Just a Little Leftover Christmas in January

Time is always so rushed in December.  I have an almost impossible task of getting things done at school AND at home during a month that's rushrushrushRUSHRUSH, and then . . . nothing.  Blissful NOTHING.  No where to be, nothing that must be done RIGHT NOW.  I thought I'd use that time to catch up on some blog posts, but you know what?  I didn't.  I read.  I loved on my babies.  I tried interacting with my teenagers (emphasis on tried). I read some more, loved on my babies some more, watched some Netflix.  So, NOW, I'll do some of those posts I thought I'd get done in December.
Here are two lessons I usually get done and send home before the winter holiday break:

Fourth Grade Oaxaca Sculptures

Second Grade Collage Calendars

The Oaxaca (pronounced Wah-Haw-Ka) sculptures are a lesson I got from Sharon (who I student taught with many years ago) at a state conference, and the calendars come from the book Awesome Art Activities Around the Year, which I think I got from the library years ago, and this was the only lesson that "stuck."

So, the Oaxaca sculptures are made of clay, even though the real ones are made of wood.  I give the students some background information about the Mexican artists who made them in Oaxaca, and have the students make a drawing of the one they're wanting to make:

Traditionally, they're very colorful, so I encourage lots of color on their drawings.  The background info and drawing takes one class period--oh, and I also do a demo of how to make them that same day.  The next time, they make them out of clay:

Toilet paper tubes are used to hold them upright while drying.

They dry, are fired (I forgot to take a picture of them at this step, remember, it was rushrushrush December).  Finally, they're painted with acrylic paint and sent home as wonderful holiday gifts:

While fourth grade is making their sculptures, second grade is working on their paper calendars (I'll be honest, most of my second graders are still working on them in January this year!).  They start out with a 12 x 12 white paper and a bunch of 3 x 3 squares (all colors).  I show them how twelve squares fit around the paper, just like there are twelve months in a year.  They have to think of something for every month (a snowman or snowflake for January, a heart for February, etc). The hardest months are August and September, but we settled on going-back-to-school for August and first day of fall for September.  I also tell them they can make a cake for the month of their birthday, HOWEVER, everything must be cut and glued (no drawing or coloring).  They've turned out pretty well so far:

The final step is when I staple a 2014 calendar in the middle.  I get it from waterproofpaper for free online.  You can go to their site here to print your own.  Once I print it out, it has to be minimized to 64% to fit the collage calendars better.

I'm sure parents will still love our calendars, even though most of them will get them in January instead of December.  One last adorable thing, a student said to me, "Mrs. Fresia, can I get a 2014 calendar for mine? Because 2013 is almost over." Awwww, they're just so darn CUTE, I tell you!