It's Friday!

It was good to get back in a routine. Did a lot of fun activities with the kiddos. They were bursting at the seams Tuesday morning to tell me all about their Christmas. To help with the “Ms. Chee-How, guess….”, I did the normal routine of unpacking, lunch choice, and morning work. Soon thereafter, I switched gears and had a share and listen time. I let each student share his or her favorite present and one fun thing he or she did over the break. The LOVED it! I went last and as I shared my favorite present I showed them the paper below. Again, they LOVED it! I had them illustrate their favorite present under the wrapping paper and then finish the sentence. It’s a great activity to do the very first day back from holiday break. I cannot take credit for this sheet; a dear teacher friend does this in her class as well. Kudos to her for thinking of such a great activity. I do prepare the papers with the wrapping paper before I hand them out. For a copy, click below! Enjoy!

My Favorite Present Another fun activity I found from Mrs. Carroll over at The First Grade Parade. We talked about what goals are and how people set new goals when a new year begins. We brainstormed what some goals could be with a graphic organizer. I have to say I am going to have a lot of organized and fit kiddos. Many chose to exercise more, eat healthy, and be more organized! I know the organization came from me as I have been binning everything in my room with clear shoebox bins and labeling them. Anyway, we made these cute portraits with a new year's goal on the party hat. The kids loved gluing the horn blower (of course, after trying it out first!). Thanks for the idea Mrs. Carroll!

As for my goal in 2012, ORGANIZE! I am off to a good start in both my classroom and my life. Thankful for Dollar Tree for $1.00 shoebox bins and ErinCondren.com for a fabulous life planner!

Official Day Back!

Today is the official day - back to work and back to school for my kiddos on this cold, cold day here in Georgia. Woke up to a temperature that feels like 9 degrees - brrrrrr!!!! Had an awesome planning day yesterday and looking forward to hearing all about my kiddos' holiday break! Have some great activities planned and will post them later. I hope all my teacher friends out there in the world have a great day back if this is the first day for you too!

Awesome giveaway going on....check out Alessia Albanese's Class to enter It's a Winter Wonderland...giveaway! There are some awesome units to win from six different bloggers. Would love to win this one! Click here to enter

Have a great day!

Michelle