Holiday Greetings & New Year's Wishes...with a freebie!

I hope everybody is enjoying his/her winter break!  What a blessing it is to be able to take some time off to relax, eat, spend time with family, sleep, and then eat some more.  Eating is my favorite. ♥

But I also know that so many teachers are already thinking about lesson planning for the New Year.  I know I'm already thinking about how to create resolutions with my little friends with the support of a good read aloud.  Last year I had used Extra Yarn, which is an incredible book with an awesome  female lead character.  And the book exemplifies how a person can have such a huge impact with a simple act of kindness.  But I didn't feel like the students developed strong personal goals after hearing that story.

This year I would like to incorporate more of a growth mindset with creating the resolution.  I've already read The Dot, so I'm thinking of reading What Do You Do With An Idea? or The Most Magnificent Thing.  I'm not sure which book to use...but it will eventually come to me...and I'll post it here on the blog and on my Facebook page.

And of course, after reading an inspirational text, I will guide students to write about their goals for 2017 using a graphic organizer.  These graphic organizers are *FREE* on my TPT store.  I've made some adjustments from last year, creating a few versions because of the variety of learners and writers in our classrooms, along with a variety of teaching styles that will be presenting this content. 

Hopes and Dreams for 2017!

In reflecting on 2016, I'm so glad that I'm blogging more, that I'm interacting with teachers more via social media.  I'm even on Instagram now!  It's now my favorite social media outlet because it's so easy to post on it.  Slowly, but surely, I'm getting better at this social media thing.  It can be so overwhelming to keep up with everything...but I'm really enjoying it!

Wising you and your families a very healthy, happy, productive, and creative year!  I'm so excited about what the new year will bring.  Let's do this!