25 Days of Christmas Picture Books - Day 1 (& a Freebie!)

Picture books + holidays = so much fun! I have decided to kick off the holiday season with a list of 25 of my favourite Christmas Picture Books. I hope to blog each day with a new favourite book and with *hopefully* a few freebies along the way.

Graphics by Krista Wallden
Fonts by Kevin & Amanda, KG Fonts and Rowdy in Room 300

To kick it off, I decided to talk about a new favourite. I hate to admit, but I shied away from this book for far too long and I'm not sure why. Since I read it a few years ago, The Polar Express has definitely become a holiday favourite. It is such a sweet story, with a great message and the fantastic illustrations (I'm a sucker for great illustrations) don't hurt!

Via Amazon

For the freebie, I wanted to share these Polar Express train tickets I made. It's such a fun idea to turn reading (or watching) The Polar Express into a festive activity and tradition. Turn your classroom chairs into a train, provide students with these tickets to be punched, serve hot chocolate & enjoy! It's the perfect recipe to get into the holiday mood.

I've included two versions: one generic and one blank, so you can fill in your own information. Click the pictures to download the freebies.

In completely (well slightly) unrelated news, have you heard about the Cyber Monday & Tuesday sale at TpT? Who isn't ready to shop at this time of year?

**Graphic provided by Krista Wallden - love her graphics!**

Use the Promo Code "CYBER" to get up to 28% off! Click {HERE} to check out my units, including some of my holiday and winter packs that will be on sale.

Some old:

Some new:

Here's to a great holiday season!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas . . . (& Thanksgiving & Hanukkah!)

Well, I have been in a Christmas-ish state for awhile but I am *trying* to hold off on going full-blown Christmas until December 1st - it's hard! Christmas is in all the stores, Christmas specials are starting to show on the TV, I am just trying to get through this weekend and then next week, Christmas season can really begin!

So although I have been trying to hold off on Christmas, I did get a bit of a head start with my new Christmas writing activity, "Solve it for Santa!" The unit contains ten problems that can be used as writing prompts. Students have to choose a problem and creatively solve it problem for Santa. Students can then use the graphic organizer and writing paper to turn their problem and solution into a fun Christmas story. I just love holiday writing!

Click {HERE} or the picture if you'd like to check it out!

Are you in full holiday mode or are you practicing a little patience?

For all those celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow or the start of Hanukkah tonight - have a wonderful holiday!

Manic Monday!

Well, I am not lucky enough to be on holiday this week and since I live in Canada and have already had Thanksgiving, I have no holiday time this week at all. Oh well, I'll just have to start my Christmas countdown early (and maybe enjoy some of the holiday sales online)!

I'm popping in quick to link up with Manic Monday (what an appropriate name!) at Classroom Freebies.



I know this is late to the game, but hopefully it can be of use to someone this year (or of course, plan ahead and safe it for next year!) - my newest freebie, "Thankful for Freebies!".
It's a teeny freebie, containing an "I am thankful for . . ." flapbook and writing page, Thankful ABC Order and "Color it, Count it & Graph it" sheet.

Click {HERE} or the picture above to check it out and let me know if you like it!
Make sure to check out Classroom Freebies for more fantastic freebies. If you are lucky enough to be on holiday this week - enjoy it before the craziness of December ensues!

A Little Thanksgiving Freebie

I'm stopping in quick tonight to share a little Thanksgiving freebie.

The freebie contains a Thanksgiving flapbook, ABC order, and Color it, Count it, Graph it sheet. If you're looking for something to keep your students busy as the holidays approach, just print this and you're ready to go! Click the picture of {HERE} to check it out!