Christmas Math
Jean Grandner

Often, all my students celebrate Christmas regardless of religious background. This year, we did a review of math concepts since September. Working in cooperative groups, teams had to design a Christmas tree using geometric shapes. They then had to design ornaments using geometric principles (intersecting shapes, etc.). Each team then had to place a fact family in the middle of each ornament. Finally, they had to write a report on the process of design as well as describing their projects. They also had to describe how well their groups worked. They presented their projects to the class. It was fun combining math, literacy, art and cooperative learning into two fun afternoons - especially as the snow was falling.