are going to decorate our classroom and homes with this adorable Gingerbread Glyph (similar to the monster glyph we did at back to school night).  This will be up on my stores soon!  So check back!

We will also be mastering the following skills by using by Christmas Math and Literacy Bundle. (TPT & TN) Each game below can be purchased separately or at a discount in a bundle.

We will also be Rockin' and Celebrating with Pete the Cat!  Our favorite class book is Pete the Cat and his New Shoes.  Well, this week the kids eyes will be filled with wonder when we read...drum roll please...

YAY PETE!  WAY TO SAVE CHRISTMAS!  (Goes great with our letter P too!) :)

SPOILER ALERT!

Parent Christmas gifts...If you want to be surprised...Close your eyes!

We will be doing a version of this cute ornament that I found on pinterest.

And decorating cute bags like this pin

Hmmm...There is a ton more things we will be doing.  This is just a sneak peak!  Welcome to a glimpse of ABC School and Merry Christmas!

P.S.  Remember that all my items on my Teachers Pay Teachers and Teachers Notebook Shop will be up to 28%-30% off through Tuesday.  Please help us spread the word...maybe we can earn enough for those new chairs yet!  ;D

  Come see other great ideas here!

Cyber Monday Plus Tuesday Sale!!!

For years I have spent countless $ on high priced items to supplement my classroom and encourage creativity and life long learning.  About a year ago I found this WONDERFUL site and began purchasing many ideas and items here.  It is a marketplace for teachers like me to share their knowledge, talents and ideas.  The best thing is...we pay each other for the things we need in our classroom (not some big box store!)
This fall I took the leap and decided that I wanted to share the things that were working here at ABC School with others so I joined as a seller.
All of us know teachers.  They are our sisters, brothers, friend, neighbors and parents.  And most importantly someone our children spend most of their time with.  Please join me in celebrating Thanksgiving by letting your teacher friends know about this wonderful site and the abundance resources available to them!
PLUS!  I am having a sell this weekend along with other fabulous teachers!  All my products will be 20% off plus an additional 10% off.  Just use promo code CMT12

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Teacher-Andrea

There is also a FABULOUS sale at Teachers Notebook where all proceeds go directly to the Teacher!  YAY!  Happy Shopping!

Santa's Beard Christmas Countdown

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!  I even LOVE all the glitter that comes through my classroom!  I think I am still vacuuming up last years glitter. :)
We've all seen the darling Santa Beard countdown where we place cotton balls on his beard.
My students will be working on this next week so it is ready to go on Dec 1st!
I created this one to engage more students and build skills while having fun!
Students not only learn number recognition, they also practice important fine motor cutting skills!
Advanced learners can even color Santa's beard with patterns!
Check it out here!  It will be on sale this weekend along with all my other products in my stores!  So be sure to follow this blog and my stores for updated information!  There will be some great freebies too!