Scrapbook Paper Collaged Christmas Trees

Polar Express Day

Here is the Polar Express Day photo backdrop I created for our school:

Elfie Selfies

My last minute addition to our campus' holiday door decorating:

 



Veteran's Day Collaborative Project

Kindergarten Thumbprint Holiday Lights

Kindergarten practiced making wavy lines with permanent black markers. After making their lines, they added holiday lights with their thumbprints.

Fifth Grade Birch Trees

To experiment with color mixing and tape resist, the fifth grade students created birch trees. They first added three strips of painters tape to white construction paper. They then started with blue tempera paint and painted the middle section of the paper horizontally. They then added white to create a tint for the lower third of the paper. They added black to the blue tempera paint to create a darker shade for the top third. They then pulled off the tape to reveal the white. They added small details in blue to the birch trees to show texture.

Mother's Day Gifts

Using the online program Tagxedo, the students typed words to describe their mother. They chose from one of the heart shapes and many color themes to personalize it. I then printed their hearts in color and cut them out. Using a roller, they ModPodged their hearts on ceramic tiles.

St. Patrick's Day Writing and Art

On St. Patrick's Day, the students wrote what they would do if they found a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. They then followed multi-step directions to draw a leprechaun. They added a rainbow background to their drawing.

Valentine's Day Math

The students have been working on the strategy of "Making Ten" to help them with larger addition problems. But, in order to do that, they need to know what addends make ten quickly first. So, we reviewed by adding dark and milk chocolates. You can find this template on my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

I Have a Dream...

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. the students wrote at least one "dream" or hope they have for the future. After writing, they illustrated their work. Using Audacity software, the students then recorded their "dream" which I mixed together. To listen to their speech, use your smart phone or Ipad to scan the QR code below. I made the QR code using QR Stuff.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Using PebbleGo, we learned about the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The students then wrote facts they learned on a Bubble Map. They then chose five facts that they found the most interesting or important and added them to a handprint graphic organizer.

 

Merry Christmas!

From our characters to yours, Merry Christmas!

Christmas Party

On our last day before the Christmas break, we had our class party. The students made Christmas trees out of ice cream cones, icing, candy, and sprinkles. They also had "magic" drinks made from Sprite and candy canes. Thank you to all of the parents who sent items for the kids to enjoy. Thank you also to the parents who helped set up and clean up.

Holidays Around the World

In writing we researched and compared the role Santa Claus plays in The United States, Germany, France, and Mexico. As a whole group, we charted our findings on a grid for who the gift giver is, what he looks like, how he travels, when he comes, and where he leaves gifts. The students then took notes on their own copy of the grid. Using their notes, they chose to countries, and their version of Santa Claus, to compare on a Venn Diagram. After completing the Venn Diagram, they added heads, hats, legs, and arms to the Venn Diagram to look like Santa. Later in Social Studies we compared even more of the traditions of each country. We also looked at the traditions of Hanukkah in Israel as a part of our Social Studies lessons.

Holiday Pictures

I downloaded and printed these adorable holiday photo props that I found on Pinterest. I took individual pictures of each student for them to put in a card for their parents. I also took a class photo that they could keep. Here are some of the silly photos we took.

Holly Wreath Fact Families

To quickly review addition and subtraction fact families, the students created Holly Wreaths. They counted how many leaves and how many berries and wrote their corresponding number sentences. You can download the templates for this mini-lesson here.

Elf Descriptive Writing

The students created elves out of holiday scrapbook paper. They then wrote to describe their elves. They also wrote one thing they would do if they were an elf.

Too Many Tamales

We read Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto. After reading, we discussed the story elements of the book and charted them on the Promethean Board. The students then completed a story map on their own to put the story elements in their own words. They also wrote at least one connection they had to the story and illustrated it.