Crafting in the Classroom: End of the Year Smashbooks

I have had a great time teaching sixth grade for the past nine years.  Since I will be moving to 5th grade next year, I thought it would be special to finish off this year with my students creating smash books of their last year in elementary school.  My objective was for them to remember their last year  in a fun, unique, and creative project.  I hope that they will look at these books in the future and remember the year fondly.

Supplies

composition books

Memory Book pages from Teachers Pay Teachers

stickers

markers

colored pencils 

pencil 

construction paper

glue

scissors 

The first thing I did was give a mini lesson on what a smash book is.  My students liked the idea that there is no wrong way to do it.  They were excited to be able to express themselves freely through this activity.  The pictures included have captions of what my students actually said about their experience.  

"I loved being able to express my creativity with supplies I brought from home during this activity"

"I liked having a different theme to write about on the pages"

 "I was able to use the theme pages and also use my own stickers to add to the two page layouts our teacher taught us to do"

"I really liked being able to express my personality in this project.  I was good way to relax and calm down."

 "the best part about it was I could do it my own way"

"This was a good activity to do at the end of the year because it helped me remember my year and get ready for next year"

"I liked being able to look back at the best parts of my last year in elementary school."

"I was so excited when I knew I could include my own drawings on the pages.  I love to draw and now I know I can mix writing and drawing in a smashbook."

"The best part is that I get to put my own style and flavor into my smashbook."

"I liked doing the smashbook because I could show my feelings and let my classmates get to know me better when they read my book."

 "I don't like writing so much, but I still can be creative in a smash book. I used construction paper to make the basketball hoop to match the sticker I found and to make the space shuttle to remember when we went to the Science Museum on a field trip"

It was so fun watching the students create their smash books.  They worked on them all week and as the week went on, they got more and more comfortable with putting their own creativity into them.   I am happy with how they turned out and what the students were able to get from this activity.

This end of the year is a bittersweet time for me.  I will be retiring in a few years and I am sad that I will not teach sixth grade again in my career.  However, I am looking forward to teaching 5th grade next year and continue crafting in the classroom with that class.  

Thank you for visit my blog today and please leave a comment to let me know how you liked this project.  Have a great weekend!!

Love and Blessings,

Erminda

Crafting in My Classroom: Mother's Day Explosion Box

Hello friends and welcome to my blog.  Today, I want to share with you a fun crafting project I did with my 6th grade class.  All students love to create and play, and especially when they can come away with a cute little gift for their mothers.  I found a template for an explosion box on the website Teachers pay Teachers.

All I had to do was ask if they wanted to make this box and the smiles on their faces gave me the okay to prepare the materials.

The instructions were easy to follow and all the students, even the self-proclaimed not crafty ones, could be successful by simply coloring, cutting, folding, and gluing.

Here you see this student gluing the center layer of the explosion box.  I copied the second layer in a purple color so that the kids would not get the layers mixed up.  Three layers: white, purple, white.  Easy peasy.

They soon realized that less is better when it comes to tacky glue.

After gluing the final layer, they let it dry for about an hour before folding up the flaps.

While it was drying, they began coloring the embellishments which included tags, coupons, sentiments, and rolled roses.  They were really proud of themselves when they were able to accomplish the rolled roses technique.

I was delighted that all the boxes were different and each student was really happy and proud of the end result.

Thank you for visiting my blog today.  Please leave a comment to let me know how you liked this project in the classroom.

Love and Blessings,

Kinda