Elf in the Classroom

The elf made his appearance today- I was a little frantic this morning as I couldn't find the elf or the book.  I had bought the cuter plush version a few years ago, but it was nowhere to be found.  I finally located the book and had to give in to using the original creepy-looking elf that came with the boxed set.  I did a hasty wrap job and tossed it in the freezer.  Our freezer was full of boxes as a few of us were having special deliveries from the North Pole made.  I love my box- I was fortunate enough to be one of the lucky 10,000 teachers to receive an Elf kit this year. This is the box it was shipped in.  It's great except for the part that has my name and room number written on it.  Maybe next year I'll cover it up with paint.

When the office brought down our frozen package the kids were convinced it was a penguin. After opening it up, we read the story then started making a list of names.

This group had a hard time at first. I told them I would consult google for a list of elf-naming suggestions during lunch.  After lunch, they gave it another try and came up with a few good names.  We then started to narrow down the list, crossing off girl-sounding names and ones that didn't seem Christmasy.  We then voted; t was a good use of tally mark reinforcement.

Before leaving today, I made sure to place our elf Sparkey up high.