Glitter Galore!

Yesterday we really got in the Christmas spirit by creating ornaments! The students were extremely excited to have the opportunity to make their own ornaments. For this activity the students knew from the beginning to make sure to pay attention to the steps taken to create their ornament because after creating their ornament they were responsible for writing down the step-by-step process.

To start off, students took off the tops of their ornaments so that I could spray about seven sprays of floor wax into their ornaments. The students were then responsible for swirling the floor wax around, coating the inside of the ornament. After it was completely covered, the students dumped out the excess into a cup. The next step involved glitter…lots and lots of glitter. Students chose what color of glitter they would like and, using a funnel, we poured the glitter inside and students once again swirled the glitter around inside the ornament until it was completely covered. Once it was covered, students dumped out the excess glitter onto a plate and put the top of the ornament back on. The students’ final step was to choose what color ribbon they would like on the ornament and tie it on.

Once students had made their ornament their next job was to write out, step-by-step, how they created their ornament. Students made sure that they started with a beginning sentence, used transition words such as “first” and “last” in their steps, and closed their writing with an ending sentence. By writing out these steps, students got a better idea of each specific step they went through in order to make their ornament along with the importance of doing these steps in order. Plus, now they have a written down process so that, if they wanted, they may create more ornaments like the one they created today.

The last step of these gorgeous ornaments was my job, which was writing the students’ names on their ornaments using puffy paint. These beautiful ornaments are now hanging around our classroom, which lends a Christmas feel to our room.