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Student Teacher Advice


Dear Student Teacher,

I’ve been exactly where you are. I can still remember walking into my first placement on the first day and feeling overwhelmed and excited at the same time. I was fortunate enough to have a positive experience in both of my student teaching placements. The following advice is for you in hopes that it will make your experiences positive as well. 

Be On Time

You should be at school every morning (even before your cooperating teacher arrives). Your promptness and attendance paints a picture of how you will be in the future. Your mentor teacher will notice; other teachers, the principal, secretary, custodian, and/or upper administration will notice as well. It is better to show up sick and let them send you home then to call in even one day! Always try to show that you are willing to go the extra mile even if you aren’t feeling 100%. Don’t let a diagnosis or label be an excuse for not giving your all. There are more eyes on you than you might think. Show them your very best.

Be Present

Put your phone away and ask to be involved in everything. Your review depends on more than the lessons you teach. Talk to the students; ask them about their interests. Try and help a struggling kid or just be an obvious positive presence in the classroom. If you notice misbehavior- speak up! The students will view you as an authority figure. That mindset will be a benefit during your placement. Ask to go to extra meetings, attend after school events, or volunteer for a school wide event. Seek out ways to participate in your placement other than in the classroom.

Take Notes

You will learn more in the next few weeks than the entirety of your schooling to get you here. Now is when your “feet are to the fire”. Take advantage. Take notes, a lot of notes. Journal everyday about what you see, what you do, and all the positives and negatives of the experience. You will look at your notes again and they will hopefully bring you inspiration. Grab extra copies of lessons, worksheets, assessments. They will provide support for you in the future when you are recreating the wheel in your own classroom. If possible, set up a cloud based drive and “dump” as much as you can into it. The drive will become a home base for everything you experience. In my day, I had a copy paper box. I’m thrilled that technology has evolved to make your experience easier. Take advantage of the tech!

Ask Questions

Your mentor teacher and supervisor are there to help you learn through doing. Ask a question before you get into a situation where you are being observed or make a mistake. All the things you do in your student teaching should be learning experiences. Asking questions ahead of time can hopefully help lessen the painful experiences. There aren’t any stupid questions. There is a lot of educational jargon and acronyms. If your teacher (or another) says something you don’t understand, ask for clarification. It’s better to get it clarified than to waste your brain energy trying to decipher what what said.

Student Teaching is a Job

Consider your student teaching to be a real job! Even though you are not getting paid for your student teaching, you should take it just as seriously. Take it all in and be as professional as you have ever been. Make sure your paying jobs and social life don’t interfere with your student teaching experience. This experience will be approximately 5 months of your life. How you conduct yourself during those 5 months can have lifelong consequences; do everything in your power to ensure the consequences are positive. Your hard work will pay off later.

Now is the time! Take advantage of every opportunity to spread your wings! Learn from your experience and someday you can have your own student teacher read this letter, too.

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Fun with Math in an Elementary Classroom

fun math in an elementary classroom

For some us, math isn’t the most exciting subject to teach. I have never been able to get excited about algorithms and numbers the way some of my coworkers do.

If your math instruction isn’t what you want it to be, sometimes you just need to put a little of yourself into the instruction to make it come alive. Many districts dictate exactly what program or lessons must be used. But why not try to incorporate some fun into your daily math routine? Break your whole group instruction into small group rotations and provide more opportunities for fun practice. It will help you and your students love math just a little bit more!

Here are 6 ways you can liven up your math instruction...

Number Talks


If you are looking to strengthen your students’ mental computation while simultaneously improving their mathematical reasoning, Number Talks are perfect! These 5-10 minute chats can be done whole group or with small groups. The best part of Number Talks is that the students drive the direction of the talk. As the teacher you design the skill or idea that will be the focus of the Number Talk. For example: subtraction across zeros, double-digit addition, etc. But based on the abilities and the interests of the students, these talks will differentiate themselves! Number Talks can be a way to introduce, practice, or review a concept. Most importantly these chats get your students looking at numbers differently and making connections beyond what the text book can do!

This 15-minute video explains Number Talks and gives excellent examples:

Fluency Sprints


When students have automaticity of math facts the students can work with more ease when applying the skills. Focusing on math fact mastery only takes a few minutes a day to make a big difference. Students can work on fluency with worksheets, computer games, timed tasks, or basic flash card practice. Is anyone having flashbacks to playing Around the World in elementary school? Any math lesson can take a few minutes of fact practice to build up those foundational skills. Giving an inventory test will give you the information needed to be able to differentiate the practice that is needed. Using less than 5 minutes of instruction to hone in on fluency will have long-term impacts on your overall math instruction.

Fluency Challenges


Each year we create a challenge to motivate the students to master their multiplication facts. We begin testing the 0, 1, and 2’s. Once the students master those, we have a pattern that we follow that seems to be helpful in their ability to master all the facts up to 12s. Every few days we re-inventory the progress so each student can test their mastery wherever they are in the sequence. This is a great job for a parent volunteer to do when they come in to help. We give the students goals and deadlines. Students who master all 12 earn a dance party celebration. For the kids that don’t quite make it we have a fact practice party in the classroom while the others are dancing in another room. We make sure to celebrate all student success.

You can find a complete system for learning the multiplication facts here:

Fourth and Fritcher Multiplication Superhero Challenge

Multiplication Superhero Challenge



multiplication fluency
Student Reward Tags Hanging Proudly on Display

Interactive Notebooks


Any skill can be broken down in order to be introduced or practiced using an interactive notebook page. It is a fun way to bring in some cutting, pasting, and colored paper into the equation. I have the students bring in composition notebooks at the beginning of the year so we can use them when I want to add an interactive element to my instruction. If you aren’t comfortable committing to a whole notebook, interactive pieces can be glued onto a piece of construction paper that the students take home at the end of the lesson. Additionally, these tasks can become a bulletin board that will brighten the room and provide a reference for learning.

Digital Fun


Our students love to play games on their iPads and Chromebooks. Many of the games infuse math practice and imaginative game play to motivate.

The popular site in my class right now is Prodigy. You can find it here: https://www.prodigygame.com/ They would play all day if we let them. But it has a nice sampling of skills that they need to work through in order to master the levels of the game.

A great app to work on fluency is Flash to Pass. There are different levels and a timer to help students track their own progress with particular facts or operations. I oftentimes recommend this app for parents who are looking for ideas to support their child at home. Available for iPad/iPhone only: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashtopass-free-math-flash-cards/id330482882

Task Cards


I love putting task cards into my math instruction. When students feel like they are playing a game the work isn’t so painful! Students can complete the cards independently or in pairs. Most of my task cards have a work space sheet so answers can be checked for accuracy and accountability. These cards get the students out of their seats and working with others on the skills that need to be practiced. Task cards work well in a center or can be placed around the room to play a game of Scoot.

You can find task cards for every standard here:
math task cards nys modules


Math can be a subject that many students and teachers shy away from. With a little bit of tweaking and some adjustments in your plans, practice and lessons can be fun and engaging. It’s a win-win for everyone!
fun math in an elementary classroom


New Year Classroom Ideas

New Year Ideas for an Elementary Classroom

Once you come back from the holidays there are many new mindsets that are in place. Everyone is on the resolution bandwagon and are trying to do their best. With all of those new goals, why not make your classroom reflect some of your new inspirations?

New Seating Arrangements


If you have assigned seats this is a great time to have the students come back to new places to sit. This will help break old behavior habits that were evident before the holidays. Unless there are behaviors, my students choose their own seats each day and oftentimes do not sit in the same places. But giving your classroom direction and structure with seating can provide security for those students who struggle with choosing a seat each day.

Partner Choice


A fun activity that can be done is choosing time or season partners. I provide the students with a graphic organizer that allows them to choose 4 different working partners that are their “go to” partners. It will require a bit of pre-planning, but helps speed up the process of pairing students up later on. If you are using a clock organizer, students will choose a partnership for the 12:00, 3:00, 6:00, and 9:00 spots. The season organizer runs the same way. These organizers can be stored in their folders or mailboxes for easy reference. This gives a fun way to get different kids working together and it's a novel way to organize them. You can always pick sticks for random groupings, but partner charts makes them feel like they have a choice in the decision making.


Flexible Seating Options


It seems like most of the beginning of the year the students are getting used to the classroom norms and expectations of the different seats available. This year, I had a group that had a hard time controlling themselves on the yoga ball seats, so I have limited the number available to the students this year. As one of our classroom goals is to have more self control, I am going to bring out some other floor seats and mats to incorporate more options for them to sit on. This will make coming back to school a little more inviting!

Rearrange Furniture


Making new areas in your classroom. Provide new nooks for reading, learning, group work, etc. I love making the room look just a little different so the kids feel like it's a new learning environment. I make subtle changes so it doesn’t take them too long to get used to the new space.

Goal Bulletin Boards


Providing a new bulletin board for them to engage with helps them get into the mind frame of new learning. Usually we will do the reflection and goal setting for the new year in a creative flip book or combine our goals with a writing task.

Each year I have my students complete a New Year's Resolution flapbook. It gives the students an opportunity to reflect on goals for the year. I walk them through each flap and encourage them to set realistic goals. Students glue their flapbook on a colored piece of paper and write their goals on the paper underneath.

Once the flapbooks are complete, I hang them in the hallway!

New Years Resolution Bulletin Board

These flapbooks are available for FREE in my TPT Store. Click the link below to get yours!

New Year Resolutions Activity


For a longer, more deliberate goal-setting activity, I love this one from Shelly Rees on TpT: New Years Resolution Bulletin Board and Goals Writing Activity. It's a great way to combine goals, writing, and the "Big Game"! It also works well because it can be done throughout the month as time allows and still be applicable into the next month because the Big Game is usually played the first weekend of February. Score!

New Year Ideas for an Elementary Classroom
Our Completed Bulletin Board

New Year Ideas for an Elementary Classroom
Students have an opportunity to engage their creative sides while working on their fine motor skills.


New Behavior Incentives


It seems like spring is full of state testing and benchmarks. Our schedules aren’t as consistent as we all need them to be either. I try to incorporate more choice into our days so the kids can feel like they do have some control over the craziness. I love to introduce choice balloons into the daily motivators. I create a Google form to inventory which things they would like to earn. They give me ideas that will help me differentiate my teaching as well as fun rewards they would like. I put a sticky note in each balloon before I blow it up. I post 3 balloons up in the front of the classroom. This provides them with a visual of what they are working towards. In the past I have created a rubric for their behavior and they earn points each day on factors such as: focus, noise level, work ethic. At the end of the day, or block, we orally go over the simple rubric. The students help me decide if they are worthy of their points (this helps them self evaluate themselves). If they get their points for the day they are one step closer to popping a balloon at the end of the day or week. Once the balloons are all popped, I put 3 new ones up to continue the motivation.

Making things fun and novel for the kids will help get you back into the swing of things as well. No one is super excited about coming back after a cozy vacation, but giving everyone new things to experience will help everyone start the last half of the school year with a little more zest and excitement.
New Year Ideas for an Elementary Classroom
Happy New Year!

Hosting a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving in Your Classroom

charlie brown thanksgiving classroom

If you have students in class the week of Thanksgiving you know what a challenge it can be! Why not take some time and start celebrating with them? Transforming your classroom into the Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving will create memories that will last a lifetime!

Food you will need:
  • Sliced Bread
  • Popcorn
  • Pretzel Sticks
  • Jelly Beans
  • Ice Cream
  • Butter
  • Drinks
charlie brown thanksgiving classroom

Supplies you will need:
  • Plates
  • Napkins
  • Table Cloths
  • Ice Cream Scoop
  • Toaster
charlie brown thanksgiving classroom

Gathering Donations

Our team uses an app called Class Tag which has a great option for parents to sign up for conferences and of course party foods! You can be very specific in what you want the students to bring. This is especially helpful when you have allergies in the classroom or you need specific Charlie Brown food items. 

Our Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

The menu items we asked students to bring were: pretzel sticks, popcorn, jelly beans, bread, bowls, plates, plastic spoons and drinks. The teachers provided the ice cream and butter. We also purchased white table cloths to make the tables look fancier. Once all of the items came in we knew we were going to have quite the celebration. Thank goodness we didn’t forget our toaster! I am sure you could toast more bread at once if you used the cafeteria oven; but a four-slice toaster worked just fine for us! 
charlie brown thanksgiving classroom

When the students walked into school we had the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving DVD cued up for the students to watch as we created the holiday plates. Toasting the bread and buttering took the most time but with a couple extra hands (volunteers) this process went smoothly. As the video ended we passed out the food and started to enjoy the treats. I had the students tell a buddy one thing that they were thankful for before taking their first bite. 

Turkey Glyphs

Once all the eating was complete we decided to end the morning with some arts and crafts. We love to do monthly glyphs to get some fine motor practice for the students. These are also great to display on a bulletin board and save into a portfolio to show growth throughout the year! 

Today we made turkey glyphs which made us reflect and look forward to the Thanksgiving holiday that was ahead of us. The students choose different shapes and colors to decorate their turkey based on the choices from the holiday glyph. It is so fun to see how different all of the turkeys come out. Some years I don’t save them for the end of the year but have the students make Thanksgiving cards with them instead. 
turkey glyph thanksgiving

You can find directions to make the Turkey Glyphs in my TpT Store here:

You can find other Thanksgiving Resources at my TPT Store HERE.

With the hustle and bustle of the academics these fun filled “kid” days are appreciated by everyone. We love to capture pictures from these special days and post them on Class Tag for all of the families to enjoy along with us. Happy Turkey Day!

charlie brown thanksgiving classroom

Summarizing Strategies

 

Teaching kids concrete ways to summarize makes the process much easier to learn and much easier to duplicate when it comes time to do it independently. There are so many terms students need to think about: main idea, gist, central idea, theme - the list goes on!  I try to give them clear guidelines so these words don’t get cloudy in their minds. In this post I will share two strategies I have found work well with my students. Whether you are working with fiction or nonfiction text, these strategies will hep your students summarize!

Fiction Summary


I call this the 5 finger method. I like providing them with a graphic organizer that they can identify and create for themselves. To start, I have them trace their own hand to create a thinking space. Within the traced hand there is space for different information. I have them label each finger with the 5 Ws: who, what, where, when, and how/why. These question words will help the students make quick notes about the text.

Once I have them fill in all of the important pieces, they start building the gist statement (introductory sentence) that will start their summary. 

Who:  Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf
What:  Big Bad Wolf is trying to out smart Little Red
Where:  In the Woods
When:  In the morning
How/Why:  The Wolf impersonates Grandma but Red wins in the end

For organizational purposes, I like to have them start with the where and when to set the scene of the gist. Students seem to have an easier time with the rest of the summary once they have those parts figured out.

Sample Gist Statement
One morning, deep in the woods, Little Red Riding Hood meets up with a Big Bad Wolf who is trying to outsmart her. 

Once the gist statement is complete, I have them trace another hand to use as a main idea catcher. In each finger, I have them write a main idea statement from the sections of the story.  These sentences will then be added to the gist statement to begin telling the main ideas from the beginning, middle, and end of the story. I also encourage them to write their main idea sentences in their own words. This allows them to paraphrase in their notes and avoids a direct copy of the text. The gist statement along with the main idea sentences will make a complete summary.

I use this approach to summarizing fictional text over and over. The combination of a predictable organizer, ease of duplication, and structured format helps students stay focused on the content. 

Nonfiction Summary


I have found that the 5 finger method can work with non-fiction texts as well, but I recently found a strategy that makes a nonfiction summary even easier.

First, I have the student number the paragraphs or chunks of information so they can be organized into numbered parts. I create a chart that is divided into 2 columns. Each row is numbered to help with organization. In the left column I paraphrase the paragraphs into main ideas statements. On the right hand column you can have the students add detail statements that supports the main idea. The first time I modeled this to the students I had them just focus on the main ideas. This limited the size of the summary paragraph so they didn’t get overwhelmed. After all of the main idea sentences are complete, I move into creating a gist/topic sentence for the summary.

I used a strategy called SAAC which breaks down the parts of the topic sentence. 

S:  State It - (name of article, type of writing)
A:  Assign  - (use the author’s name or publication)
A:  Action  - (choose a verb like explains or tells)
C:  Complete the Sentence (use your main topic)

Sample Gist Statement:
In the article, “The Sounds Around Us” the author explains all about sound.

The last step is to put the gist statement (introductory sentence) at the beginning of the summary. If the main idea sentences are already paraphrased, then the students are ready to add them after the topic sentence. I have the students choose the order of effectiveness of the main idea sentences.

Whichever way you teach your kids to summarize make sure to keep your strategies consistent. When you lessen the cognitive load for your students by using predictable organizers or processes, your students will be able to put more thought into the content. Good luck getting your students summarizing like champs!


Holiday Crafts and Projects in the Classroom

holiday crafts and project elementary classroom

December can be a challenging month in the elementary world. Minds are racing everywhere. It can be hard to stay focused with all the hubbub of the Christmas season. It can be a struggle for adults, imagine how hard it can be for the students! Remember to be kind and give yourself (and your students) a break!

To help keep focus on school, there are tons of fun things that can be integrated into the classroom to make learning engaging and holiday themed.We love to do holiday themed writing, games, task cards, break outs. But in our classrooms there are always tons of crafts being made as well.

When the holidays approach I always consider them a time to hone the students' OT skill sets! Fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination are important. And what better way to practice those skills than to craft!

Classroom Holiday Crafts


I love to make crafts with the kids and have them bring them home for a gift. Their faces light up when they have the opportunity to give a gift to someone. We do have some staple ornaments and projects that we do every year, such as these adorable candy cane ornaments--> Easy Christmas Ornaments.

Students come back and tell us, “I still have the ice cream cone ornament” or “I hang my puzzle piece wreath every year!” I know I cherish the ornaments that my daughter has brought home over the years.

This year since I am team teaching again (with 3 sections) and we decided to handle crafts with a team approach. We wanted to make sure each student in the grade level would have identical gifts to bring home. This sounds like a great plan until you have to make 75 of this and 75 of that! But once we got organized the process was like a mini assembly line.

Our first step was to decide what to make. We then talked about supplies we already had in the closets, and finally we divided up the crafting time. It worked out very well because with each of us focused on different curriculum we were able to break up the day (and the crafting time) based on where each teacher was in the scope and sequence for their curriculum.

Below are some of the crafting and holiday-themed items we have sent home to families:

Snowmen Ornaments


holiday crafts and project elementary classroom

Handprint snowmen were done in one classroom. The teacher did a mini lesson for the day and then had the class working on content related tasks that were review, so they didn’t need explicit teaching during this time. She was able to call over each student one at a time to paint their hands. (A parent volunteer came in and put all of the names and date on each of the bulbs.) This helped with time and she was able to get all 75 students’ hands printed on the bulbs. The bulbs came in a great box of 100, so reorganizing them back into the box to dry was a life saver. Paper plates or shoe boxes would also be a storage option.

The next day, once all of the paint was dry, the students came back and worked in small groups to decorate the snowmen. They used permanent and craft markers. The teacher noticed that the permanent markers dried out quickly due to coloring over the paint. So she switched to cheaper markers and they did the job just the same. Once they were all done, she loaded them back into the organizer bin until we were ready to send them home.

holiday crafts and projects elementary classroom

Materials Needed:
  • one ornament per student (we used glass but plastic works well too)
  • white paint
  • colored markers

Time:
  • 1 day to stamp hands and dry
  • 1 day to decorate

Process:
  • label each ornament with the student's name and the year
  • paint each student's hand white and press it on the ornament (we kept our snowman count to 3)
  • wait for the ornament to dry
  • have students decorate their snowman family using markers

Family Traditions Book


One of the tasks the students worked on while we were crafting in small groups was a paragraph about their favorite family tradition. They could choose a holiday or winter themed tradition to write about. Once these writing pieces were complete, we made a grade level book of their traditions. This became a keepsake to send home with the students. We did give support with grammar and mechanics, but kept the content as they wrote it. It was nice to see how they all celebrate family during the holidays.

Family Recipe Book


Another memorable keepsake that doesn’t take too much time to put together is a grade level family recipe book. We sent home a flyer requesting a special family recipe to be sent into school. If you plan on doing this make sure you are specific in your request. Ask families to send the recipe via email. We have done this in the past where we had to retype all of the recipes when they came in hand written!

Once you get the recipes, they need to be formatted and complemented with some clip art. In years past we have printed books in a smaller format so we could create a bound book. We would have each student bring in a cereal box to use for the book cover. We would copy the recipes on a half sheet of copy paper. Then we would cut the cardboard boxes to make covers to support that size.The students cover the cardboard with wallpaper, wrapping paper, art work decorated by themselves. It makes a nicer presentation than just the stapled packet. 

Foam Ornaments


The bulk packages that you can buy make a great and simple ornament for the kids. Our parent volunteers spend quite a bit of time trying to separate all the parts that go with each ornament. This is a time saver for sure! We put all the supplies out on the table and bag up what is needed for each ornament. Sometimes it gets a little crazy when the same kit has reindeer, Santa, and a snowman in it. All of those have different accessories, so bag them up and be ready for those crazy crafters to come to the table! These ornaments are also great a great place to stick those school pictures! My teammate loves to grab these foam kits the day after Christmas for 50-75% off. Grab them cheap after the holidays, throw them into storage, and you will be ready to rock once next December gets here!

Snow Globe Ornaments 


holiday crafts and projects elementary classroom

This is a craft we have been looking at for years but had never actually done it. After some late-night messaging on social media, we decided to give it a shot.

To start, we took a picture of each student in an “open jumping jack” pose. The goal was to have them appear to be trapped in a snow globe. We then had to transfer the images to PPT and ask for them to be printed in color.

Then, cutting, cutting, cutting. We trimmed each student’s picture so there was only an outline of their body.

For lamination, we used lamination sheets (3 globes per sheet). After drawing the circles on the sheet, we painted the snowdrift on the bottom portion and then asked students to use their fingers to make snowflakes in the upper portion. We sprinkled some glitter to give it a little pizzazz. Lastly, we added in a globe base (pre-printed with the year) and the student picture. The sheets were ready for lamination!

holiday crafts and projects in elementary classroom
A tiny dab of paint will help keep the base and picture in place.
WARNING: it is IMPERATIVE that the paint be dry before you laminate. Give the sheets overnight to dry; otherwise you will end up with a smeared mess when the sheets go through the machine.

ALSO NOTE: this is such a cute craft, you may end up making some with your own children, pets, or coworkers’ families!

holiday crafts and projects in elementary classroom

Materials Needed:
  • one picture of each student
  • lamination sheets and machine
  • white paint
  • snow globe bases
  • string for hanger (optional)

Time:
  • 1 day to take, format, and print picture
  • 1 day to cut out the silhouettes
  • 1 day to prep the sheets
  • 1-2 days to add each student's fingertip snowflakes, glitter, base and picture (and laminate)


Process:
  • take each student's picture
  • format and print the pictures in color (I fit 6 students on the page vertically, 3 per row, in order to be sized properly for the globe)
  • cut the pictures
  • prep the lamination sheets: draw circles for the globes, open the sheets and paint the snow drift, allow to dry overnight
  • have students add their fingertip snowflakes (allow to dry)
  • add the glitter, students picture, and snow globe base
  • laminate
  • cut out the globes
  • add hanger (or a magnet to make it for the fridge!)

This is one of the most intense holiday crafts I have ever done. There was quite a bit of stress and frustration with certain parts of the process. However, like childbirth, I will probably forget about the pain, focus on the product, and do it again!

Holiday Canvas Bags


holiday crafts and projects in elementary classroom

Every year I have seen these adorable string of light crafts where the students make the light bulbs with their fingerprints. Like the snow globes, they are always begging us to make them. This year we decided to make 75 of them! We actually used our PTO mini-grant to help support the cost of these. We found what we needed on Amazon and applied for two mini-grants to cover the cost.

We did the bags in steps and divided the work between the classes. One of us put a piece of masking tape on the top corner and labeled all the names. We organized them into their home/classrooms so they were ready for mass production. Once they were labeled we used a sharpie marker and created unique light string designs on each bag. Then it was time to pass them off to the next teacher. 

Before getting to the painting portion of the craft, we cut down manila folders to fit into the bag. The layer added protection from paint bleeding onto the back side of the bag. When we were done with the bags, we easily pulled the folders out of the bags and put them into storage for next time.

In another classroom, students used their fingertips and paint to create a holiday string of lights.
Students worked in small groups at a designated craft/paint table while the rest of the class worked through a Google Classroom assignment. These festive bags were used for students to transport their holiday items home and made a nice gift themselves!

holiday crafts and projects in elementary classroom

Materials Needed:
  • one canvas bag per student
  • permanent marker
  • paint (various bright colors)

Time:
  • one day to label bag, draw the strings, and insert the folder
  • one day for students to paint their bag
  • one day for students to write a holiday message

Process:
  • have students come to a craft table set with paint
  • students dip their fingers in the paint and gently touch spots along the string

holiday crafts and projects in elementary classroom

holiday crafts and projects in elementary classroom


For a less intense approach to creating holiday cards and bags you can check out this blog post --> Easy Holiday Cards and Bags

For a Christmas Craft Project that doubles as a ready-made bulletin board you can visit this blog post --> Classroom Christmas Craft

Our days are super busy with curriculum, but this time of year it is important to take time to be present in the holiday spirit. Many days our classrooms looked a lot like Santa’s workshop! But, in the end, the students had an adorable holiday bag filled with timeless childhood keepsakes.These simple crafts will provide memories for a lifetime. Find ways to fit crafts into your plans and don’t forget to lean on parent volunteers and teammates to get the job done!

holiday crafts and projects in elementary classroom
Happy Crafting!