BIBLE:
Memory Verse:
I printed the second verse from our Philippians 4:6-7 Bible pack.

You can download your FREE copy here at our TPT Store.

On Monday, the boys traced their verse and on Tuesday, they illustrated it.

On Wednesday, the boys cut and pasted them in their Bible notebook.
SOCIAL STUDIES:
Christmas Around the World:
Christmas in Japan:
We continued our journey around the world, briefly stopping in Japan.

We read Tree of Cranes by Allen Say. This was a simple, yet sweet story about a Japanese boy’s first Christmas.

Our neighbor brought us cookies which inspired us to have a Japanese tea party. We brought out our tea set and had a nice break in our school day.

Daddy ordered Japanese food for Haley’s 13th birthday! What a treat! It just so happened to pair perfectly with our “Christmas in Japan” unit.
Christmas in England:
Since we were learning about England in our American History unit, we studied Christmas in the United Kingdom, focusing mainly on England.



The boys colored their Christmas in the United Kingdom worksheets (Little Red).

I read Christmas in England (Christmas around the World) while Parker colored hid Christmas in the United Kingdom worksheet (Little Red).

Parker read The Jolly Christmas Postman, which is a SUPER cute story with many surprises on each page!



Later that night, I whipped up a batch of Christmas Funfetti Shortbread. They were cute, festive, and VERY hard to resist.

The kids LOVED them! They insisted we make more to give to our neighbors! Everyone kept coming back for more!
Christmas in France:
It was our last day of school before Christmas vacation. Parker wanted to learn about Christmas in France! How could I say no?

We read Madeline’s Christmas and Parker mentioned how he loved the way the lines rhymed. It reminded us of the fun we had rowing Madeline a few years back.

Parker colored his Christmas in France worksheet (Little Red).

We also read Christmas in France (Christmas around the World) by Jack Manning.
Three Kings Craft:
The last page had a three kings craft idea that inspired Parker’s creative writing assignment!



Parker and I painted our paper roll tubes and set them aside to dry.


I cut out construction paper hair, beards, and crowns to add to our three kings. Parker added the embellishments to our regal trio.

I thought it would be helpful to have names for the three kings since Parker was writing a dialogue this week. Daddy helped him find the names recorded by historians.

Parker read Once Upon a Clear Dark Night (Arch Books) to inspire him before starting his paper.

The kings kept his company while he typed up his dialogue. He titled it “A Conversation Between the Magi”. I thought it was SO cute and creative. Great job, Parks!
LANGUAGE ARTS:
5th Grade:
Antonyms & Synonyms:
Grammar Ace:
This week Jordan was reviewing Antonyms and Synonyms.

We reviewed the page we created in his Grammar Ace Notebook last year.

I printed a copy of our Christmas Symbols Antonyms & Synonyms Grammar Pack. You can purchase your copy here at our TPT Store.

First, I had Jordan sort through the stack of Antonym and Synonym cards.

Afterwards, he used the dot paints to complete the Christmas Symbols worksheet.
Pronouns, Possession, & Apostrophes:
This week, Jordan was also reviewing pronouns, possession, and apostrophes. I created a quick activity using Parker’s LA cards.

I challenged him to create a sentence using a subject card, a noun card, and a pronoun. He did a great job!
3rd Grade:
Grammar Grab Bag:
I created an Autumn Blessings Grammar Grab Bag (GGB) for this week’s language arts activities. I had to revise some of our printables for the holiday season, so the GGB in our TPT store won’t match the printables pictured in this post. (NOTE – the GGB in the TPT Store has an autumn themed printable for each of the Christmas versions in this post).

You can purchase your copy here at our TPT Store.
Spelling:
I printed our “Deck the Halls” themed spelling mat and letter tiles for today’s spelling lesson.

First, I challenged parker to build a Christmas word with a consonant blend. He thought of Dasher, the reindeer. That was pretty clever!

Afterwards, he practiced writing his spelling words in alphabetically order (in GGB).
Alphabetical Order:

Parker completed his “Deck the Halls” alphabetical order worksheet (in GGB).
Pronouns, Possession & Apostrophes:

First, Parker worked on his Christmas Party worksheet (in GGB) by filling in names, apostrophes, and pronouns.

Afterwards, we used our Christmas Party Mix & Match cards to complete the “Build Your own Sentence” worksheet (in GGB).
Dialogue, Quotes, & Attribution:

We read Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) (Little Golden Book), looked at the dialogue, use of quotation marks, and attribution (in GGB).

Afterwards, he completed the dialogue, quotes, and attribution worksheet (in GGB).
Reading:





Parks and I read more Christmas books on our themed reading shelf.
SCIENCE:
Monarch Lifecycle:



We watched a PBS clip about Migrating Monarchs and completed a Monarch lifecycle worksheet (Honeycomb Cabin).
Christmas Trees:
We continued learning about Christmas trees this week.

We read The Parable Series: The Pine Tree Parable together. I printed copies from our Growing Christmas Trees Science Pack.

You can purchase your copy here.

Parker completed the “Photosynthesis” worksheet.
Pine Cone Feeders:
We read Red and Lulu, a story about two birds that made their home in an evergreen tree that was cut down and used as the Rockefeller Tree.

I thought it would be fun for us to make pinecone feeders our our little feathered friends.

I set out trays with an open pinecone, peanut butter, and birdseed.



First, the kids spread the peanut butter into the openings of the pinecone.



The kids rolled their pinecones in birdseed.





Parker and I took the pinecones outside and hung them on various trees in the backyard.
ART:
Evergreen Watercolor:
I found a great “How to Draw a Spruce Tree” art tutorial for the kids.



The kids followed the step-by-step process to draw their evergreen tree.



Afterwards, the kids painted their trees. With watercolors.

The next day we read Night Tree and I brought out nature stickers to decorate our evergreen trees.



The kids decorated their evergreen trees with birds, butterflies, berries, and more!



We hung them in the playroom and they looked so pretty and festive.