Elf on the Shelf in Your Classroom: 25 Days of Problem Solving

December is SO magical!  I remember my first year of teaching, I was just itching to get the Christmas season started in my room.  As soon as Halloween ended, I couldn't wait to implement all of the fun Christmas traditions I'd been dreaming of and planning all through college.  I waited as long as I could, but I didn't quite make it to Thanksgiving.  *ashamed, I know*  By the time Christmas actually rolled around, we were SO OVER IT!  Even my students were tired of Christmas music!  I was a total humbug that year, and I vowed to never EVER do that again.

And yet, here we are before Thanksgiving talking about CHRISTMAS!  :)  Don't worry, there's a reason!  I'm hosting a giveaway for a fun, new product for December, but I want the winner to have it BEFORE December begins!

The other morning I was in the shower getting ready for the day.  I have a love-hate relationship with showers (love them, HATE drying/curling my hair, and air drying looks like a lion got electrocuted), but I seem to get my best ideas for school in there.  So this little idea popped into my head of a way to do a "middle school/grown up" version of Elf on the Shelf and actually make it fun and educational.  As soon as I got out, I had to just dump all of my ideas out before they got away!  Click HERE to get this product on sale!  It's on sale through 11/20/15!

This set of problems features 25 problem solving and critical thinking problems!  (Mostly 25 because 12 just was NOT enough!)  I thought it would be fun to hide a problem somewhere in the school each morning (nice and early) and students can find and solve it each day.  If they turn it in with a good effort, they get a point.  If they get it right, they get a prize!  I've also thought of incorporating this into my behavior management system where the kids earn letters to a word throughout the day and if they get the word, we get to solve one of these the last 10-15 minutes and then they are entered into a drawing.  I haven't decided yet! 

 

 

There are 6 different varieties of student response sheets to fit the needs of you and your students.  I am going to be giving only 1-2 problems a day, so mine will be a quarter-sheet sized paper for each day so that the students have some space to work out their thinking!  Then they can just fold that paper up and enter it in the drawing.  I'm all about making December easy!

Anyway, take a look at some of the sample problems and be sure to enter the drawing on my Instagram account!  @6thgrademarksthespot  Along with the digital file for you and your grade-level team at your school, you'll also receive a set of COLORED questions that are task-card sized that are laminated and cut.  I am so thankful for all of you, so here's my way of saying THANKS to you!

 

**Please see terms & conditions for entering on Instagram**