A Mentor Text and Two Free Activities for the New Year (Plus a Giveaway)

There's only two more days on our Advent calendar until the big day.  With a six year old at the house, the excitement is off the chart.
Although, we're not to Christmas yet, I'm thinking ahead the first few days back after the break.  One book I'll be using is Shante Keys and the New Year's Peas by Gail Piernas-Davenport.

This book follows Shante as she visits neighbors to borrow some black-eyed peas for her family's New Year's meal.  She learns about different ways other cultures celebrate the New Year from her neighbors.  The text is rhyming and the illustrations are bright and lively.  If you do not have this book in your library, you really should check it out.  It is informative and a great way to start the New Year in your classroom.

To go along with this book, I thought it would be fun to do a nonstandard measurement activity with black-eyed peas. So I created New Year's Measurement.  This free packet includes New Year's themed picture cards for measuring and a recording sheet.

 Students will estimate how many black-eyed peas it will take to measure each picture.  Then students will use black-eyed peas to measure.

There are color and blackline master options for the picture cards for this activity.  If you would like a FREE copy of this packet, click on the picture below.

We will also be working a bit with word problems.  I've updated my New Year's themed math mini book for 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 through 2025 and I plan on using it .  If you would like a FREE copy of it, just click on the picture below.

There are all sorts of fun classroom activities to go along with the celebration of the New Year.  I hope the suggestions above can make your planning a little easier.

Oh, and one last thing . . . To mark School Is a Happy Place's first anniversary, I'm having a little giveaway for a $50 Amazon gift card.  Anyone can enter the giveaway once.  For additional chances to win, join School is a Happy Place as a new follower and/or become a new follower on Bloglovin.

Good luck.  The winner will be announced on December 30th.  (Sorry-the giveaway was in 2013)

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