More Gingerbread Fun

While I was reading through some of the product swap links….
Nicole's Gingerbread Hunt caught my eye….


Here is a link to her original blog post about how she used the product in her classroom.
As I was reading the swap and the original post - I couldn't stop thinking of March - when the leprechaun comes… and how much fun this would be to do in December - with Gingers!

<<<<<<< That is her bloggy button if you'd like to hop directly over there now….

Here are some screen grabs of her product - if you click on any of them - it will bring you to tpt where  you can purchase her unit! :)
The clue cards are already set up for you! There are 8 cards in all, but you can pick the ones that fit best for you!

She included a writing activity that focuses on descriptive writing {always like pulling teeth for my kids…}
They have to create a missing poster describing their gingerbread person. A blank gingerbread man is included for your students to decorate based on the details they provided in their writing.
The missing gingerbread papers would make for an ADORABLE bulletin board…. They can make reward signs….
This would be great paired with a gingerbread glyph…. and a gingerbread graph to fill up your week!

What are some of your favorite gingerbread activities? Leave me a link in a comment below! 

Gingerbread, Gingerbread…..and a Product Swap!

A few of us are getting together to swap some of our favorite products... and we wanted to share them with you! Our swaps are going live!
Check out the links at the bottom of my post to see the other fabulous bloggers who paired up! :)

I am reviewing  Can't Catch Me - A Gingerbread Thematic Unit from the Applicious Teacher. If you check out the teaser post (last Saturday) you can see the preview pages from tpt (also on her blog)

There are 12 center activities in all in this unit. I was really impressed with her resource page which had links to all of her favorite gingerbread books, videos, and music that can be used with this unit! There were a few gingerbread books that I've never read before - so those were ordered! :) {Like I need an excuse to order more books….. pssssshhhhh…..}

So - here are a few of the activities that we worked on …. in my classroom and at my house with my own child….

First - The uber cute cookie math hunt - for my ell's I circled the number words and the addition or subtraction words to help them locate the important information within the word problem {This can also help your lower readers when it comes to math word problems - so they focus on the mathematical components and not get stuck on the reading.}

Next up - Sweet Treats!

I did this with my younger kids so we did the primary version 

{Ms. Leigh included two versions for instant differentiation….}

In this version they picked a few pieces of candy and added them up… I had them count out the change and 'pay' for their candy. In the more advanced version - they {my addition...can roll dice} to decide how many pieces or scoops they will get… then add it….AND figure out the change due! 

WOW! That component blew my mind - my kids SO need practice with counting back change and this will be a fun way for my older ones to practice that skill. 

{I can't tell you how bothered I get when a cashier won't count back my change….pet-peeve}

 Here are pictures of the synonym center. 

'Synonym Cookies'

You will notice in many of my posts - My kids will practice with these a lot before I give them the recording sheets. I do this for a few reasons…. 

1. Practice, Practice, Practice….especially with ell students

2. I want this to be a 'risk-free' activity for them and not worry about right or wrong. 

{I am in a situation where I don't assign grades…so this is different then many of you in regular classrooms….}

3. I have [MAX] 8 kids in a 45 minute segment - so my kids get a lot of small group and one - on - one time. It is easy for me to see very quickly who 'gets it' and who doesn't. 

 Here is the 'Gingerbread Words' ELA activity.

This was a great review for my 3rd and 5th grade ell's. My 2nd graders LOVED the graphics and backgrounds. 

[Heck - so did I!]

I was pretty blown away by the amount of material you receive for the minimal price… 50 cents a center? DEAL!

I will be using this for the next two weeks of school - The CCSS are already linked to the activities for me - my planning is easy!

Now… I just have to worry about Christmas shopping…. THE HORROR!

One of my favorites - that I didn't' get to showcase here …

Gingerbread Man Sweat Treats printables - they can be used with SO MANY gingerbread stories! 

Check out her homophone freebie…

Follow her store…

and her blog...

Product Swap

It's Product Swap time again!

Thanks to Jessica Stanford for putting this together! These are always so much fun!

I was paired up with the amazing Amy at The Resource(ful) Room.

I tried out her April Fluency Packs (tpt store here)
Here are a few things that are included...
click on the picture to head straight to her product.

There are 5 different ways to practice fluency all with a spring theme! I had my two personal kids test this one out, and it was a big hit!

The trackers and spy glasses were another huge hit - We are all about clouds in my house - and wouldn't you know it - there were cloud spy glasses and cloud trackers! Woot!


My daughter loved the beat the timer reading. Anything that gets kids excited about reading, is awesome in my book! :)
My two littles also played the Spring Showers phrase game. (Well... g1 played and g2 pretended to play...) But we have to let him think he's included! :)

The last activity we did was Use your Unique Voice. This was so much fun! I actually recorded my daughter doing this, because it was so much fun... I should have done iMovie so I could share - but it was a voice memo... :(

I am so excited that I was able to try this product out - I have a bunch of the other ones on my wishlist now! These would be amazing practice for my 2-5 ELL kids - there are basic sentences, lots of sight words, and it would get them talking and practicing English!

I hope you enjoyed this product swap as much as I did! Don't forget to head over to The Resource(ful) Room to check out her product review on me! :) {I hope she likes it!}
And head over to Jessica Stanford's blog to see all the other product swappers! Have a great weekend! :)

magical product swap

Jessica from Mrs. Stanford's class set up this little product swap a few months ago. I am so excited to show some wonderful work by a fellow teacher - in use... in my classroom

I swapped products with Diane from Fun In Second Grade. If you haven't checked out her blog, please do! She has been teaching for 15 years, five of those in Second grade! She has a daughter in high school, so she is a busy mom - like me! :) Diane went back to school and finished her Masters Degree last year - LearnNC even has some of her lesson plans! Pretty impressive!

Onto the swap...

we planned this in early December, so we both swapped holiday items from our tpt stores

I chose How to Decorate a Christmas Tree

I worked on this with my first and second grade group. We discussed the things that go on a Christmas Tree, where they come from, typical holiday colors and decorations.... We used one of the pages to draw pictures of our own Christmas trees. 

My kiddos worked on the brainstorming page in small groups. Here are some pictures of them at work...

To start - we always need a star! :) 

and ornaments - or decorations, as some wrote...

I was very proud that one of my three started out with - We need a tree! :)

This was a great way to do a fun writing and get them thinking about sequencing too.

My ELL's always need writing practice :) 

It was super fun to see each one working through their brainstorming sheet. We would stop and discuss at each bubble, and continue on, brainstorming ideas... I loved watching their minds work as they went through...thinking about what is on a tree, what they wanted on their tree... This was such a great activity! :)

I would like to thank Jessica for hosting this little swap! It was so much fun to 'try' out activities - I can't wait to read my fellow bloggers swaps and fill up my wish list! I hope you all have enjoyed reading and have some great ideas and new sellers to follow on tpt! Don't be afraid to hop to some other blogs to read about their swaps! Please tell them I sent you! :)