The Elf on the Shelf is written by Carol V. Aebersold and Chanda A. Bell. It is a fantasy fiction book. It is also considered a picture book. It is full of magic and gives beautiful pictures of the North Pole. It is written as an elf being the narrator. He starts around Thanksgiving and gives you all of the events that take place up until Christmas morning. He tells you how to name your elf. He also tells you what he is looking for and how he reports it back to Santa. He then elaborates on being good and how he especially tells Santa that. The elf gives examples of where he can hide but he cannot talk to you at all! He ends up his story saying that he will have to go when Santa calls him home but he will return next year so be on the look out!
If a teacher purchases this entire set she could do many activities around it. She would get the children excited to come to school and see where the elf has moved. She will get the children to be on their best behavior. The students can write letters to Santa and leave for the elf to take to him. They can also predict where he will be the following day and graph this for math.
A strategy that would be incredibly fun for the students is to make a newspaper about a magical place revealed! They could come up with a catchy title about magic. The lead story could include proof that a magical place exists because a living creature has appeared to earth from there! They could include births in their newspaper and each child who has an elf at home could include their elf's name and birthday. They could advertise the elves making toys in the workshop. They could even have an advice column on how to behave!
This could get the students very involved. If students are older and do not believe in Santa, they would still enjoy the idea of Christmas magic and be very excited about writing a newspaper. A copy could be printed and sent home with each student. This would be a Christmas to remember for years to come!
Maggie this is a wonderful idea. Growing up, I never had the "elf on the shelf". But, as I have gotten older I have noticed many families use this idea. I never thought about using the elf and the books in my classroom. How awesome would that be for students to create their own newspapers. This would allow them to dig deep into their imaginations. I am taking notes! Thank you for posting.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea! I have seen so many people include the "Elf on the Shelf" in their classroom over the past couple of years. Some children don't do alot of christmas related things at home so by doing this in the classroom they are learning something new! I love the idea of writing a newspaper! The students can incorporate their writing skills.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a creative idea. During the Christmas season I always enjoy reading letters written to Santa that my local newspaper publishes. I remember how excited I was to have mine published as a child. You are right though, even for those that no longer believe in Santa, the holidays provide the "magic and excitement" needed to spark creativity. I also liked that you mentioned getting the children to behave because they know the elf is watching them. This is a great classroom management technique. Really enjoyed your blog, I gathered alot of ideas I can use in my future classroom!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea. The students would be involved in the learning process. This idea would be great to do around Christmas. Children love Christmas. I think this would open the students imaginations. They might surprise you with their creative ideas. I really enjoyed your blog. I definitely want this book in my classroom library.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! I love all of your ideas! My little cousins who are in preschool, first grade, and fifth grade love Elf On the Shelf. Every time I come to their house during Christmas time, they always have to show me where their elf is hiding. It is so cute! I have never thought about using this book in my classroom before. I think the students would have a blast with it. I can picture hiding the elf on the ceiling fan, in the classroom library, and on top of the computer monitors. I love your idea of using this for classroom management around Christmas time. I can picture it now. I can picture students pointing to the elf and saying, "We better be good. The elf is watching!" Thank you so much for this post! I cannot wait to use this idea with my students!
ReplyDeleteThe Elf on the Shelf is an idea that my parents never knew about. I am excited to share this magic inside my classroom. I agree with you that even if some of the students do not believe in Santa it would still be an interesting topic for them. The newspaper idea is wonderful. I can see the children now years later looking back at their newspaper with a huge smile on their face. This book is great and will be added to my classroom library shelf.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea Maggie. I think this would be not only fun and exciting for the children but it would be a joy to read and see the responses the children write about. This would also give children an experience with the joy of Christmas and could be the beginning of the Christmas time theme. Thank you for sharing!
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