Big Kid Snowmen and Snow Globes

Sometimes I really miss my primary days.  This week was a throwback to those days that I could focus on snowmen and snow globes (and have things be cute).   Our writing assignment this week was "If I lived in a snow globe..."  I told my students that they needed to imagine they were trapped in a snow globe of their choice.  It was their little world - where would they want to be?  We are working on details and are halfway through 4th grade, so I made it multi-paragraphs.  The first paragraph they needed to describe where they were, the second paragraph was why they wanted to be there.   Most kids chose Disneyland...I don't blame them - I would want to be trapped there too! So here is how I made the cute little sheet of paper from Ginger Snaps into a multi-paragraph essay.  I printed off the little half sheets but knew there was no way that 2 paragraphs should ever be able to fit on it.  That became their little cover with their name.   They had to take a piece of binder paper, fold it in half and then put it under the half sheet before they could cut out the trapezoid shape.  Some kids didn't listen and decided to write their final drafts before cutting...then they had to rewrite it yet again when it didn't fit.  Each paragraph had it's own page, the paragraphs were stapled onto the cute half sheet, then glued onto the black paper.  They then just had to cut out a circle and draw their snow globe.  This took all week to complete.      As they finished, they were able to start our art project for today.  That alone was motivation for some of them.  They traced bowls and plates for their circles, cut them out and made a typical snowman.  Then I gave them some extra task cards that I had printed off from Proteacher and we made it into an editing game.  Not all the snowmen are complete yet (since some of the Snow Globes aren't complete), but it's great review! The kiddos had to tape the card to their bottom circle so it flipped up, and they had to write the answer under the flip.  I love it when things become interactive.  :)
I'm linking up with Amanda at Teaching Maddeness' Friday Flashback!