The rest of Snowflake's Adventures

As I've previously shared, we have a classroom elf.  It's not tied to any holiday and I have not mentioned it's a scout elf for Santa, but rather our visiting elf for December.

The third graders love it and it's pretty precious. Plus I planned out all the elf's adventures beforehand, so there wasn't any thinking or frantic planning in the morning.

In honor of Star Wars, 

I definitely looked up the opening lines from the original films and made it my own.

I happened to have scarf in my purse and used a patterned straw to mimic a light saber.  I timed this the release of the new movie since many of my students are fans.

Tuesday was a spirit day, so naturally Snowflake got in the festive spirit:

One of my students brought me a teddy bear (who we named bear), so I decided to use it for a game of hide and seek:

We also experienced yet another pencil drought, so it was Snowflake to the rescue.

As I'm sure every other elementary school teacher can attest, every so often it seems that all of the pencils in the classroom disappear. I swear they eat them. We had some pencil stealing drama the day before, so I problem solved with new pencils for everyone.

Our final day with Snowflake meant the introduction of a new elf, Candy:

One of my sweet students got me a robe for the elf.  However, since I have the non-traditional sized elf, the robe didn't fit. Three Targets were all sold out, so Amazon Prime to the rescue!  

The new second elf arrived the night before the last day of school (December 21st), so it was perfect timing.

The kids loved the two elves and had a great last day. I wrote a goodbye note from Snowflake on snowflake stationary.

All the elf props went into a box into the garage for next year. I also snagged some props and another outfit for the elf after Christmas on sale at Target.

I fully accept that I'm now "that teacher". 

Happy Hanukkah

This past year I really made a conscious effort to teach my students about holidays and other cultures.  With Hanukkah being in December, it matched up perfectly with our elf on the shelf adventures.

We read about Jerusalem, 

 

Watched a hilariously engaging and informational {video} from Mayim Bialik,

Learned about dreidels, and taught the kindergartners about dreidels and Hanukkah.

Not only did my students proudly declare that they wanted to be Jewish, several also decided dreidels were better than fidget spinners. #teacherwin

Easy Elf Adventures

After a busy week, we needed two quick adventures for our elf:

The teddy bear was a gift from a student.   The marshmallows were left behind in the teacher's lounge and were stale, making them perfect for tic tac toe.

The next day involved some lights and a banner:

One more week of elf adventures!

 

Measuring, Elf Style

We used Snowflake to review mapping skills this past week.

Since my handwriting is quite noticeable, I had Mr. R write instead.

Ms. P made this map of our classroom:

She also bought candy canes, which we hid in the treasure chest:

We used the opportunity to review legends, scales, measuring accurately, following directions, and how to use meter sticks.

 

Elf around the world

Yesterday's elf on the classroom shelf was internationally themed.

A friend from college was recently in Portugal and asked if anyone wanted a post card. I jumped at the chance because it was such a great opportunity for my students.

The post card came in a few days ago, so I went to the library to find books on Portugal.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but we set the elf up to read about holidays.

My third graders are loving the elf's adventures and it's nice to sneak in learning opportunities.  Plus it's December and I need all the help with behavior management that I can get!

Field Trip Fun

This week we braved our first field trip of the year to the Discovery Children's Museum.

It was a first for my mentee and my student teacher.  It was a first for one of my students.  It was of course, the first field trip for our elf as well.

We found a way around the "no touching the elf" rule with a plastic bag. Naturally, it's a magical bag:

Ms. P was super excited for her first field trip. 

She led the kids on a sing along on the bus.

We had some amazing chaperones and the kids had a great time doing some hands-on learning.  The museum staff was helpful and attentive.  

They even replied on Instagram, which made my class super happy.

Post field trip plans? We made thank you cards for our chaperones, worked on our essays, began typing, and silently read.  

After school I had tutoring, decorated for a baby shower, and then went to buy paper goods for the shower. I got home around 7 pm (after picking up Taco Bell for dinner), ate quickly, and passed out.  Field trip days are rough!

Elf, day 3 & 4

Snowflake has been quite the busy elf!

Yesterday, she got caught reading:

We passed out book orders and gave them a few minutes to pick out the books they wanted.  We also reviewed the no touching Snowflake rule.

Today she was under the weather:

We used it as an opportunity to unofficially introduce idioms and figurative language. Many of the kiddos already had background knowledge, which was great to see.

Tomorrow, she's off to a field trip! 

It's cheesy, but it's keeping the kids focused in December. 

Elf on the Shelf, Day 2

Today we read the Elf on the Shelf story, compliments of one of my students.  She has an elf at home and happily brought in the book to share with us.

We made it into a reading lesson by writing down a list of main ideas about how to handle an elf visitor. 

Our elf Snowflake decided to jump into reading today:

Their excitement about our elf is contagious! 

Elf on the Shelf, Day 1

The innocence of third grade means I can do Elf on the Shelf and they still believe in the magic of the season.  The elf is not tied to any specific religion and I clearly stated that she is the winter elf.  As a public school teacher, I can't endorse any religion and there's a very fine line between the separation of church and state.  

Our elf will teach about Hanukah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa.  Our elf will teach about holidays around the world.  

But first, meet our elf:

I purposefully selected the larger, plush elf from Target just in case the elf gets thrown because it won't hurt if it hits someone.  Again, I hope this doesn't happen but it's good to be prepared.

As a class, they named her Snowflake.  This was a natural opportunity to embed some civics skills.  I took student suggestions and wrote them all down:

Students picked their top three favorites and then voted a second time, settling on Snowflake.  

We talked about expressing our opinions, respecting others, and respectfully disagreeing while still being friends. (If only government officials could sit on these lessons.)

My student teacher Ms. P created this amazing sign for our door:

We wrote a letter to the class:

We set up our first day set up:

We discussed the most important rule: No touching the elf or she loses her magic. 

Ms. P and I planned out the rest of the days for the elf, so stay tuned!

Elf on the Shelf, Classroom edition

Perhaps I'm a little behind on the times, but this was the first year I heard of the "Elf on the Shelf" phenomena.

I don't have children of my own yet, so I didn't see the point in purchasing one for myself.

However, after browsing pinterest, I kept seeing lots of ideas for a classroom adaptation.  Granted, there are blog posts like this that discourage the Elf, so you might need to treat it cautiously.  I'd set up the elf as a winter visitor without religious ties and send a note home to parents & families before hand to cover my self.

Fellow teachers at my school used it this year and said it was very helpful with management!

Here are some of my favorites:

I'd need my sign to say Winter Break, not Christmas break but still a cute idea

I could easily hide him/her in my bookshelves...

In this case, it'd need to say "I will be a good listener"

The elf could totally hang out with our school supplies...

Or take a nap with a tissue blanket!

Perhaps the elf could use technology to leave us  messages...

Creepy...but in a fun way.

I can definitely see the elf blogging!

This would be easy to duplicate!

We already have jenga boards that have been upcycled to be character questions or multiplication problems...

He/she could be reading our grade level read aloud...

Or be mischievious!

I'm a fan of these simple (no mess ones) as opposed to these ideas:

My classroom is messy enough. I don't need to create additional messy areas.

I think I may need to pick up my own elf for next year!  Of course, I'll wait until after Christmas when it's on sale :)

I'm still debating between the "traditional" elf (which apparently can be dressed up!) and this version:

We'll see what's on sale!  Good thing I've got a year to think about it!