Well, the last day of school before the break has come and gone and boy have we been busy this week! My class "earned" money again this year for a child to have Christmas. After Thanksgiving break, the kids came back and we had a nice little discussion about how times are hard and how not everyone gets the same kind of Christmas that maybe they do. I shared a few personal experiences and some of the kids chimed in as well. Normally I reward them with things like a few minutes of extra recess on Friday for good behavior during the week. However, I told them that this was the season of giving and that they were not going to be receiving rewards for themselves, but for others! The kids totally jumped on board and "earned" quarters for the past month for little things like good behavior in the hallways, assemblies, treating other people in our class kindly, being respectful during specialties, etc. I really didn't think they were going to fill in all of the money by break {we colored in the quarters on the tree above}...but they pulled it off! They were able to give Christmas to a cute little 3 year old girl! It was fun to show them all of the presents and have them "oooh" and "ahh" at the different toys and outfits {we may have found a pair of ADORABLE leggings for $3 for future baby girl while we were there... whoops}.
For my gift to the kids, I found the book "You Are Special" in the dollar section {paper back} on Scholastic so of course, I snatched it up. I explained that it was my favorite book because I loved the message in it. Since we studied "Theme" last week, I told them to listen for some themes while we read. I had them open it up and first read the message I had written to each of them inside their own copy {I'm a sucker for personal love notes} and then we read the book together as a class. It was fun to hear their ideas about the message that the author was trying to send to the reader. {Props to my favorite elf - JD - who wrapped their gifts... I played an important role too: tying the string and mechanical pencil on.} ;)
The kids made little sequin ornaments for their parents with their school picture on it as well as those cute cards that keep popping up all over the place with the button ornaments {ours weren't as elaborate as these}. And then I made little mini-reindeer silhouettes for some of the teachers I work with. I really am so lucky to work with such incredible people.
There really is so much to be grateful for, especially at this time of year. I hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas!
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