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Monday, December 13, 2010

Partying with the kids

I tend to be stubborn, so I'm just going to keep on plugging away with Interactive Monday, even though the "Interactive" aspect of it has been somewhat lacking...

My question today is, "What kind of Christmas (or Holiday) party (if any?) do you have with the kids?"

My partner and I are planning a little party for Friday afternoon. We will buy pizza, but we've sent a note home with the kids asking the parents to supply things like juice boxes, fruit, and chips. Cupcakes and cookies were expressly forbidden this year. Rum-heavy eggnog was not EXPRESSLY forbidden, but I think it is understood.

For most of the day, we will be doing things like writing winter-themed word problems, drawing winter-themed shape patterns, adding winter-themed numbers. I also have great aspirations for Christmas-themed stories that we started brainstorming for today. Mine will apparently include a scary robot named Chippy McFlatfoot. I am very interested to see what the kids come up with. They were scribbling furiously during our brainstorming time today. Hopefully, a lot of the kids will share their stories during the party on Friday.

So I open the floor to you -- yes YOU! What do YOU do with the kids?

10 comments:

Ellen Gordon said...

So we don't do a Christmas "party"... We do a Christmas Countdown... So they get a little something each day in December like 15 minutes extra recess, "kisses", no homework, extra DEAR time and a Christmas story, do an art project (ornaments for parent gifts), movie and popcorn, candy canes... you get the idea! We have a great time revealing the surprise each morning and then don't have to deal with a party with all the other holiday festivities and special services we have at our school (Episcopal School).

Room 148 said...

Normally our block of five 4th grade teachers does a rotation of activities. Each does a fun academic activity for thirty minutes and then we trade kids; times five. Easy planning and the kids have fun. This year we are going to have a read-a-thon pajama day. Ending with a book related movie
Not very festive I know.

Christy said...

I am making my kids take a test. A quiet day is a gift for me. =) Just call me Ms. Grinch.

Mister Teacher said...

Ellen, that's a pretty cool idea!

Kayenta, we've done something like that in the past. Not for several years, but we did it one time, and it went pretty well! I think my room was the "showing a movie" room. :)

Christy, I laughed out loud! You go, Grinch!

A Reader's Community said...

Our Christmas is the end of the school year, so we have a break-up party. This year we had a crazy hat party. Each child brought along a 'moderately healthy, medium-sized plate' or drinks which gave us muffins, sandwiches, pizza scrolls, mini quiches, sausage rolls, cake, chips and non-cola drinks. And not too much food - just enough for a good lunch.

Then we paraded the hats, had some games and I passed out end-of-year gifts (a bookmark each). Simple but a lot of fun.

TeacherFromTN said...

I do an afternoon of fun on the Friday before break. I set up four stations--two with an easy craft, one with a snack, and one with a bag to decorate so they can take it all home. Parents come help man the stations. I've done this for years, but it will be interesting to see how it works in my very tiny portable classroom this year--it is half the size of my former room! The fun won't end of Friday, though. We have our school spelling bee on Monday the 20th, so we will probably watch a holiday movie that afternoon and have hot chocolate. Tuesday is a half-day, so I'm hoping they just sleep in and start their break early!

Mrs. Bluebird said...

It depends on my homeroom class. The school traditionally has a teacher/student volleyball game so we take them to that. Then it's usually a movie or games to kill time until the buses arrive (horrid waste of a day). If the kids want to bring snacks, that's fine with me. Some years I'll have a parent who'll want to provide something, other years I don't. About the most I do is buy popcorn for them for the movie. This year, however, I'm not feeling warm and fuzzy about this group - they want a party but they won't pony up a single can for the canned food drive. I figure if they can bring in chips and cookies (which they all seem to be able to do), they can bring in a can of corn. (Grumpy ol me)

Anonymous said...

Party Party Party!! I let the kids plan ours. After spirited discussion, it was decided to have a nacho party. They decided who will bring the assorted nacho paraphernalia to eat and I'm providing the liquid cheese product, yum! We are having a pajama day/read in for the morning and then food and board games in the afternoon. I feel pretty sure they will all bring the negotiated party offering because no one wants to drink cheese for lunch. I am a little anxious about appropriate pajama choices tho, might need to discuss that one tomorrow. Fifth grade is fabulous. Merry Christmas all. :)

HappyChyck said...

No parties at my school. It's not just a secondary thing. We just aren't allowed parties. I sneak in parties with my yearbook staff sometimes, but then I have to smuggle the trash to the corridor to get rid of the evidence, all the while hoping that nobody watching from the cameras. Scroogy place, aye?

The kids will all be decked out in Christmas colors, that is, they won't be in dress code for the day, so the students will be treating the whole day as a party. We'll be having a holiday assembly, with some sing-alongs. That's about as close as we get to fun.

I'm thinking we teachers might be having a party in the backroom that involves loaded Puerto Rican egg nog. That's what's really important. Okay, I'm kidding, but I wish I weren't.

Jason Oller said...

I go to a publi school that is small and K-12 (I switched back ot the school I used to go to this year which I moved away from in 6th grade and came back this year.)
At my old school, it was 6-12 and a few teachers had small parties.. more of "You can bring food in, but don't get caught!" And one teacher had hypothetical parties where food and drinks magically appeared!

Here they tend to pig out and have bigger parties... it is all about the food. It is on thursday, too. Nobody comes the friday before Christmas break. The partying is technically after lunch, though. Elementary does the main partying. I remember some big parties. The 4th grade teacher this year had nachos, sausage balls, chips, dip, cookies, cokes and punch, the whole nine yards! the 3rd grade teacher(who was my 4th grade teacher) had a big party, too. I am a nobody who went the last day and visited her (code for I snuck over to the elementary hall) and visited her abd yay, she let me have a coke and said I could have chips and dip or whatever too!

My homeroom teacher let us make stockings and put candy in them. Not much partying that day, but Wednesday, we had the leftovers in 7th hour of a party in the business teacher's class. The class before us, her homeroom, had won the christmas door decorating contest and won a $25 gift card and used it to buy party food. Wednesday was my English teacher's birthday and the Juniors surprised her with a party with cake, chips and dip, and everything. My school has a rotel dip obsession!

And we party too much!