No matter the age of students, it is so hard to keep them focused during December. Many students are eagerly counting down the days until Christmas break arrives. For some, this means extra time to sleep in. For others, it is all about Christmas, Santa, family, and presents. This excitement can make it seem impossible to keep students focused on math during the entire month. Luckily, creating Christmas Tessellations are the perfect way to combine math and holiday excitement!
What are Tessellations?
A tessellation is when a shape repeats over and over to cover a specific area without any gaps or overlaps. Essentially, the surface becomes covered with a particular pattern of shapes that never cover each other or leave open spaces.
Perfect Addition to the Holiday Season
When teachers plan lessons for December, they have to keep a few things in mind. First and foremost, students are beyond excited! They cannot wait for an extended break from school and to celebrate the holidays with family members. This means teachers have to plan engaging, hands-on lessons to keep students focused. Secondly, teachers know they cannot take it easy on content during the whole month of December. There is just too much to get through. Thankfully, tessellations create the perfect balance! They focus on math, but they allow students to be creative! Ultimately, students will love showing their creative side which makes focusing on math seems natural.
How to Make Christmas Tree Tessellations
Christmas trees can seem challenging to make. Luckily, there is a step-by-step guide to support students as they make Christmas trees from scratch! Honestly, this is a great way to support students as they prepare to make all sorts of Christmas tessellations!
1. Gather Supplies: You will need a ¼ inch grid paper, a ruler, pencils, and some coloring pens/pencils.
2. Single Dot: A Christmas tree begins by making a single dot in the center of the page.
3. Additional Dots: After the first dot, draw another dot 4 squares down and 3 squares across to the right. Then, join the dots using a ruler. After this, you will continue to use the grid to make additional dots as the tree comes to life. The pattern to follow is 2 dots to the left of the last dot you drew. You will then continue with 4 squares down and 3 squares across to the right. Ultimately, you will repeat this process 3 times.
4. Mirror Image: You will have half of the tree at this point. So, it is time to go back to the top and make a mirror image on the opposite side.
5. Forming the Bottom: To close the bottom of the tree, draw a point 2 down and 1 toward the center.
6. Filling the Page: You have a great first tree! However, it is time to fill the page with Christmas tree tessellations. You will now flip your page over. From the point above the base, you will go 4 down and 3 to the left. Continue making the dots and connecting the lines with the ruler. The exact process will repeat as each tree forms. After you finish each tree, make sure to flip your paper in the opposite direction before starting the next one.
7. Repetition: Continue this same process until the entire page has Christmas trees!
While there are many steps, the process is the same each time! This repetition makes consistency in forming this tessellation.
Christmas Tessellations
This is the perfect Christmas/holiday-themed activity for students! They will love working on something creative while doing math. Best of all, it contains so much differentiation with so many included options.
Specifically, there are 8 different Christmas tessellations categorized by varying difficulty. For instance, presents and candy canes are easy, Santa’s head is medium, and an elf is hard. These options ensure that every student has an activity that is most appropriate for them. Best of all, there are templates, examples, and guides to support students as they create Christmas tessellations. For even more differentiation, students can use the templates as a guide but create the tessellation independently.
Whether using this resource as a single lesson, for early finishers, or as sub plans, students will have a blast! Teachers can even use this activity to help students make unique greeting cards before heading home for break.
Christmas is such a magical time of the year. Therefore, teachers and students want to enjoy this season while learning content. Luckily, this Christmas Tessellations activity creates the perfect way to include a fun holiday activity that focuses on math!
