Who doesn't love the start of a new year? A blank slate, a fresh start, a new beginning, new memories to make. It was wonderful to see all the smiling faces back in the classroom come January. Although they may not have shouted it out, I heard the quiet conversations about missing school and being happy to be back. Well, me too!
There was much excitement and many stories to share about the holidays, the ups, the downs, the expected and the unexpected. The children were particularly keen to share their New Year's Eve stories with one another. Through sharing, many questions were asked. Here are some of them…
How late did you stay up? Did you watch the ball drop? What's the ball? Did you break 'crackers'? What was inside? What is a 'cracker'? Did you know it was the new year already in some countries before Canada?
I decided to go with their enthusiasm which launched into writing Holiday Newspapers, making 'crackers' so we could ring in the New Year together, and writing resolutions. It was great fun.
To make the crackers, each child wrote a secret message of good cheer on a piece of paper. They put their fortune and a lollipop inside a recycled toilet paper roll before rolling it up in a bright sheet of tissue paper. They pinched the ends and tied them off with a ribbon. All of the crackers were collected in a basket and saved for the end of the day. Each student selected a random cracker and spread out around the classroom. We counted down from ten and all pulled our crackers at the same time! It was a lot of fun for them to read the kind message inside.
I photographed the children making 'party faces' as if they were ringing in the new year on New Year's Eve. Once they were printed, each child decorated a party hat to adorn their portrait. New Year's resolutions were written and attached to their portraits. Don't forget to check out all of the resolutions on the bulletin board in the hallway. We have some serious party goers in this crowd!
The class spent some time over two days planning, writing and illustrating their stories for the holiday newspapers. Last Wednesday, we had a special Noisy Reading time. Instead of reading books from the classroom library, students read each others newspapers. We even snacked on timbits while reading! It was a fun morning.
There was much excitement and many stories to share about the holidays, the ups, the downs, the expected and the unexpected. The children were particularly keen to share their New Year's Eve stories with one another. Through sharing, many questions were asked. Here are some of them…
How late did you stay up? Did you watch the ball drop? What's the ball? Did you break 'crackers'? What was inside? What is a 'cracker'? Did you know it was the new year already in some countries before Canada?
I decided to go with their enthusiasm which launched into writing Holiday Newspapers, making 'crackers' so we could ring in the New Year together, and writing resolutions. It was great fun.
To make the crackers, each child wrote a secret message of good cheer on a piece of paper. They put their fortune and a lollipop inside a recycled toilet paper roll before rolling it up in a bright sheet of tissue paper. They pinched the ends and tied them off with a ribbon. All of the crackers were collected in a basket and saved for the end of the day. Each student selected a random cracker and spread out around the classroom. We counted down from ten and all pulled our crackers at the same time! It was a lot of fun for them to read the kind message inside.
I photographed the children making 'party faces' as if they were ringing in the new year on New Year's Eve. Once they were printed, each child decorated a party hat to adorn their portrait. New Year's resolutions were written and attached to their portraits. Don't forget to check out all of the resolutions on the bulletin board in the hallway. We have some serious party goers in this crowd!
The class spent some time over two days planning, writing and illustrating their stories for the holiday newspapers. Last Wednesday, we had a special Noisy Reading time. Instead of reading books from the classroom library, students read each others newspapers. We even snacked on timbits while reading! It was a fun morning.
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| Writers hard at work on their stories! |
