Teaching with Mel D

Elf on the Shelf, Gifts, & More!

Here are the babies at 4:30 a.m.! It’s official we are on the vampire schedule already! I don’t know what it is about NOT having to get up…..I feel like a kid & have to stay up ALL.NIGHT.LONG! 

I have been getting lots checked off my to do list at least & that is a shocker!

 I wanted to share some fun we had in the classroom before I started this MUCH NEEDED BREAK…..

We got a call from the front office telling us we had a very cold package in the office!
After I read the book and we talked about our new surprise the kids went to special. This is where the elf was when we returned. 

 

Staring in amazement!
Fred changed the lunch choices!
Everyone got popcorn!
Reading Parts by Tedd Arnold to the Grinch!
He left the class some cereal!
Happy 50th Birthday message to our principal!
Hiding in the crayons!
He left us donuts but took a bite out of mine!
I’m watching you!
We caught Fred picking out what he wanted for Christmas!
Just “peeping” in to check on us!
Fred shredded all the homework!

Fred had to make a Flat Gingy!

 Please don’t be offended by this……we had indoor recess on the last day before winter break. They just did the Flat Gingy project so they wanted to play with them during recess. I am zipping through the room & come to a stop when I see what is written on the board above. 
Me: “What does that say doll?”
Student: “Vaginga”
Me: “What does that mean?”
Student: “It’s the name of my Flat Gingy!”
I guess you had to be there but I peed my pants a little & ran to tell all my friends! 

 My ambitious co-worker made these cutesy little keepsakes for EACH student! They are so cute! And she has 5 kids at home!

 I threw Fred in the donut box that the room moms brought for our party. This gave me a chance to use these cute mini donuts! HOLY CUTENESS! They look soooooo REAL!

 I had to throw a mustache in there somewhere. They didn’t really get it but it made me laugh!

 My sweet BFF at school had this on my desk for my birthday with Fred attached! I was so excited & touched! Stop looking at the clutter on my desk!

 Here is my partner in crime dressed as an elf! I am soooooo doing this next year! We both really got into the elf this year! I was so stoked to have others to plot with!

I saw this on FB & COULD NOT STOP LAUGHING! This is our goal for next school year.

 We put both our classes together for some movie time on the last day. We each made a scroll & put little notations about each child. It was H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S! They are just so gullible! I put things like….
Sydney-don’t lose any more teeth….girl!
Brandon-you better help mom with the twins!
Reagan-girl you talk too much!
Landon-you have 4 days to learn to tie your shoes!

They were truly amazed & stood there with their mouths hitting the floor. There were a few that even cried. All we had them do was spin 3x & beg the elf not to tell Santa….lol. 

 This took my whole freaking prep time but look at him!!!! I used those glue zots to position him. If I didn’t he kept tipping upside down which he had already done.

We decorated sugar cones while watching The Grinch! They were hot little messes!

Looking at the big mess!
Fred was found with band-aids all over him after he was stepped on & kicked a few times!
Our Elf on the Shelf daily journal included in my Elf on the Shelf Daily Writing activities!
We found Fred taking a nap. He was wiped out after a hectic day!
Uh-oh! Santa Claus wrote us some reminders about following the rules.
Fishing under the Grinch tree.

Working on some of the items from my Elf on the Shelf Daily Writing activities.

Tons of journal prompts kept all my little elves super excited about writing during Daily 5!

 Dear Santa persuasion letter!

Writing to the elf about how they are bucket fillers! 

These pictures turned out cuter than I ever imagined!!! All I did was use some clipart & taped dowels to the back of each prop. I made enough for the whole class….I was a bit OBSESSED! I took one picture of each student by themselves. Then they got to pick two friends to take a picture with them. We also took a class photo. I always get photo Christmas cards on clearance at the end of the season. I developed the pictures at Meier & added some cutesy detail to each. I put the the student solo pics in a photo card for the parents. I gave each student a copy of the pic with their friends & a copy of the class picture. They were beyond excited! 
This is what the picture looked like once I did my magic!

After we had our photo shoot we found Fred like this!

Uh-oh Fred brought coal as a warning.

Our class photo!

  

Aren’t these beautiful?????? I brought a massive amount of acrylic paint to school & spent about $20 just to make sure I had enough paint for these. Each student got to pick out 4 different colors. I poured each of them in & let the kids roll the ornaments. Then I put let them drain into a clear cup. When there was a good amount of paint I used their leftover paint & made the ones on the right for my hippie tree at home. I was uber stoked about this gift when I left on Friday. I let them drain over the weekend……………………… 

 After I let them drain over the weekend this is what I come back to on Monday!!!!! I just about had a meltdown! I was ready to cry…..cry like a baby. My coworker who has a gift of calming me down gave me an idea. I ended up putting the colors they used back in. I let them drain for about 30-45 minutes & then left them sideways in the container they came in. I waited until the next day to see what happened. They were fine…..PHEW! I wrote their name, a peace sign & the year with a paint marker & got them OUT OF THERE! The kids absolutely loved them but they were actually a parent gift. I attached a peace ribbon on the hook & they turned out fabulous.

 I made each student their own bookmark & placed it in a book I ordered with my points from Scholastic. They totally loved these! I made some additional ones for former students who visit 2x a day….get over me already! I also made some for my friend’s children.

 We used white lunch bags to place the ornament in. I had a parent tell me she cried when she saw it…awe!


 The front of the card was done by painting each child’s fingers & placing them in the middle of the card. We let them dry over night. Then we let them go back & paint the snow hill. After that was dry they added the snowflakes with a white crayon & colored the details with sharpies. 

Here is my cutie patootie hubs opening presents on Christmas day! I made him a coupon book with about 15 different coupons for a stocking stuffer. Of course this was his very favorite present! There are some coupons that needed to be hidden when mom came over…..LOL. I will make one for Valentine’s Day & post it for you.

 I had to sneak in a pic of Big B (Bentley). They got more presents than me! He inhaled every single snausage within 30 seconds!

 As my students and I were having so much fun last week I couldn’t help but cry my eyes out after they left. All I did was think about those poor little babies that were taken from their parents way too soon. Words can’t express the heartache each and every person in this country feel for these families. I just couldn’t even imagine. I told the parents of my students that they are safe with me and I would do anything to protect them. I know each and every one of you would do the same for your students. May those precious little angels rest in paradise. 
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Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing all you were up to! I loved reading and checking out ur pics! I got some great ideas for elf on shelf next year! Have a great New Years 🙂

    Sarah
    Teachingiscolorful.blogspot.com

  6. Wow! You were busy girl! I hope you are actually sleeping after the busy December you had! You amaze me with all that you do! I'm not a bit surprised that your previous students come back and visit you! I would too! Thanks for sharing all of those wonderful pics! I chuckled a lot through your post (you are so funny)…and let out a big laugh when I saw that I had used the same "Santa Claus" stationary you used with your elf (I love it and it looks so real doesn't it)? Great minds think alike! :o) Happy Holidays!

    ÂœKaryn
    A is for Apple B is for Blog
    Kideducator@comcast.net

  7. Thanks for sharing all these wonderful things. I was really into reading your blog. I hope to have mine the same way soon. I love all your ideas. I did the elf on the shelf too this year, but I did not think to take pictures and have the studetns write about it was awesome. Have a great holiday. please come by and check out my blog.
    April
    abc123 kindergarten classroom

  8. I love your Elf on the Shelf ideas but haven't started this in my room yet. Hopefully next year! I was looking at your Seuss stuff but am not able to find it on Tpt. Is there a way to still get them from you?
    I also need to try your Candy Land games. Do I need a different game board for each game so several kids can play? Thanks, Jackie
    jmcmanam@w-sioux.k12.ia.us

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