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As we head into the busy holiday season, finding time to write lessons plans can be difficult. Look below for some free Christmas lesson plans and activities that you can use with your students right now! Santa’s Stuck This is a free set of literacy activities to go along with the book Santa’s Stuck by Rhonda Gowler Greene and Henry Cole. Activities included: comprehension questions to use in literacy centers or small groups, writing/drawing activity and a one page mini book. Christmas Traditions – Truth or Fib Scoot Game Your students will love learning about different Christmas traditions with this free Scoot game. This is a set of 16 task cards. On each card is a Christmas or New Year tradition from around the world. The student needs to decide whether the tradition is true or if it is a fib. Can be used as a literacy center or
During the month of December many of my lessons focus on winter holidays around the world. These include books about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Diwali as well as Christmas. Below are 30 of my favorite December read alouds. A Bad Kitty Christmas by Nick Bruel After destroying all of the gifts and decorations at home, Bad Kitty escapes from the car on Christmas Eve and finds a new friend, who helps her learn the true meaning of Christmas. A Piñata in a Pine Tree: A Latino Twelve Days of Christmas by Pat Mora Text in English with some Spanish words. Presents an adaptation of the folk song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” in which friends exchange gifts such as pinatas and a little girl receives a present from a secret friend whose identity is eventually revealed. A World of Cookies for Santa: Follow Santa’s Tasty Trip Around the World by
As we head into November I want to share with you some of my favorite November read aloud picture books for this month. I have included books about Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving Day and of course turkeys! There are a few nonfiction as well as fiction books. Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet Tells the story of puppeteer Tony Sarg, the man who first invented the helium balloons that have become the trademark of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson Bear has come up with the perfect way to say thanks–a nice big dinner! When Bear decides to throw a feast, his friends show up one by one with different platters of delicious food to share. There’s just one problem: Bear’s cupboards are bare! What is he to do? Coming Home by Ruth Greg Follows the emotions of a young boy as he waits
Thank You Sarah! The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving by Laurie Halse Anderson is a book that I read every year to my third graders. It is a biography about Sarah Hale, the woman many call the “mother of Thanksgiving.” She was a writer and editor who lived in the 1800’s. She began a campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. She wrote thousands of letters and did not give up until President Abraham Lincoln agreed to make Thanksgiving a holiday in 1863. One reason I enjoy this book so much is that the author turns what could be a rather dry subject into something humorous and entertaining. The illustrations provide extra details to the story and are guaranteed to make your students laugh out loud. The story also provides some historical context including talking about slavery and some of the other issues important during this time. Since I do
In this post I am sharing five websites to help students find their next read. You can use these websites yourself or you can teach students how to use them. Either way, they are one more tool that you can use to help encourage a culture of reading with your students. What should I read next? How many times have you been asked this question? I’m sure the number is in the thousands. And it is one of the most important questions we are asked. Helping students to find a book that they will love and want to read is one of the main reasons I became a librarian. I’m sure that’s true for many of you as well. And I will admit that sometimes this question can create some anxiety for me. Recommending a book to a child is a huge responsibility. I’m always afraid that if I
I have always loved book character costume day. In the past my school had this day on the Friday before Halloween. We were looking for a way for students to dress in costume while still focusing on education and not Halloween. A few times we also did it to celebrate Read Across America. These are my favorite ideas for character costumes for students! Most of the students really enjoy this day as well. But I quickly noticed that many students did not really understand what they were supposed to do. They did not understand that their costume had to also be the same as a character found in a book. And some parents did not take the time to discuss it with them either. The first year was a learning experience for me. I was constantly being asked by a student if there was a book with a vampire