Weekend Warriors: Holiday Gift Ideas

Can you believe it's almost December!?!  It's amazing how quickly each year seems to fly by.  Just when you think you won't make it to October, it's suddenly time for the holidays and you're worried about fitting it all in before the end of the year.  

I work with a very diverse population of students and so many different holidays are celebrated this time of year.  I like to invite families to come in and teach the class about their own holidays and family traditions to honor the different cultures represented in my classroom.  The common theme throughout has always been the symbol of lights and how they are used in each celebration.

For the past few years, I have focused our holiday gifts on the celebration of the Winter Solstice.  We start by reading the book

  The Shortest Day 

by Wendy Pfeffer.

The book lends itself well to many science and social studies standards, too!

Then we create a symbol of light to give our families as a gift!

The Winter Solstice candle...

Here is what you will need:

1) Tree Rounds:  I get them from a Christmas Tree farm!  These are the pieces that are cut off of the bottom of the trunk.  They are usually more than happy for me to take them off their hands.

2) White school glue and a paint brush

3) Tea light candles

4) Star shaped pasta

5) Glitter

Paint the tree round with white glue.

Add glue to the bottom of the tea light candle.

Place the tea light in the center of the tree round.

Sprinkle star shaped pasta around the tea light.

Add glitter!

Once the glue is dry, we add a a gift tag.

You can grab these tags for free here!

What holiday gifts do you give each year?  Comment below or link up with the Weekend Warriors (don't forget to link back to this post!).

Then, hop on over and check out what the other Weekend Warriors have to share about Holiday Gifts below!  

Happy Holidays!

This post contains affiliate links for Amazon. By purchasing an item on the Amazon site using these links, I will receive a small commission on your purchase. 

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Weekend Warriors: Sight Words

Hooray!  The Weekend Warriors are back!  Now that the chaos of back to school has settled down a bit, the Weekend Warriors have returned to share some classroom tips and tricks.

In our district, we use Fountas and Pinnell assessments for our reading instruction.  In Kindergarten, this includes Foundational Skills before running records.  Our students are assessed on 25 sight words, then on a list of 50 once the first set is mastered.  

We begin the year teaching one sight word a week.  Once we are half way through, we bump it up to 2 words per week.  For most, this is enough.  For others, it can be too fast or too slow.  Here are a few things I've done to differentiate my sight word instruction.

Sight Word Slideshow

Part of our morning routine includes a sight word slideshow.  The words are projected on the SMART Board and the students choral read them.  I change the order every week and we do them in different voices (Kindergarten voice, monster voice, baby voice, robot voice, etc) just to mix it up.  For those kids that can't read all of the words yet, it gives them a chance to hear their friends say them and then they chime in.

Sight Word Practice Pages

Each week, students work on our sight word for the week using these practice pages.

 

  I'm working on getting this unit done and will post it to TpT soon!  

Sight Word Choice Board

I have an ABC Center in my room where students can go during choice time or as early finishers.  I have rings with the sets of sight words hanging on the wall.  

Students can choose from the Sight Word Choice Board, different ways to practice their words.

All the materials needed are kept in these drawers.

How do you practice sight words?  Leave a message in the comments or link up with us below!

Grab the images for sharing and don't forget to link back to this post!

Now check out some other great ideas for teaching sight words:

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Weekend Warriors: Money Saving Tips & Tricks for Teachers

Hi all!  As we get ready to go back to school, many of us are spending money like crazy trying to get our rooms ready and the supplies we need for a successful school year.  Some of us are lucky enough to get reimbursed for some of these expenses but many of us do not.  It can quickly become very expensive.  So this month the Weekend Warriors are bringing you money saving tips and tricks to hopefully save you some dollar dollar bills y'all!  

I love books.  Like, puffy heart love books.  But they can be expensive and Kindergarteners (even when taught!) can be rough on books.  I have used Scholastic Reading Club (formerly Scholastic Book Clubs) orders in my classroom for years.  Each month, I send home the book order flyer.  Parents can choose to order books and either submit payment to you (that you mail in) or they can submit online.  Because all of the families I work with have computer access, I only accept online orders.  As parents order, you earn points that you can use to order your own books!  Scholastic also has a catalog where you can order other learning materials and use your points as well.  Shipping for you is also free with any parent order.  I have been able to supply so many books for my students this way.

DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that is free for teachers.  Public school teachers can post a classroom project request on the site and anyone can give any amount to the project they choose to support.  You can post projects for classroom materials, a class visitor, a class trip, and even for professional development.  I have received tables and chairs for my classroom, leveled books, and an easel over the years.  It's a great way to tap into donations outside of your immediate school community.

If you follow any teachers on any form of social media, surely you have seen pictures of what people are stocking up on at the Target Dollar Spot.  I, myself, have fallen victim to the peer pressure.
Check out my haul!

Most items are $1 or $3.  They clearly know that teachers LOVE the Dollar Spot, too.  It has been stocked with so many great classroom items and decor this year!  The Dollar Spot is great for back to school but also around the different holidays, too! I've picked up a lot of holiday themed items to use as counters and manipulatives in my classroom as well.  

As you head back to school this year, check out some of these great resources to help save you some money!

Do you have great tips or tricks for saving?  Leave a message in the comments or link up with us below!  Grab the images for sharing and don't forget to link back to this post!

 

Check out what other tips and tricks the Weekend Warriors have to share below:

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Weekend Warriors: 3-2-1 Teacher Bio

Is June really almost over!?!  Where did it go?  Time is flying far too fast.

Since it's the end of the month, it's time for another link up with the Weekend Warriors!

We are a group of bloggers coming to you the last weekend of each month with a link up to share tips on a particular theme.  Since it's summer time, we thought we would take this month to tell you a little bit about ourselves and learn a little about you!  

We're doing it 3-2-1 style!

Here's how it works:

Let's get to know each other shall we?

1) Anybody who knows me, knows that I'm a total planner.  This is really true of me in all parts of my life but especially the Teacher Me.  I love my Erin Condren planner and I make sure it's completely filled out each week.  I like to know what I'm doing and when I'm doing it.  I like to have all my ducks in a row before I leave for the day and to be ready for the following week on Friday afternoons.  I'm not a big fan of surprises and chaos can drive me a bit batty!

2) A supportive team is absolutely essential to me.  I love to work with other teachers, bounce ideas off of each other, compare notes, and plan together.  There's nothing worse than feeling like you're alone in this.  My team is so important to me. 

3) I have really high expectations, both for myself as well as my students.  I strive to do my best every day.  Sure, we all have bad days and I do cut myself some slack when that happens, but I will never compromise and be less than my best.  I also have high expectations of my students.  I don't use a clip chart or a marble jar or anything like that in my classroom (I've tried them.  They're not for me.).  We set our class agreements at the beginning of the year and this becomes the norm.  The students know what is expected of them and there are no surprises.  That's just how we roll.

These two sort of go hand in hand for me.  I'm the oldest of three girls and I've always been expected to be responsible for myself as well as for others.  This isn't something that my parents expected of me, but more what I've always expected of myself.  Some of my closest friends call me "Mama Bear" because I'm always taking care of others.  And if you're part of my flock, I've definitely got your back.  I am incredibly loyal.  I love my people and I will protect them to the ends of the earth.  But watch out, if you hurt one of my people, Mama Bear will fight back! Ha!

So if you've read my blog like even once, you know that I'm a huge baseball fan.  (See?  It says it right over there in my profile --->)  I grew up with the game.  My grandfather was a semi-pro pitcher, my mom worked as an usher out at the ballpark, it's in my DNA.  Last year, I got to check one baseball dream off of my bucket list when I went to Game 3 of the World Series.

Next up on that list is to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.  Now that my sister and her family have moved out that way, maybe I'll get the chance to check this one off, too!

I hope you've enjoyed learning a little bit more about me!  You can check out what my Weekend Warriors girls had to share and link up with us, too!  Make sure to link back to this post!

Use the images below:

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Weekend Warriors: Favorite EOY Activities

The Weekend Warriors are back with this month's post!

My absolute favorite day of the year is 

Author's Morning

My Kindergarteners work hard during Writer's Workshop throughout the year.  On the last Wednesday of the school year, we invite families to come and hear our published stories.

You can learn more about how we publish our books by reading

  this post.

To get ready, the students practice reading their books to each other.

We also send an invitation to families.

I dress up our classroom to get ready for the big day.

 

As parents arrive, they are greeted by smiling authors and instructions on what to do.

The feeling of pride on my students' faces makes this day so wonderful!

(I wish I could show you how happy they are!)

Author's Morning is such a wonderful way to bring the classroom community together and to showcase the accomplishments of my Kinders.  

I am always so impressed with their work and so proud of them!

And once in a while, I even get a mention in one their books. :)

What is your favorite End of the Year activity?  

Link up and share!

Then hop on over to each of these blogs to check out their 

End of the Year fun!

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