Marvelous Manic Mondays

My dream came true today!  I had so many books delivered to my room that I was speechless.  Since we are doing Daily 5/CAFE, having plenty of books is a must.  When we worked on our School Improvement Plan several months ago, we all felt that one of the biggest needs was books.  We were allowed to pick the books that we felt would benefit our kids most and today they were delivered.  Since I'm the grade chair, I have to go through and make sure they are all there and get them separated out to the other teachers.  We discovered that the easiest way to do this is for each of us to have a different colored paw print.  There are 6 of us and fortunately, School Box has paw prints that come in packets with 7 colors.  How lucky could we get?  So, this afternoon, I spent a couple of hours marking books off and getting them marked with stickers.  I will definitely be making a trip to School Box tomorrow for more stickers because I have a long way to go.

I also was thinking today that it has been awhile since I've posted any pictures from Pinterest.  Here are some of my favorites for Christmas.  I am amazed by how talented and gifted so many people are.  I'm also going to include the links for each picture so you can check it out if you want.

I love this tree.  I thought it would make a good writing project since it's just construction paper.  Plus, it would be free.  Every day I appreciate the fact I have a paper cutter a little more.  If you click HERE it takes you to the tree.  I have to warn you though.  It's written in another language and I honestly have no idea what it says.  It is a pretty cool site though with some really neat, crafty trees.

I also LOVE these elf ears.  I have been in love with them since the first time I saw them.  A matter of fact, I pinned them twice.  I guess I didn't want to accidentally miss out. They look easy to make and I think they will go great with all of the Christmas stuff we're doing this time of year.  Plus, who doesn't love a hat that's just a little goofy.  We could come up with a great writing sample for this.  Click HERE to find out more about the elf ears.

Now, these are two ideas I will most definitely be doing.  The Grinch floats are awesome!  Every year, I have a parent make giant sugar cookies.  Then, the kids get to decorate them and eat them.  I saw it done one year at Callaway Gardens and loved the idea.  Usually I do Caprisuns with the sugar cookies, but this time I'm going to throw in the Grinch floats.  By the way, I will have pictures of the cookies in a few weeks.  Until then, click HERE to find out more about Yoda Sodas Grinch floats.

 Last of all, I cannot wait to try this.  I did it with my Elf on the Shelf, but how awesome would it be for my students to have their bells and the Polar Express book show up from the North Pole.  I could even stick it in the freezer in my classroom with Disney - oohh!  I think I like that idea.  Anyway, so cute and magical.  I think this will definitely add to the fun and excitement of Christmas.  Click HERE for more information on what this teacher did in her classroom to make Polar Express special.

Alright, those are all my Pinterest ideas that I'm planning for the next few weeks.  The best part is I think all of them are easy enough to make happen.  Now, time for my Disney story of the day.  My first child found him very quickly this morning.  It's fun hiding him every day, but I have to say, I do wish other kids got a turn to be first.  My kids come into the room in pretty much the same order every day.  They didn't notice the letter at first, but eventually they did.  I wouldn't read it until testing was over and when I did, it definitely surprised them.  Now, today I didn't have as much time to be creative.  I ended up hanging him upside down on my rope that holds classroom pictures.  I had to tape his legs for him to stay.  Well, of course, that made me worry that one of the kids would see the tape, so I put a picture over his legs.  I'm really wondering why the people that create the elves don't add magnets in the hands/feet and something that allows them to bend and hold their shape in their arms and legs.  It's going to be interesting to see what they think tomorrow.  Once I get through testing, he's going to really cause some problems :)

Alright, time to get ready for bed.  Have a feeling I'm going to fall asleep with ESPN blaring in the background.  Have a Terrific Tuesday!