December 18, 2014

Whew! We survived! Hello Christmas Break!

I have been wanting to sit down and take a few minutes to share our Christmas Spirit with y’all… but there is always something else that has to be done or to be very honest I had to go to bed!

So here is one big, gigantic, enormous post about all the fun we’ve had in first grade the last few weeks.

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I had my first graders make these ornaments last year and they always turn out cute for such a simple, low prep activity. They each made two. I cut strips of green scrapbooking paper and they had to cut them in smaller strips to make a tree from the smallest to biggest pieces.

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They also cut a small brown trunk for the bottom. I did use a star punch for the top. We mounted these on red cardstock templates with the year at the bottom. I laminated each one.


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A few years ago my niece gave me a HUGE stash of perler beads. I ordered Christmas molds from Oriental Trading and these ornaments have been a huge hit the last few years. I was really worried it would be a disaster the first time we made these.

But, each time has been perfect!

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We made balls and Christmas trees one day. And since I had at least a million beads left- we pulled all the supplies back out and made candy canes a different day.

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And the good news… I have TONS and TONS of beads left for next year!


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I needed a simple, independent project that my students could do by themselves while I pulled them one at a time to work on our flower pot Rudolphs {see below} and this was perfect! These tree patterns are from my super talented friend Amy Lemons.

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We mounted these on black construction paper and then my very generous mom cut around them for me. The black border really made them POP!


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Our class stockings were hanging on our bulletin board and I had to take them down and then I was left with an empty blank bulletin board and that is NOT an option. So, while my little ones were at specials one day I put together this super quick Rudolph project.

Definitely nothing fancy.. but quickly solved the empty bulletin board dilemma! I hung the other pictures in a different spot in our room.

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And a little glitter to make Rudolph’s nose sparkle is always a hit!

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This year I bought class stockings and each student was asked to bring something for their classmates stockings. This was a HUGE HUGE HUGE hit! After about 3 kids brought their stocking gifts our stockings were all ready full and too heavy to hang on the bulletin board. IMG_8022IMG_8023

So, we had to put the stockings in these big white bags to finish “stuffing” them! They built up a ton of anticipation and was all my first graders wanted to talk about. My parents went above what I expected!

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I gave all of them a little goody bag with a notebook and some gel pens or markers. I gave my boys matchbox cars and a stuffed animal snake. I gave my girls lipgloss and a stuffed elf. I also dropped in some candy and rice krispy treats! They got to dig in their stocking bags and open everything during our class party today! It was a huge hit!


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We also made these stained glass looking ornaments one day. I pulled out scrap construction paper and hole punches and they were quiet as a mouse as they worked on these ornaments.

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There is contact paper on both sides. They really looked good hanging on our class Christmas tree. The lights shining through made them really sparkle!
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Way back when Pinterest first started these little flower pot Rudolphs were one of my first pins. We made them three years ago but I haven’t made them since. I saw the little pots back in the fall and I bought them and stored them until Christmas time. They are precious and I hope they are something my students will keep at home for many years.

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Today was my student’s last day before Christmas. We have a short teacher work day tomorrow and I am looking forward to getting some Winter/January stuff planned. Have a blessed Christmas! Don’t forget I took a break from Five for Friday but it will be back in January!

10 comments:

  1. I want to be in your class!! Seriously, it looks like so much fun. Love it all!

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  2. Lots of fun ideas! I like the stained glass Christmas ornaments. Was that just clear contact paper that you used?

    Julie (Green Apple Lessons)

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  3. So many great ideas--they are going in my notebook for next year! Thank you for sharing what you did.
    Alyce

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  4. You are so lucky to get to do these things with your class! We can't do anything like this anymore. No fun - just the curriculum set by the county :( It is SO SAD! Your students are lucky too! So adorable!!!!

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  5. Ohmygosh!! I love those stockings... where did you get them?? and I love the scrapbook trees and the reindeer and the melting ornaments...lol. I just love it all!

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  6. WOW! You did so many cute things! I will have to try some of them next year! Thanks for sharing! Kristi
    Teaching Little Miracles

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  7. Your class looks like so much fun during the holidays! Love all the crafts! :)

    Fishing for Education - http://fishingforeducation.blogspot.com

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  8. Your class looks like so much fun during the holidays! Love all the crafts! :)

    Fishing for Education - http://fishingforeducation.blogspot.com

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  9. Loved the ideas. Saving them for next year. :)

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