Elf in the Classroom (Ideas and Free Activities)

At dinner tonight my daughter started up a conversation about holidays and explained that Christmas is her number one.  I was not surprised in the least.  Then she proceeded to tell me that getting visits from our family elf is one of her favorite parts of Christmas.
Our Ms. Joy arrives tomorrow and so does my class elf, Anderson.  At the moment I have an"E" written in Sharpie on my hand.  That E stands for elves...the elves that I better not forget about or else.
I should probably just keep a Sharpie E on my hand for the next 24 days, just in case.

If your class gets a visit for an elf, here are a few activities (old and new) that you might want to use with your students to take advantage of all the elf-induced excitement.

First up is a fun Elf Glyph.
These glyphs make a very festive display.  As part of this project, there is a little data collection/analysis activity, if you want to extend the activity a bit.  A writing prompt is included as well.
Elf Glyph:  A Fun Holiday Creativity is available at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  You can click here for more details.

Next up is an elf themed scoot (or write the room or math center).  My firsties have been working on fact families.  I made this simple activity for students to complete in small groups.
You can click on one of the picture below for a FREE copy of Elf Friends: A Free Math Activity (Practice with Fact Families).

Another elf inspired goody for your classroom (or even for home) is my Diary of an Elf:  A Free Writing Activity.  Your students can get in some extra writing as they chronicle the adventures of their elf with this daily journal.  

For a FREE copy of Diary of an Elf, click on the picture below.

I have one more elf freebie before I wrap things up.  It's my Elftastic Rhymes.  This quick, print and go sort features rhyming words for the book The Elf on the Shelf.  I like to use it after I read the book to the class.  

Students read each set of words and determine if they rhyme or not.  If your students are anything like mine, they can always use more practice with rhyming words.

For a FREE copy of Elftastic Rhymes, click on one of the pictures below.

I hope you've picked up some ideas that will help incorporate elf into some of your learning activities.  If you have a favorite elf in the classroom idea, I'd love to hear about it :).

Thanks for stopping by.

Good Things Come in Small Packages: Fun with Our Class Elf

Monday was a big day in our classroom.  Our Elf arrived from the North Pole.  He was a bit of a surprise.  He was peeking out of a big basket of Lincoln Logs on top of a tall cabinet.  I really didn't think he would be spotted until later in the day.  But my kids found him right away.

Now, every morning they rush in to be the first to see where our Elf is hiding and what he's up to.  

We are keeping track of all things Elf in our journal (Diary of an Elf).

Students wrote about our Elf's arrival and a personal introduction.  After that, they write short daily entries telling where the Elf is, what he's doing, and possibly how he got in that position.  I've encouraged my students to write as though they are the Elf.  Some of the entries have been funny and creative.

For a FREE copy of my Diary of an Elf, click on the picture above.

Another Elf inspired activity we did was a quick and easy to prep rhyming words sort.  I used some of the rhymes from the book, The Elf on the Shelf to create this sort.  It was a great little review for my firsties.  You can have a FREE copy of this sort by clicking on the picture below.

Elf also made an appearance in our December math centers.  He is featured in our place value center.  That's the thing about Elf, you just never know where he's going to turn up. ;)

On Friday morning Elf (at least we think it was Elf) left a little treat for everyone at their desks.  Food is always a hit.  Food from a secret admirer is over the top thrilling.

Later in the day we made our Elf Glyphs and I love how they turned out.  Students answered a set of holiday related questions to determine what their glyphs look like.  On Monday we are going to use our glyphs for some data collection and analysis during our math time. 

If you are interested in my Elf Glyph, it is available at my tpt store.  You can click on the picture below for more details.

I'll wrap this up with a pic of this upcoming Monday morning's elfscapade.  Nothing over the top, just a little snack.  But knowing my kids, they are going to be totally cracked up by an Elf and his sandwich.

  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Make Way for MLK: A Free Learning Packet and Book Recommendations

Time certainly flies when you out of school for extreme temperatures, snow, and ice.  Our first week back from Christmas vacation was super fast (2 days).  Which, I cannot lie, was a great way to get back into the swing of things.  Of course plans were out the window.  But we were able to fit in most of our New Year's activities.

Next up the 100th Day of School and Martin Luther King Jr.  Our 100th Day of School is on Friday and I still have not finalized the activities we are doing.  There are so many fun and clever ideas to mark the 100th Day, I'm having a hard time choosing.

As for Martin Luther King Jr., I have a few activities and books ready to go that I think the kids will really enjoy.  Some of the activities my firsties will be doing are in my new packet, Make Way for MLK:  A Martin Luther King Jr. Freebie.

(CLICK HERE for a link to the free activities below.)

This packet includes two literacy centers and two math centers (both with recording sheets), as well as a writing craftivity. 

One of the math centers provides practice with addition facts.

The other one works with time to the hour.

One of the literacy centers allows students to practice sorting sentence by type (asking or telling).

The other literacy center works with rhyming words.

My favorite part of this packet is the writing craftivity, I have a Dream Just Like Martin Luther King.  With the pattern, you can have your students create a MLK peek over or you can have them make one that looks more like themselves.  Either way can work.

There are also some really fabulous books about Martin Luther King Jr.  My First Biography: Martin Luther King Jr. by Marion Dane Bauer is a great choice for early elementary students.  The story is very simple and the illustrations are appealing.

The other biography I recommend is National Geographic Kids:  Martin Luther King, Jr. by Kitson Jazynka.  Like the book above, this one offers basic biographical information about King.  However, this text goes into more detail and uses actual photographs.

After reading these biographies, we will take a little closer on the March on Washington and the I Have a Dream Speech.  We March by Shane Evans is a book I found this summer.  It follows a family as they join the 1963 March on Washington.  The illustrations are very engaging as they focus in on individuals that were at the historic event.

My final recommendation is I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King Jr. and illustrated by Kadir Nelson.   The content of this book is King's famous speech and the illustrations are outstanding.  My copy (from Amazon) also came with a CD of the speech, very useful.

There are certainly many more activities and books that you can use for your study of Martin Luther King Jr.  I hope some of these suggestions can be of use to you as you plan for MLK learning in your class.

Have a great week.

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.