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My Christmas break has officially begun and I have one last idea from my classroom to share with you before my celebration with friends and families begins. For the past several years, I have made recordings of my students as a Christmas gift for their parents. This year I recorded my students reciting the lyrics to “Away in a Manger.”
To create the audio recording, I used GarageBand on my Mac, plugged in a headset, and had each child take a turn reciting one line from the song. There were no lines to memorize: I would simply say the line and the student would repeat it after me. I would do this 2-3 times for each student to ensure that I had a high quality recording of each. Then I set to the task of editing and trimming the individual recordings and merging them into the entire song. I discovered a lovely instrumental version of Away in a Manger by Mae Robertson (in addition to creating beautiful music, Mae is a Mac girl and her blog offers quick and simple tech tips for Mac users.) I purchased and downloaded Mae’s version of the song and set it as the backdrop for the class recording. The finished product couldn’t be more sweet.
I created and printed the CD insert on white cardstock and my students colored the picture for their parents. The reverse side of the insert presents the song lyrics with the student-reader’s name beside each phrase. (These are not actually the names of any of my students).
The parents in my classroom are each receiving an audio CD of the completed recording, but I wanted to share it with you as well!
The music was recorded by Mae Robertson. Guitars by Guitars by Jim Ohlschmidt and Pete Huttlinger. Song used with permission.
God Bless and have a very Merry Christmas!
Looking for more festive holiday fun? Be sure to check out these blogs posts. They are filled with fun and exciting ideas and moments from my classroom to help get you in the Christmas spirit.
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I’m a former kindergarten teacher turned work-from-home mom. I still love sharing ideas and resources to make teaching easier, so you can focus on what really matters in the classroom. When I’m not working on the blog, you’ll find me chasing kids around the house with a cold cup of coffee in my hand (some things never change even once you’re out of the classroom!)
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26 Responses
Such a beautiful moment. I am sure your parents will love and cherish this for many years to come.
Thank you! This is always one of my favorite gifts that we share.
That is beautiful!!
Terri Izatt
KinderKapers
Thank you Terri!
What a wonderful idea for a gift!
Merry Christmas! 🙂
Bren P.
The Teacher Diaries
Thank you Bren! Congrats on winning the 12 days of Christmas giveaway! I recognized your name as soon as I heard who the winner was.
Very nicely done!
Thank you!
Oh my gosh!!! How sweet is this??!!! Love it! April
A Modern Teacher
Thanks April! I’m so pleased with how it turned out.
Simply beautiful! Wow!
Thank you Karyn!
What a great idea! I’m sure the students parent’s will love it. Thank you for sharing it 🙂 Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Precious!!!!!
Merry Christmas!
Christy
Mrs. Christy’s Leaping Loopers
Thank you Christy! Merry Christmas to you too!
That’s so very sweet. I love it. 🙂
❀ Tammy
Forever in First
Thank you Tammy!
Thanks for sharing. It is adorable and I am sure will be valued. I have a Mac, but have never used garage band. This makes me want to learn how.
Hi Lisa! I love recording childrens books in Garage band. It’s a great way to expand your listening library! It’s always a great thing to tinker with on a break.
I love this idea and wanted to do something similar for my Kindergarten class. Would you consider making this an item available for us all? It would be great to have this cd sleeve to print out. Thanks for your consideration.
Oh my, this is perfect! My class and the 1st grade are singing Away In the Manger for the pageant. Would you please consider posting the cd cover and lyrics as a printable? Thank you for this wonderful idea!!
Hi, I’m so sorry for my delayed response. I created the file in Pages on my Mac and it isn’t an easy task to convert that file into an editable version that I can easily share with a PC user. I don’t have time to rebuild the file as an editable version that can be used in other classrooms at this time. I’m sorry!
My parents loved this last year! We just finished this year’s version today. Thanks again for this wonderful idea!!