Sunday, December 1, 2013

The Elf on the Shelf: A Must Read Mentor Text and An Elftastic Freebie

Hi friends.  I hope you are enjoying your Thanksgiving break.  Yesterday we went to the movies and saw Frozen.  Then we did a tiny bit of shopping so that  A  could pick her ornament out for the year.  She found an Elf on the Shelf ornament and was super happy with her find.
Last night our Elf, Ms. Joy arrived.   A  popped out of bed extra early to mark the occasion.  Ms. Joy was greeted with an envelope of money and a note to bring to Santa that read, "I very, very much want a sister."  Good luck Santa!

Keeping in the spirit of the season, my must read mentor text is The Elf on the Shelf by Carol Aebersold and Chanda Bell.  I will be reading it Monday in class, since it will be our class elf's first day.
This book tells all about Santa's scout elves.  How they come each December and report nightly back to Santa which children have been naughty or nice.  The illustrations are charming and the story captures children's imaginations.


Since this story is written in a rhyming format, it is the perfect jumping off point for a little work with rhyming words.  It always amazes me how much students struggle with rhyming words.  More practice is almost always needed. 
Below is a rhyming word sort that I created to use on the day we read The Elf on the Shelf.  The clip art is by Melonheadz and I made the fonts.  If you would like a copy of this sort, you can click on the picture below.


If your class has an Elf, hopefully he/she will make classroom management a snap (he he he).  You can also put Elf to work in your curriculum.  Elfontheshelf.com has free resources available for teachers and of course a visit to Pinterest can be a great source of inspiration.

If you are looking for more mentor text recommendations and activity ideas, be sure to stop by Collaboration Cuties for their weekly Must Read Mentor Text Linkup. 
Thanks so much for reading and have a great week.

4 comments:

  1. I've heard of this phenomenon... I think our Kindergarten does an Elf on the Shelf! I teach older students (grs. 5-8) and have no young children in my family at all. I did NOT realize it stemmed from a book. How cute! I like your curricular idea as well! I hope you'll post more elf adventures as the season continues.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love that your little one asked for a sister- too cute! Your freebie is adorable- I'm sure your kids will be super excited tomorrow to learn about the elf. :)
    Aylin
    Learning to the Core

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aw, I so wish that I could pull off an elf on the shelf with 4th graders but unfortunately that's a tricky age for belief and I don't want any of my students to ruin it for those that DO still believe. This is really cute, though, and my personal kids are awaiting our elf!! It's so fun!!

    Thanks for linking up!
    Amanda
    Collaboration Cuties

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your freebie is again, fabulous! Thanks for sharing! Hope your little has lots of fun with Ms. Joy!

    Karen
    An Apple a Day in First Grade

    ReplyDelete