FREEBIE & Giving is Receiving - Christmas Magic

Hello alll! I know, I know, it's been FOREVER since I've really, truly written a post with content. It's very difficult to have a teaching blog when I'm not truly teaching! LOL


First, I want to talk to you all about something serious, something that's near and dear to my heart. My fantastic friend Laura, from Love to Teach :), is sponsoring a family this Christmas to go shopping for. This family is going through a very rough time. The mother is a single mother that has been diagnosed with breast cancer and has a 16 year old son. Her son, Walter, has Autism. Even though he's 16, he has the mental capacity of a 6 year old. This means that he enjoys and LOOOOOVE toys like any other child would. The family does receive food stamps, as she's a single mother, but this is NOT enough to feed the growing boy ;) I mean, what 16 year old doesn't like to eat?? Boyfriend who is 22 could eat all day if he wanted to!

Anyways, Laura is accepting any and all donations to give this family the most amazing Christmas they've ever had. She would like to put things under the tree for not only Walter, but for Cathy (the mother) as well. What a better way to do something for others this holiday season than to donate to this family that is in need of support and love?

If you have any other questions, please click the picture below to be taken to Laura's blog post about this family. If you know that you ABSOLUTELY want to give to this family, follow the directions on the picture below (paypal). Laura is one of the sweetest girls I know and I absolutely LOVE that she is willing to help others by putting them before herself. I could not ask for a better role model in the teaching world, as she's an amazing person and is doing an amazing thing by helping others this holiday season!

Next, I made a freebie (one that was intended for sell) but I loved it so much that I wanted to make it a freebie! So, it's called Contraction Concentration. Students simply play this game like they would concentration. There are 3 different sets of cards. Each set is labeled with a 1, 2, or 3 in the upper left hand corner to keep them straight (see below for what I mean). As for the cards, there are cards with contractions and cards with their spelled out matches. For example, one card says "they're" while another (the match) says "they are."

  

To play, lay out ALL cards (total of 72, 24 per set) or even just ONE (24 cards) or TWO (48 cards) sets. This is totally up to you as the teacher what you would like for students to do. These cards should be laid out upside down, as it's a matching memory game! This is where your choice of how many sets to use is up to you because 72 cards may be TOO many to remember for younger kiddos or just perfect for older kiddos. Your choice!

Then, students begin making matches based upon the words. If a student makes a match, they get to go again. If not, the next student gets to go. This repeats until all cards have been matched. The student with the most matches at the end, wins!

If you would like to download the Contraction Concentration, please click the picture below to be taken to my TPT Store. I'd LOVE to have your feedback - even if it's just a thanks! This lets me know that you all appreciate and value my work AND could use this in your classroom with your fantastic students - all things I would LOVE to hear!

I totally promise to be back soon with more teacher-related things once we're COMPLETELY settled down. We're officially moved in to our new house and loving every minute of it. There's things everywhere, but we could not be happier. Once the house is decorated and put together, I'll put up pictures of it for everyone to see.

For now, here's the outside of it and our Christmas decorations we've got up in the house :)

  

Have a good day, y'all!