Happy Snow Day!!! We had our first snow day of the year today!! Guess how much snow it takes for a snow day here in Music City?! 1/2 inch. True story. Crazy southerners. Watching the news this morning you would have thought we had a foot of snow and ice because the roads were a disaster and accidents everywhere. These were the roads in my neighborhood:
True story people. This picture=snow day for me!! A perk of this Hoosier living in the south!
I did enjoy my day and I was productive! I created a new Common Core Creation and I took a nap and responded to some emails! hehe
I thought I would show you a very popular word work center in our classroom right now.
I created a word jar for Halloween and it was such a huge hit, I did another one for Thanksgiving and it was another huge hit. So, why not keep something engaging going?! So I made a Christmas word jar!
All I needed were some bows ($4 at Wal-Mart). I re-use the jars each time I make a new word jar. I bought my jars at Wal-Mart for ($1.97).
I wrote Christmas words on card stock. I filled the jar with bows and put the words in with the bows. It’s colorful and quiet!! Here’s a tip: to keep the word cards from clumping together, bend them just a bit so they have a slight curve. BAM! No more clumping!
The students beg for this center! And it’s differentiated! They can write the words they find. My ‘stache is writing words using the new Scentos scented colored pencils that Scentos sent to us! True story. Smelly pencils!!! Or they can read the word and find the word on their paper and color the word.
Click the picture to get your recording sheet!
Who doesn’t love a cheap (free?) center that the students beg for?!
So, here’s my snow day creation. These are a HUGE hit in my math tubs. I love that they are helping us gather and analyze data (which according to our data is a weak area for us!)! If they are requested by the students, I’m happy to create them!
How about a give away?! Leave a comment sharing you favorite gift for your students! I’ll choose a winner tomorrow!
And don’t forget all of my Christmas Common Core Creations are on sale for 50% off!
As educators, we remember and honor our fallen colleagues and their students from Sandy Hook School. We honor them each day in our classrooms in which we continue their dream of teaching our children. We honor their memory with our service. Join with teachers everywhere in committing random acts of kindness to show our love for Sandy Hook.
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22 comments
I love giving my students books! I give them a copy of my Christmas sight word coloring book, and then I always let them choose a book from scholastic. They are always so excited when that box comes because everyone knows that they are getting a book:)
Heather Byers
heather.byers@saintpaulschool.net
The Busy Busy Hive
Greg these ideas are awesome!!! They all look great!!!! I always give students a Christmas book. I also make them pillowcases with the popcorn words on them. I got the idea from Shari sloane several years ago at SDE conference. Glad you enjoyed your day! wish you'd sent me enough to get a snow day!!!
Oh I wish I could afford to get my kiddos Christmas gifts but with 1/2 day kindergarten and 44 kids to buy for even $1 gifts adds up very fast! I'm hoping that all day kindergarten will eventually become the norm in my district…..
Sheila Cockerill
cockerill7@gmail.com
Laughing so much at your Tennessee “snowday.” So glad to hear you enjoyed the day off. I always love a good snowday…except that we have to make up every single one and then we get out so late in June….yuck! But it feels good in the middle of the winter!
My favorite gift for my students is a reindeer crayon that I make them…and magic reindeer dust. They always LOVE their gifts! :o)
Karyn
Kideducator@comcast.net
I always buy $1.00 books from Scholastic for my students and they love getting a book. Shyrayoung@yahoo.com
I love to give my students books for Christmas. Usually this is one of the only books that the students may have at their home.
Buffalobills8293@yahoo.com
I love the word jar ideas! I have read your other posts about the jars and I love how versatile this activity is! I will try this soon!
My favorite gift to buy my students is a book! I buy different sets of books every year for my students to choose from. This year I ordered a “Plenty of Pets” set from Scholastic. My students will get to chose from Clifford, Fly Guy, Harry the Dirty Dog, etc. After they chose a book I write a special message inside to the specific student to make it more personal. They are going to LOVE it! I love giving them books!
My email is kimberlyjpenland@gmail.com
I bought clear ornaments, and filled them with snow!! I drew a snowman on them and wrote, “Mrs. Tompkins loves you snow much!” I also bought them a book and some Christmas slinkys to use for stretching sounds and putting them back together! We were out for snow today also! I am right next to you in
Wilson County!! I L♥O♥V♥E snow days!!
The students had a snow day today but they teachers had to go to work. I had time to work in my classroom and I printed lots of new centers. I usually give my students a pack of play dough for Christmas. Many students don't have play dough at home. I think their parents don't want the mess, but a mess means they are having fun!
Katrina
lessonplansandlollipops@gmail.com
My kids are pretty needy, so I always get them books, fun pencils, new gloves and gift certificates to local restaurants, and of course, a couple of chocolate Santas!
I bet you so miss Indiana's crazy wacky weather! Last Wednesday it was 60 degrees and on Friday we had freezing rain and snow (7-8 inches in my area!) This year I am giving my students a pack of playdough, a watercolor paint set, and a coloring book. deccles@joink.com
I load up on the Summer penny sales at Office Depot/Staples/etc. The kids receive a ton of stuff and I've spent less than $10.00. vhair61215@gmail.com
You have some great ideas. I want to follow you closely. Thanks for sharing! I make a crayon picture frame with their picture on it and write the year and the grade. It takes time but it's a good keepsake.
I buy them all a stocking and the families help me stuff them with fun stuff. (DOLLAR STORE STUFF). Fun….we also had a snow day with no snow……yes, I'm in Texas and we only got sleet and ice and they closed schools…but I'm not complaining! !!
I buy them all a stocking and the families help me stuff them with fun stuff. (DOLLAR STORE STUFF). Fun….we also had a snow day with no snow……yes, I'm in Texas and we only got sleet and ice and they closed schools…but I'm not complaining! !!
I give my students books from Scholastic, so affordable and you can use bonus points too if you have them. I also always make them a bag of snowman soup. Some years I have also given them some type of Christmas ornament too.
I live in Indiana, too! We ended up with 10+ inches…and more on Tuesday morning. Indiana is so unpredictable!
One year I was able to buy The Gingerbread Man story for every child. I do a HUGE Gingerbread Unit every year, and the kids usually fall in love with the story and all of its variations. My kids were so unbelievably excited. They talked about it for the rest of the day and even after they returned from winter break. It was so fun to see them that excited about a BOOK! 🙂
I love getting books from Scholastic (the $1 books)! It is fairly cheap and allows each kid to have their own book that they can keep at home and read!
Jealous! We have a little snow (2-3 in.) with a -10 degree wind chill, so I was hoping for a cold day, but it didn't happen! Maybe I just need to move south!
This is my first year in kindergarten after 2 years in 5th grade, so I'm excited to get something a little more “fun” for my kiddos for Christmas. So far I've gotten them a Scholastic book and I'll make them a yummy, crafty treat, plus whatever else I can find in the dollar aisle!
Thanks for all of the amazing ideas for a new kinder teacher!
I am a huge fan of the $ section at Target, Scholastic $1 books, and the Dollar Tree!! You can really get some great buys! 🙂 Thanks for all of your great ideas!! I LOVE following your blog!!! 🙂
Amanda, I hope you're planning to come to the Blogger/Blog Follower meet up on the 28th!