Sunday, November 30, 2014

Diary of an Elf: A FREE Writing Activity

Hi All.
It's Amber from School Is a Happy Place.
Does an elf visit your classroom?
Well, for the past few years one has came to see my kids.  They seem to enjoy spotting our elf and doing elf themed activities during the few weeks leading up to Christmas break.  
I am not very creative when it comes to staging my elf.  But, that doesn't seem to matter one bit.  Just the fact that he moves from place to place is super exciting.

One elf themed activities that I love using with my young learners is my elf journal, Diary of an Elf.


With this journal, students can record basic information about their class elf.  They can write about the elf on a daily basis, every other day, or once a week.  It is totally up to you.  
This assignment is a great way to introduce voice and perspective in writing.  The best entries tend to be when students pretend to be the elf and write their entries first person.

We start our journals on the first day that our elf arrives.  After I read The Elf on the Shelf and our class chooses a name for our elf, we complete the introduction and calendar pages.  For the next several days students write about our elf on the journal entry pages.


This activity is fun and very simple to execute.  Most importantly it engages students and works a little more writing practice into the day.  
You can click here if you would like a free copy of Diary of and Elf to use with your students.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Happy teaching!

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