December Happenings

December was a fun month for Miss Woodward's Class.  We had a lot of fun doing winter-themed projects.  Here's the run-down of our busy month!

1.  Polygon Snowflakes

The kids traced and cut out polygons to create beautiful winter snowflakes.  On the back of their snowflake, they wrote about which polygons they chose and the properties of each polygon.  Remember these green polygon foldables?  They were a great resource when it came to writing about the snowflakes.

2.  Holidays Around the World

Each student made a passport in preparation for their travels around the world.  The week before Winter Break, the students traveled to a new country every day.  The country in my classroom was China, and we learned about Chinese New Year.  We made lucky dragon puppets.  :)

We even had a special visitor one day!  My good friend from high school, Tracie, came to visit and help out with making dragons.

The students also traveled to India with Ms. Meredith.  There, they learned about Diwali and made beautiful Rangoli designs with glitter.

In Ms. Tarah's class, they traveled to Israel to learn about Hanukkah.  They made dreidels and learned how to play the game!

In Ms. Eichhorn's class, students traveled to Sweden to learn about St. Lucia.  While there, they made ornaments for their trees.

The teachers taught the same lesson four days in a row.  The students traveled in groups and went to one country every day for the week.  After the lesson and craft, we wrote facts we learned in their passports, and we stamped their passports so they could exit the country and return to the United States.  It was such fun!

3.  Gifts!

Also in December, I wrapped 19 blankets for my students for Christmas.  I got them on Black Friday for $1.50 each.  Many of my students share beds with multiple siblings or sleep on the floor.  :(  It's heartbreaking, so I try to give them something that is useful and that is their own.  

4.  Feeling Crafty

I found my crafty side again and made some cards for coworkers.

I also made some treats!

5.  Wacky Wrapping

One of my students gave me a gift wrapped in this paper.  I'm just trying to picture all the presents under her tree at home in Justin Bieber paper. (ha!)

6.  Watercolor Resist Paintings

We did some watercolor resist painting, too!  It's so easy!  Draw your design in white crayon on paper, then use watercolors to paint over it.  The watercolor paint will not work over the crayon, displaying your pretty design!

A finished watercolor resist.

7.  Cookie Monsters...

… That's what you get when you give 19 third graders a tub of frosting and sprinkles.  Ms. Teresa made a few appearances in Miss Woodward's Class last year, but had only been in once this year!  So she decided to bring in some sugar cookies and all the decorations to let the kids create some edible "masterpieces".  I have never seen so much frosting and sugar piled up on a single cookie...

After decorating, some of the kiddos taught her how to play dreidel!  In Ms. Tarah's class, they used candy, but with Ms. Teresa, they used colored pencils.    

8.  A Happy Holiday

I had a nice and restful Christmas.  The Woodward's celebrated the weekend before Christmas, and I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Mr. Wolf's family.

Top: brother Clark, brother Dean, boyfriend Kendall, Dad
Bottom: sister-in-law Elise, nieces Ramona and Marianne, me, Teresa

Mr. Wolf and I on Christmas Eve

Overall, it was a productive month!  But I sure am glad to have another week before heading back to school.  How was your December?

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward