5th Grade in the Christmas Spirit

I feel pretty lucky that my administration lets me do whatever I want in terms of lesson ideas.  I also feel like my ideas are accepted by not only the students but their parents too.  I don't always like the idea of holiday projects because they can get kind of cheesy or cutsey crafty.  However, they do have their place at times.

My 5th graders did these beautiful tree branches and ornaments.  We focused in on creating the texture of the tree branches by using lines with oil pastels.  We divided watercolor paper into 4 sections and did a wet-on-wet technique blending colors together.  We used a compass to create the circle shapes of our ornaments and then put it all together by cutting and gluing.  The final touch was to add hooks so our ornaments and branches went together.

The work in the hallway got great reviews and compliments by many teachers and parents.