This has got to be my all time favorite culminating activity. Seriously. The B.E.S.T.
 |
| One of my very first classroom tea parties. |
Way back in the 90's my two fantastic teaching mentors shared with me that it was traditional for our grade level to culminate our Velveteen Rabbit unit with a formal tea party...with REAL china tea cups! Needless to say I thought they were INSANE!
Their sanity may still be in question, but not as a result of this idea. My Velveteen Rabbit Tea Parties have become the most cherished of classroom memories. So much so that when we started our homeschool journey I knew I wanted to include this tradition. For four years we held an annual Christmas tea party with my son's dearest friends and their mothers. I had to change the theme up after the first year, but we managed to find a way to connect it to our learning and give a special gift to our friends at Christmas. Just thinking about it makes me nostalgic...sigh.
Anyhow, for this post I will focus on The Velveteen Rabbit Tea and maybe another time I'll share the details of our Colonial Tea, Mr. Willowby's Tea and our Hot Chocolate Buffet!
Very long story short, after completing our study of The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams we would transform our classroom with table cloths, china tea cups, platters of scones, finger sandwiches, flower vases, place cards and well mannered children. It was magical...and a I won't lie a LOT of work. Did I mention I did this for the first time as a brand new teacher?
As a part of the tea party I decided to incorporate a retelling of the story of The Velveteen Rabbit. I went through the book and took out quotes from the entire thing that created a summary from beginning to end. I gave each student two quotes to commit to memory over the course of our study. By the day of the tea all of the students had them down perfectly...no joke. Every year I would start my tea with the parents sitting at elegantly set tables, and the students standing in their Sunday best reciting their quotes to share this touching story with their families. Are you starting to see why this is my favorite event?I could go on and on about my love for these tea parties and how they evolved over the years, but I suspect y'all would be bored to death. Instead I have created a Pinterest board with some of my favorite recipes and ideas to help you plan your own Velveteen Rabbit Tea Party. You can check it out at the bottom of this post.
And Guess what? This week you can also win a copy of my Velveteen Rabbit Unit. The Pioneer Teacher is having a special giveaway in celebration of hitting a big TPT milestone. Just head on over to the Thankful for Twenty Thousand Giveaway to enter to win her 2nd-3rd grade prize pack. The quotes I mentioned are all included as bookmarks in the unit!
 |
| Click to Enter |
You can also preview the entire unit by clicking below.
 |
| Click to Preview |
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing and the Pinterest board is brilliant!
ReplyDeletePeggy at Primary Flourish
Thanks so much! Wish Pinterest had been around back when I first started hosting these!
DeleteYeah your Pinterest board is quite brilliant, amazing, and full of creativity. Never mind about its existence back then. You are a great party planner and you can keep posting your past, current and future party organizations there.
ReplyDeleteWow, Great, your articles are really very informative and easy to understand. What is a Turkish visa ? Do you have any idea about Turkish visa for US citizens ? Not more, but I suggest you 1 idea . Don't waste your time behind the old and physical visa system. A new e visa system is developed and it is very successful .It makes your journey easier and better.
ReplyDelete