Christmas Around the World!!

Hello Friends :)

I hope you and your loved ones had an amazing Thanksgiving! As teachers, we have so many things to be thankful for!

My friends and I in the classroom learned a lot about Thanksgiving during November and we also started learning about Christmas. I know! I know! Christmas in November? Well, when you have so many things you want to share with your students it is hard to fit it all into those 3 short weeks before Christmas break. So, we got started early!! I wanted all of my students to know that Christmas is celebrated world wide and not just in their community. I read to them many different books about how other countries celebrate Christmas and they were overwhelmingly shocked that not all people celebrate in the same ways they do. We learned a lot together. I then let my friends do their own research about a specific country by using iPads, laptops, and books. They really enjoyed this assignment.

I wanted a way for them to show what they learned so I narrowed down what they would be looking for in each country. They looked up:

1. Food

2. They Call Santa...

3. Decorations

4. Weather

5. Did You Know?

I chose these five items because that is what they seemed most interested in. Once the research was done, they created posters with the information on them.

That is not all... We then got a world map and mapped all of the countries that we chose. We needed a lot of wall space to demonstrate our learning... so I decided on the hall. One of my students made a point that no one did the United States. I told them because we all celebrate so differently and I wanted them to write a personal paper about how they celebrate Christmas. My kiddos were so excited to write about how their family and them celebrate.

This is a prime example that students get excited about reading and writing when it is something they are interested in. I encourage you to break from the norm and do something because your kiddos want to do and they thrive when they are doing what they love. And hey! They were learning so much.

The background of each poster is the countries' flag.

*They were done as a model and not an exact replica!!

Just a word to the wise... a hot laminator WILL melt crayon!

                    

                           

     

I am THANKFUL for...

You!!

That's right... I am thankful for YOU!! I am thankful for you as an educator, I am thankful for you as a parent, I am thankful for you as a leader, I am thankful for you as a person. Thank you for being you!!

Hello!! 

As the Holidays approach, we as a society make EXTRA time to think about what we are grateful for and things that we are thankful for throughout the year. As an adult, the list is limitless. I am thankful for so many people, places, and things every single day that help me to be the best person I can be. I wanted to bring to the forefront of my students' minds that they have many things to be thankful for each and every day. 

We decided to make it into a CRAFTIVITY... 

What is a craftivity you ask? 

It is when you have a craft to go along with the lesson that you are teaching. In this particular craftivity, the students are going to make a turkey out of paint swatches and name five things they are thankful for. They will then turn this (graphic organizer) into a written paragraph.

Materials needed for the turkey:

1. 5 different color paint swatches for each student (you can use more or less)

2. Brown construction paper for the body

3. Yellow construction paper for the beak

4. Googly eyes (2 for each child)
5. Templates for the body and the beak --- You can find those here!

Materials needed for the paper:

1. Festive paper with lines
2. Pencil
3. A THANKFUL student :)

Each child will need 5 different color paint strips. Each paint strip should be cut to be 5" long and 2" wide.

 This is an example of what each feather will look like. They will put 5 different things they are thankful for on each feather and draw a picture in a different shaded box.

Once the student has their turkey assembled they will then write a paragraph about what they are thankful for.

This is an example of a couple turkeys that my kiddos made! Aren't they wonderful? I think so... I may be a tid bit bias.... hehe

 

Beautiful handwriting makes my heart melt!! I hope this handwriting makes your heart as happy as it makes mine. You are so welcome!!