Tuesday, December 13, 2011

GRINCH DAY!

Today was GRINCH DAY! And believe it or not it was a fun-filled day of learning. For the past several years, I've really felt like a 'grinch' because I quit doing Polar Express Day which I miss terribly. When I moved to my new school, the kindergarten started doing a really fancy one! It was hard to compete. Then our second grade does it too. I really felt like the kiddos were getting enough Polar Express. So I've searched for years trying to come up with something else. And BINGO! I found Deanna Jump's mini-unit on Mr. Grinch. You can check it out at TpT HERE. She teaches kindergarten so I had to bumped it up a bit.
My kids have been begging for a pajama day. So instead of dressing up in green, we did the whole pajama thing. That probably would have been enough because they were excited for that. We watched the cartoon version of the book and had caramel green apple suckers for a treat. Then we had a great discussion on Dr. Seuss' purpose for writing the story. [My district doesn't like a lot of fluff. So I had to tie everything into the curriculum of course.] After the movie and discussion we sang the cute little song from Deanna Jump's unit about Mr. Grinch.
Here's some pictures from today.

Next, we described the character MR. GRINCH on the sheet below. Click on the picture to grab a FREE copy.
After we had listed all the words that described him on the paper, we circled the bad things he STOPPED doing with red and the good things he STARTED doing with green.
Next, we played a math game with the GRINCH game board I frantically made last night. I needed something fast and easy. We used addition and subtraction flashcards with it but you could use spelling or vocabulary words too. Each player starts with 3 chips. The object of the game is to 'give back' your chips by landing on a heart, Max, or Cindy Lou. If you land on the Grinch, you have to take another chip. The winner is the person who gets rid of all his chips first. They had lots of fun playing the game and practiced math facts too. You can download a FREE copy of the game board by clicking on the picture.

Last, we made the cute little Grinch face from Deanna Jump's unit. On the mouth the firsties wrote and drew how they would get the Grinch to grin. They had some great ideas.
I was very pleased with how the day went and glad I finally found a fun, learning, Christmas activity to take the place of Polar Express. I'll be on the look out for ideas to add, so if any one has any PLEASE send them my way.
Oh, and just a reminder- My GIVE AWAY ENDS TOMORROW NIGHT (WEDNESDAY) AT MIDNIGHT UTAH TIME. So if you aren't already a follower and commented you need to do so HERE.
You can enter a second time by linking my give away on your blog and commenting that you did so. Here's all the information again.

I'm excited to see who WINS!
I hope you have found something you can use!
Only 3 more day for me and then Christmas Break here I come. WaHoo!

13 comments:

YearntoLearn said...

Love your Grinch game!


Yearn to Learn Blog

Delighted said...

Love the Grinch idea. Thank you for sharing.
First Grade Delight
imgoingfirst@gmail.com

Camille Elise said...

http://camillebeaty.blogspot.com/
I wish I had seen your Grinch lesson earlier. I already read it with my kids and we did some activities with the book but none as cute as yours! Jealous.

Whitni Watkins said...

That is a very cute idea!

Unknown said...

Love it! Thanks for sharing!
I'm a new follower.
Andi

Unknown said...

Thanks for the great idea of Rudolph advancing to the North Pole when the class works quietly. My class has never been so quiet!!! I am a follower!

Caroline Brantley said...

I'm a new follower.
Thank you for the grinch lessons.
Caroline
brantcc@bay.k12.fl.us

Barbara said...

Hi Sheree! I'm a new follower. Thanks for joining me :)
Barbara
Grade ONEderful

Sara at school said...

Wanted to thank you for the Grinch ideas that I've had on my "to print" list for quite awhile - and just got around to printing. I'll be glad I have them in December! Thanks! Sara

Snow Queen said...

I'm a high school Spanish teacher and we just took a final on Feelings and Appearance. This Grinch with his feelings is just perfect for a light hearted activity after the final. Thanks for posting it!

Snow Queen said...

I'm a high school Spanish teacher and we're just finishing a unit on Feelings and Appearance and how to use them in a sentence! This Grinch is perfect for a lighthearted after the final activity! Thanks so much.

Unknown said...

As 2nd grade librarian, we focused on growing your heart 3 sizes by doing good deeds as the Grinch did in the end of the story. When students did a good deed, they wrote it on a red construction paper heart and hung it on our Grinch tree - Christmas tree with the grinch face as the topper! They loved it!

Connie said...

Thank you so much. I am subbing for a first grade and do not have access to the websites that teachers use for their lessons. We are doing the Grinch tomorrow, so this is perfect.