Mardi Gras

It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted. I've been hard at work helping put together our school's yearbook. I've really enjoyed working after school with our fifth grade staff. What a fantastic group of students! I can not wait until our books come in.

While my afternoons have been occupied with yearbook meetings, during the school day my class has been very busy with reading, writing, math, social studies, and science activities. I hope to post several times this week, so I can share what we've been up to. I'm going to start with our Mardi Gras activities.


A few years ago I had a student who's birthday fell around Mardi Gras. His family was from New Orleans, and they brought in Mardi Gras treats (beads, coins, and King Cake). I thought I would use the celebration to teach my class about Mardi Gras. So, I did a lesson on the holiday, had my students write about it, and had them made masks. It turned out well, so I've continued to do it for the past few years.

I got this King Cake, which features the Mardi Gras colors (purple, yellow, and green) at Target.



I created a pattern for the masks. The students cut them out of yellow paper. Then we decorated them with sequins and feathers.

I found Mardi Gras beads and coins at the Dollar tree.

This year I found books to add to add to our study.

This book had some great pictures of Mardi Gras celebrations.

Petite Rouge is a Cajun Red Riding Hood story. I love to include different versions of fairytales and folktales

when we study various cultures. Next year I hope to use also use Cendrillon, which is a Cajun Cinderella story.

After writing facts about Mardi Gras and making our masks, we had a celebration. I passed out Mardi Gras beads and coins to the students, and we ate the King Cake for snack. I will include each child's mask, their writing, and a photgraph from the celebration in their kindergarten scrapbook.