Rudolph Teacher and Student Gift Ideas

Every year I try to find a small gift to give out to my fellow teachers, students, and my kid's teachers. Since I see almost 100 students and work with over 50 teachers I try to keep the price to about $.50 each. This year I decided to make a Rudolph inspired gift. The students received a Tootsie Roll pop and the teachers a milk chocolate Lindt Truffle. My kid's teachers also received a gift card to thank them for all of their hard work.

In my search, I found several patterns online but they all seemed to require cutting out the shape of the Rudolph head. This was definitely something I was not interested in doing. Then, I stumbled across a Rudolph graphic. With a few modifications, the only thing I had to do was print the picture, cut out a circle nose, insert the candy, and attach the tag. The graphic templates listed below worked with 4x6 or 5x7 paper. You can either use photo paper or plain index cards. They printed on my printer and were the perfect size.

For the candy, this project works best with red Tootsie Roll pops. I found a bag of 60 at Amazon.com for about $18.00. I bought the Pomegranate suckers to keep with the holiday spirit but Amazon also had Red Raspberry and Cherry. I thought the teachers would like a better type of candy so this also works well with Lindt Truffles.

Note: I hand write every student and teacher's name on the cards. I feel it adds a personal touch. The attached cards have space at the top and bottom for you to hand write their name and yours.

Here's how to make them:

 

Materials Needed:

Rudolph Head
1 1/8" Circle Punch
Scissors
Hole Punch
Tape
Tags
Red Tootsie Rolls or Lindt Candies

Instructions:

1. Print the Rudolph head on either 4x6 or 5x7 paper.

2. Fold the paper so that the head is about 1/4" from bottom. This will allow the punch to reach the circle and secure the candy between the fold of the paper.

3. Use the 1 1/8" circle punch where the nose is.

4. Use the hole punch to punch a small circle on the fold. This will allow the stick of the sucker to go through the paper.

4. Fold the paper up and secure the flap with tape.

5. Cut out a tag and attach it with more tape to the sucker handle below the head. Alternatively the tag can be taped to top of the card by the antlers.

Note: For the Lindt Candy, follow the same directions except skip step #4 and tape the tag to the top of the card.

Here's the links for the Rudolph heads and tags:
Rudolph 4x6
Rudolph 5x7
Tags

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Wishing you and your family a great holiday season!
Hiedi

Life Hack

My new favorite thing! It is the perfect laptop desk when working in bed. What favorite thing do you have. Leave your ideas in the comment section!

 

 

Are you teaching social emotional curriculum but feeling a bit let down by student’s participation? Do you wish your students were a little more engaged? Here are 5 tips to liven up and reengage your students:

 

1. Smile…If you are not having a great time the students will pick up on it. Some of the topics can feel a bit heavy and students may clam up.

2. Share...If you have a personal story, share it. Students love to hear the blunders that adults have faced. You don’t have to give explicit details but if you are teaching about apologies give an example of when you had to give one yourself.

3. Show...Most students love to role play. To learn some of the finer details in the lessons, role playing is the best way for them to practice (e.g. facial expressions, body posture, tone of voice). For younger students, puppets and books are a great way for students to see what a behavior looks like.

4. Support...Give students a lot of support as they are learning new ways to think and behave. Apply the same learning principals for learning new behaviors as we would for learning new academic content. Teach the lesson and expect some errors. Have students support each other by being detectives during the role plays and give feedback to each other. 

5. Strengthen...Give lots of praise and reinforcement for effort. It’s not always easy to learn new behavior but know that the more the students attempt the new behavior, the more likely that behavior will be strengthened.

 

How do you engage your students? Leave in the comment section your tips or tricks.

 

Stay the Course

I ran around my school yesterday morning before the students arrived posting quotes and signs about World Kindness Day. When the students started arriving I greeted them at the door sharing the news. Some students smiled. Some challenged the worth of it. Some outright said they would have nothing to do with it. Did it sting a bit? Yes. But the thoughts of my husband rang in my ears...Stay the Course Hiedi! Each time I smiled back and said to the students you can do this. I challenged a few grumpy teens that if they couldn't do kind things for others, do one for yourself. They smiled and said I'll try. At the end of the day two students asked for copies of the quotes and one of the grumpy boys said they tried to be nice to themselves. You know what...I'll take it. In this world, a day dedicated to kindness and an opportunity to give any nugget of kindness to others is well worth the effort! I challenge you to stay the course...what have you done that required your perseverance?

World Kindness Day!

Today is World Kindness Day!

I love this day because it is the best antidote for crabbiness, bullying, and general overall bad moods. I love to wake up and let my kids know that today we will be kind. We will do something for others that make them smile. No need to do something big or expensive. Tell others about it. Share the news. Spread the joy that this day brings. Will you spread kindness? Let me know what you did today.

Teach with Books

Using children's books to teach social skills is an excellent way to engage students in topics they need to learn or practice. Many children’s books are easily available and often familiar to students. Most students (even older ones) enjoy stories read to them and are more motivated to learn the concepts than through direct teaching. Because stores are fun and pleasurable for many children, being read to feels like a leisure activity during class time. Students also tend to relate the emotions of the characters and can easily provide discussion into how they should think, feel, or act.

Not sure where to start? I have created 30 minute lessons plans with supporting activities and worksheets to get you started. This is the perfect way to introduce stories during circle time, social emotional learning time, or even as a sub plan when you want to reinforce concepts already talked about. Each lesson is connected to CCSS and IL SEL Standards. There are even student centered "I Can" targets to share with students so they can easily understand the purpose of the lesson.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Zach-Apologizes-Accidents-PreK-1-2202470

Zach Apologizes
by  William Mulcahy

When Zach shoves his little brother to the floor, he knows he did something wrong. Even so, it’s hard to apologize. Like any seven-year-old, Zach tries to ignore the problem, but finally, with his mom’s help, he learns the four steps to apologizing: (1) say what you did; (2) tell how it made the other person feel; (3) say what you could have done instead; (4) make it up to the person. Zach Apologizes teaches children social skills using an apology strategy presented as the “four-square” apology, which is illustrated with prompts that kids will easily understand and remember.

 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/My-Blue-is-Happy-Same-and-Different-PreK-1-2202342

My Blue Is Happy by Jessica Young
Follow one girl’s journey through her neighborhood as she explores what colors mean to different people. Is red angry, like a dragon’s burning breath? Or brave like a fire truck and a superhero cape? Is pink pretty or annoying? In book is an ode to colors and the unique ways we experience them.
-Excerpt from Authors Website

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Howard-B-Wigglebottom-Learning-to-Listen-PreK-1-2201908

 

Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen by Howard Binkow
Howard B Wigglebottom is an adorable story that tells about a little rabbit named Howard and his adventures in school. He struggles with listening to his teacher and to his friends, which create problems for all involved. Eventually he is asked to take a time out. Howard decides to listen and is positively reinforced for his good listening behavior.

Do you have a book you would like to have a lesson plan created for? Leave your suggestions in the comment section.