This past week marked my last as a full time student. As final classes were completed and goodbyes were said I could feel my mind drifting to Christmas and time spent with family. Unfortunately my final projects had a thing or two to say about getting into the Christmas mind set a little to early!
I have been exploring my family history in what began as a course project and quickly expanded into a new hobby. I love digging up old records, looking through old photos and hearing family stories from times gone by. Part of my heritage is Norwegian and so I decided to look into elements of a traditional Norwegian Christmas. I was lucky enough this week to share this new knowledge with some grade 1 students who are studying Christmas around the world. We boarded our airplane, reviewed our flight path to Norway and reviewed the safety features of our airplane (teachers read class expectations). We learned how to say Merry Christmas in Norwegian, the significance of St. Lucia, family traditions such as dancing and singing around the Christmas tree and singing carols. We even heard a few carols and made a traditional Norwegian ornament called julekurver. They are made by weaving paper in red and white to form heart shaped baskets that are filled with goodies for loved ones and hung on the Christmas tree. I was very impressed with how careful and dedicated the grade ones were with this activity given how technical it was. It was lovely to see students who had finished their julekurver going around to help their peers. I was so impressed I forgot to snap a picture of their final product (rookie mistake!) but they were very proud of their hard work! Instead here's a picture of my sample.
I have been exploring my family history in what began as a course project and quickly expanded into a new hobby. I love digging up old records, looking through old photos and hearing family stories from times gone by. Part of my heritage is Norwegian and so I decided to look into elements of a traditional Norwegian Christmas. I was lucky enough this week to share this new knowledge with some grade 1 students who are studying Christmas around the world. We boarded our airplane, reviewed our flight path to Norway and reviewed the safety features of our airplane (teachers read class expectations). We learned how to say Merry Christmas in Norwegian, the significance of St. Lucia, family traditions such as dancing and singing around the Christmas tree and singing carols. We even heard a few carols and made a traditional Norwegian ornament called julekurver. They are made by weaving paper in red and white to form heart shaped baskets that are filled with goodies for loved ones and hung on the Christmas tree. I was very impressed with how careful and dedicated the grade ones were with this activity given how technical it was. It was lovely to see students who had finished their julekurver going around to help their peers. I was so impressed I forgot to snap a picture of their final product (rookie mistake!) but they were very proud of their hard work! Instead here's a picture of my sample.
I simplified the instructions from this website: http://mylittlenorway.com/2011/12/norwegian-christmas-heart-baskets/
There are many other design templates available online too, give it a try!
To round out the week I also had an indoor snowball fight in grade 3 (dodgeball with giant cotton balls) and baked and iced 150+ gingerbread people with a group of teenagers. I'd say I am ready for Christmas!
Now to finish up that final assignment before beginning my observation week this week. I'm looking forward to teaching and building relationships this week!
There are many other design templates available online too, give it a try!
To round out the week I also had an indoor snowball fight in grade 3 (dodgeball with giant cotton balls) and baked and iced 150+ gingerbread people with a group of teenagers. I'd say I am ready for Christmas!
Now to finish up that final assignment before beginning my observation week this week. I'm looking forward to teaching and building relationships this week!