December Memoirs: Friendship cards, holiday mugs, and a whole lot of love!

There is so so much going on in my classroom this December! We have gift exchanges for the teachers and students, door decorating, standards left to teach, and end of the quarter testing. It's a crazy balancing game getting it all done! 

The Actual Teaching

My students finished a project at home where they create and decorate a tree to bring into class. Many brought Christmas trees, but my favorite was a very creative palm tree! Not all of my students celebrate Christmas, so this was a great activity that every student could do their own way. This week we are doing two writing assignments about the amazing tress they made! You can check out the specifics on how to do this activity on my blog.

Gift Exchanges

My class is participating in two gift exchanges this year. The first one is just our class, and each student is making a Friendship Card for the secret person they drew from a jar. This is my favorite holiday project because the supplies cost me less than $5 total, and they don't have to buy or bring anything to participate! 

The next gift exchange we're participating is with two other classrooms. Each student is bringing a mug and filling it with goodies. It's exciting to see what creative things students fill the mug with! We exchange the mugs during our holiday party, where we use them to drink hot chocolate. Yum!

Door Decorating

Every year at my school we have a fierce door decorating competition. There are a lot of Pinterest-worthy doors; none of those doors are mine. Each year, I have my students pick a theme and they make all of the decorations. I haven't won yet, but my students enjoy being such a large part of the process. This year was by far my best student-created door.

 

I have to say that the most exciting part of this holiday season is how much work my students put into creating! This is by far my hardest working group of kids!

What are you doing in your classroom for the holidays? Share in the comments below!