I've just got to share the good stuff I read.

I love to read. I read every chance I get. If I read something really good, I want to share it with my friends and co-workers. I make copies of magazine articles, read aloud to my students, tell others about good books I'm reading, and keep a book with me at all times.

I love teaching and learning new things. I need a place to share some of the lessons and what my students and I learn. Since my teaching situation is different from everyone else's in my school, I would like to tell all of you in the blog-o-sphere about these great lessons.

Feel free to share what you are reading, teaching and learning with us in the comments.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Paper Chains and Eggshell Santas

Today the first and second graders made paper chains for the school Christmas tree. Oh my, they had never made a paper chain before. What a simple, fun activity with so many math connections and it was new to them.

My earliest Christmas memories were making paper chains for the Christmas tree. We had a cedar tree cut from a back pasture somewhere. All we needed to decorate the tree was colored construction paper and home-made flour and water paste. We used every color in the package for our chains.

Another Christmas tradition was making an eggshell Santa. Mom would blow out the eggy insides from several fresh eggs. (We had chickens until I was in third grade.) Then she would rinse the shells inside and out. After the shells dried we would make a red paper Santa hat for each egg. We drew on the face with crayons and added cotton ball whiskers and fur trim to the red hat. So cute and fun to make.

Sometimes we made popcorn strings and once we covered sweet gum balls with foil and added them to the tree.

I know we had some store bought ornaments but the ones we made are the ones I remember.

Yesterday we made and decorated 3-D paper trees. Tomorrow we will make wooden clothes peg reindeer. If we have time we will make cinnamon-applesauce gingerbread men. I hope the children will have good memories of this week in my class.

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