Magical Product Swap!

It's that time again...Time for Mrs. Stanford's Magical Product Swap!  This is the third time she has sponsored this fun event, and my second time participating.
I am so lucky because I was paired up with the lovely STACY from FUNKY FRESH FIRSTIES!  Stacy's TpT store is filled with 34 goodies that will appeal to all elementary teachers.  Some of my favorites include "Dear Mr. Farmer...A Persuasive Writing Activity," "The Three Little Pigs Mini Pack," "For the Love of Hot Chocolate," and "Peanut Butter & Jelly Mini Pack!"  Stacy let me choose any product I wanted for the product swap, and I was dying to have some fun with hot chocolate in my classroom!

This mini unit would have been fun to do before Christmas, but I wanted to wait until a cold, January day.  December was so festive and exciting, and I knew the kids would need some engaging activities to return to in January.  There are several awesome activities/ideas in this pack that I'd like to showcase...
After we made our hot chocolate {THANK YOU to the cafeteria ladies for their help!}, we sipped on our warm drinks while completing this graph as a class.

Then, I split the class into small groups to complete the following activities during Literacy Stations:

Grammar Station- ABC Order Practice

Writing Station- Procedural Writing Activity

While drinking our hot chocolate, we brainstormed a list of adjectives as a class before I set the kiddos loose.  I was so impressed with some of the adjectives my firsties came up with...SAVORY, SMOOTH, & RICH!  Great descriptive words!  {I added DECADENT to our list to boost their vocabulary a little, hehe.}

I laminated one set of the procedural writing steps and then made black & white copies for the kids to write on.  I wanted the students to be able to brainstorm and make notes on the laminated copy using a dry erase marker.  Stacy included a poster of words and pictures to help students with their writing.  This was such a big help so kiddos weren't asking, "how do you spell _____?"  

Stacy also included a super fun and creative way of having kiddos choose partners!  There were four pages included in the Hot Chocolate pack that look like this:

I laminated and cut out all of the number pieces.  Then I put them in my FAVORITE mug!

Without peeking, students come up and choose a card.  The child that gets the card with #8 Whip Cream, and the child that gets the card with #8 Hot Chocolate are paired up!  Such a clever idea!  It will make picking partners in January much more exciting!  :)

On a side note, you could use the same cards for lots of math activities...Memory Match, Comparing/Ordering Numbers, & Addition & Subtraction are just a few that come to mind!  Love these little cards!!!

I am so grateful to Mrs. Stanford for the opportunity to participate in her Magical Product Swap because I got to meet a new friend/blogger/TpT seller.  I'm already a follower of Funky Fresh Firsties, and I hope you will become one too.  Check out more of Stacy's great TpT products here!

Don't forget to swing by Stacy's blog and see which product of mine she tested out with her kiddos!