Gingerbread House Art and Writing Project

So many fun projects to do during the holiday season!  I love that I work at an arts focus school and get to incorporate that piece into my assignments!  This week we have been working on a writing project called Gingerbread House for Sale by Mz H. 

My students had so much fun just picturing their houses in their heads, but today we brought them to life by drawing them!  See pictures below.  There is a similar project on Art Projects for Kids, but I just took them through my own drawing - step by step.  They then added the details themselves.  All of the items on the house and yard had to be candy or a cookie!

 

 

Of course, I can't forget Ginger!  He sat on top of a magazines with a joke in hand!  I found a sheet of cute holiday jokes on Pinterest, click here for link!

Poor Ginger may have to absent again tomorrow with the kids bouncing off the walls this afternoon!  Rough time of year!!!

Elf on a Shelf Behavior Management!

I am having waaayyy too much fun with the Elf on Shelf in my classroom!  My students were B.A.D. - BAD yesterday!  I had a principal from another school in observing me and they were noisy and difficult to manage the entire time (don't you love those kind of days???)  Sooo, our elf "Ginger" didn't return this morning!  Here is what the students found....

(Edit: Check out the date on the letter!  Luckily, the kids didn't notice!)

 

They were quite upset and worked hard all morning, so when they return from specials they will find this...

 

 

 

 

The part that cracks me up the most is that he is wearing ear muffs to protect his ears!  Hee hee, I crack myself up!

 

 

 





I anticipate much better behavior until winter break - ha ha ha ha!  Again I'm so funny!  Ok, until the end of the day... maybe :-)

My Snowman Came Alive!

Even though I haven't posted much lately, I've still been working behind the scenes!  Now that we are in the second trimester in our district, we are working on narrative writing.  So, I created a fun winter/holiday writing activity called "My Snowman Came Alive!"  Students can create their own snowman, bring it to life, and tell about the adventure they have!  Check it out here!

So many fun holiday things out there!  I'm working on another winter writing activity/unit for after the holidays!  I'm home with a sick kiddo, so it could even be done fairly soon :-)  Love feeling creative!

 

 

 



Thanksgiving Compare and Contrast

Thanksgiving really snuck up on me this year! So after utilizing my Amazon Prime (LOVE the 2nd Day free shipping!) and ordering a few books last week, I needed some activities quickly!!! 

Luckily, I happened upon a recent Clutter Free Classroom post and found the Pilgrims and Wamanoags Portfolio.  I'm so excited and can't wait to use it this week!!! There are great resources on this post for procrastinators such as myself!

I also wanted to compare and contrast different cultures, and life then and now. I created a few venn diagrams (see below) that will tie in nicely with Thanksgiving.  Click here to view at my Teacher's Notebook shop.

 

 

I also have a really cool art display that a member of our team started doing a few years ago.  All of the second grade students made a feather to add to the turkey.

 

 

Ok, so pictures taken on my phone don't come out well!  I keep forgetting my camera.  To make the feathers you need poster board, yarn, glue, foil, and colored permanent markers.  1) Using the poster board cut out the shape of the feathers. 2) Use liquid glue to glue yarn pieces on the feather. 3) Have students make sure that they close every line.  They will use a different color for each spaced created by closed lines.  3) Let dry over night.  4) Cover feathers in foil and press down to show the lines.  5) Have students color each space with a colored permanent marker.  They come out beautiful... this picture really doesn't do them justice!

 

 

I still need to take a final picture of our wall with the Turkeys in Disguise.  Some more really cute ones came in!

 

 

 I also posted about the family turkey project my daughter needed to do for her Kindergarten class.  This turkey just need to be decorated, not disguised.  As is true to my little cutie's style we went with pink, purple, and some serious bling!!!  Check it out below. I even found googly eyes with different color eyes and eye lashes.  So fun :-)

 

 



 

 

 



Turkeys and a bit of October Art

Our Turkeys in Disguise project is due tomorrow, but we got a few in early!  The pictures below show the very beginning of our wall display and a few of the early birds :-)  Along with this family activity, we will have students complete a Don't Eat the Turkey Persuasive Writing assignment - created by my awesomely talented co-worker, Mrs. H.

Angry Bird

Fancy Lady

Musician

 

Futuristic Spider Man

 

 

They are coming out so cute!  I can't wait to see the rest tomorrow!

Here are a few October art projects and craftivities I did last month.  The bat acrostic poem template and bat craft came from Erica Bohrer's Batty for Bats unit.  My students had so much fun doing this! 

They also really enjoyed learning how to draw cats in pumpkins.  I used the step-by-step instructions from Kathy Barbaro.  She has amazing ideas for art projects on her blog Art Projects for Kids!

 

 

The bat drawing also came from Art Projects for Kids and Mrs. H. created the template for the bat couplet.  The kiddos had so much fun with one too!  The couplets were really fun too.  They enjoyed coming up with silly rhymes!

 

 

 



 

Thanksgiving Turkey Projects

I'm so excited that I finally have the opportunity to do the Turkey in Disguise Project!  I've seen it on Pinterest and blogs and loved it!  I tried to do it in the classroom with my resource kiddos last year aaannddd... it just didn't quite work! 

This year I read:




to my class and sent it home as a family project.  I sent a letter explaining what to do and a turkey printed on white construction paper.  I also posted examples on my class blog for parents to see.  I cannot wait to see how they turn out!

I haven't read this book, but heard it's a good one to go with this project too:



My daughter, who is in Kindergarten, came home with another turkey project.  Her teacher sent home a turkey on white construction paper and we have to decorate it in any way we want.  Of course, I'm going crazy trying to figure out how to make hers the cutest!!!  I'm thinking maybe ribbon?  Scrapbook paper?  Hmmm... any ideas?

I will post pictures soon!

Place Value Game Freebie

I haven't been able to post much lately.  It's been a crazy few months getting into the school year and getting settled into a routine.  You all know the feeling!  Here is a game I made for our upcoming Family Math Night!  Click on the game board below to download for FREE (for a limited time!) from my Teachers Notebook Shop! 

Enjoy!