Friday, December 16, 2016

Holidays Around the World with 3rd Grade

WHAT?!?! Christmas is almost here!! What happened to the year? The library has been very busy the past 2 weeks with holiday madness! Students working hard to reach their reading goal, and lots of research for assignments.

The third grade teachers asked if we could work together on Holidays around the world. This is my absolute favorite time of year, and one of my favorite units I taught as a classroom teacher. SO, I was more than excited to work with the students on this project.

The students chose a particular country to research the traditions and customs for their Christmas holiday or Winter holiday. I pulled a series of nonfiction books for them to research first. We went over the research steps and they recalled that we had to organize our research. So, together we came up with an organizer and in groups they came up with questions they needed to answer in order to complete their project.


First they searched through the books and organized the new found information on their charts. After using the nonfiction books, students were allowed to search on websites. We use Santa.net and Northpole.com, both websites I reviewed before hand. I even had a student ask me if the information was reliable!! It makes me so happy when they listen to my lessons!!

The next day, the class came in to begin work on their project. Each group was given an option of their final product to showcase their country's traditions. Students could choose to create a poster, book, Google Slide show, Diorama, or a video. I was surprised that most groups chose differently.


This group decided to create a Google Slide presentation about Christmas traditions in Sweden. They are using the ChromeBooks we have in the library. 

These students are working on a book while using the iPad to find relevant information. 


This table is working on a poster.

I had another group create a diorama, but they weren't finished at the end of our time. They wouldn't let me take a picture since it wasn't finished, but I was AMAZED at their work. 

I can't wait to see what happens at the Hillside Library in 2017!