Turkeys and Reindeer

Holy Moly, Guacamole! This is the last day of our Thanksgiving break, and I have so much to do. Just like me to wait until the last minute to accomplish all of the mind-blowing, amazing things I had planned to accomplish on my break, LOL! 

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Of all of the holidays, this one  is my favorite! I love all of the traditions and family time. 

Our class started our break by giving! We donated the most canned goods in our school! We owe a great thanks to the wonderful parents and students that opened their hearts to donate to Hope's Closet. The school donated 4273 food items this Thanksgiving season! How awesome it that?!

We had a very busy and productive week just before our break, but I really enjoyed our morning meetings most! We are really getting into the groove of building a respectful community. Here are a few of our messages... 

  

As much as we are enjoying our messages, my kiddos love the activities we do! With our 11-15 message, we had a "snowball fight" with the paper the students wrote what they were thankful for on - tons of fun! When I called time, students had to pick up the nearest snowball and guess who was thankful for those things. Some were easy to figure out, some not so easy. We also played "telephone." It was funny to hear how mixed up our message became. My kid's favorite has to be "Would you rather?" I found this fun little activity at Classroom Freebies by Rachel.  You just have to check out her site and TeachersPayTeachers store. Tons of fun ideas and great freebies!

 

Some random photos around the room :)

 

Look at my sweet gift from a sweet girl!

I want to share a few more of my favorite Thanksgiving read alouds. We were lucky enough to squeeze in quite a few great picture books before our break. We laughed as turkey tried to find his way out of Thanksgiving trouble. We just loved all of the funny ways he tried to disguise himself from farmer in Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano.

Turkey Bowl by Phil Bildner is one of my new Thanksgiving favorites, and I was so excited to pick this up from the last book order. I love the illustrations by C.F. Payne. This story is all about family and Thanksgiving traditions, the very reason Thanksgiving is my favorite! 

This next little book is an oldie but goody. I was two when this book was first published, LOL, but it still makes me giggle. Sometimes it's Turkey, Sometimes it's Feathers by Lorna and Lecia Balian is just too cute for words. The illustrations make you fall in love with little, old Mrs. Gumm, and the repetitive phrases make it fun for the kiddos to join in. We all loved the ending! If you are at all familiar with A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting, then you will know how this fun little book ends. Both are sweet stories, but if I had to choose, I would pick Sometimes It's Turkey... couldn't tell you why ~ maybe because it's as old as I am, haha.

Who Will Carve the Turkey This Thanksgiving by Jerry Pallotta is a fun little back and forth story. I fell in love with the illustrations! David Biedrzycki is so talented. It is fun to hear the kiddos share who carves the turkey at their house.

My own kiddos this Thanksgiving! They grow up so fast :(

Katie and I had a blast running  walking (haha)
the Reindeer run for Reading 2012! 

 

Sorry for such a long post...I took this fall break to really catch up on things at home and spend time with the family, and I totally neglected Flamingos and Butterflies. I cannot believe how fast it has flown by, but I am excited to get to see my kiddos at school tomorrow! Believe it or not, I have missed them! I have said it often, but I am so proud of this sweet group I have!

 

This is what I was supposed to be getting caught up on, LOL. These notebooks have been sitting on my dining room table mocking me most of the break. As soon as I am done with this post, I will be writing letter after letter again. This is so time consuming with both classes, but I have learned so much about my readers this way. One of these days, probably just before retirement, I will find a way to efficiently answer all letters. If anyone out there has a great system for this, please feel free to share. I will say that I am super excited to answer all said letters using my new stack of Frixion pens! Whoo hoo...I LOVE these erasable pens! These definitely make my list of favorite things! The only problem is that you cannot walk into just any store to pick them up. I found some at Office Depot this weekend and picked up an armload!  

When we get back tomorrow, all the Thanksgiving books are put away and it is time for all things Christmas! I want to share my favorite Christmas CD. The  kids will come to know it well! I play it almost everyday during this time of year. I picked this up at Kohl's one year and absolutely fell in love with it. It is a lighthearted, fun Christmas CD ~ doesn't hurt that it has my man, Jason Mraz, on it.

Now one last picture book for you. This is my all time favorite Christmas book! It is a long read but WELL worth every minute! This is the book that made me fall in love with Berkeley Breathed! His writing style is full of such descriptive and figurative language, and Red Ranger Came Calling is a Christmas masterpiece. I spend a few days sharing this one, smiling the entire time. Please forgive me that I do not share much more information yet. I don't want to give it away just yet... I want my kiddos that are reading this to be surprised. ;) Be sure to check back to see what the surprise is.

All right my sweet friends... with that I must say good night. Those darn notebooks are still mocking me and the hour grows toward The Walking Dead. 

Happy Reading!