Mixing Math With Fabulous 3-D Snowflake Making - Tutorial

 Each year my school has a special Christmas/winter party and celebrates the upcoming break with a big meal and talent show. My art room is charged with a special duty during this time which is to decorate for the big event. One request for decorations is always snowflakes. There is a lot of learning you can incorporate while having fun with your students making snowflakes, including some math!

Here is one of my favorite 3-D snowflake patterns with a how to step by step instructions. Below each photo and instructions are some suggestions of ways you can incorporate math into the snowflake making. I have made these snowflakes with elementary, middle, and high school age students and all are always impressed with the result. Have fun making these with students!

Materials needed:

- 6 or 8 sheets of white paper per student. I usually use 6 sheets of plain white copy paper per student.
- 1 pair of scissors per student. If you have the fancy edge scissors, those can be a bonus!
- Scotch tape
- Stapler - you can also make this with all tape but I find it easier to finish with a stapler.


1. Give each student 6 sheets of paper or have them work with a partner and give each student three. Choose one piece of paper to start with. Fold the bottom of the paper to meet the right or left side as you prepare to cut the paper into a square.

Math:
What shape did you just fold? 
What type of triangle did you make?
What are the angles on the triangles?


2. Using scissors, cut off the extra flap of paper.

Math:
What shape did you make after cutting off the extra flap of paper?
What angles are in a square?
What two shapes make up the square paper?


3. Leave the paper folded in half into a triangle. You will need to make six incisions on your paper starting from the folded edge of the triangle. Those incisions are marked in red on the paper below. Make sure your cuts do not touch each other or your snowflake piece will fall apart!

Math:
Identify the parallel lines on your snowflake piece.
How many parallel lines do you see total?
Measure the lines and record your findings from smallest to largest.
Are the shapes you created considered triangles? Why or why not?


4. Open your triangle into a square. It should look like this.

Math:
What angles do the lines make?
Where are the lines intersected?

5. Using your fingers, pull the two innermost square corners together. Use a small piece of tape to secure these.

6. Turn your paper over. Pull the next two smallest square corners together and secure them to this side of the paper.

7. Turn your paper over again and repeat this process with the third smallest square corners.

8. Flip your paper over a final time and secure the last two corners. Your piece should look like this. Repeat steps 1-8 with the remaining sheets of paper.

Math:

Is this figure symmetrical? Why or why not?

Does this figure still have symmetrical lines?

9. After you have 6 pieces completed, you can begin to assemble your snowflake. Line two of your pieces up together. You will staple these pieces in two areas marked with the red X below to secure them. Staple the two middle sides and the top corners together.

10. Add a third piece to the two you have already stapled and secure it in the same areas as the previous two. Your piece should look like this.

11. Staple the remaining three snowflake pieces in the same manner so you have two halves to your snowflake. After the two halves are complete, attach the two halves stapling at the same points on each side until your snowflake is secure. Enjoy your fabulous 3-D snowflake!

If you have any suggestions on extra ways to incorporate math into this lesson, please share your ideas below!

Fabulous Friday Freebies: Winter Holidays Around the World

The winter holidays provide a perfect opportunity to learn about other cultures.  Check out these activities and bring a bit of multiculturalism into your classroom.

#1: Have your students read about how different cultures celebrate the winter holidays.  There are several online collections including: a) The North Pole.com, The Holiday Spot.com,  and Santa's.net can provide you with short readings about countries around the world. ETC's Winter Holiday write up describes various celebrations within the U.S.

#2: Bring in a differentiated vocabulary pack of terms associated with various winter holidays. It's perfect for the class with second language learners.  The packets teaches them about various holidays.  The activities are ideal for students in middle to upper elementary, but can parts of it can even be used to introduce holidays to middle school students.

#3: Check out this poster with ways to say Merry Christmas around the world.

#4: Bake cookie recipes from around the world.  Check out recipes and have students make the cookies with you if you have access to a kitchen.  Or, have students take the recipes home, make them there, and return to class for a taste test.  Baking will help students with their reading of process charts and fractions in math.

An Advent Calendar of Giving

I used to love opening up Advent calendars with my brothers.  My holiday flavored narcissism was thrilled to receive a chocolate goodie for 25 days straight leading up to the big Christmas extravaganza at my house.  Christmas is really about giving, though, as so many of my students whose family's budgets can't afford extravagance this year know better than I did at their tender age.  So, why not create a classroom Advent calendar of giving?  Each day have the students open up an envelope with an idea of how to give that day.  Or, since most of you will only see your students for 12 more days before the break, pick out your favorite and use them in a count down to break.

1) Give a smile--say something nice to someone.  Encourage them.
2) Make a Christmas card for someone in a nursing home.
3) Make a Christmas tree and deliver it to someone who doesn't have one.
4) Make coupons for the students' families that give away special chores, hugs, back rubs, etc to loved ones.
5) Go read books to a younger group of students in the school.
6) Leave a plate of cookies for the janitor when he/she comes in to clean up at night.
7) Write letters to soldier and mail them overseas.
8) Collect canned goods for a food pantry.
9) Have students bring in new stuffed animals.  Write a note that goes with each animal and deliver them to the pediatrics ward of a hospital just before Christmas.
10) Assign students to commit a random act of kindness for someone, journal about it and report back with the class.
11) Go caroling through the school.
12) Create Christmas decorations and decorate the school to spread a little cheer.
13) Make bake-less cookies as a class and deliver goodie bags to the staff.
14) Bring in change and put it in a jar.  Donate it to a local shelter.
15) Have your students make an ornament, wrap it up and bring the ornament home as an early Christmas present for their parents.
16) Take your class outside to clean up the school grounds, weather permitting.
17) Have students create flyers for a local animal shelter and put them up around town to promote animal adoption.
18) Have students organize a special after school activity for students who stay late.
19) Have students sign up to tutor younger students.
20) Have students make friendship bracelets and exchange them.
21) Have students bring in supplies to help stock up for 2013 (tissue, snacks, etc.)
22) Have students write a pledge for how they can help make the school a better place.
23) Collect used but clean scarves, jackets, hats and mittens to donate to a local shelter.
24) Throw a party for the staff in the teacher's lounge.  Have students bring/make sweet treats.

Giving More Christmas Freebies

Since we are so thankful for our readers, we want to give you more this holiday season. Here are links to our holiday freebies to help you have holiday learning fun in your classroom.

Have fun making bake-less Christmas cookies with your students with these fun Christmas Cookie recipes!  Recipes are also a great way to incorporate math into a fun lesson.

Enjoy three free Christmas Sudoku 4x4 puzzles at my store! There are two types of puzzles for your students to enjoy. Sudoku puzzles using words and some using cut & paste images.

Enjoy five Christmas puzzles with my Christmas Puzzles & More pack! Included are puzzles like Christmas trivia, a word search puzzle, a word detective sheet, a holiday traditions scramble and more. Five Christmas coloring pages are also included.

Have fun with these freebies & stay posted to see more ways to give this holiday season!

Fabulous Friday Freebies! 150 Free Holiday Teaching Products & Holiday Teaching Tips!!

Welcome to a huge edition of Fabulous Friday Freebies. With just a few short weeks until the winter holiday season & school breaks, this week's freebies feature an enormous amount of freebies, 150 free teaching products & seasonal holiday tips for school for all grade levels!

This week's freebies are put into four holiday e-books that are divided by grade level. Each page in the book contains at least one holiday educational freebie and one holiday teaching tip. Books were put together generously by contributions from teachers at Teachers Pay Teachers and assembled by fellow TPT sellers. Please download and enjoy these helpful holiday e-books loaded with freebies!

2012 Winter Holidays Tips and Freebies: PK-K Edition

2012 Winter Holidays Tips and Freebies: 1-2 Grade Edition

2012 Winter Holidays Tips and Freebies: Grades 3-6 Edition

2012 Winter Holidays Tips and Freebies: Grades 7-12 Edition

Two of my free Christmas products are featured in the Grade 3-6 edition of the Winter Holidays E-book!

Thanks for checking out these fabulous free products filled with teaching resources & classroom tips!

 

 

 

Celebrating the Holidays in Your Classroom

As December nears and most schools just have a few short weeks until winter break, it's a great time to plan how and if you celebrate the holidays in your classroom. I am always a big supporter of celebrating the holidays in a class or school. I think that celebrating the holidays in your class or school help students who can't or don't celebrate elsewhere during the season have something to look forward to. Celebrating the holidays is also something students look forward to and planning celebrations can help build community. Here are some suggestions on ways you can celebrate the holidays this season in your classroom or school.

1. Sing Carols

There are different ways you can encourage singing this holiday season. At my school, students have a karaoke style party and sing for each other. Students are very supportive of each other no matter the vocal tone! At another school I worked at, the staff sang carols to the students. Not the normal carols, however. We adapted the 12 Days of Christmas song to be the 12 Days of School and each day one of us would sing something that "a student said to me...." and then say one of the common phrases heard around the school. It was a huge hit with the students and they talked about that song for months afterwards.

2. Cook Together

This is something Etc. is passionate about in her classroom. She loves cooking and enjoys sharing that with her students. Check out this article she wrote about cooking with your students. Measuring and calculating recipes could be a fun way to incorporate math as well or learn about social studies and the food & culture from around the world. Cooking also enhances and is a great way to do team building in your classroom. There are plenty of no bake recipes you can use in your classroom as well to make it easy or make a cooking contest among a few classes and have a competition! Here are three free bakeless holiday cookie recipes from Etc.'s store to help get you started.

3. Learn About Other Cultures

Since there are different winter holidays celebrated around the world and most likely in your classroom, this is a great time to get your students to learn about other cultures. Incorporating some fun lessons about the way other cultures celebrate help open your students' minds to new ideas while having fun. Check out this free download with descriptions of various winter holidays to get you started!

4. Help Your Students Give

The holidays are a great time to help your students give more this season. Your students could organize a canned food drive, make holiday cards for a local nursing home, or read holiday stories to younger students at your school. I have found that even students who are themselves in need still enjoy giving to others.

5. Exchange Gifts

Instead of drawing names and exchanging gifts, an easier way to have a fun exchange is to trade a well read book. Most students have at least one book they would be able to trade during the holiday season and getting a new book that another student likes is an easy way to encourage reading.




How do you celebrate the holidays in your classroom? Share your ideas or posts in the comments below and I would love to feature some of the ideas in the weeks leading up to the winter holidays.