If Santa was stuck in my chimney...

This is absolutely one of my favorite writing activities to do throughout the year!! At this point in the year, the kids know what to expect when we begin the writing process and are really beginning to enjoy it. Although we have not finished our paragraphs yet, I predict they will be absolutely outstanding! Here's how we got started...

On Monday, we began by discussing Santa and what we know about him. The students were more than willing to tell me stories about what he has brought to them in the past. Some of them even swear they've watched Santa fill their stockings! Such storytellers!! Afterwards, I gave each student a bubble map and asked them to imagine they actually found Santa... stuck in their chimney! What would they do?! I took a few quick responses and then asked the students to quietly write or draw their own plan. I really wanted to see how creative they could be. On Tuesday, we turned these ideas into sentences. Together we wrote the topic sentence and conclusion. Then they got with their shoulder partners to read everything out loud. Today we revised our sentences. I always have the students help me revise my paragraph first (one sentence at a time) and they allow them to work on theirs. Again, they met with their partners to read it aloud.  They're really good at finding their own mistakes when they do this! We'll proofread tomorrow and publish Friday. I can't wait to show off the final product!

If you would like a copy of this activity, you can get one for free! Just click on over to my TpT store!

Also, I just finished up my holiday centers. Right now there are 4 math and 4 literacy centers, but I'm working on more. So, hurry and pick them up now so you'll have plenty of time to prep them. 

I can't wait to get started with these centers!! And for my loyal followers, I'll give away 5 copies to the first 5 who comment with something they do in class during the holidays.

Lastly, I have one more freebie for you! In my class, we practice our sight words constantly. So, I'm always looking for different ways to do this. One of the ways my students like best is our Sight Word Scramble. It's simple... the kids read the words and put them in order to make a complete sentence. I have such freedom to make up sentences using any words we're working with... sight words, holiday words, Science vocabulary, the list is endless! 

Here's the worksheet the sentences get glued on. Of course there's room to illustrate! What kind of teacher would I be if I left that out??

This sheet is where I type the words to be used in the sentences. In the spirit of protecting our natural resources, I fit 4 on a page. Each sentence I make up has 6 words or less. When the students get this sheet, they color all of the boxes in each row a different color. This helps them know which words go in which sentence after they cut everything apart. 

Then they unscramble, glue and illustrate. Here are a few finished copies...

You can grab your free copy here. I think that's all I can give tonight. Have a great rest of the week!

Best wishes,