Inexpensive Christmas Gift for Students - Extra Credit!

At my school, our fourth grade is departmentalized...which means I have 100+ students. I love being able to focus on just a couple of subjects, but when it comes to Christmastime - my favorite time of the year - my heart wants to give each student a little something,....but my bank account (and husband) balk at the idea of how much I would have to spend. So, I had to come up with an alternative.

All students love extra credit. So, I created these little guys to print out for my students. It's easy, inexpensive, and they love it. I like to print on card stock (in color) and then slip them into cards from the Dollar Tree. (In 2017 Dollar Tree had 12 packs of cards.) A candy cane or Christmas pencil would be a nice touch taped to the card or even the back of the extra credit card if you decide to skip the Christmas card.

And viola! There you have a gift for all the little ones that come into your classroom...and you don't have to hide the bank statement from your hubby!

Thanksgiving Stuff(ing)

Thanksgiving is right around the corner! My classroom is decorated with fall garland and harvest window clings. I don't go too crazy since we only get a few measly weeks in between Halloween (which I really get into since it can last the entire month of October) and Christmas (we won't even talk about how decorated my class gets for Christmas!), but I do like to throw out some fall decor and projects. Go now and grab a couple of strands of garland & some window clings from Dollar Tree. Your front board will thank you for it. :)

As far as day-to-day classroom activities, my Thanksgiving centers are out and ready to go. By far, my favorite is this equivalent fractions center my kids are working on this week. But, it does require some prep work.

If you're just trying to survive and cant think about prepping a new center, I've also got my Thanksgiving game boards - just add your own task cards. I use both the game boards & the (freebie) tic-tac-toe games with task cards so I can have my students practicing whatever skill they need while they get a seasonal theme added to their centers.

   

And, if you have any of my Math Ladders, you really should grab the Fall & Thanksgiving Math Ladder boards. After all, they're FREE! You can't beat that price. :)

    

So, that takes care of my centers. But, what about the last day before Thanksgiving break. My 4th grade is departmentalized and so we don't really have a lot of time. But, I do try to sneak in the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving movie. I like to have pumpkin bread (either make it ahead of time or in the classroom - depending on time) and have the students make butter. It's not a huge party (we did just finish Halloween & Christmas is around the corner), but it's a nice break in the afternoon.

Oh, and that last hour of the day? I'm completely guilty of getting out the Christmas tree!!! The kids love helping me decorate (and, I'll be honest, I love that I don't have to do it myself). It makes the room cheerful to come back to after our break and is one more thing to enjoy/not stress about during the month of December.