Make a Christmas Gift with Your Students
At my school, we always have a holiday party on the last day before winter break. In order to maintain some classroom management while celebrating, we usually like to have a craft or some type of activity for the kids to do to keep them occupied.
If you're looking for a fun, easy project to make with your students, I have the perfect one for you. Years ago I found an adorable Christmas ornament project online and tried it with my class. It worked out brilliantly! You can have your students make these adorable ornaments and give them to their parents as a gift.
This makes a great gift because it's personal and it is a gift that their family can take out and see again each and every year. My parents STILL have ornaments that I made in elementary school and I love looking back at them when I come home to visit all these years later.
Here's how to make them:
1. Choose an ornament (it can be any color, but I liked blue because it made it look more like a snowman outside.
2. Paint the palm of the child with white paint. I used tempera paint.
3. Have them hold the ornament in the palm of their hand, (not too tightly) with the bottom of the ornament in the middle of their palm. The white area that is made by the palm of the hand will appear to be the snowy ground and each fingerprint represents an individual snowman.
4. Once the paint has dried, provide Sharpies to decorate each fingerprint to resemble a snowman. I added buttons, a scarf, eyes, nose, mouth, and top hat.
5. Present the ornament as a gift and hang on the tree! :)
I hope you like the idea! I can't wait to see what other ideas people have to share for the holidays. There are only a few more weeks left, so have a Happy Thanksgiving, a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy New Year, and Happy any other holiday that you may be celebrating this season. :)
~ Terry
Do You Need MORE Books for YOUR Classroom?
Bring History to Life for Your Students… And Integrate Reading into Social Studies!!!
Now, onto business :) If you know me, I am a huge proponent of content integration. There just isn't enough time in the day to separate every subject in isolation, and students learn better when they can see the relationship between the various concepts they are learning. I also love using authentic documents to teach social studies. Which is going to engage a child more? Reading an informational text about the Declaration of Independence, or reading from the actual Declaration of Independence? (Ok, so I know they may have a hard time with the cursive handwriting but that was just an "off the top of my head" example). Which brings me to the meat of my post: 2 amazing resources you can use to find some authentic documents that will keep your students engaged and help you integrate reading and social studies. DocTeach and Digital Archives. Head on over to my blog to read up on how I use these 2 resources, and how they can help you, too!
Turkey Favor for home or school
Prepping Early with a Freebie!
When I read Katie's post yesterday, I thought about the hustle and bustle of the holidays and how we, as teachers, can find ways to lessen the stress.
One thing I like to do is prep ahead.
Years ago, I learned I removed some unnecessary stress if I prepped weeks in advance.
Don't get me wrong, things always come up, but I want to be prepared if they do.
Being prepared includes making sure all my classroom resources are printed and ready to use before they are needed.
number cards, number grids...tons of number references, including number lines.
Well, I'm all about seasonal and holiday fun, and my kiddos enjoy using them, too.
If you like changing out references with the seasons, then here are a few freebies for you-
number lines 0-10.
Even though, we are adding through 20, the Singapore Math program we use is based on ten,
so we'll use these number lines all year.
And honestly, many of my sweet friends still need visuals to help with equations,
especially with those tricky MISSING ADDENDS! Grrr!
Just a gentle reminder
I feel like we are officially headed in the holiday season! I can feel the pressure pushing in and this year, like last year, I am making a conscious effort to push back. Here are some of the things pushing in on me
1. Black Friday sale on TpT and I want to finish all 100 units on my to do list. (Impossible, so I am letting go of it and finishing 3 units.)
2. Construction in my kitchen making me crazy (That’s life and a short season.)
3. My son’s birthday, Christmas and kid’s birthday party all at the same time. ( I can do hard things)
4. Lots to do, not enough time
5. Wanting to lose some of this weight.
So here is the thing about my list of pressures that mount during the holidays. Every.single.one. of those things are actually WONDERFUL!!!!! I mean even #4 with lots to do. The things on my to do list are wonderful too!!! The thing I am trying to express it that, taking a minute to clear some space in your head and really look around is the difference between a harried holiday and a joyous one. I am going to …
1. Take joy in preparing for the Black Friday sale so that I can bring my students and your students amazing resources!
2. Enjoy my repaired kitchen and new sky light!
3. Have the time of my life prepping for Jackson’s 8th birthday and Christmas all in the same month. It’s like can December hold anymore joy?
4. My to-do list is doable one step at a time!
5. All I can do is lace up my running shoes and enjoy the fresh air.
That is the same list 1-5 but seen with fresh eyes!
I wrote a post a few years ago when I used to be my own inner drill sergeant! It’s not about SHOULD it’s about what is possible. It’s about being the best version of yourself in this holiday season not a Martha Stewart copycat , gotta be just like Pinterest, perfect family.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *originally posted Nov. 23, 2012 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Making Pumpkin Pie In The Classroom
Click on the picture to take you to last year's post with step by step instructions and recipe page. This is one of my favorite recipes to make in class and your kiddos will love it!!