This One Is Worth Repeating. "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?"

We Did!!!  

You can leave these snowmen up through January!

And the kids got to "buy" his accessories! 

1st We Shopped...

Each child got the five parts shown in the FREE template.  (FREE template is found near the end of this post.)

Then, they came up to me (2 at a time) to "buy" the parts for their Olaf.  One chile shopped while the other child watched.

I cut out Fun Foam for the coal, the eyebrows, the mouth, and the carrot noses.
The rest of the stuff came from my craft supplies like pom-poms and buttons.

I set out 15 pennies and items from my craft bins which were priced at 1 cent or 2 cents each.

As the first student purchased items, he/she moved their pennies into a can (clank!) and I recorded the items purchased on the receipt.

When done, we placed all purchased items into a zipper sandwich bag along with the receipt.

Each child got their own bag with their purchases and receipt.

I sent the first child to get a new student to come and watch while I let the second child shop.  This way, the child who is watching is all ready to shop and little time is wasted making decisions. 

Then We Got To Build A Snowman...

The following day, I gave each chid their five Olaf parts and they got to put them together any way they liked.  They could even have him holding his head above his body!

They got to arrange their snowman parts first.

Then, they added the parts they bought.

Then, they used white glue to decorate their Olaf. 

I posted them on the bulletin board along with their receipt.

This bulletin board can last through January.  

The eyebrows can make such a difference!

The best part is that they got to use their math skills, but I also liked the fact that no two Olafs were alike!  Everyone got to be creative and construct their own snowman to reflect their own creativity.  

Each one looks different.  

Different eyes.

Different scarves and buttons instead of coal.

We also do this type of shopping with black cats and green monsters at Halloween time to create our "Meow Mall" and "Monster Mall" and again in February to create a "Valentine Shop".  I have more ideas and samples of receipts here:

Click the image above.

Here is your FREE Olaf template:

CLICK HERE or on the image below.

Click the image to get the link.

Our Snowman Tied One On!

Our Snowman On The Trashcan Strikes Again!

This morning we found our snowman next to the trashcan practicing tying shoe laces.  He had ribbons and bows all around him!  He also left us some red and white yarn so we can practice tying too!  

This is how we practiced tying: 

We used a long piece of yarn, about 30 inches long, so we could wrap it around our legs or our foot.

This helped us to anchor the yarn and allowed us to easily tie a bow.

Then we made bows for our live Christmas tree!

Once we learned how to tie, we cut a smaller piece of yarn and tied a bow to place on our live Christmas tree.  I have never seen so much interest in learning how to tie a bow before!

Our Snowman is All Ready For Tomorrow!

Tomorrow, we will find our snowman climbing on the trashcan so he can decorate our live tree with some of his bows!  The students all look forward to finding him each morning and discovering what he is up to!

From Snowman to Writing;

We have been talking about all of the things our snowman has been doing:

Sitting, climbing, tying, drinking (Starbuck's), etc.  

That led us to a discussion about "ing" verbs.  We concluded the lesson with our "King of Ing" mini book.  Take a look at it by clicking the image.  

A fun mini book.

           

See you all tomorrow!

Palma :)

Have you heard of the Snowman by the Trashcan???

Instead of Elf on the Shelf! 

Day 1:

On the first day, we found the snowman ON the trashcan!

Each day, we find him in another position always around a trashcan.

Day 2:

We found our snowman ABOVE the trashcan!

He is enjoying his Starbuck's and he got to spend the day at this table.

Each day he will move to a different table and he will be found 

BELOW the trashcan 

NEXT TO the trash can

BEHIND the trashcan

IN FRONT OF the trashcan

IN the trashcan, etc.  

We can't wait to see where he will be on Monday!

It's such a fun way to learn our position words for Common Core Math!

You have got to leave a comment and tell me what you think about our 

SNOWMAN & THE TRASHCAN!

Here are some more pix from this week:

Speaking of Snowmen, you might like:

Click the image to see the download.

Click the image to see the download.

SEE YOU ALL TOMORROW!

PALMA :)

I Can't Wait ...

No, I can't wait...

... to share with you my 3 favorite pins from Pinterest!  I am so excited to link up with these amazing bloggers and I can't wait to see the pins they have suggested too!  A great big THANK YOU to Pawsitively Teaching and Inspired Owl's Corner for hosting this party!

This party is open all month long, so add your post about your favorite pins in the link-up below.

Here Are My 3 Best Pins:

January is the perfect time to get organized with these Dry-Erase Work Mats For Small Group Lessons:

I LOVE this idea.  You apply lined dry-erase contact paper to laminated construction paper.  Students use dry-erase pens to practice writing letters, numbers, words, and sentences.  The teacher can also write a word for the students to copy.  You can order the lined dry erase paper on Amazon.

Click the image to see the original source. 

January is the perfect time to build a snowman using math:  Students get the main white parts to build this snowman, but they must "buy" all of the smaller parts and accessories with the coins the teacher provides.  The Snowman template is free HERE.  Math and Art merge in this project:

Click the image to see the original source.

My January "organize everything" rack:  I use several dish racks in my classroom to organize files, but I especially use this idea during parent conferences.  The rack holds several student files and the silverware holder is perfect for pencils, pens, and my iPhone (on "silent" of course!).

This is my favorite Pin EVER!

Looking For More Fun?  Follow...

...  my Pinterest Boards 

... me on TPT 

... me on Facebook

... me on Twitter

... me on Instagram 

Join The Party:

This linky party will run all month, and we would love it if you joined up and added your link at the bottom of the link-up below.

Here is how:

1.  Save the "Pick3" images to your computer to use in your blog post.

2.  Create a blog post and share your 3 Pinterest Picks for January.

3.  Be sure to include the original source for your pins.

4.  Link up by clicking the "add your link" button below.

5.  Be sure to check out the other Pinterest finds that have been shared and comment on the ones you love!

Now, Get Ready To Discover Some GREAT Pins:

An InLinkz Link-up

A Gift From Your Teacher

A Simple Gift For My Students:

Each student will receive a "snowman building kit" complete with 3 large marshmallows, 2 tiny marshmallows, 2 stick pretzels, and 6 mini chocolate chips (3 for eyes & aL.

I found the FREE "Do You Want To Build A Snowman" bag toppers HERE.  This blog had a lot of cute ideas for a Frozen party too.

I added a snowman book from Scholastic to complete the gift.

So cute, yet so simple.

What do you give your students?