Christmas in Second Grade

The holiday season in second grade was a blast!  I brought out several activities I used in kindergarten and found some other new ideas.  While the season is still fresh in my brain, I wanted to document some of the fun learning and crafts I did with my students.  Admittedly, this post is just for me, but perhaps you'll have some fun reading it too!

Our math unit was geometry, so the sphere recycled card ornament was perfect.  It was a  just-right activity for the kids.  I heard that many went home and made more that night!

Santa letters are a must.  I made mine fit into the curriculum by using a fill-in-the-blank sheet that helped the kids practice common and proper nouns.

I finally got out the tapestry table.  I drew a Christmas tree and the words "Fa La La La La" on the burlap for the kids to sew.   Buttons were used for ornaments.  I'm sure more tapestry table projects will follow.

A second grade tradition is to make a present book report.  You choose a favorite holiday book and find five items that go along with the book and put them in a wrapped up box to share with the class.  I also enjoyed reading so many new holiday stories.

A "Pass the Stocking" game was just what we needed to practice recognizing nouns, adjectives, and verbs.  I filled the bag with word cards and the kids pulled out a word and identified the part of speech.  Then, they passed the stocking to a friend.  This would work for all kinds of review.

In Writer's Workshop, we wrote original holiday stories.  After writing, illustrating, and editing the stories, we shared them with our first grade friends.  I love how everyone is feeling like  an author.

Candy Cane Mice were a big hit.  We made them to give to different "buddies" we have in the school.  It was hard for some kids to realize that they were not going to keep the mice, but give them to others.  We talked a lot about giving and receiving.

Love the Polygon tree - sing to the tune of "O Christmas Tree."  We made all kinds of polygon shaped ornaments and had fun singing the song and coming up with new verses for the song.  I will say, by the end, my students had a wonderful understanding of the concept!

Gumdrop pyramids were so much fun!  The teacher manual said to use straws and twist ties.  I say gumdrops and toothpicks are a far superior building material.  Once again, this holiday-themed activity proved to be very educational and taught the kids so much.

We tackled the 12 days of Christmas, with a clever rewriting.  Our version lasted 13 days (for my 13 students) and included 12 hairy horses, 5 puppies dancing, and of course a pig flying in mid-air!

Hope your holidays were merry, bright, and full of learning!