Teaching the Joy of Gift Giving with Pretzel Presents and a Poem

Teaching children about the joy one feels when giving gifts is sometimes hard to do! One of my favorite ways of spreading holiday cheer is by making candy coated pretzels. These are easy to prepare and let your little scholars experience for themselves how good it feels to do something kind for someone else during the holiday season.

What You'll Need 
[I've included Amazon links for your shopping ease. If you make a purchase using my link, Amazon credits me a very small percentage. But don't worry, it doesn't cost you any extra!] 

candy coating 

pretzels (I like using both mini pretzels and pretzel rods) 

holiday sprinkles

treat bags

parchment paper 

baking sheet(s) 

Directions 

1. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet or two depending on how many pretzels you are making. 

2. Melt your candy coating per the directions on the packaging. I melt the candy coating in a deep bowl because it is much easier to dip them that way! 

3. Dip the pretzels about 1/2 - 3/4 of the way into the candy coating and swirl off the excess candy coating. 

4. Place the candy coated pretzel on the parchment paper and cover it with sprinkles before the candy coating hardens. I like to use a variety of fun holiday sprinkles! 

5. After the baking sheet is full, place it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to let the candy coating harden. 

6. Remove pretzels from freezer. 

Schools have different policies on having and preparing food in the classroom so your little scholars may be able to help with all the steps. I prefer to make the pretzels at home and bring them in a big covered tray to school. I create a list of every adult in the school and assign a different teacher or support staff (or two) to each little scholar in my class. They then get to choose the pretzels for the teacher or support staff they will be giving them to and we put them in the plastic treat bags. My little scholars also pick the ribbon we use to tie the bag and they color and sign their own poems. Once we've got everything assembled, we head out to deliver the treats! We walk through the hallways and my little scholars personally deliver the treats. The teachers and support staff are so gracious and give my little scholars the biggest hugs! When we get back to the classroom we discuss how it makes our hearts feel happy to do something nice for others. Some children may not have the opportunity to buy or make a gift for someone else, so this is an experience they will not forget!

You can download the poems [here]. I've included a Christmas poem and a winter themed poem so you can choose which suits your needs best!

The holidays this year have come and gone, so pin an image from this post so you'll know where to find this next holiday season!

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Math and Literacy Activities using Scraps of Wrapping Paper [Freebie]

Today I was wrapping presents and as much as I tried to measure the paper to fit the gift perfectly, I inevitably had to cut strips of the wrapping paper off to wrap them just right. I was cleaning up the table and this pile of wrapping paper strips was staring at me. I couldn't let this cute wrapping paper go to waste! So I thought of a few fun literacy and math activities using scrap pieces of wrapping paper you have lying around.

I wrote letters on these strips of wrapping paper to practice letter name and letter sound fluency. It's about that time of year for another round of DIBELS or AIMSweb assessments and this would make practice fun! I wrote letters on several strips of paper and put them in the cute Santa bag. During small group, my little scholars can pull out a strip and say the letter names or letter sounds as quickly as they can. 

I wrote numbers on the scrap wrapping paper strips to practice number identification fluency. As a warm-up before small group math, my little scholars can choose a wrapping paper strip from the bag and identify the numbers as quickly as possible. 

I also wanted to use the scrap of wrapping paper to make a center my little scholars could do independently. I wrote a series of letters on each small strip with a missing letter. My little scholars will say the letters, identify the letter that is missing, and record the series of letters on the recording sheet. I placed the strips in a stocking for a little novelty--I know they'll love it! 

I did the same thing except using numbers for this next center idea. My little scholars will pull a wrapping paper strip out of the stocking, says the numbers, identify the number that is missing, and write the series of numbers on the recording sheet. 

I love including a recording sheet for accountability and you can download one to use by clicking the picture below.

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Giveaway Winner and Elf in the Classroom Freebie!

Coming back to work after a week of PJs and couch surfing has been exhausting so I just wanted to pop in to announce the winner of my Interactive Giveaway and share a freebie with you! Congratulations Carly...you won my Interactive Alphabet Bundle (a $78 value!), you should have an email from me shortly :) Thank you to all of you who entered! I loved reading about your favorite holiday children's books and I have even ordered some that y'all mentioned. You can still grab the Interactive Alphabet Listening Center Bundle for 28% off its already reduced price until midnight tonight :)

I also wanted to share an Elf in the classroom freebie I made. Our special visitor will be arriving tomorrow so I made a journal for us to document his adventure in our classroom. You can grab it [here] for FREE!

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So I didn't win Power Ball...

I had my ticket (or ten) and was sure that I was going to wake up a multi-millionaire. I even drove 35 miles across state lines to get said tickets..and no such luck! I still had something to look forward to today because....

Chillin' at the Overhead Station

our elf made his debut! I channeled my inner thespian and pulled out all the stops to make it a magical morning for my little scholars. After reading the book, we voted on our name for the little fellow. I pulled 5 popsicle sticks and each of them suggested a name. I wrote the names on chart paper and each kiddo voted on their favorite. I suppose I should explain the names...so the first suggestion was Tinker Bell and I explained to the sweetie that our elf was a boy so she shouted, "Well, Tinker Boy then!" Not sure where King came from. Obviously Diego and Boots are from Dora. And Cone? Well, my only guess is we've been learning about solid shapes. I may or may not have skewed the votes. An elf named Cone, really?! :) 

Moving on...I have been terrible at snapping pictures of centers/stations but I managed to get a few today! 

My assistant worked with our little scholars on segmenting CVC words. We start by just segmenting the sounds and then eventually graduate to moving the chips and writing the letter that makes the sound. Just like my Road to Reading: Phoneme Segmentation Fluency packet, we color-code the sounds. Green for the first sound, yellow for the medial, and red for the final sound. 

One of our literacy centers is working with cookie sheets. I whipped this little goodie up and my kiddos just loved it! There's something magical about magnetic letters I think. Notice the green border? Color-coded because students have to listen for the first sound and find that letter. The medial sound mats have a yellow border and the final sound have a red border. Make sense? Some of my kiddos are still working with identifying beginning sounds while others can decode the word after finding the letter that makes the beginning sound. 

I've been busy printing, laminating and cutting until my fingers bleed but I am just in LOVE with Caitlin Clabby's Yummy Batch of Literacy and Math Centers.

I'm read to roll them out on Monday but this week we've been practicing making sets using this little activity

Just some Christmas trees with a number in the star and colorful pom poms. 

Now off to work on next week's lesson plans...my favorite Thursday night activity! :) 

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