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You are here: Home / big kid units / Save Yourself Some Merry Little Minutes This Winter
big kid units, Christmas, math, teacher tips

Save Yourself Some Merry Little Minutes This Winter

November 30, 2014

Oh, the days leading up to winter break in the elementary classroom. The excitement of Christmas, the rehearsals for our holiday show, the semester assessments for progress monitoring, and writing all those report cards… it’s enough to make you want to eat the entire cookie jar. 😉  


To help you out, I’ve teamed up with some of my favorite upper elementary bloggers again to bring you this quick blog hop. Our goal is to save you some of those precious little minutes as we wrap up 2014. Less time on prep and more time with family is what it’s all about.

My tip to you is to work in BULK. This is something I apply to many aspects of my life, but seems to be something many teachers struggle with. When my husband and I first got married, it seemed like we were at the grocery store every other day because we couldn’t work ahead on our menus. I hate the grocery store and dreaded having to go so often. It was a waste of time! I felt the same way about our copy machine at school. Ain’t nobody got time for waiting in that line!


So now I work in bulk. I sketch out my lesson plans in monthly units and pull the folders/bins/centers I’ll need for those units all at the same time. Then I go to the copy machine one time. Yes, one time. I’ll run all my copies and then put the masters away. This saves so much time!


I’ll go in before or after school one day and run them all when no one else is around {like on common prep periods or lunch, you know, rush hour times}. I paper clip each stack together and toss them on a shelf behind my desk. Then I have them right at my fingertips when I’m ready to prep my daily folders each week. This not only saves me copy machine time, but has me “sub ready” without scrambling. She just grabs my daily folder and teachers her way straight through it. It also saves me when our copy machine takes one of its frequent vacations. 

Classroom organization: time saving lesson prep

Another way you can save yourself some time this winter is to grab print and go materials from TpT. We’re having a big ‘ol sale too! Be sure to use the coupon code when you check out for 28% off everything in my store.

Here are a few activities I can’t teach without this time of the year. First, we dive into my penguin unit. I’m all about teaching in thematic units and the penguin theme is always a hit with my kiddos. They’ve studied penguins before, but we go much deeper and they truly become experts about a penguin species of their choice with this pack. Of course, I carry the penguin theme over into word work, math, science, and social studies too. We’re sneaky like that. 😉 This is also a great unit for coming back to school in January.

Penguin Nonfiction Unit for Elementary School



For a little seasonal fun, I use my Winter Wonderland unit. It has tons of seasonal writing activities with math activities, map skill practice for social studies, and crafts/recipes mixed in too. It’s mostly winter themed with just a few Christmas pieces, so it’s perfect for schools that can’t do Christmas in the classroom.

Winter Wonderland Unit for Elementary School: Alternative to Christmas



Next up, I use my Multiplication Workshop pack all month long in my math group centers. I actually finished this a little late last year and we used it through January too. 😉 It has black/white as well as color options to save your ink. 
Multiplication centers and color sheets with a Christmas theme



There’s a set of matching cards for each multiplication fact family 1-12. Students can use the cards alone in “memory” games, or use them as game cards with the included board games. 

Multiplication centers and color sheets with a Christmas theme



These coloring sheets are included in the pack, but I also pulled them out separately for those of you who just need print-and-go sheets. I use these for fast finishers.

Multiplication centers and color sheets with a Christmas theme



Finally, my fall math craftivities were such a hit I had to carry the theme over into winter with Santa, Christmas Tree, and Snowmen. These all come in addition/subtraction and multiplication/division options. I like this because you can differentiate for your students while everyone works on the same thing too. Again, sneaky. I pass out multiple options so we wend up with a variety of finished crafts for a bulletin board display. I also like that this reduces the temptation to share answers so everyone has to work the problems. 

Winter or Christmas themed math crafts for elementary school

Thank you so much for all that you do for your students. We appreciate you so much! For more time-saving tips, head over to any of these great blogs. 



winter
by Christi Fultz 

About Christi Fultz

wife • mom • teacher • writer • tech obsessed • sometime crafter • beach lover | Empowering entrepreneurs through branding & website design

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Comments

  1. Kristen says: November 30, 2014 at 10:07 pm

    I love this tip, especially because of the copy machine!!! I am working on doing this more and you have inspired me to be way more organized in how I achieve this–thanks!!!

  2. Young Teacher Love Blog says: November 30, 2014 at 11:25 pm

    This is something I really want to get better at! Thanks for the reminder!

  3. Caffeine Queen says: December 1, 2014 at 2:59 pm

    After all these years of teaching, I still am struggling with organizing papers! Ugh!

  4. Joey Udovich says: December 2, 2014 at 12:25 am

    I love some one-on-one copying machine time! haha! It is such a good feeling when you're truly prepared! Thanks!!

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As an experienced third grade teacher with a Masters in Elementary Education and K-12 reading license, I know educational resources need to be both inviting and engaging to capture students' interests. I am passionate about creating user-friendly resources to help all students learn while saving valuable prep for teachers. Read More…

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Joy // I shared this in stories, but it deserves a Joy // I shared this in stories, but it deserves a permanent place in my feed too. When do we lose this endless wonder and joy?? These kids are here for a good time all the time. 

They loved a night in a hotel to swim and play. It wasn’t a relaxing experience away with a spa like many of my trips pre-kids, but it was exactly what we needed.
Proof Of Mom // Took the kids to opening day at @k Proof Of Mom // Took the kids to opening day at @kentuckykingdom today. After moving back to Louisville last summer, it’s been fun exploring old places that are “new” to my kids. The new ownership seems to have big plans for the park. Carter is eager for the water rides to open. We’ll be back soon!

#kentuckyblogger #kyblogger #louisvilleblogger #igerslouisville #derbycitymama #kentuckymom ⁠#locallouisville #louisvillelove #mylouisville⁠ #howwelou #louisvilleigers #momsaroundlouisville #momlife
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#kentuckyblogger #kyblogger #louisvilleblogger #igerslouisville #derbycitymama #kentuckymom  #locallouisville #louisvillelove #mylouisville⁠ #howwelou #louisvilleigers #momsaroundlouisville #momlife #instagrammom #momsofig
New Dress // This girly of mine is all smiles for New Dress // This girly of mine is all smiles for her new Target dress. I have trouble getting her to look directly at the camera and give me a real smile. Swipe to see her “whole face smile” look. 😆 I am so blessed to be her momma.

Spring break was so much fun. It makes me really excited for summer break with them. This is such a fun age.

#kentuckyblogger #kyblogger #louisvilleblogger #igerslouisville #derbycitymama #kentuckymom ⁠#locallouisville #louisvillelove #mylouisville⁠ #howwelou #louisvilleigers #momsaroundlouisville #momlife #instagrammom #momsofig #girlmama
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#greatwolflodge #greatwolflodgemasonohio #greatwolflodgeohio #kentuckyblogger #kentuckymom #momlife #instagrammom #momsofig #springbreakwithkids #springbreak2022
Spring // We are all smiles over here for warmer w Spring // We are all smiles over here for warmer weather and days spent playing outside. ⁠
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⁠
#kentuckyblogger #kyblogger #louisvilleblogger #igerslouisville #derbycitymama #kentuckymom ⁠#locallouisville #louisvillelove #mylouisville⁠ #howwelou #louisvilleigers #momsaroundlouisville #momlife #instagrammom #momsofig #girlmama #springinkentucky
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#kentuckyblogger #kyblogger #louisvilleblogger #igerslouisville #derbycitymama #kentuckymom ⁠#locallouisville #louisvillelove #mylouisville⁠ #howwelou #louisvilleigers #momsaroundlouisville #momlife #instagrammom #momsofig #girlmama
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