Walking in So Cal Winter Wonderland

Thursday, January 1, 2015

I am so excited to get together with some wonderful bloggers that live in my neck of the woods, Southern California, for this Winter blog hop. Thanks to Kristen from Easy Teaching Tools for taking the time to organize and put this whole thing together!  

Before the holidays, we spent some time decorating my daughters "mini" tree and it was even warm enough to keep the door open!!  We "tried" to get a good pic for our Christmas card but did not have the best of luck!! 
For the holidays, we ventured to my childhood hometown, Chicago.  It was COLD!!! We were a little bummed that my daughter did not get to witness a snowstorm BUT on our last day there, she did see a few flakes falling down.  She was SO excited that she wanted to build a snowman with the 5 flakes falling down, but never actually got to make a "real" OLAF!!!

One special thing we did this year before flying to Chicago was host a special holiday party for my daughter.  The party actually fell right on her 3.5 birthday, but let's just say this was a one time thing.  We will NOT be having 3.5 birthdays every year, can you imagine?  At the party we actually had a special visitor, Elsa, come to sing "Let it Go" to my daughter and a few of her friends.  Take a look!
It was a magical night for her, and I was shocked at how REAL 
this Elsa seemed! Her singing voice was AMAZING!!! 

Now that my break is about half way over, I am thinking about planning for that first day back with my 5th graders.  We will definitely be using my New Year's Poem that I wrote a few years ago.  I like this poem because it is dedicated to teaching the students about what a resolution is in a unique and different way, through poetry!  It is meant to fit inside their interactive notebooks and goes along with another activity that allows them to brainstorm their goals, write HOW they will achieve their goals, AND make some predictions for the new year.
After racking their brains with that activity, I usually have the kids fill out the following flip book.  They really do LOVE to write each goal inside the numbers.  Here is an example of the one I will show them as a teacher model for 2015!
Inside, they will identify their goals/resolutions and EXPLAIN how they will achieve their goals.  This is a great way to incorporate writing into the first day back AND to get the students thinking again about providing details and evidence in their writing!
Click on the link below to be taken to this FREE product!
Don't forget to enter the following giveaway for an opportunity to win a TPT gift card!

Also, make sure to hop to one of my FAV blogs, Fancy Free in Fourth to take a look at how she spent her holidays and for a great FREEBIE...

22 comments:

  1. I love this product and will be doing it with my kiddos next week! Thanks for the awesome freebie and for being apart of this hop! Glad to have another So Cal upper grade blogger friend!!!

    Fancy Free in Fourth

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    1. Thank you for stopping by Layla! Happy New Year to you!!

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  2. What a perfect freebie, I can't wait to use it when we head back to school!
    Kristen

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  3. LOVE that Elsa came to the party!! Our Halloween parade had over 25 Elsas; they were too cute!! Thanks for the freebie; my kids will love it! (It'll make a great bulletin board, too!)

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  4. I teach kinder, but I'm definitely sending this freebie to my 5th grade teacher friend!!

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    1. Thanks Holly for stopping by! Happy New Year to you!

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  5. CHICAGO! One of my favorite cities! We have family there and are die hard Cubs fans. Very jealous you got to go back. I hope your visit was amazing! Thanks for the adorable freebie! Happy New Year! -Jaime

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    1. My parents are die hard Cubs fans too! Maybe they can start winning though? I mean really! :)

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  6. Happy New Year! I loved reading your post! Your daughter is a cutie! Thanks for your awesome freebie!
    Jessica :)

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  7. OMGosh! A real life Elsa! How amazing is that to have her come to your home? I Love the FREEBIE. I teach TK & K, so I will use the flip book and have the kids illustrate their goals below the flaps! Thank you! Palma (kfundamentals)

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  8. I REEEEEEEEEALLY want Elsa to come sing at my party.

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  9. Happy 2015!!! Love your attempt at the Christmas photo!!

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  10. I love your freebie! Happy 2015, thanks for sharing!
    Lauren
    A Teachable Teacher

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  11. Love the foldable....and those cuties in your pictures. Thanks for sharing with us all.

    Stephanie
    Teaching in Room 6

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  12. Love, love, love the flipbook. Cute, a 3.5 birthday party. I wonder if I could swing a .5 birthday for me!? Thank you for sharing!
    2 Smart Wenches

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  13. My goodness, your daughter must have been THRILLED to have Elsa come to her party. The matching dresses are adorable!
    And I just LOVE pictures of kids trying to pose for a Christmas pic, and one kid is screaming! LOL Kids and animals never seem to understand that you're trying to capture that perfect picture. ; )

    Ali
    Teaching Powered by Caffeine

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  14. Love the wonderful poem and activity! I'll definitely be using it with my students next week! TeacherMsH~ThirdIstheWord

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  15. So jealous of your warm winter right now! It was -21 this morning before windchill. I could use some California sunshine!

    Tara
    The Math Maniac

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  16. Your flip book is fantastic! I will add it on to the goals sheet I found at monthbymonth.scholastic.com/printables.html. It organizes goals by location...home, classroom, community, etc. but leaves little room for expanding on ideas like your flips.

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