Friday, December 18, 2015

Five For Friday: It's almost winter break!!!

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!


The week before break is always jam packed and this year was no exception!

I tried something new I found on Pinterest for parent gifts this year (I think it was from First Grade Blue Skies. Everything she does is so cute!). We made handprint snowman canvases for our parents this year and they turned out super cute! All you need is a small canvas, acrylic paint, the kids hands and some sharpies. I had never used a canvas before, but this gift could not have been easier.  All you have to do is have the student write their names on the back and the year, paint the canvas, paint their hand, and then decorate to make snowmen. 




We have had a lot of fun practicing "How To" writing in the past couple of weeks. This time of year it is always fun to sequence and practice "How to Decorate a Christmas Tree." We started off by sequencing pictures and making a Christmas tree out of play dough. 


These are the materials we used. The kids helped me decide that the small gems were lights and the large ones were ornaments. We also added bell and snowflake ornaments as well. I didn't get a picture of this, but the kids got such a kick out of putting the real ornaments on the tree (I found the glitter ones at the Target dollar spot... thank you Target!). I forgot to get stars for the top so we improvised with a snowflake. 



We also used our sequencing cards to build Christmas trees out of sugar cones. Yum! We used Skittles as ornaments and reserved a yellow Skittle for the star.  Find this resource here!



This is my new favorite way to send these masterpieces home:
We transferred the trees to a bowl, put a cup on top, and then wrapped them in aluminum foil.  


All of these activities supported our interactive writing. I love interactive writing and so do my students. It can be a time consuming process, but it is such a great way to help kids in the zone of proximal development (but that is a post for another day). 

If you are interested in this resource, you can find it in my TpT Store 


I just discovered PicMonkey this week and it has changed my life! It is a free easy way to edit your pictures. Amy Lemons from Step into 2nd Grade has a great tutorial on how to use it.



Happy Holidays!