The Holidays Are Here

     As teachers, we all know about that hum of excitement that hits our classrooms once we flip the calendar to December.  No matter how hard we try, conversations are filled with talk of Christmas and students begin to quickly slip into the "I don't want to do work" mode. It is during December that I try to launch interesting and engaging activities to energize my students.  These activities often incorporate interdiciplinary skills along with culmination projects and presentations.  Since my students are often working in groups on big projects, I often need something to fill in the gaps of time where some groups are still working and other groups are finished.  I created my December No Prep Holiday Math Packet to fill these pockets of time.  I wanted to create relevant materials that help to strengthen my students skills rather then just throwing busy work at them (one of my pet peeves).  Once I created this bundle of work for my students and my third grade team, I started to get requests for a K-2 bundle as well. I was more than happy to create one, especially because it allows me to better differentiate for my Tier 2 and Tier 3 students.  Now I head to the copier and make copies to meet the needs of my groups!  I can make a more challenging packet, an average packet, and a remedial packet.  I can also copy individual sheets to use with my direct instruction math groups, targeting specific skills.