Five for Friday: 12/5

Another Friday is here and so of course I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for...

This weeks post is a mix of all the things I've been up to in the last couple of weeks.  I swear the time has flown by and I can't believe that it is December 5th!  Say what?!  

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.... I know you've probably seen this song phrase posted all over the place but I can't help myself!   This is the first song that comes to mind for the season and I like it!  The weekend before Thanksgiving the hubs and I put up our Christmas decor.  We always have fun pulling out the Christmas boxes, turning on the holiday tunes, and drinking cocoa as we decorate.  I love walking into the living room and seeing the tree glow, it always makes for a happy start to the day.  

My husband had a 4 day weekend because of Thanksgiving so we decided to head out of town and explore Belgium!  Have you ever been?  We visited Brussels and Brugge, both of which are great cities to see.  I was really excited because the Christmas markets were in full swing so we were able to enjoy the lights, music, holiday foods, and treats.  Oh and the CHOCOLATE!  Yes, it was delicious!  This is the Grand Place Square in Brussels.  It has to be one of the most beautiful squares we've seen!

A holiday FREEBIE for all of you!  I was talking to my mom last week when she asked if I could whip up a Christmas themed syllable sort for her to use with her class so here it is.  I thought I'd share it with all of you as well!  Just click above to download it.  It includes 27 picture cards to sort by 1,2, and 3 syllables, chart headers, and a practice cut/paste page activity for your kiddos to do as follow up.

With December comes class Christmas crafts and with crafts comes a mess!  Today I thought I'd share a little clean up tip that the kiddos just love and it really does help ensure that everyone is cleaning up and that your room is left tidy.  It's called "Magic Mess!"  I learned this little tip from my host teacher when I was student teaching and have used it every year since!  So what is "Magic Mess?"  Well, it is a piece of trash, a marker, a pair of scissors, really whatever you choose that needs to be cleaned up.  As everyone starts to tidy you call out " I spy a magic mess."  Students do not know what the "mess" is so they continue to clean up everything in sight.  The goal is that by the end of tidy up time someone has picked up, thrown away, or put away that "magic mess."  At the end of tidy up time you announce who that person was and they get some kind of reward (sticker, first in line etc.)  The kids really like it and it really does help make sure everyone is cleaning.  If someone picks up the "mess" and there's still cleaning to be done I tend to call out "I still see it."  This seems to keep kids going as I am the only one who really knows what the "magic mess" is. He-He

Now don't call me crazy but I'm starting to think about January themes and have been working on a few new creations.  One of which is this little penguin craft that becomes the perfect cover for students "All About Penguins" writing.  When do you plan/prep your January themes?

Have a great weekend!