It's Beginning To look A Lot like Christmas!

Hello yoga pants, sleeping in, and a whole lot of yummy food! Yep, it is Thanksgiving break! It's hard to believe the school year is nearly half over.

Before I get too comfy cozy on the couch (and in total vacation mode), I'm going to share my Five For Friday!

I have some exciting news! I was connected with a company that made a VERY generous donation to each of the students' families in my class. Each family will be receiving a fully cooked Thanksgiving dinner. I work at a Title 1 school, so this donation will be greatly appreciated by the families. To say thank you to our donors, I had the kiddos create thank you cards. I didn't help them with the cards (which, you all know, was very hard-I'm kind of a perfectionist)....all first grader created:)!

I did help with the mailing, of course...and maybe the bow:)

Ok, so, I'm sure I wasn't the only teacher whose kiddos needed a little bit of extra motivation, to remember the classroom expectations this week! What is it about the week before vacation that makes everyone go crazy:)?! So, I came up with this lil' turkey. Each time the kiddos were doing what was expected, being respectful, and responsible, they earned a feather for the turkey. They had to earn a total of 15 feathers to fill the turkey this week (to earn a popcorn party).

Unfortunely, the kiddos didn't earn the party this week. Sad, I know. They were 4 feathers short of earning a popcorn party. No, I didn't give in. I'm mean, I know. Not really:-). Hopefully, it's a lesson learned for next time:).

I have a confession. I am OBSESSED with Christmas decorations. If it was up to me, my house would be a winter wonderland by November 1st! After all, I have fall decor up for 2-3 months. The Christmas season is just way too short. So, what did I do after school today? I started the holiday transformation! The holiday books came out, a long with some a lot of decorating! Here is my door:

I love it! It was fairly easy to make...just takes some time to cut all the pieces out.

Speaking of decorations...I may have had the students create some trees to decorate our wall. While other classes were making turkeys....we already moved on to December:).

I just LOVE how they came out! I think I love them as much as our pumpkins.

Guess who will be making his great debut from The North Pole, on December 1st? Yes, our classroom elf, straight from The North Pole:). Here is a pack I created to accompany any lil' visitor from The North Pole. It includes a journal, to document all the mischievious things your little visitor will do, several writing pages and prompts, graphic organizers, and a couple of math and language arts printables. Stay tuned for a month of elf mischief!

Happy Thanksgiving break!