Anybody Stressed yet?

As I was sitting at my daughter's and niece's cheer competition yesterday chatting with my sister, I had this overwhelming feeling of stress take over me. WE were talking about school as usual and our county has decided that even tho it is only the 67th day of school, that we need to start our middle of the year benchmark testing now!! Have you tried to make 6 year old's listen in December??? Exactly my point and it will not be the middle of our school year until January, so am I missing something here? Oh, did I forget to mention that with our Mclass TRC testing, we have to test each other's students? Yes that's right, so not only are we testing but we have to organize a way to test each other's students, Now do you see where the stress is coming from. Plus it's Christmas and I want to enjoy my students and see the excitement of Christmas through a 6 year old's eyes. So I decided last night that I would not let this put a damper on my Holiday cheer. I am breaking out the paints, cinnamon ornaments and other crafting supplies and enjoying this time of the year despite the testing. Yes I will test and know I will rejoice in the progress I see my kiddos make in their diebels score. I will be able to take all this wonderful data and be ready to hit the floor running (okay, not running but you know what I mean) in January.
I love making products for my classroom that my students needs. It's hard to keep students on task during the holidays, they are so excited and anything off schedule just sends them into a tizzy. I love to incorporate holiday themes through my stations, giving the kiddos a little motivation to keep working hard. My students have loved working on their December Journals. The picture gives students ideas on what to write about. I included the word box to expose students to December Vocabulary and help those struggling writers with what words to include in their sentences.
Enjoy this freebie, It's a sample of one of the December Journal pages. Students love sharing how they decorate their homes for the holidays.

Students are so engaged when they are telling their own experiences. These are great activities to use during literacy stations as apart of a writing station. 

Visit our TPT Store for some other great December Activities. Our December Christmas Math Activities have been a life safer during this busy time of the year. I have use these for morning math warm up. Students can come right in and get started on these no prep printables and these allows me time to work with students in a small group to help with counting strategies. 

Ready for another freebie?

Hope you can use these No prep Christmas Math activities to make your next few weeks a little less stressful!