What is your favorite classroom tradition during the holidays?
decorating ornaments
Teaching "Gift of the Magi"...a great story that makes it easy to teach about irony but with a seasonal message.
Secret Santa...the Junior Betas adopt a teacher for a week and leave her/him secret surprises all week and then reveal themselves on Friday...both the students and the teachers love the giving and receiving
Learing how different cultures celebrate Christmans!
I always do a science activity :Case of the Christmas cookie mystery. The kids have to decided which white powders go together to make Mrs. Claus's sugar cookies. It is great fun. After this we have our Christmas party with some sugar cookies.
Preparing meaningful gifts to bring home to our families... I take a photograph of each child reading a book that was too hard for them in September, We decorate the frames and write a card on the back thanking our families for helping us reach our goals!
Naomi, New York, NY
I love having the students travel around the grade level for an around the world unit. They love seeing how all the other countries celebrate holidays and it's fun to see all the other classes.
Having my students create construction paper "gifts" that we then put under our tree on our bulletin board. On each gift students must write something that they are going to do during the holiday season as a gift to our community. It's amazing what the students think of and choose to do to better our community.
making ornaments!
Making Christmas trees out of styrofoam cones, peppermints, and straight pins. Then wrapping them up to give to someone special. This is especially nice for the students who can't afford to give something to their parents or grandparents as I provide the materials.
My favorite classroom tradition is organizing crafts and songs for the children to do with thier parents. I teach early childhood education so I am have the awesome opportunity of working with both the parent and children. I select crafts that the families will be able to save and offer a snapshot of the child at that particular age - a hand and footprint reindeer perhaps, something that the child and parent will be amazed to remember that they were once that small.
Holiday Extraveganza-IEach year we transform out cafeteria into a festive shopping center with items such as clothing, socks, underwear, PJ's, games, books and stocking stuffers all of which are donated through community donations and then invite 75 families to come and "shop" for items for their children. We provide each family with a personal shopper who will help them choose, carry and wrap their presents. Then each family takes a plate of homemade cookies and candies with them to enjoy over the holidays.
My favorite classroom is hearing about the traditions of my students.
I love studying a variety of holiday traditions from around the world in order to help students explore the variety of cultures that exist within our world. The focus is kept on studying various cultures but students love learning the similarities and differences that exist in how we celebrate around the holidays.
by Lauren F.
Our school book drive. We ask students to bring in books that they have "outgrown" and donate them to schools that need them. The kids love the idea of passing on reading as a gift
The holiday tradition I look forward to most is making ornaments as a class. We make candy canes and reindeer ornaments, but favorite is when we cook the dough ornaments and paint them!
I like to hear about my student's different traditions.
Singing holiday songs from different cultures.
I love challenging the students to figure out different ways to give back to others. They then write about this as a class assignment.
During the previous year's after-Christmas sales, I buy plastic shapes of trees, Santas, bells, stars, etc at craft stores. Then I fill each one with dirfferent types of small candies, such as M&Ms, candy corn, Skittles, etc. I count them as I'm filling up the shapes. Then I seal with tape. Each class then gets to pick the candy they want to guess for. They put their name and guess on a small sheet of paper. The student with the closest guess gets the candy. I usually have holiday pencils or pens for the second/third place finishers. I do this for most holidays, but change the plastic shapes to hearts for Valentine's day, etc.
Teaching the students how to write a 5 paragraph descriptive story about what the students like to do in winter is one of my favorites. Since I teacher 3rd grade, I allow the students to create artistic scenes in the classroom so we'll create a scene out of recycled art materials to go along with the stories.
My favorite classroom tradition is having my students tell me how they are thankful since Thanksgiving is a great lead-in to Christmas. I also like to find out how their family plans to spend the holidays or a special tradition that their family does to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Our school is extremely culturally diverse, so I like to let my students tell each other about their different traditions.
I teach middle school history. I love to discuss family traditions, and how they came to be from a historical perspective.
Teaching "Celebrations Around the World." This allows each child to show and tell about the holiday they celebrate and what date(s) it happens. The students love hearing the different traditions everyone has to share.
by Roberta K.
Creating descriptive essays about what the students like to do during the winter time is a tradition in my classroom around this time. Since I teach 3rd grade, we add an artistic scene to go along with one thing we like to do from the essay.
I love to teach my students to focus on others at this time of year. They too teach me how to put others first. We love to read about the first Christmas! Last, we will be taking a field trip to the local homeless shelter to serve a meal to the homeless.
by Nichol N.
I love decorating the clsaaroom!
We always spend one day decorating our room. I have an old fake tree and lots of lights we put up in the room. The kids love helping out and it adds to the holiday cheer. For some kids this is the only time they help out with decorating.
The holiday tradition in which I look most forward to, is reading Christmas stories and books. I am a Reading Teacher and I have children bring in stories they would like to read to the class or stories they would like me to read. I also look forward to writing about past Christmases they have celebrated with their friends and families.
By: Brooke L.
I send home a large white piece of construction paper and ask the students to make a Christmas tree or Santa Claus out of any material they find at home. The students do this with their families, so it is a good way to get parents involved. The students bring in the most interesting and cute projects!
Each year my students write stories about their favorite Christmas, their favorite gift they've given someone, family traditions, etc. We make a scrapbook of pictures and stories and give them to their parents as a Christmas gift.
My favorite classroom tradition is working together as a class to create a bulletin board having to do with the meaning behind giving. The students at any age absolutely love it.
by Joyce O.
Making Puzzle wreaths with my students pictures in the middle to give to their parents/loved ones for the holidays!
I'm a media specialist, and my favorite tradition is inviting teachers to send students who have tried really hard to do their best during the semester for a "Night Before Christmas Break" party with hot chocolate, snacks, holiday music, games, and other fun.
My favorite classroom tradition is putting together a party for the senior citizens of our community. The music students play a concert and afterwards we serve lunch to them. It is a great opportunity to connect different generations and the students feel great about giving back!
by Jackie D.
Each year I send home a blank Christmas tree. The students work together with their families to decorate the tree in a way that represents their family!
My favorite December classroom tradition is reading about and discussing GENEROSITY. It is so heart-warming to see my students giving of themselves without expecting anything in return!
I love making fudge with my class. Everyone takes home some in a container each child has decorated.
My favorite tradition with my students is to at the first of December ask my students parents to write a letter to me telling me about their child's behavior for the year and what they will be doing for the holidays. I then take the letters from the parents and write each child a letter from "Santa" using the information the parents provided. At the Christmas party I then pass out the letters to students. The looks on their faces are PRICELESS as they read what Santa has to tell them.
by Sarah C.
My favorite classroom tradition is teaching my students about holiday traditions from other parts of the world. They love to hear what other students around the world are doing during the holiday season. It is a great way for them to see how similar we all are, even with our differences.
Making ornaments and talking about what we can do to help others this time of year.
My favorite tradition is wrapping presents for the needy in our community. Students bring in gifts and we package and wrap them to give out in the middle of December. You should see my students faces when they see the child receiving the gift!
decorating the tree with my students
Since it is the high school, the students don't get the same coddling feeling as the elementary kids. So I like to surprise the students with random treats a week before break. They love it!
My school is a feeder school of Fort Jackson, South Carolina. We have students who have traveled extensively or have a different cultural background. One thing that I like to do is have my students tell of their holiday traditions, bring an item to show off or sample food item to share and I decorate my door with Merry Christmas in different languages from around the world.
In my classroom I enjoy having a "snow" day where we spend time at learning centers doing different snow-related activities! It puts us all in the holiday spirit.
Having a canned food drive to support our local community!
Each year, my class participates in "Operation Christmas Child." My kids spend one week earning $1-$2 by doing chores or something around their house. With the money that they earned, we take a walking field trip to the Dollar Tree store. Each child picks out a gift or two. Then we wrap the gifts and send them to "Operation Christmas Child." The gifts are sent to children in need around the world. It is AMAZING to see a 6 year old earn money, buy a toy, then GIVE IT AWAY to another child in need.
by Kelly
Dallas, TX
Collecting money for the Christmas Mother to help needy families in your community.
My class and I enjoy collecting food, gifts and money for families that need a little extra help around the holidays. It allows the children to be a do something nice for a family in need and to think about someone else besides themselves. It creates a peaceful enviornment in the classroom as well. :)
Some of my favorite traditions during the Christmas season in my classroom include the many arts and crafts activites we complete and send home to parents.
This season, the students are especially happy. We enjoy all of our activities together. Their group activities are especially joyful.
Christmas Angels, I love to sponsor a family and teach my students about helping others in the community. They love to see how they help a family, that would not of had Christmas if it was not for us.
I love helping other families and sponsoring a family. My students love to bring in toys and donate them to a family.
Jaime B
As a Theology teacher, I love sharing with my students (high school) the true meaning of Christmas. I ask them what they expect for their birthdays. They ways they celebrate the day. Who is involved. Why? Then I turn the discussion to Jesus' birthday. We talk about Jesus' birth and the gift he gave to all humanity. I then challenge my students to consider, with thoughtful care and reflection, what gift they will give Jesus for his birthday. We then start class (five different classes everyday) with either: Whose birthday is it anyway? Or what am I going to give Jesus for his birthday. It gives me and my students a different approach to this special day. On the last day of classes before Christmas break, I have them share with one another or through reflective writing what "gift" they choose for Jesus. I am always surprised at how willing high students are to talk about this.
Phyllis M.
making christmas cards for troops overseas
I love to have a potluck for my holiday party. We bring in all different types of foods that would be served around the world during the various holiday celebrations
We take the whole week before the Holidays to work together as a classroom community making gifts that connect with our curriculum. One example is we make 3 dimensional hexagon boxes out of old Holiday cards. They can be used to store gifts or as an ornament. This connects with our Geometry unit. They love working with their hands.
exchanging comment cards to each student which including listing what they think they do great on small index cards, decorating with glitter and crayons and then playing mailman to dleiver them.
Boosts student self esteem and many of them keep it long after they leave school because they realize how good they do something or how much their classmates admire their friendship and hard work.
decorating sugar cookies
making handmade cards for family members
creating construction paper chains or egg-head santas to decorate the class
making small finger puppets out of felt for stocking stuffers
making handmade gifts
I love reading The Polar Express while listening to the movie soundtrack! It is sooo magical!
My favorite activity is to have the students choose a worthy organization (such as Heifer Project, local zoo, Humane Society, etc) to make a holiday class donation.
I
My favorite is the day before break. We watch holiday movies eat cookies and talk about what we want to do for the new year.
I love having our annual Christmas program. A group of students sings various Christmas songs to get the season kicked off the right way at our school!
One of my favorite traditions during the Christmas season is for the students to write positive comments about their classmates and then read them aloud before we leave for Christmas break.
I like to have my students write a holiday letter to their family members, describing what their family means to them. I teach in a school where most of the students come from low-income families and they often do not have traditional "presents" for their families. This is a gift that costs nothing, but it can be so meaningful to parents and loved ones.
Many times seniors in the nursing home are forgotten about. A group of my students get together and go purchase warm fuzzies (small tokens of appreciation just because)and we sing christmas carols just to see them light up and feel that they still have purpose on Earth.
We enjoy decorating our Christmas tree. Students get to bring in their favorite ornament from home for the tree. We discuss the holidays and enjoy reading Christmas stories.
by Nicole
Putting up lights and decorations... and discovering what my students traditions are.
At our school, the Leadership/ASB class puts together various holiday "drives" -- a food drive, a toy drive, etc. Then, as Winter Break approaches, they grant "Winter Wishes" for our current students -- students write down what they'd like to receive (a latte, special parking privileges, etc.) and their wishes are granted!
by Leana, Edmonds, WA
I enjoy reading books that go along with holiday songs and writing letters to parents and Santa about what they want for Christmas. My students also decorate my door with pictures and stories about Christmas, santas, and snowmen. I also enjoy our school wide holiday sing along on the last day before school gets out.
Decorating cookies and sending them home!
We always celebrate Christmas on St. Nicholas Day (or the school day closest to it) by cancelling first period classes and gathering around the Christmas Tree. The students and I buy little presents to put in each other's stockings. We listen to Christmas music and drink hot chocolate.
Reading "The Polar Express" with my fifth grade students, ringing the magical bell and telling me that they still hear the bell!
by Cynthia H.
Many times seniors in the nursing homes are forgotten about. Maybe not all, but some. I, along with a group of my students go purchase small tkens of appreciation to give to seniors just to let them know that someone cares. We also sing Christmas carols. This not only puts a smile on their face but it gives us a feeling of warmth just to see it.
My students and I enjoy reading a Christmas or holiday book each day before Christmas break. We also write letters to parents and Santa about what they want for Christmas. My students enjoy decorating my door with illustrations and stories about Christmas, Santa, winter, and snowmen. I also enjoy our schoolwide holiday sing along.
by Erin B.
I love having the kids in my Geometry class create snowflakes using symmetry to post around the room! It's relevant to our Geometry curriculum AND it makes the room look beautiful.
Playing Jingo and guess the Christmas Carol
I love having the kids in my Geometry class create snowflakes using symmetry! It's relevant to our Geometry curriculum and makes the classroom look lively.
Making ornaments and then writing how-to's to teach others how we made them
I love reading holiday books with my kids and enjoying holiday treats.
We have a great math project that we do together, and it is a great way to tie in geometry! The students make 3D shapes and decorate them so they can hang them on their tree!
We do a service project during December. The students make holiday placemats for a local nursing home and we deliver them as a class. The students sing a variety of holiday songs during our visit. It is WONDERFUL!
Take your students on a journey into different cultures by creating lessons on Christmas, Kwanza, and Hanukkah. Focus on one culture per week, allowing the children to watch videos, complete auditory comprehension tasks about each celebration, and by making various instruments used to celebrate each culture's holiday. The children will simultaneously learn and have a great time doing it!
I love reading holiday stories with my kids and enjoying holiday treats.
Veronica B. Gainesville, FL
My favorite classroom tradition during the holidays is an ornament rotation. I am a special educaiton teacher and I co-teach with a general educaiton teacher. Each year my students pick their favorite ornament to make. Then they make a booth and all of the other students go to each booth to make a new ornament!
My favorite Christmas tradition in the classroom is adopting a needy family from the community and showering them with gifts to help them feel special and loved during the holiday season. It teaches a wonderful lesson to the kids, families, and teacher.
I love having the kids act out their favorite holiday characters
With so many different cultures represented in our school, I always take part of a class period to have students tell each other what traditions that have during the holiday season. It really opens their eyes to the differences that make our country what it is.
I love hearing about their Santa stories and what they think Santa will bring.
I teach foreign languages. So I ask my students to exchange a gift that either is from or will remind them of the target foreign country. They love it.
by Yu
They love the game.
We make the dough for christmas cutouts and then roll them out and cut them out. They are sent to be baked. In the afternoon the students decorate them. This is a great experience for the many students that don't have this opportunity at home.
I also love decorating my classroom, and having my students create wish lists that they put on stockings. They have to be realistic ones though. I also like to decorate ornaments. I love to see students creativity!
Megan M.
I like participating in "Feast or Famine". Tickets are sold for lunch. If you get a "feast" ticket, you get to have turkey and all the trimmings. If you get a "famine" ticket, you have rice. It is a great way to experience what life may be like for others. The money from the lunch goes to the local food bank or shelter.
It is great to have students write about and share their holiday traditions, then compare their traditions to ways of celebrating around the world. It is a great time of year to focus on our global connections and commonalities!
In the school newspaper, which I sponsor, we're having our two exchange students (one from Denmark, another from Germany) write a story about the differences between how Christmas is celebrated here in America and how it is celebrated in their respective countries. This story will be featured in our special "Christmas Edition" that we hope to get out on Dec. 15.
I teach high school, so it's a little hard to deviate from what I have to teach. But I do enjoy hearing about what my students are going to do with their break. They always have fascinating stories about their families and their traditions. I think it's important to take time out to let them talk about themselves and let them see what they have in common with each other.
Amy K., Fort Worth, TX
Since I teach history, I enjoy teaching the "stories" behind holiday traditions such as: mistletoe, gift giving, hanging stockings, decorating the Christmas tree, etc. The students learn that history doesn't have to be dry and dull facts from just their history book. Hopefully, they gain a new appreciation for the subject!
by: Kellie C., Sacramento, CA
Listening to Christmas carols while we work!
Making ornaments using their picture.
I like to participate in "Feast or Famine". Tickets are purchased for lunch. If you get a "feast" ticket, you get a lunch of turkey and all the trimmings. If you get a "famine" ticket, you get a small bowl of rice. This is a great way to experience what life may be like for others at this time of year. The proceeds from the ticket sales goes to the local homeless shelter.
by Cindy D
My favorite classroom project is trying to use the kids own hand prints to make projects.
by Gloria G.
Decorating the classroom with the children and seeing their happy faces.
Lalanne
Using the quote from Miracle on 34th Street "Faith is believing when common sense says no to" to teach that anything is acheivable if you believe.
My favorite classroom tradition during the holidays is having the students write about their traditions. Traditions are so important. In expressing our cultures differences and similarities, we learn there is one common thread at this time of the year. LOVE
We have several classroom traditions in my high school English class. When we finish reading the book Night we do a "making a difference" project and seek out those in need (either humanitarian organizations or families in our community) and help them however we can. My students are always as blessed as those we help. A less serious tradition is to decorate our door with festive wrapping paper and last year we even had lights on it. :)
I teach my students about Hanukkah, Posada, Kwanzaa, and Christmas traditions. We read the book The Miracle of Johnathan Toomey and we write essays about each holiday. But my favorite part is creating wall calendars to use as Christmas presents for parents.
Shanna F. Missouri
I ask my students the following: "If you were a Christmas ornament, what kind would you be, and why?" They write journal entries from there.
We always enjoy collecting gifts for a family in need.
I advise Student Government and its very rewarding to work with the kids on ideas on how to give back. This year we're collecting food for Philabundance, buying toys for Toys for Tots, and sponsering a family in need. We like to receive, but it's nice to give too!
Who doesn't love the Polar Express? Read the book, watch the movie (complete with pj's, slippers and hot cocoa) and then follow with compare and contrast the two. Loving literacy and learning too!!
During the holidays, we work in small groups to write and illustrate Christmas picture books. This year, we are honoring our school librarian by having her be a main character in the books!
We enjoy helping out at the local soup kitchen
When I taught first grade I would read the Polar Express to my children every year. After first recess I'd ask students to leave their coats on the backs of their chairs. While they were at special class I'd leave a silver bell in each pocket. When we'd get ready for second recess I'd put my hand in my pocket and declare, "What's this?!?" as I pulled out my bell. The kids always got so excited about reaching into their pockets and pulling out a bell. Make sure they work though - one year one was broken and a boy was in tears declaring he believed even though he couldn't hear the sweet music of the bell!
Our school does a school wide Polar Express Day! The whole school wears P.J's and we supply hot chocolate for the whole school. We also watch the movie!!! Great Day.. By Kimberly
Christmas music all the time!
by Sharon S
Hanging Lights!
Making a small holiday card and then attaching it to a candy cane. They then give this to one other person in the class and a holiday candy gram. So..everyone at christmas will get a present from someone else.
This year I am going to get apple ornaments and let them write their names on them to take home.
Emily S
Teaching my students Frosty the Snowman in French.
Connie L.
I have my students learn about recipe writing and writing directions. Each student writes a recipe, they make the recipe and we eat the food and we make a class recipe book.
We have a wonderful train that brings The Polar Express to life! It is simply magical.
Deb S.
Our school has a big assembly where the seniors present Christmas trees to the first grade students and then everyone sings Christmas carols. It's so fun!
Winding down the semester! Talking about what was learned, how we have grown and changed and what different families will be doing during the holidays.
My students will cut out pictures of traditions in their homes and we decorate our door.
Emily g
collecting food for a local shelter and gloves for the adults and children
The students in my classes create holiday cards which are given to local homeless shelters, children's homes, nursing homes, and hospitals. We discuss acts of kindness and how contagious they can be. The students learn the importance of giving their time, talent and kind words to those who are less fortunate.
Getting students to love math!
We read "The Gift of the Magi" or "A Christmas Carol".
Kat j.
Reading holiday books that has a theme of "giving". Then, my students make handmade cards and letters to their families for the holidays. by Annie M., Long Beach, CA
I absolutely love giving my kiddos little gifts before they leave for Christmas. It is never anything big, just a cute new pencil with a good eraser and some candy or something. I have kindergarteners so they just eat it up! It may be their only gift so I wish I could give more. Their faces light up with excitement when they look at their goodies and we read a little "holiday" story.
We read The Polar Express, then go on a pretend train ride while I am passing out candy and hot chocolate...in our pajamas of course!
by Laurie W.
We design and build gingerbread structures. My 4th graders plan what they need and how much it will cost to build. After planning and 'purchasing' the supplies, we have a fun day of building. The students enjoy all aspects of this project and all the decorated gingerbread houses get us in the holiday spirit! (plus the eating is so yummy)
I love doing seasonal art projects with my elementary students.
We write letters to the soldiers and send them holiday decorations. I got this idea from a teacher in the county whose daughter serves. We were told the soldiers have minimal to no decorations, so we send cards and decorations that won't break. It helps lift the soldiers' spirits while helping the students with their literacy and written expression.
sharing what everyone is doing for the holiday break!
I love reading Polar Express to my class. We have a certain day where all of the students wear pajamas and we read Polar Express. It is really fun.
I love teaching the Polar Express and having Hot Chocolate
I read "The Real Twelve Days of Christmas" with my students at our school. Teaching at a private school has its benefits around the Christmas season. We can talk about the true meaning of Christmas, and how we can celebrate throughout the year.I help my students discover their gifts and talents. We talk about how they can give these to others around them. Giving is contagious. If they give to someone, then it starts a whole cycle of giving.
My favorite is watching It's A Wonderful Life and discussing what all we have in each of our lives that makes it wonderful and what we can each do to convey the true meaning of the holiday season to others.
I love starting holiday songs with my choirs as early as October and exposing some of them to common holiday songs that they may have heard before but didn't really "know" and watching it all click.
Living in Florida my students don't see much snow during the holidays. I love to order "instant snow" and watch their eyes light up as they see snow for the first time!
I love having the students make gifts and cards and take them to a nursing home!
My favorite holiday tradition is stating what we are thankful for.
celebrating all of the diverse cultures! it's great to see how everyone does something special
Linda A., Natick, MA
I have my students do a presentation of their family holiday traditions and then we come up with a classroom tradition and have a December celebration of our new tradition.
Weenna L.
I work in a poor community so my students give a gift a kindness to their families for the holidays. Eash student makes an ornament and writes one kind deed they will do for their family memeber for the entire month of December. Students write down ideas such as "wash the dishes", "make my bed", "help with the baby".
I do tons of science experiments with my K and 1st grade classes. It is fun watching little faces light up with excitement!
by Susie H.
I like to make potato lakes with my students.
My favorite classroom tradition is to have all of my students make a presentation of their family and culture's holiday traditions. It's a wonderful springboard for discussions on diversity, and my school is a very diverse environment.
As an ESL teacher, my favorite classroom tradition for the holidays is reading stories from holidays around the world.
Susy S.
Our favorite tradition is teaching the students about giving and love. The students are taught about how people around the world celebrate during the holidays and we list ways to emulate these ideals and bring them into our lives.
I teach a foods fundamentals class and we learn to do holiday foods that can be healthy too!
I enjoy teaching the kids the song "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" and then we dance to it. by: Peg
My favorite classroom holiday tradition is teaching the children holiday customs from diffferent cultures.
by Fran B
We make cards for our area Veterans hspital. We often receive thank you notes from the soldiers.
Teaching my students holiday related spanish vocabulary and sharing cultural/family traditions.
My favorite holiday tradition is reading "The Giving Tree" and participating in activities regarding the spirit of giving. Students are sometimes so focused on the gifts they are getting during the holiday season. It's nice to read this book with the students and see what they can come up with. It's a nice way to refocus the season!
By Danielle Stamford, CT
I like to teach the kids the song, "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" and then we dance away!
By Peg
I love how excited my children are simply because it is December!
We read "The Best Christmas Pagent Ever."
I like teaching the kids about kindness. We think of a random act of kindness we will do for someone, write it on a green hand, and I make a wreath out of it! The wreath serves as a reminder of what acts we will do to make the world a kinder place!
Since I am a HS Choral director we give of our talents the entire month of December. From performing Holiday Songs for the local hospitals and nursing homes, to tree lighting ceremonies, we are performing! My favorite night is when we help raise money for a local child who has a serious illness. Kids helping Kids!
by Patti V.
We watch "A Christmas Carol" and talk about kindness, helping others, and being grateful for what we have.
Decorating the classroom with decorations made by the students.
by Karla L.
Gonzales, LA
Teaching the children about other holidays like Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. We eat latkes and spin dreidels and read pop-up books.
Teaching the students about the holiday traditions around the world. From the Vatican to Mexico's traditions Global Studies gets the opportunity to share each culture's customs.
Teaching about different holiday customs from the Vatican to Mexico to the Philippines and our own family traditions.
Elizabeth C.
We have the children decorate the classroom any way they decide. The class has a meeting and then we all go with atheme. Just before the vacation we have a class cookie swap and each child can then give a homemade "gift" to their classmates! It's a lot of fun!
I love to read "The Gingerbread Baby" and have the kids predict what Maddie does with the gingerbread baby. The kids love the book because the illustrations are so great.
by Cyndi M.
I love to make Christmas ornaments with my students and read them different stories...I also like to do homemade cards with the students' pictures in it for their parents, I want to have a Christmas tree and have students make their own ornaments to hang on it
Teaching vocabulary with Christmas carols
I am looking forward to hearing from my kids about different trips and activities that they have planned over the Winter Break.
Teaching vocabulary with Christmas carols.
Renee G.
Madison, AL
Singing Christmas Carols!!!
The holiday season allows us to learn about all different types of culture and how they celebrate. During this time of year we also focus in on giving back and doing good things for other people. I think like this the most because it puts the focus on something great and not on a commercialized holiday.
Teaching how different cultures celebrate the holiday is important.
Our team does various holiday crafts the morning of the last day before Winter Break, and then the kids go back to their homerooms for the afternoon to watch a holiday movie. I usually order a pizza, and the kids bring the rest of the goodies for our afternoon feast. It's a great way to relax with the kids and enjoy the holiday.
Making gifts for the students to give to family members so that they have a surprise to give that not even their parents know about!
Each teacher decorates his or her door on a theme relating to the true meaning of Christmas. I always have my students do it for me, and we enjoy listening to Christmas music while we work. Some years a 'prize' is offered so it can get pretty competitve . . . even some good-natured 'hiding' of other teachers' doors to keep them from being judged sometimes occurs! All in good fun, and it's festive to walk down the halls and see all the expressions of the true Christmas spirit.
Making gingerbread houses with a local senior citizens' home. Kristi B.
I am thankful for the fact that during these hard economic times, both my family and I are secure financially and have each other.
The kid's excitement
Top 2 fav's: helping students create handmade holiday gifts - they are so proud of their "art" and ornaments, and the parents treasure them; and, teaching tolerance and mulitculturalism through lessons about holidays around the world and of differing religions.
It's hard to choose, but one of my favorites is teaching students about holidays they aren't as familiar with such as Eid al Fitr and Duwali.
Currently we are collecting for a food drive.
Unfortunately, many of my fun math activities I no longer do as they specifically address Christmas and not all celebrate that holiday..
One of my favorites was "How many gifts did my true love give to me" which involves patterns.
Maureen
sponsoring a classroom "angel" is always a nice holiday service project.
Helping the students make Christmas ornaments to take home to their family. Since I teach at a Title I school, I know that some students may not have any at home. Seeing the joy on their faces after completimg the ornaments is so rewarding!
Robin G.
Every year we do a book study on "The Polar Express". There are so many great activities you can do with the book. At the end, the students dress in their pjs (just like in the movie) and we gather in the gym to watch the movie on the projection screen. We serve hot chocolate and cookies to the kids as they watch. They absolutely love it!
My favorite tradition is wearing Christmas attire during "Holiday Spirit Week" the last week before break and hanging up my "Just like each snowflake is special, so are we" poster with my snowflakes
We study about everyone's families. Each child makes a timeline about their lives. We share them in the class. Then all the kindergarten families are invited for a Family Fest. Each family brings in a family favorite dish and shares it with the class. We then culminate by singing songs with all the families and children.
I love writing down young student's holiday recipes from their families. Some are pretty hilarious, like for fudge, "Take a bucket and mix dirt and milk together. Put it in the oven at 10 degrees for about 3 minutes."
Kristi D.
I check out 15 books from the library that are all winter holiday related. Each day leading up to winter break, I read a different story. This tradition has carried on into many homes. My mom did this with us when we were little and I do it with my students and my own daughter at home.
Tara S.
We do Christmas ABC's (kindergarten) where we do a Christmas activity for every letter of the alphabet. I also love making ornaments throughout this unit study. We wrap up our ornaments and give to the parents as their Christmas gift.
I love doing the sweet smells of Christmas. While reading the story, I have the kids smell real items to go along with it.
by Helene F.
I talk with my students about what they plan to give to others, especially their parents, for Christmas.
We do Christmas Around the World. All the Kindergarten classes represent a country and the children rotate to all the classes. The children learn how Christmas is celebrated in countries around the world and make an activity from each country. They also have a passport to have stamped as they enter each country.
by Judy R.
Our K staff acts out The Giving Tree and then after discussing the theme with our students they always choose to donate something of their own (books, toys, etc..) to a needy organization set up by the staff.
by Diane D.
We have students making blankets for visitors to a food shelf in addition to doing a food drive!
AnnH
Making homemade gifts for family usually including photographs that were taken throughout the beginning of the school year that parents haven't seen yet.
I teach jr. and sr. high school music. The choir goes caroling around the halls during homeroom in the morning. It is preparation for the caroling the choir does around town in the evening. The kids love it because we exchange small gifts with one another and share our joy of music to the rest of the school and community.
We study diversity and have a "Diversity Luncheon" right before Winter Break where the students bring in a favorite food from their heritage. The diversity theme ties in well with studying Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa traditions.
Megan P.
I am in love everytime I enter a preschool classroom to do an assessment and the children welcome me with open arms and such trust. I want to take them all home with me. God Bless our early childhood teachers.
Lana
Sebring, Florida
My favorite thing to do during the holidays is bake cookies and decorate them with my students. They have a great time and I do too!
Tomeka
Indianapolis, Indiana
I like making ornaments with my special needs students. I
Albuquerque, NM
The best gifts for my students is giving them life long skills and learn how to love themselves.
We make handprint calendars for the parents. Each month they use their hand to create a thematic picture. Parents cry when the get the gift.
Decorating holiday cookies and writing letters to soldiers...
Providing opportunities for students to give from the heart.
Mary H.
My favorite tradition is baking cookies with recipes that have been handed down from generations and new ones from the web. Baking and giving the goodies away for gifts is a treasured activity and memory. Giving is what the season is all about.
I love sharing my family holiday traditions with my students. We also invite their parents and we build gingerbread houses together. It is such a great time for both the students and their families!
Giving from the heart is what the season is all about. In keeping with the season of gift giving and following family tradition I always bake at the holidays. I replicate old family recipes and add new ones each year. When friends and family come over they get to try out the recipes and take home a plate for a holiday treat.
By Carol V.
making christmas cookies and talking about gratitude !
muliplication and division :)
I teach high school. My favorite thing to do is to buy a bunch of candy and give it out the last day before winter break. It's great to see 16 and 17 year old go crazy over chocolate and it's even better because they all appreciate it.
I like to have the students research different winter holidays,the we decorate the room incorporating all the different traditions.
My foods classes make gingerbread houses out of graham crackers, decorator frosting and candy. They love working together and talking about their family traditions.
My favorite thing is to hang stockings in my classroom and leave the children a small gift in their stocking during lunch. I tell them they missed Santa and he left them a present. They are so thankful because they get very little at the holiday season.
I invite all my parents to come in and share their family holiday traditions with the kids. It's great because many families have traditions that are rooted in other countries. So, we get to "travel" the world and celebrate all together. I also make sure to highlight every holiday- Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc.
Our school has a parade, on the last school day before winter break; during which time, the entire school gets the opportunity to see all of the classrooms, teachers, students, & faculty/staff and wish them "Happy Holidays!"
Our grade level (Pre-K) decided to go "green" for the holidays last year and we're doing it again this year. We've asked our families to send in ribbons, boxes, tubes, wrapping paper, catalogs, etc. that they might be throwing out. We make all our decorations and projects with these recyclables. Each child uses vegetable and fruit stamps to decorate cloth grocery bags as holiday gifts for their parents.
My classroom has a fireplace and I have students decorate stockings and hang them around the fireplace each year.
We host an event called the 12 Days of Giving. Each day, we ask for donations of different items (i.e. canned food, personal hygiene, baby items, coats, etc.). The items that we collect are donated to different homeless shelters in our community. We have a contest for donations and the winning teams are treated to a pizza party. It really warms the heart to see students who have so little themselves give!
Kim K.
i give extra credit assignments that try to brighten the student's spirit. my favorite have been having the students listen to randy paush's last lecture on youtube.com and writing a one page essay on what they learned from him and how his lecture can be applied to their lives.
I have my students write about their family traditions and we share them as a class. I love hearing what each of them do each year.
My favorite classroom tradition is making holiday foods from other cultures such as latkes and applesauce for Hanukkah, gingerbread cookies, and traditional Kwanzaa dishes to taste for our holiday party. We also make gifts and cards for each other and our families.
In place of a class gift exchange, my students vote and select a charity. Over the years, students have bought items or given money to an abused family center, St. Jude's, and other local needy families through agencies. They find that giving can be better than receiving!
I have my students write their own Winter Holiday History Carol on a topic that we have studied. The day before the start of Winter break is spent singing all the songs. We invite the administrators and get them in on the fun.
I love having the students do a heritage placemat. They make a placemat out of pictures that describe their heritage and their christmas traditions. Then we laminate them and the students give them to their parents as a Christmas present.
After we do a unit on Gingerbread Stories and do many Gingerbread activities, we always like to celebrate with a Gingerbread House making party. All of the parents come in, holiday music is played and we get to play with (and eat) candy!
by Michele F.
I love everything about the classroom during the holidays. The students are always so excited!
I teach drama and we share what our favorite family tradition is. It is amazing how many people get new pajamas for Christmas Eve!
I teach Public Speaking and coach Debate. We share our most embarassing Christmas memories or our most memorable ones. They are often the same memories!
by Dana T.
I love to have my students create memorable keepsakes with their hand prints and pictures.
I also have my students create a card and gift for our school's support staff as they should be recognized as well.
On the half day before break, my high school math classes watch "Donald Duck in Mathmagicland" and eat candy canes (my treat) and whatever else (their treat).
The day after Thanksgiving, I went out shopping for my kids' gifts. I have 15 little wonders. They're so excited about the upcoming holiday. tesa m.
My favorite tradition is decorating my room! I'm a high school teacher, so, it's fun to see my students still get excited about seeing the lights and the little tree!
My favorite tradition is studying about the different holidays celebrated by my students and creating a craft centered about that holiday.
I put up a "Merry Christmas" sign everyday for the last 10 days before winter break. Each one is in a different language that the students try to guess.
by Veronica T
We do a present writing project which integrates both writing and math:) 2nd grade students write: "how to wrap a present," "what am I?" (giving clues about a present), a story about giving/getting a present, and "the best present." Students then measure Christmas wrapping paper, and choose a bow to add as a decoration next to their writing (on a 12x18 piece of construction paper). The kids love it!
I am thankful for my beautiful daughter, my wonderful husband, my health, and my extended family. I am also thankful that I have the opportunity to work with students who have severe behavioral needs because I feel like I am really making a difference.
I love teaching and learning about the different holidays celebrated. I also love reading different versions of the gingerbread man, discussing them, and then building gingerbread houses.
We love to talk about advent at what it means to be fortunate during the season we also open the door to an advent calendar each day for a special treat! The kids love it and are surprised by the treat
We make door decorating into a class assignment in which they work together as a team - whether they break it down into Boss, managers, designers, researchers or just work together to brainstorm. They love the thought of going back to their elementary times as well as using high school level creative team skills
Over the years, it has been a pleasure to celebrate in many ways with my students - too many to pick just one. My favorites have been: making gingerbread houses(with parents), reading holiday stories, writing letters of gratitude to our families and decorating the room.
by Ann W.
Since final exams are shortly before the holidays, I usually plan the last few weeks to be a stress free as possible. Assignments are typically short, and we spend enough time reviewing important material.
Love to have a family heritage celebration in my classroom. The second graders study about family heritage, then as we do our presentations, we bring in special cultural food dishes to share with everyone in the class. It has always been a way to realize that food brings all families together, no matter their culture or heritage! Also, it is very special for the kids to share something so personal that they research and help make at home
Renee K.
I am a Special Education teacher in an elementary school. I teach Math and Study Skills in the Resource Room. I love to find different holiday books or stories to use in my math lessons. The students love it because it makes them see stories in another way.
by Lisa C.
We love to play, sing, and listen to Christmas carols while we look at slideshows of the year gone by
I love teaching the kids to write letters to Santa. I encourage them to think beyond themselves and to dialogue with Santa about how he and his family are doing, etc. Then I have older students or family members write back to the students.
I love to teach bilingual students as they have such motivation to succeed in this country.
by Michele R.
Hearing about all the wonderful family activities that my students have.
I love reading "The Polar Express". No matter how many times I read it, I still get the chills when I get to the last page!
I teach at a parochial school and am teaching middle school, a change from 4th grade. The kids are a little more in tune with the real spirit of the season. I put out the decorations and the glitzy stuff, but today the kids told me they want to make a "good deed" garland in Christmas colors. They want to string it around the room.
My students make and deliver cards for all support staff and volunteers. This is everyone's favorite activity and those daily unsung heros really appreciate the recognition!
I like teaching my students about traditions of other cultures.
LaMonica
I love playing Christmas carols while my students are working on something independently. They love hearing fun familiar music to encourage them.
I like to take chorus groups to elderly homes to visit and sing.
by Susan P
This is my first year teaching so this is a wonderful oppurtunity to establish my holiday traditions in the classroom. I plan on reading several versions of the Gingerbread Man story to my kindergarteners. This week, the students are using "tear art" to create a gingerbread man. I even put cinnamon in the glue so it will smell delcious! At our holiday party, we will sample a variety of gingerbread man cookies and share the stories with the parents. So far, the kids have really enjoyed the gingerbread man activities and I plan on doing them for years to come!
My high school Geometry classes make seasonal picture plots that they color and cut out for room decorations. On the last day before the break I bring in bagels and play holiday music while the students create symmetrical snowflakes that I tape to the windows.
Jacqueline, Jackson, NJ
I have my 2nd graders write letters to santa and I write them a letter back from Santa- they love it!
Shantille S.
I love preparing for students with Advent activities, they enjoy counting down each week!
This is my first year teaching so this is a wonderful opportunity to establish my holiday traditions in the classroom. I plan on reading several versions of the Gingerbread Man story to my kindergartners. This week, the students are using "tear art" to create a gingerbread man. I even put cinnamon in the glue so it will smell delicious! At our holiday party, we will sample a variety of gingerbread man cookies and share the stories with the parents. So far, the kids have really enjoyed the gingerbread man activities and I plan on doing them for years to come!
Rene
Kennesaw, GA.
I always have my students make a Christmas card for their families, then we make a keepsake picture charm with a Christmas meassage for parents. We also have a Christmas party where the children share their Christmas dreams.
We take pictures of students in various costumes. The children choose from an angel, a skier, a reindeer or an elf. They make a frame for the photo and give it to their parents. It's interesting to see which costume the children choose. The photos capture a sweet side of our fourth graders that we sometimes miss in the jam packed instructional pace.
We make hot chocolate and have cookies and share our favorite holiday traditions.
I am a music teacher, so every year I use overheads and we sing any Christmas song the kids want to sing!
I teach reading and my 4th graders read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. It is a wonderful novel. Once we finish the novel, we watch the video and compare it to the novel. I love the reaction the students have to the antics of the Herdman kids!
We make snowflakes using pipe cleaners and then we dip them in a solution that grows crystals.
I love reading making puppets of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, reading the book, and singing the song with my kindergarten classes. The story is as old as me and I love how somethings never change.
Christmas Genetics!
I teach middle school and every year we have a spare change drive contest between the 2 other homerooms I associate with to see who can raise the most money. The money goes to a needy family for the holidays. It's awesome because while the kids know they arent getting a prize they still give as much as they can to help the family in need. We made over $1000 last year!
I love decorating the classroom and having the children get involved by making special ornaments and pictures to hang around the room!
During the holiday, my class collected money for Ronald McDonald's House and in exchange for their donations, students decorated paper ornaments to put on a holiday tree.
by Cari
I love decorating the classroom. My favorite decorations are snowflakes.
I love having my students decorate various Christmas crafts thoughout the month of December. The last week of school in Dec. my fellow 1st grade teachers and I choose a Christmas book and have each class visit our rooms and read the book , then make a craft that goes along with the book. I choose" Auntie Claus."One of my favorite books.
Coincidently, we always wind up in a geometry unit, I use this time to teach my students how to make 'holiday trees' out of squares and circles. My students become fasinated and begin making them whenever they have a free moment. It's a lovely activity that they wow their families with.
by Susanne S.
Right before the holiday break, my assistant principal dresses up as Santa Claus and passes out candy to the children. For my ESL students, this is usually their first experience with Santa and it is just amazing to see the joy and wonder in their eyes when they meet Santa.
For math, we are working on percents. It is great to get the students to understand the percent discounts and how they can save money when buying presents.
Exploring the 5 Senses! I teach 2-year-olds and they get very excited when I introduce THE GINGERBREAD BABY by Jan Brett. The children eat store bought gingerbread cookies, make their our own gingerbread baby cookies (roll dough with rolling pin & cut with cookie cutter), explore/measure/sift the dry ingredients used to make gingerbread cookies/cake, bake their own gingerbread cake etc. Growing up I always helped (and still do) my mother bake and decorate Christmas cookies to share with family and friends.
I love decorating my class, bringing a small christmas tree to decorate and have a party where they can make simple ornaments, cards for their family members, and enjoy sharing a good time with each other.
During the holidays I love to do artsy projects that I do not get to do all year long. We make Rudolph with our hands and feet and we make handprint ornaments. It is really a lot of fun. I also love decorating the classroom for the season.
Our Christmas Play. Sometimes we get so caught up in teaching content that we forget to teach in fun ways too! Not only do the kids love it and shine, but it is such a celebration with our school community and families too. The play's theme teaches that it is better to give than receive.
I teach Kindergarten. I love reading Santa's Book of Names. It's about a boy who can not read. He is asked by Santa to take a sleigh ride on Christmas Eve. You'll have to read the book to find out the end. It inspires my class every year. We then make our own book of names using pictures of our classmates. This is a great activity passed down from a former co-worker. Read it. You'll love it!
I teach High School and my favorite classroom tradition is to decorate my room to make it a little more festive. The students take a lot of pride in doing this. They make chains to hang around the room and they each have three strips of paper--red, green, and white. They write something that would like for Christmas, someone special they might see over Christmas break, and something/someone they are thankful for. It is fun and the kids enjoy talking about it. I also like to read the book The Best Christmas Paegant Ever aloud to my students....it cracks them up.
by Rhonda T.
I like to have a big feast for my class to munch on all day long the day before we get out of school for Christmass. I also make cookies on a stick for my class as a gift, they love them.
Kristin A
I am a choir director and my favorite tradition is at our Christmas concert, all of the past choir members are invited up to sing "Carol of the Bells" with the choir. It is a great feeling! Especially when you get to see a member from twenty years ago singing with their daughter!
the excitement of my students!
I love the excitement of my students!
Wow that sounds great!
I love how my entire school gets in the spirit of giving--gifts to local families, charities and the school nurse. And, amazingly, with all the goings on, students still have time to catch up on the Algebra they missed early on.
I love the read classic books, such as, A Christmas Carol and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Also, I love to decorate my classroom with snowflakes and an assortment of snowmen. If we have the rare opportunity to experience it snowing while the students are in school, I bring in a bucket of snow for my students to play with the snow.
The other kindergarten teachers and I rotate our classes; reading The Polar Express while drinking hot cocoa, doing a winter art project and a winter science project. At the end of the day we watch the movie and give each child a bell.
I love picking out a Scholastic book to buy my students (with Bonus Points of course :) and then writing each of them a Christmas card. I have had former students tell me they still have one! Parents too seem tickled by the personal touch.
My "Have a Heart" group has a coat drive for needy families.
My favorite classroom tradition is to decorate the classroom with the students, and have the students learn about different celebrations such as Kwaanza, Hannukah and Christmas
Having my students compose and perform new music to "The Snowman."
I teach Kindergarten and I try to focus on building friendships and a sense of community. So we do a Secret Santa and the kids have to make something to give to their friend instead of buying it. I think this helps reinforce creativity and its great to see what they come up with!
by Melanie W.
Helping my students realize what they are thankful for, and then writing about it. It really is neat to see how they think - and I always get very sweet stories.
Donating gifts to those less fortunate.
Teaching students about the similarities among winter holidays in the various traditions in our school and around the world. Understanding our similarities can help us celebrate our differences.
Kindness is often overlooked as a topic in our elementary education curriculum. Kindness is needed now more than ever to instill compassion and understanding in our young students. The entire month of December I help my second grade students understand the meaning of being kind and enjoying the feeling it gives... to be loving to others. We can only know this feeling if we can experience it within ourselves. The have many experiences in my class to do acts of kindness for others in their community.
by Ms. Carmen P.
Making geometric ornaments and graphing Santas. These projects make my ninth graders forget they are learning and practicing skills.
The area that my students live is scary for them. I know Thanksgiving has passed, but I would like to add one thought. I am grateful for the sanctuary that school gives our kids.
Reading the Polar Express, ringing the bell and then opening our box of letters from Santa prepared especially for each student in California by my sister from North Pole, AK.
Tying the season to our Social Studies lessons on immigration, we look at family traditions from the past and what has changed what has remained the same.
This is a special time when children are thinking about gifts so I teach them during this season that the most special and remebered gifts are not the ones you buy--you use your heart so we give the gift of kindness to any one we can and then we put them on a big stocking or in a letter to Santa that will cinvince him we are truly trying to be good
I love this time of year! My favorite classroom tradition with my kids is an ornament exchange. I know when I was little we used to to "toys" but it always seemed a disappointment when the kid next you received a better toy. So I started doing an ornament exchange when I was hired for my first teaching job. Each student brings an ornament and then we play a game to decide which ornament you will receive. It is so neat to see the kids faces and then they have a keepsake for their tree each year! The parents love it!
I am thankful to be doing a job that I love-- especially in this economy. I'm also thankful for my friends and family, the our good health.
Tracing their hands to make turkeys. On each finger "feather" they write one thing they are grateful for.AllieW
My classroom constantly strives to be a team and to be good citizens. That is never more important than at the holidays when we emphasize giving more than receiving.
Having the students write about what they do for Christmas, illustrate it , and share it with the class.
by Betsy P.
Sharing the traditions that each student and their family have to celebrate the holidays!
I teach Earth Science and we sing the 12 days of glacial Christmas.
Evelyn O
Our school does a food drive and a pajama/book drive each year. The kids of the school get to have a movie day the day before the break as a celebration of coming together to help others.
During Christmas I enjoy decorating our classroom door to participate in our school's annual door decorating contest. It's exciting to see the unique ideas that students and classrooms across the school come up with.
We have our students to donate a gift box to a needy family. We provide food and toys based on the family. The students really enjoy the project.
My favorite holiday tradition is decorating gingerbread men. It is fun to see my kids become so creative. I also notice how their ginger person turns out is so similar to their own personality.
Since I teach science, we do food labs with specialites of the holiday. The students are learning about proteins, carbs, etc. and yet having fun.
by Chris G.
Williamston, MI
Leting the students express thri tradition as a group activity.
Leting the students express their holiday traditions to the class.
My favorite activity is a lab involves a lab designed around a holiday dinner from different parts of the world. We look at the foods for the nutrition values. It is relaxing and fun.
The class wears their pajamas to school, we drink hot chocolate and read the Polar Express. Afterwards we watch the movie and write a short comparison/contrast paper. The children love that they are "just like the movie" because of the pajamas and hot chocolate!
by Shelley R.
I work with teen moms. A local organization provides a gift for each of the children, and Santa visits our holiday party. My personal favorite moment is taking a picture of each child with Santa and printing it while they wait!
We have a book swap in my classroom. Boys bring a book for a boy and girls for a girl. You would not believe the excitement as they draw a numeral and get a book. We have a reading time after that and share our books! By Cindy H.
I simply love hanging "December Lights". It is festive, yet the simple white lights don't lean toward Christmas or Hannukah or Kwaanza... They are simply festive. I wouldn't want to offend any one student.
Sharing great children's literature about the holidays
Listening to Christmas music in the classroom
I always read Truman Capote's 'A Christmas Memory' on the last day of class
In my advanced foods class, the students make appetizers to share with each other on the last day of classes. We also do a cookie exchange after 5 days of cookie baking. In child development, the students make homemade playdough and easy Christmas reindeer out of clothes pins. It's amazing how much fun the high school students have with these hands-on projects.
by Francine N.
I love using my pine scented air fresheners - the kids do too
Reading children's literature about holiday traditions and sharing our personal traditions with the class. We also read a story about ice skating and then we cover our shoes in wax paper and pretend we are ice skating around the room and write about what feels like to ice skate, since we don't get to ice skate in south texas.
School wide holiday sing along
I teach art to K-5th in Texas and each grade level makes different kinds of snowflakes. Some are big,some are small. We paint some and glitter others. We hang around 600 of them from the entryway ceiling in our school and you feel like it is snowing each time you come in. Some of my students have never even seen snow so they love it
I love to read all the Christmas Stories to the children!
Rita S.
This year I am one of the sponsors of FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes), and we are sponsoring a toy drive for one of the neighboring elementary schools. Our goal - 600 toys!! I know we can do it.
Polar Express Day! We dress in pajamas, have community members read the book, drink hot cocoa, and have an all school Christmas sing along. It's the best day of the year!
I love helping the children in my preschool class make a christmas gift for their parents. The kids get so excited to be able to give something that they made to mommy and daddy.
by Amy B.
During the holidays, my students enjoy making their own gingerbread houses. We use graham crackers and vanilla icing to build them. Then my students use various holiday candies to decroate their houses. Finally they get to take their gingerbread houses home and enjoy eating them with their families. I also incorporate literature and math into this activity.
I love to make all the holiday decorations with the kids. I love to see the school decorated . It really is a great place to be during the holidays.
For the winter holidays, I have my students write personal narratives that relate to their families. They brainstorm unique stories about their family, interesting traditions, expressions that only their families would understand, and special foods they eat. Then we begin to develop our narratives. Students peer edit and revise their narratives. Finally we share the narratives in a "coffeehouse." Students are thrilled to share their own narratives, but they are equally excited to hear about other students' family traditions. There are always a few kids, who have been really quiet, and come up to share an amazing, completely unexpected narrative. It's such a great moment when they trust the class enough to share and the class receives this "gift" with respect.
December is an important time of the year for sharing family traditions. Around holiday time, each of my students chooses a day to share a holiday tradition that is important to their own family. Among some of the traditions that the children share with us are children holiday photos, special ornaments, dreidels, cookies for Santa, a family menorah, decorations for their home, etc. It is a wonderful experience for all the children. We are such a diverse society, but we can all appreciate special traditions.
by Fran B.
We use mathematics with the holidays and we decorate a bulletin with the differents shapes of the holidays, such as, using a triangle and square to make a christmas tree or two trangles to make the star of David. We also have a cross curriculum program where all the holidays in December are discussed and explored through songs, dances, symbols and tradtions. Lastly, every child in my class wraps a present for a staff member and we going aroound the building singing and givinig out our gifts.
Montalvo in the South Bronx- kindergarten
Koch snowflakes!
Reading aloud The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree.
By Claire N.
My mom (who is also a teacher) has inspired me to start a new tradition-- write an individual note to each of my students using the different Christmas cards we collected over the years. I notice a lot of my high school students sharing with me and their peers how Christmas will just not be the same this year (no gifts, tree, large meal) due to these hard economic times. Sure a card is small, but it lets them know they are not forgotten about... that someone cares and the true gift is not material objects but the relationships we share.
Our holiday party! Children don't have recess so it's nice to see them relax after working so hard.
My favorite classroom tradition is involving my students in a Winter Warmers drive. My students donate gloves and scarves to the needy. Isn't that what Christmas is all about.
Reading (and later, watching) The Polar Express, and making gingerbread with my students. Another favorite is helping the children make Christmas gifts for their parents - they love being able to give something they were almost 100% responsible for creating!
~Heather S.
Bedias, TX
Reading The Polar Express in our pjs.
Putting up my tree in the classroom and having the students to bring a special ornament for the tree.
I now work online for a university; however, my all time favorite thing was teaching Christmas around the World. Along with teaching about Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Las Posadas, and the various commercial aspects of Christmas. I also got to teach about the Nativity and Jesus. In this way I got to share the meaning of Christmas with the children while also trying to teach them to have an understanding of different cultures and that people have different beliefs.
I work in a public school so we honor all relegions but we are writing to soldiers to send them some holiday cheer.
I love to read my class the Polar Express, drink homemade hot chocolate, watch the movie, and make Christmas ornaments with my students.
I love celebrating "Holidays Around the World" with my Kindergarteners! The have such a great time learning about others customs and counties, but I think their favorite part is having their own passport! Happy Holidays to everyone!! :)
My favorite tradition of the holidays is sharing the many ways the holidays are celebrated. The students enjoy making crafts, playing games, and learning about the different ways the holidays are celebrated. Audrey, St. Petersburg, FL
I really enjoy all the Christmas crafts that make our room look so festive this time of year. Happy Holidays! by Barb W.
I enjoy doing the Polar Express. There is so much for my class to do with it. I have pre-k and the object is to promote conversation and be creative. We do a bulletin board of the Polar Express and the children find what they would like as the first wish of Chirstmas. When reading the story I have a bell I ring and ask if they can hear it. It is hidden somewhere in the room. We have lots of fun with it.
Mimi, New York
Giving surprise gifts to needy students. by Helen P.
In December each year, our 5th graders earn money by doing jobs around the house or personally donating their own money for needy children within our school district. After the money is raised, we take a trip to Target and purchase gifts for kids of need. Many parents come to help out and deliver the gifts to our area community outreach program. This really reinforces the need to help others that are less fortunate. Kay VR
Making holiday gifts for students to bring home to their families. I love it when the kids feel so proud of their hard work and can barely stand waiting to bring home something special they've made for moms and dads. Karen, Bflo, NY
Learning the true meaning of each holiday!
I teach students with special needs such as autism, language impairments, and orthopedic impairments. A large part of our curriculum is working on developing social thinking skills. At the hoildays, the kids have such an opportunity to develop socially as they explore and experience all of their favorite holiday traditions. They have the opportunity to think about why we give gifts to others, why we sing familiar songs each year, why we have favorite holiday meals. This is a time of great joy in our classroom community.
I teach functional living students - those with severe disabilities. No matter the disability or mental level, the holidays bring out the innocent child, you can't put a price on it.
My preschoolers love to make Christmas ornaments and hang them on the Christmas tree themselves.
by Alisha S.
Oklahoma City, OK
holiday coat mitten shoe drive
Inviting all the parents of my students to come in and make gingerbread houses with their children.
by Kris M.
Lancaster, NY
In the hallways of my school are christmas trees that students decorate with hand-made ornaments. Junior high's Christmas tree theme this year is diversity. Each homeroom chose a different country to research the traditions and create a Christmas decoration used in that country.
We have an angel tree for our students and families in need. Nicole N. York County, VA
We always perform one of the best Christmas pieces (String Orchestra).
We always make Gumdrop Trees and gingerbread houses! The kids love them.
In kindergarten, we celebrate Holidays Around the World. Each student gets a "passport" and travels to every kindergarten classroom to find a new country and a person (teacher) dressed up in traditional costume and learn about the holiday celebrated there. In Sweden, they may sample cinnamon buns. In Mexico, they could get to take a swing at the pinata. Every country visited results in a new stamp in their passports. It's exhausting, but a highlight of the month. (Not to mention, as a world traveler, I love introducing them to the fun of other cultures!)
Writing a poem based off of "Knoxville, Tennesse" by Nikki Giovanni is my favorite activity. Instead of using summer as the basis, we use winter or winter holidays.
We discuss the character trait of "caring" and how we can show people we care for them in different ways.
by Melinda
Trying to focus on the real reason for celebrating Christmas - the birth of Jesus Christ, my savior.
Every year my 4th grade students enjoy writing 5 point paragraph letters to Santa. Instead of focusing on themselves, they are to ask for one thing for themselves, something for someone else, and something for the world. I'm always amazed at how thoughtful they are in their letters.
by Jana Brandon
My 8th grade class traditionally does a unit on "commercialism" in December. They each research the quality and marketing behind one "must-have" item of the season. They then write an essay on whether or not they'd spend their OWN money on the item. It opens a lot of eyes, and changes a lot of Santa lists!!
My sixth grade class puts on a play to celebrate the season. This year we are putting on The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. It is a great way to introduce them to drama. by Shelli M
Creating our own holiday!
How to Celebrating with low calorie foods???
Making "Grinch" masks!
Making gingerbread houses with graham crackers, frosting, and all sorts of yummy candies!!
Having my class create final exam study break treat bags for other students. The bags include candy, healthy snacks, hot chocolate packets, highlighters, pencils, etc.
Making presents for parents/grandparents. Last year my students learned how to sew and they made pillow snowmen.
Secret Santa
Doing Kindergarten handprints on oranaments making each finger a snowman. The parents always love the special poem and it can be kept forever.
Kristie S.
My 7th grade English class will do a research paper. They must research different cultures. Next, they will write a composition about how the cultures celebrate Christmas or the month of December. Students are allowed to bring different items that are important to the cultures. These items can be presented to the class along with their research papers.
I always ask my students to write a memoir about a special person in their life. We talk about being very specific about what the person does that makes them feel special--the little things----we then print them on pretty paper and tie a ribbon around them to give a s a present. Its amamzing when the kids (7th graders) realize how precious their words are tot eh peopel they love. Priceless!!
We have a giving tree outside our hallway. The students bring mittens, gloves, socks or scarves and hang them on the tree. Then we will give the items to a shelter that can disburse them to children in need of warm items this season.
by Robert
My class will be collecting coins during the month of December to donate to the Heiffer Project. I am teaching my students the joy of giving.
Suzanne
I like to watch the kids decorate and make gingerbread houses. Very fun and creative.
I love cooking all the ethnic dishes for Hannukka and Christmas.The family is big but it is so much fun to be together and eating the favorites from all the past dinners.
My class writes stories for family members as gifts. We make the binding, illustrations pop-out, and go through the writing process making sure our gifts are something truly special.
My class of middle school students has sent a fresh tree to a military family for the past 2 years through the Christmas Spirit Foundation. They also email holiday wishes to military patrons serving overseas. They have the opportunity to feel the warmth of giving during Christmas.
by Rhonda M.
Recognizing and celebrating the importance of the many different ways that families appreciate each other during this season of the "festival of lights".
Children decorating a classroom christmas tree and recognizing the true meaning of christmas not just about toys r' us :)
Our school wide Holiday Fair. Each classroom makes their own craft to sell. We also have craft vendors. We have a cake walk. There is a huge raffle table of themed baskets. The holiday tunes are blaring. There are decorations everywhere. And of course a visit from good ole St. Nick!
I enjoy having my students discuss their family holiday traditions. Every child feels important.
Donating to the Heifer organization. Our students are so excited to raise money and help families in need!
My class enjoys creating ornaments for a local nursing home.
by, Jessica M.
Each of our school's families is asked to contribute a family tradition and share it with the class.
cynthialora
To share the customs of Christmas Around the World with the kids. We invite guest speakers and the kids learn that the American traditions are really come from other countries.
I am a High School Counselor and I run a Grief Support group for students who have lost a loved one - parent, sibling, grandparent. Holiday time can be very difficult for teens and we discuss family traditions and how they will be continued even though their loved ones are no longer here to share with them.
I love reading the classic story Gift of the Maji by O. Henry. It is the true spirit of the season and always brings a tear to my eye and smile to my lips.
We always read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. The kids love doing fun activities about the Herdman kids. We also do a family project where students can create a new suit for Santa. They work with their family to come up with a new outifit that reflects their families interests and hobbies.
We learn about religions around the world and their special traditions. Jenny H.
I work with Emotionally Disturbed kids. My students are among the neglected and abused children so Christmas is a very traumatic and painful time for them since they are away from their families and loved ones. I try to keep them calm and get them focused on other things such as creating our own circle of friends in the class and give each other little gifts they can make themselves.
My kids and I, each class, adopt an angel within our district.
Doing something special with my class that they have never done before. I teach in an inner city junior high school, and this year my eighth grade students asked if we could make gingerbread houses. So, usually, it is anything they would like to do.
By Amy A.
We are putting on a play that is reflective of all cultures and seasonal holidays!
We are providing gifts for thirty children through our local Salvation Army.
Carol H
Reading The Polar Express in our jammies, sipping hot chocolate, and finding special "bells" from Santa.
I use this time of year to create opportunities for charitable giving. It doesn't matter what your family traditions are or to whom you give thanks...we can all give back to our community and to less fortunate people around the world.
We read the Polar Express book and watch the movie. Then we do a Venn diagram comparing the two.
Celebration of Lights Around the world (what other children are doing this time of year) and then making candles for our families.
I work in a Catholic school and we make birth announcements for Jesus.
Margaret P.
I have each of my students present what Christmas is like in another country. We also learn how different Christmas songs from other countries. This is a lot of fun for the students!
All the classes at our Lutheran school support a family of children every Christmas through our local community partnership organization called Season of Hope. We collect money and travel to a local store to purchase gifts for our families. Since our entire school does it, it is very meaningful and really supports our community needs.
Since we homeschool our favorite tradition is having reading time by the fireplace where we get books from topics we are studying and also Christmas stories and read to each other while having a snack
I love to decorate the classroom, make the presents for the families, and prepare the kids for our winter program presentation..
I work in a Christian Preschool and love teaching about the true meaning of Christmas!
I have students prepare a presentation on their family traditions during the holiday season.
Karen M.
My students (high school seniors) make ornaments of their top choice college to go on a class tree.
I love reading The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett and decorating our own gingerbread babies!
Starting after Thanksgiving, my second grade class does the traditional decorating and singing; we read the Grinch and "Merry Un-Christmas"--the classics, which get us in the holiday spirit. But it is the next week, when we begin "Packing a Bag for the Holidays". Each child decorates a paper bag and each time that child does something kind, helpful, or responsible, he or she writes it down on a slip of colored paper and puts it inside his/her bag. On Christmas Eve, the kids leave these bags full of their good deeds for Santa instead of milk and cookies!
Lora B.
Reading Christmas stories!
by Natalie P.
I teach my children about Hanakkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas. If other students celebrate other holidays we incorporate them too. We make Holiday ornaments, menorahs, and Kwanzaa placemats. It promotes tolerance and understanding of others.
Teaching my preschoolers the real meaning of Christmas by reading the story of the first Chrismas and preparing our own gifts for our friends and families.
I teach HS - and with my younger HSers, we read and discuss "The Gift of the Magi," followed by a candy cane exchange. With my older group, I get various types fo Christmas candy and surprise them with it on the last day of school.
Helena L-B
I am a first year Kindergarten teacher and my favorite tradition I have started is making silver bell ornaments with their pictures on them. I made one when I was in Kindergarten many years ago, so I brought that in to share with them. My mom still hangs mine on the tree this is one of my memories from Kindergarten that I am passing on to them.
Learning about Christamas around the world. La Befana visits children in Italy and Pierre Noel brings gifts to children in France.
Wendy P.
We like to bake cookies and treat the nursing home residents with sweet treats while we are caroling.
My students enjoy signing one of the 12 days of Christmas song each time the clock sings each hour!
During the Christmas season I love to get an "Angel" off of the "Angel Tree" in the mall, collect money from my students and buy a gift for a needy child. We do this instead of exchanging gifts in the classroom. The children are very giving and some years we have had enough money for more than one "Angel"!
by Mary C.
Every year, we find a local organization in need of either, food, clothing, toys or just warm mittens and blankets, and we decorate a big box and have the children and teachers donate. We have even made a personal visit to a nursing home, to deliver all of the warm socks, mittens and blankets that they needed and took pictures of the visit!
My students like to research the Christmas customs of other countries.
Dian W
My students like to reasearch the Christmas customs of other countries.
Dian Warren
We love to read How the Grinch Stole Christmas and discuss the lessons learned. Then the children decorate tiny gift boxes and write the name of a priceless gift inside (such as love, mom, dad, family, etc.) and I put them on a bulletin board under a tree.
Cathryn H.
I love focusing on kindness and making holiday cards for others. I also love teaching caring classmates "secret Santa" where we write kind things to each other and give clues to figure out who has each other as a "caring classmate".
I like to encorporate creative writing over the holiday season. I have my students complete a writing piece called "If I were a gift..." They choose a gift they would want to be, tell who and why they would give the gift to. They explain how the gift would be packaged. The writing is actually in a gift. They decorate and we make a bulletin board. The students enjoy this piece.
by Heather S.
Writing "persuasive" letters to Santa.
Homeroom secret santa
We love to do traditions around the world while reading Horrible Harry. :)
My students make cards for our servicemen and women to send overseas, hoping to make their Christmas away from their families a bit brighter. We make boxes filled with items we think would make good gifts for them from our class to let them know how much we appreciate what they are doing for all of us.
by Donna S.
volunteering for habitat for humanity every winter break
Making felt Christmas stockings for the kids at the Gateway Homeless Shelter in StL.
Cathy B.
The annual food drive around Christmastime is always a great event to get the kids in the "giving" mood. The kids take on a sense of pride, accomplishment and responsibility knowing they are really making a difference in the lives of needy families.
I love reviewing the past semester with students and have them take a final. Crazy, yes, but they really get to see jsut how much they have grown in a few months, and when we return in January they have great data to reflect on and set a path for second semester.
Reading Christmas Stories.
I am happy to have such wonderful students.
i love reading holiday stories and drinking hot cocoa with my class
Singing Christmas songs and sharing what each childs traditions are during the holidays!
I love to read several versions of The Gingerbread Man and compare and contrast them. Of course, the students love reading along with "run, run, as fast as you can". We look for the gingerbread man around the school and then finish up the unit by baking our own gingerbread man!
Lynne C.
Damascus, MD
I love our Christmas show! It's a great time to build community with our parents and students as well as celebrate the reason for the season...Jesus!
In my preschool-k class, we love a great scavenger hunt. Before the
children arrive, I hide all the pieces to our manger scene. The children
love to find them and place them in the manger as I read the story of Christ's birth.
I always give my girls a holiday breakfast with pastries, hot chocolate and hot cider. I also give them a little token from me during this time. by Chris
I am a librarian and we have been enjoying a month of poetry! First, they will create and decorate their own poetry journals. Next, they will write a variety of poems using different poetry formats realting to the upcoming holiday. And finally, some of the students will share their "works" at out annual Winter Family Reading Night!
by Stacey Lane
We collect food for the needy and donate it to a senior citizen center.
by RL
Writing letters to the troops overseas to let them know how much we appreciate all that they do for our country.
this is fantastic i am a teacher, and i love children
the handmade gifts my inner city students give me
making chocolate covered pretzels with my students for their families
-Nikki
I love loft . brand image will make me look more friendly to my students
My class loves visiting a local adult care center, and singing Christmas carols with the seniors. by Annie R.
I wanna give Christmas spirit to my students
by Anna L.
I'm a preschool teacher and we make our own ornaments. We make christmas trees and the star of david ornaments and hang them around the classroom. We also do a holiday concert for the grown-ups where we sing Frosty the Snowman and other fun holiday songs.
Creating a class book about my students favorite Christmas and/or winter traditions. It's fun to hear about all their memory-making happenings. I also like having the students make ornaments for their tree.
We read Gift of the Magi and then we discuss the best gifts that the students have received and the best gift that the students have given.
I create a large Christmas tree by giving each student a small sized paper plate, and they decorate it with one symbol that reminds them of Christmas. I then make a bulletin board with their plates in a Christmas tree shape. (I make a tree trunk out of brown construction paper). I love to see how it turns out each year!
We exchange ideas about Christmas traditions.
Since so many of my students are from different background we celebrate their culture by reading books on how each country celebrates Christmas.
My favorite classroom tradition is doing lesson plan on The Polar Express
What do you do when your students ask you to the Winter Formal or the prom????
My kindergartners decorate, then hand sew stockings with real needles!
My Kidergarten class always goes to the local nursing home to sing carols.
We write a letter to a special someone granting them one wish of something that cant be purchased.
by K.Lacey
The elementary school next door usually sends us letters to Santa from the students and we respond to their letters. My middle schoolers love it.
I decorate a tree with origami ornaments made of holiday wrapping paper.
My favorite classroom holiday tradition is decorating the Christmas tree with handmade oraments. The students write letters to send to Sants and we submit them to our newspaper. It seems to get everyone in the holiday spirit.
As a music teacher, I love singing songs from all over the world. This is especially true during the holidays; it's my way of teaching children to connect with different cultures during this special time of peace and harmony.
Bringing in Christmas candy for my college students--a welcome gift the week before finals!
Adopting a family and making their xmas wishes come true.
I enjoy reading "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" with my students. They get a kick out of just how awful the Herdmans are and just how much they change by the end of the story!
I enjoy supervising dental students who are finalizing their patients treatment before the holidays - grandparents who finally get their dentures is my personal favorite :)
StuCo adopting a child from the Angel Tree
I love having the students sing songs. Music always brightens the holidays!
love doing Christmas math.
My favorite thing to do is make a yearly calendar of each child's handprints to give to the parents!!!
M.F.
I work with my students every year on holiday math problems!
My tradtition is to create a warm and cozy environment. We light candles, butter bread and read Little House on the Prarie. It is a very special time. We also find out how every other part of the world celebrates.
Playing (and singing) Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas cd while my children are coming in to class during the morning.
Creating tessellations while listening to holiday music.
By Jen K
Our school is very diverse, so in order to get the parents involved, we ask what holiday food or tradition they have and would they come in and share with our class or grade level.
Deanne, Memphis, TN.
I work with 8th graders. At this age, it is important to teach "kindness" as part of the spirit of giving at this time of year. I enjoy working with Random Acts of Kindness...We choose a random act of kindness and all my students participate. This season's RAK was very successful and our local food bank for the needy received enough money to prepare 1,300 meals. My students learned the true meaning of giving.
by Janie R.
giving time and teaching the kids about being kind to others
teaching kids about giving to others
Reading the Polar Express or The Grinch Who Stole Christmas to at risk teens.
by karen s.
Creating origami weaths.
Having children in our class from many ethnic backgrounds, we spend a week going over a variety of their traditions. We dedicate a day to a different country and its traditions. We have family members come into the class and share their stories. Our days' activities will include foods(some prepared by the children), songs, stories,art projects etc., introducing the children to traditions around the world. It is a wonderful way for all to share they way they celebrate the holiday season.
I collect toy store catalogs and sale flyers from stores that sell toys and gifts. I give each student a blank booklet that I have made for them and a set amount of money for them to "shop" with. (This makes for a great lesson on the economy and a way to teach students the value of a dollar.) The students are asked to make a "Wish Book". I have the students either cut out a picture of each toy, game, or gift that they would like to purchase or draw a picture of it. They must include the store's name, price, and who the item is for. I show them how to keep a running total so they know when they are reaching their budgetary limit. This is great for math practice. After the holidays it's fun to look back and see what they received that was on their wish list.
By Janet M. in Miami, Florida.
creating the largest pile of our annual food drive canned goods in our district beneath our beautiful holiday tree..each year!
In the high school setting, we have students create Tri-fold Brouchers to convince Santa of all the good things that they did this year and what their big Christmas wish is.
Reading Polar Express and having hot cocoa (fat free)!
I teach third grade and we make Christmas cards to send to our troops who are at war fighting for our country. I love to read the sweet christmas letters that my students write to the soldiers!
by Suzanne C.
Singing popular Christmas carols in foreign languages.
By: Susie
Using technology we make a cookbook for our students to give as a gift at Christmas.
by Robin B.
I teach high school reading. In the two weeks prior to winter break my students have Drop Everything and Read time or DEAR. The goal is to finish a book. Now that's a holiday treat.
Being a Spanish teacher, my favorite thing is to teach students about all of the different traditions other Spanish speaking countries have. I assign groups and then give them a country. We then go to the computer lab and they research and create a presentation to share with the entire class. This is also a great opportunity for them to have a food day where they can bring in a dish from that country.
I teach preschoolers and its so exciting when they come up and read word books
Collecting food for food bank
Performing in the Holiday Show
I teach high schoolers, so we usually have a Christmas breakfast party the last week of school in Dec.
Ritu
wonderful winter ice land
We actually have a school wide Holiday Event each year. Our student chorus (students in Grades 2-5) sing before their families. After the performance there is a pot luck type of dinner. This is a way that our school provides holiday cheer while at the same time we are able to bring more parents into our school. Thus, uniting the school and the community. by Ann C
We always have a breakfast on the last day before Christmas break. I make my breakfast before and always have to write and copy the recipe. Each student signs up to bring in something and we have a big pot luck breakfast.
Making homemade ornaments with my students. It is very exciting to see their expressions as we string popcorn and make cinnamon ornaments!
by April W
Gift of the Maji....always a wonderful experience for everyone!
Mary B.
My students create a beautiful calendar for their families. The calendar is divided into the four seasons. The children write a different poem and picture for each season. We used techniques such as watercolors and Image Making. They are a big hit!!
by Holly
My students create their own "Who from Whoville" and write about what Christmas means to them.
Having a light the lights theme, where all the students can share their holiday traditions in a holiday report
I enjoy every aspect of the holiday season. However, I'd have to say that my most enjoyable is teaching my students about the different holiday traditions. I have the students do research on the different types of celebrations, and we make the different types of symbols that represent those holidays. I also have parents come in to give a presentation on the holiday that they observe.
Having Secret Santa in the classroom. The students really get into the spirit of giving.
My students run a Toys for Tots campaign every holiday season. They make it a competition between the homrooms for donations of change. Then they take the money they collected and buy the toys to donate to local charities.
Teaching the students how to make homemade gifts. It reminds them it is the thought behind the gift, not the price tag that lets someone know they are special.
What I enjoy most is teaching students about christmas around the world. I like for the students to compare their celebrations to others around the world. Most importantly, I like for them to realize how blessed and special they are.
by R. Anderson
Our Giving Tree - decorating a tree with hats, scarves and mittens to be donated to a local shelter.
This year (it was our first), the students decided to select a recipient from the Giving Tree at our local shopping mall. What I enjoyed most out of this service learning project was how we could link the play "A Christmas Carole" that we had just seen to their lives. We talked about how much others have done for them and how much/little they have done for others. From there they wrote down their "giving" and "receiving" in the past and present and throughout the year we will fill in the "future" with things that they will do or have received. Seeing their feelings of true "empathy" emerge was a touching moment for me.
teaching my students how to sponge paint a showman. I teach second grade
teaching is a truly wonderful experience!
Celebrating multicultural holidays.
Linda KL
Picking out a holiday art project and putting in some holiday music. It takes a couple of hours to complete a project so I explain to my students how we are taking a break from the academic routine to focus on an art project that is meaningful and fun. This year we made Christmas mobiles. I took 2 one foot sticks/branches from Ecualyptus trees (fallen) and twined them together and basically used the design from McCall's Christmas mobile (google). My 5th graders are SO proud of their art project. :)
Putting on holiday music and doing a holiday craft project!
Taking pictures of our students wearing a Santa Hat and looking over Santa' s list to put in picture frames for the parents gifts.
Having the kids write letters to Santa, then typing them on the North Pole website and getting an instant response from Santa. My first graders love it!
We have a Polar Express Day in kindergarten where we all dress in our pajamas, read the story and have hot chocolate.
Kristie L
I like to do a project celebrating all the winter holidays around the world. My students would wear costumes or bring in special foods. It was a great project to teach History and Geography. The kids loved it.
anyone know how you get the discount when you check out?
I teach in a child development laboratory, and every year the high school students and I go on a gingerbread man hunt with the preschoolers after reading "The Gingerbread Man" book. The children love looking for the gingerbread man who magically disappeared from our oven, and the school loves becoming involved with our search.
by Lisa K.
Our students love to work with our new SmartBoards. Interacting gets them physically involved. On behalf of one of our students who was absent we once wrote a letter to Santa Claus (from her). She was pleasantly surprised to see her response from Santa upon her return.
Each holiday season, my first graders attend the performance of The Adventures of Rudolph. They are thrilled about the bus ride to the city, the magnificent Civic Center with comfy seats, stagelights, curtains, stage and artistic scenery. It is exciting to watch their eyes light up and to later listen to them share their favorite part. The students then write and illustrate the best of the performance for display in the school halls.
by Gail O.
uuuuuuuuuuuu
This year we will be learning about how pioneers celebrated Christmas in the past.
I teach art. One of my favorite projects is to let them draw what they think the North Pole looks like. They are so quiet while doing it, and I can hear their little wheels turning.
I like to have students bring in their loose change for the month of December, then we count it and decide on which charity we'll donate it it. Students will choose a charity that they love, then present reasons that theirs is the one that should be chosen. The class votes, and I send in the donation under our classroom's name.
My 4th grade class reads The NIght Tree by Eve Bunting, then make bird feeders and string popcorn to decorate a tree outside with our Kindergarten reading buddies.
In order to keep the Arts in our school, I have coordinated an after school Visual & Performing Arts club with five other teachers for elementary school (K-6). The Board did not approve any funding for visual arts supplies, costumes, props, etc. We are hoping to raise money to cover these costs and to bring in guest artists to work with the students in the fields of visual arts, dance, music, and theatre. The club hopes to be performing in a culminating project in June 2009. Kylee, Long Beach, CA
We do a Gingerbread Man unit in kindergarten. The kids make maps and participate in a gingerbread baby scavenger hunt, we make gingerbread scented play dough, we decorate cookies, we graph our favorite version of the gingerbread man. It is so much fun!
We make candy houses, put a Christmas tree up in the classroom, decorate our door, and exchange presents.
Love having my students take a scene from A Christmas Carol by Dickens and present a summary in some other form ie. a rap, a song, a talk show etc. Norma S
The annual Christmas Programs are a tradition at our school.
I am a high school guidance counselor and we get involved with the Student Government and donating food basket to needy families in school our district.
my favorite Christmas event is celebrating the gift giving party in my classroom. Students exchange gifts with each other and students singing Christmas carols.
Teaching about LOVE & GIVING
Decorating my door with the title "My Reason for the Season." I let them pick out one of my Christmas cards from last year that shows their reason for the season. They then write a few lines and I put it on the door. Several pick Baby Jesus and since they picked it, I can post it on my door.
This is my first year teaching and we did Christmas around the world. All the kids made suitcases and had passports and traveled to different classrooms to learn how other cultures celebrate the holidays.
This is my first year teaching and we did Christmas around the world. Each child made a suitcase and passport and traveled to different classrooms to learn about how other cultures celebrate the holidays.
by Melissa M.
This is my first Christmas in the classroom, so I am still developing some traditions...so far, we've decorated ornaments and discussed what Christmas means to each of us.
Putting a shoe outside of the classroom door in hopes that St. Nicholas will come with his reindeer.
by Maureen T.
Putting a shoe outside of the clasroom door in hopes that St Nicholas will come with his reindeer.
by Maureen T
Hicksville,NY
On the last day before vacation we each bring a pre-determined ingredient to make a Christmas breakfast. We plan a menu, divide up ingredients, and spend time cooking, decorating the tables, and then feasting together. My students are grades 7-10, and look forward to sharing this time every year!
I love teaching "A Christmas Carol" because it relates to social issues we are seeing today: poverty, oppression, charity, regret, and greed. We can relate it to our current economic crisis and how people are responding. Which people reacting by giving to the community and reaching out? And, alternately, which groups are becoming "Scrooges"? (It's not easy to get 8th graders to think outside the box) :-)
Making cards for missionaries around the globe...teaches geography and the act of helping others...
We always do a unit on holiday traditions around the world. Students then share their findings through a variety of methods. They may make a recipe, a craft, present a song, or a game specific to the area in which they found the tradition.
In kindergarten, we do a book exchange. The children bring in a book, wrapped and we draw numbers to swap books. A lot of my children don't have the money for books (even from the dollar store), so, some of my students bring in two or three!!!! They really love this.
I like to do a Me Unit or an author study.
Organizing a food drive or clothing donations for the less fortunate.
My fourth grade class is reading The Christmas Spurs by Bill Wallace. This story, about a fourth grade boy whose younger brother has leukemia, has spurred a lot of discussion in our class. As a holiday project, we are raising money to make a contribution to Saint Jude Children's Hospital.
Holiday related arts & crafts projects are exciting.
Listening to Christmas carols is fun.
I work in a very low economic neighborhood. I love to have the kids write to Santa (even if they don't believe). Then I have have Santa deliver a gift from their letter to them right before we go on break. You should see their eyes!
Making a Christmas chain to help the sudents countdown to the holidays
My class and I read the book The Best Christmas Ever. We learn about accepting others,how to get along with difficult classmates,social skills,economy,giving,a person's privacy. Each year the list changes because my students changes. It is very interesting the conversations that I have with my students. I learn a lot from them and the situations that are in their lives present and past.
by Nadine
We look at how different cultures celebrate the use of light during the darkest time of the year. We read picture books and discuss the following celebrations of light--Solstice, Kwanzaa, Diwali, Hanukkah, Los Posadas, and Christmas.
graphing winter and christmas presents to review the coordinate system
My students wrote letters to Santa and were so surprised to receive letter back.
by Sue C.
Reading Gingerbread books.
We take our ninth grade level one World Language students Christmas caroling at our elementary schools.
It was painting wooden Christmas trees that my dad would cut out for each student, my dad died 10 years ago and it is still something that I think about during this holiday season . It started when my son did this when he was in school and his wooden tree he made, remains a very special part of my Christmas decorations 20 years later.
My favorite holiday tradition with my class was painting small wooden Christmas trees that my dad cut out for each student, I did this until the death of my dad ten years ago. Ths tradition started when my son can home from school with a painted wooded Christmas. That Christmas tree still remains a special part of my Christmas decorations.
Gale W.
I teach high school physics, and I don't really have any traditions yet for the holidays. This is only my third year. I think I might look up the santa physics information for this week. Any ideas for physics? I teach AP, Honors, and General (Conceptual).
I would read the Polar Express to my students during the holidays. At the end of the story, I take out my hidden bell and ring it for the students to always believe in the magic of Christmas. My students would sit on the floor and enjoy every moment of the story as if they had never heard it before.
Arlene P.
Taking my students into the community to purchase gifts for others.
My favorite classroom tradition is making snowman ornaments using the students' handprints for the parents. They have a little poem attached and always bring a tear to the parents' eyes. I also LOVE our Christmas program!
I've always loved having my students create a gift for their parents. Most recently they have made a foam-board Christmas tree
with their adorable picture in the center!
I've always enjoyed having my students make a presentation about their favorite holiday tradition. Sometimes their parents try to influence the topic the student chooses but when it is their own they are very engaging and meaningful We videotape them and send home a copy for everyone.
by jsmith
My favorite activity to do starts the day we come back from Thanksgiving. We turn off the light and light a candle on our Advent wreath and I read a different scripture with a message pointing to the Christ. The children love to listen and guess what the ornament looks like that goes with that particular reading. We take turns hanging the ornament on the tree. It is a joy to see the children excited about the first gift of Christmas (Jesus). They will let me know if we do not do it at the same time every day.
Brenda S.
I love to teach about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. I love Christmas and the message it brings every year and the kindness and the giving, but it's constantly in the kids' faces. I like to bring a little multiculturalism to the kids as we are in a very rural area with little diversity. These two holidays are ones which the children are rarely, if ever, exposed to, and many of their traditions are a lot of fun.
For Sunday school, teaching about the birth of Jesus Christ in the manger with the shepards.
In public school, it's nice when the students donate an unwrapped toy for an organization, like, "Toys for Tots!"
by Melissa D.
My school always chooses a charity to support during the holiday season. I offer extra credit to students who bring in canned goods, toys for tots, warm coats, etc. Many students bring in more than necessary to earn the extra credit, which makes me believe that they're helping out others not just for the grade but because they care about those less fortunate.
I run a Community Service Club called Helping Hands. After 4 years, we boast 150+ members in our high school. From Earth Day, to Relay for Life, Make-a-Wish, to MLK Day of Service, each month our club participates in fundraisers and good works. Our 9th-12th grade students volunteer at hospice, the local animal shelter, cleaning and decorating our downtown, and so much more. I work with the most amazing pople on the planet!
A "Giving Tree" is a great way to help out the community and would be fun for the students and families to give!
Pullman, WA
by Chris
I work in a school where my students yearn for presents under their own Christmas trees. Each year, I invest atleast $200 in purchasing clothes, games, "authentic letters from Santa", filled stockings, shoes, gloves, and hats, and whatever my students say they need through unprompted conversations with them. Not only would I love my students to get the things they need to keep themselves safe and warm, but I would love to have the opportunity to teach them how to give.
My favorite thing to do is rotate the classes with the rest of my team and do a read aloud with one of our favorite holiday books. Then we have activities for the kids to do. We have been doing this for 3 years and every year the kids look forward to going to a new room to see what they will be doing. We have made hot chocolate with Polar Express, reindeer food with The Wild Christmas Reindeer, and written our own "Night Before Christmas".
I had my kids write letters to santa. Then I sent them home for the parents to write a letter back. Over Christmas break I am going to send them each a letter from the "north pole" according to the letter the parents return to school.
My favorite holiday activity is helping students make ornaments and stockings for Santa. The students get a kick out of making gifts for their parents and friends.
Being an ESL teacher I love learning about all of the different traditions of my students.
My favorite classroom project is to look into the family background and have students' interview family members about how they celebrated holidays in thepast. Each student writes the interview out, brings a picture of the person they have interviewed and writes a background piece on that person. We create a living timeline based on what we have learned which can then be used to connect students to history in stories we read or historical events we study throughout the rest of the year. We all learn a great deal about each other.
Making Christmas gifts for children in need and singing Xmas carols in different languages.
by Sunitha T
Talking to the students about the less-fortunate in our community and what we can do to help make their holiday season better. Collecting food for the food bank by challenging all the homerooms.
by
Joan B.
My community college strongly supports service learning projects. I teach a class that requires my students to volunteer in their communities. This is especially nice during the holiday season, but help is needed all year for so many people. It is not a difficult thing to give of yourself and see direct benefits.
Ann W.
Making Christmas cards with my special needs children...with all the glue and glitter.
Then, seeing their shiny and proud faces.
Kathy S
Having students make Christmas Cards for their parents.
Having older student buddy read their favorite holiday story to younger students.
Peggy U.
Research!
by julia E
Having students make up creative holiday stories about Santa, reindeer, elves...etc...
Every year Stillman Elementary School in Tenafly,New Jersey has a Holiday Sing-a-Long in the school Gymn.Each grade,K-5 has a specially prepared song,many with instruments,that they perform in a huge 3 deep circle,The entire school sings about 7 or 8 songs(the piano being in the center of the circle).The children bring flashlights for light choreography to "Light up the World".A silver ball is lowered during a countdown for the New Year,and "Auld Lang Syne" is sung.The Twelve Days of Christmas is sung with large student created poster board pictures for each of the days-represented and sung by the 12 separate classes.There is no room for parents to attend so the students are entertaining each other and their teachers- sharing the holiday spirit of Hanukkah,Christmas,Kwanza,and Worldwide caring with those who share their weekday hours-during the entire year.It is extremely important to them and an exciting yearly event. Ann C
Making cinammon appleasauce ornaments! The room smells delicious ALL week!!
by Lauren J.
Singing Christmas carols!
Makin Magic Reindeer food with my 6th graders 2nd grade buddies.
secret buddies with the students in my office
Making ornaments with the students' handprint; and having parents tell me years later, that they still have the ornaments on their trees now that their children are nearly grown
By Cathy G
Making Christmas cards for people in the area nursing homes.by Patty Cummings
making ornaments for parents to remember for years to come and seeing the joy on my kindergarteners faces as we learn about Christmas
We make clay ornaments which harden and include a handprint or something unique to the child along with the date and year for our parents to remember and use as a keepsake.
by Mary K.
Having students make a 2009 calendar for a Christmas gift.
Adopting an animal for my holiday gift to my students. I divide the kids up into six groups, give each of them an animal and then they research and make a poster about the animal. Then the class votes on which one they want. This year it was a Pygmy Elephant:)
Have the students listen to classical music while writing.
Having my pre-schoolers make gift for their parents.
by Karen V.
writing cards for our troops in Iraq. Sending them a package also. the children talk about themselves.
by Annie K
Decorate cookies
This is my first year as a teacher and my students will be decorating the classroom.
Giving gifts to my students who really don't get a lot of special gifts because their families don't have the money. They are so grateful.
My favorite is making hot cocoa. I use a big crock pot and each child gets to empty their packet into the pot. Then we all sit around making ornaments and sipping cocoa. They love it!
My favorite holiday tradition is having our holiday party on the last day of school before winter break. The parents and students have a wonderful time together playing games, making crafts, decorating cookies, and listening to stories!
My students brought PJ's to wrap and donate to a local charity. We have a party with tamales and hot chocolate and wrap those pj's...the kids love it!
I am starting my pre-practicum in January and I am so excited!
Secret Santa!
I am starting my pre-practicum in January in Cambridge and I am very excited! I love doing charity events during the Christmas-time!
I love to watch the Polar Express and then give everyone a silver bell when it is over. The kids just love it.
Tracie B.
having my French students make French Christmas cards for the entire staff at our school.
Gari H.
Singing Feliz Navidad
As a Special-ed teacher teaching 1st-5th graders this year , my favorite classroom tradition is to read books on the theme of Christmas and to teach them the different ways people around the world celebrate Christmas!!! They love this!
We read The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie DePaola.
Melissa, Memphis, TN
My favorite tradition is reading at least 3 versions of The Gingerbread Man. This year I read two new versions, one from Jan Brett, Gingerbread Friends and one from Lisa Campbell Ernst, The Gingerbread Girl. I love it.
by Susan P.
Christmas math puzzles
My favorite holiday tradition putting on the Holiday show at our elementary school. The children do such a wonderful job singing, acting and playing instruments, and I get to shake the snow over them for the finale!
we read "The Road to Bethlehem" throughout the month a little at a time as we progress toward Christmas day.
Putting together the Holiday Kindergarten Performance with songs like Rudolph, Up on the House top and Drummer Boy always warms my heart during the Christmas season.
Doing our "Celebration Of Lights" unit. We learn about the major traditions related to seasonal holidays. We also make a class book and write about our own family traditions- then we invite our friends and families to come and hear us read our story. It's AWESOME!
by Melissa C
My students and I sing Christmas caroles at a local nursing home.
by Kathy R
My second grade class decorated gingerbread cookies after reading Gingerbread Baby written by Jan Brett. The next day they wrote descriptions of their unique gingerbread people to share.
by Jean N.
Constructing gingerbread houses!
Having the kids do a "secret santa" and a book exchange
Kids doing a secret santa and a book exchange
a
Christmas party
Christmas Party
I truly enjoy inviting parents to our class Christmas party where our preschool students perform a Christmas song number (with sign language actions) and give parents the supposedly Christmas cards they made for them. For 2nd graders, I love asking them to write a sort of New Year's resolution to Santa: telling him their bad habits and attitudes and what they intend to do to change those not-so-good behavior and attitudes. It's so amazing how they take it seriously.
I buy $1 frames at our local dollar store. We use the children's fingerprints to make Santa's sleigh, Santa's face, and a reindeer pulling the sleigh. A fine point Sharpie is used to add details to the prints. The child signs his/her piece of art along with the year as a lasting memory from first grade. The parents absolutely LOVE them and there is no drying time!
by Lauree H.
My students and I make Spanish Christmas ornaments and hang them on a tree that we create using classroom furniture and supplies. The students then vote on the most creative ornament, sing the Twelve Days of Christmas in Spanish and discuss the different cultural traditions that take place in hispanic world.
by Maria K.
Preparing Christmas cards for the elderly living in nursing homes.
I am a media specialist and my favorite Christmas activity is a collaboration with first grade teachers. Together we introduce Christmas in Mexico and recreate the "Las Posadas" procession and sing Jingle Bell in Spanish. I also enjoyed creating a classroom Jeopardy game for our professional development meeting on Dec. 19th. Dana H.
Having students share a tradition from their background and inviting them to share it with the class in writing as we decorate our room with their writings and pictures.
My fourth graders do a book exchange with each other. Every student brings in a wrapped book that they have enjoyed reading to trade for a "new" book. Then, each child feels like giving and receiving books are neat gifts.
by Diane W.
Preparing ornaments to hang around the school.
Cookie Challenge. Students work in groups to double triple and quadruple a cookie recipe.... if one group out of the class gets the math correct... we make and cook the recipe and go around to other classrooms to teach what they learned and share their success.
My favorite classroom tradition is having all the children get together to share how their families celebrate the holiday seasons. I work in an independent school where there is much diversity among the families. I think it is wonderful to allow the children to teach each other the different traditions among families during this time of year. Each child can bring in items, pictures, etc to talk about as well.
Having the students create a coupon book for their parents to redeem.
Math rocks!!!
math rocks
Every year right before our winter break, we watch the Polar Express. We have hot chocolate, eat cookies and while we are watching the movie, Santa is putting a bell in each student's coat pocket. The look on their faces is priceless when they reach into their pocket and pull out the first present of Christmas.
Music!
making edible Christmas decorations
Working with the special needs students, as a Paraprofessional Educator, really gives you a incredible view of Christmas .
The high school special needs students have an annual Snow Ball,
semi-formal dance. Seeing them all dressed up, dancing and laughing has got to be one of my favorite traditions.
AJ
On the last day of school before Christmas vacation I make my class breakfast every year. I bring in my waffle iron and make the students "class-made" waffles and bacon in my classroon microwave. The students look forward to this and then they receive a monogramed tree ornament from me.\by: ellen
My favorite tradition at this time of the year is to show a movie with a moral, love message. It helps students think of the true meaning of life.
I enjoy collecting donations of canned goods. My students always astound me with their spirit of giving.
Sharing Christmas traditions!
Prior to writing letters to Santa, I incorporate the social studies through lessons about Wants/Needs using literature and family projects. We discuss our basic needs and wants. This helps first grade students to differentiate between the two and also to think about things they need, not just want when writing letters to Santa.
Delilah
Each year I give my students pencils with each of their names printed on them. They are inexpensive and easy to order, but the kids just light up when they realize that they are personalized. I have had grown students come back to tell me that they still have them and never used them because they were so special.
My all time favorite story is the Polar Express. We come to school in our pajamas and slippers trying to take ourselves into the story. First, we read the story. Then at end of the story I pass out silver bells to each student that are hung on a red or green ribbon and let them ring it and see if they can hear the sweet sound. Then we make hot cocoa and decorate cookies. The last thing we do is finish with our 4th grade buddies by writing a letter to Santa.
Teaching children that the real gift of Christmas is Jesus!
I am a first year teacher, and I will be sure to make my students remember that the holiday season is not about receiving presents, nor is it only about Christmas. There are three holidays plus New Years, and I would be remiss of my duties if I simply assumed every child was Christian and that Hanukkah and Kwanzaa were not important.
Playing different types of Christmas music while we work. It's a way to expose them to arts, be festive, and it just makes you happy to hear.
Reminding students that this holiday season is a time of giving, no matter what religion you belong. That means thinking of others during the holidays, as there are plenty of people thinking of them.
I have always taught school in low socioeconomic areas. My favorite tradition is teaching students being with family and friends is the most important thing at Christmas.
This past year, instead of giving the children gifts that they expected, we went to the House of Mercy and gave gifts to families less fortunate than us. We gave the families gifts and had lunch with them. It was an amazing experience that gave all of us a different perspective on life and the meaning of Christmas.
Reminding students that the holiday season is a time of love and giving
xmas is the time to renew families.
I love having the kids decorate cookies with a SPECIAL PERSON...I feel it alllows all of use to slow down and enjoy the moment!!
I have taught at a very low income school for 12 years. I tell my kids that you don't need money to give a gift to others. We make gifts that are gifts of love and time. For example we make cards that say..." I will babysit my baby sister, so you can take a nap", "I will walk the dog everyday after school", "I will make you breakfast in bed".
by Marie D
Our school has a can the uniform school-wide drive to gather cans for a local food organization. Those students who bring in four cans, earn a dress-down day on a designated Friday. We use this time to focus on those who are less fortunate that we are.
Martha G.
Having students reflect on what they are thankful for and how blessed they are.
Susana H.
I really enjoy teaching the students about other traditions when we study holidays around the world. The class especialy like to try potato pancakes when we learn about Hanukkah. December is a very fun month.
Beth
Oxford, NC
Sharing holiday plans!
Learning about Diwali, Eid, Christmas, Hanukkah, Boxing Day, etc. Teaching the kids that although holidays have differerent names, mayn share similar trends and themes!
Because I teach world literature, I like to give my students cards that say "Happy Holidays" in different European languages, and then I tape a Euro-cent from the corresponding country to the card. The students love that they get a gift from a foreign country, and it also gives them an opportunity to experience something that they might otherwise never get to experience.
Coming up with something my young special education children can really take part in making as a gift for thier parents--not just the same old hand print wreath
Mary Mc
For the past 6 years I have been doing a Family Craft Night in December. We invite the whole school, purchase holiday crafts for the families to complete together. This year we changed it to a "Family Craft Night of Giving" we incorporated our craft night with collecting for "Toys for Tots", writing Christmas/Holiday cards for the troops, and collecting new backpacks filled with school supplies to give to a foster children intake center. Wow, what a wonderful night and what a great way to teach our students that giving is as much fun as receiving.
Anna C
making Christmas cards.
Holiday word BINGO
Helping the kids collect cans and dry goods for families who are less fortunate. It is wonderful to see the kids really pour their hearts into helping others.
Christmas grab bag! Students pick classmates names out of a bowl and bring a gift for that student the last day of school before winter break. They also make a Christmas card for that student and write one or more positive comments about that student. When the grab bag begins students receive their gifts as well as a card with a positive message.
by Norma G.D.
I love to talk about all the traditions of Kwanzaa, Hanukka, and Christmas. I have the children help me make a dish from each holiday to share with the class. We also love Reading the story of the Polar Express and watch the movie while eating cookies and drinking hot chocolate in our pj's. By Lisa D.
This year I tackled decorating cookies with my 6th graders. They looked quite messy in the end, but sure were tasty!
Snowman soup! It's not "Christmas" so everyone can participate. Hot chocolate, masrshmallows, a candy cane and a hershey kiss with a cute poem. The kids love decorating the bags for their special someone!
using the parachute to create a snowstorm with cottonballs
Reading The Little Drummer Boy and then making a drum ornament. It gets the kids talking about all the Christmas plays they are in at church and the real reason for the season!
by Jen W.
This year my homeroom students collected items for our troops. The joy and excitement seen in their eyes when they saw how much their efforts paid off was Christmas in itself! The kids loved it and realized the joy in helping others.
P Harris
Candy for the students during finals!
candy for the students during finals!
In preschool, we like to do a two week long unit about the Gingerbread Man. All of our learning center activities incorporate this theme. On the last day, the children get to decorate their own gingerbread cookie and we eat them for snack.
by Patty B.
I love to have my students write about their personal holiday favorite memories!
Learning about Christmas around the world
I send home good news notes on any accomplishments of my students and I read them aloud to the whole class. The kids and parents love them. Everyone is happy!
Teaching to be thankful for family and grateful for everything they already have.
Tracy D., Michigan
thanks
I like to talk to them about what it means to give. The season isn't always about receiving but it 's about giving. In these tough times children need to understand that the holidays are for sharing with their family and friends. You can have a wonderful time just being with the ones you love. Ingridw
This year, my classes made holiday cards for wounded soldiers. We spoke about why we were doing this and how happy the people would feel whenthey received the cards. I was so impressed by what many of the kids wrote and drew. It was nice for them to give something back.
This year my classes (K-2) made holiday greeting cards for wounded soldiers in VA hospitals. We began this activity by talking about why we were doing this and how it would make these people feel during the holidays. The students really enjoyed the activity and I was really impressed by their words and illustrations. It was a great way for them to give back this Christmas!
Antoinette S.
Cypress Woods Elem.
My school does Operation Christmas eash year.
thank you
We have a class celebration where we acknowledge all the December holidays. My students decorate stockings, make gingerbread men story books that we read to the preschoolers, we play Christmas bingo, make potato latkas, have a student gift exchange so each child gets at least one present, eat treats, and be all together joyous.
As a class we celebrate all the December holidays. I have the students trace their hands in green construction paper and create a tree, we decorate stockings and write wishes on them, we play Christmas bingo, make potato latkas and learn about the traditions of Hanukkah, have a gift exchange, eat sweet treats, and have an all around joyous time.
I teach freshmen. Every year we read the Capote story "A Christmas Memory" and then watch the movie. My students are humbled by the main characters' delight in simple gifts.
We collected over 400 gifts with our middle schoolers for MUST ministries.
We collected over 400 gifts for MUST Ministries with our middle schoolers and also did a can drive for the needy.
We celebrate diversity with a potluck brunch. Parents are very supportive and prepare cultural dishes for the students to sample.
by Kit Rodgers
We celebrate diversity by having a potluck brunch. Parents prepare cultural dishes for students to sample.
Kit Rodgers
In yearbook and newspaper, my students participate in secret santa. They love guessing who it was at the end and it is a great way for the kids to bond around a fun activity.
We always have a party with games and punch in the classroom. Also a winter program where the parents come and watch their kids perform hoilday songs with dancing!
Kris Bankson
making ornaments in handmade play-do!
We spend the month of December sharing our family holiday traditions. Each child brings in pictures, items and stories to share about a favorite family tradition with their classmates We also learn about different holiday celebrations around the world. The children really enjoyed learning about farolitos or luminarias this year. A tradition from Mexico. We live in Albuquerque, New Mexico and luminarias are something you see in many neighborhoods on Christmas Eve.
by Tonette Clark
I work in a middle school and enjpy finding out what students know about traditions from all cultures. We do a chart of what we know and what we would like to know and research all the possiblities
I am my school's student council advisor. The student council made holiday candy grams to sell to staff and students. The proceeds from the cards were donated to Watermelon Ranch an organization which cares for lost, stray or unwanted animals. We were overwhelmed by the interest in the cards. Many student council members made cards at home after our first day of sales. We had to extend the sales from 2 days to 4 days. We would probably have sold more except that we had a snow day on our 2nd day of sales!
by Tonette
decorating ornaments with bulletin board headline: "We're Having A Ball". We read untraditional holiday stories by great children's writers and share our holiday traditions. By: Terry M
I love to celebrate Christmas Around the world and study several countries and make a craft from each country.
By: Deanna W.
I love to have the kids share about how their families celebrate the holidays and think about what traditions they enjoy.
I enjoy creating a "Language to Literacy" chart using "The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey" and focusing on the reading strategy, "Inferring" during my Balanced Literacy lessons.
I help my students with special needs realize that although they might not necessarily "fit" into what the world calls "normal," they are still smart and have something to contribute. They share what they say is the spirit of giving and we try to participate by either making a small donation, helping someone with a project, etc.
Since I'm a music teacher at 6 elementary schools, my favorite tradition is getting all of my students together for the first time in the year. It creates such a wonderful sound, and the students love playing in a large group. I let some of the older students do solos or small ensembles and the parents love it. Weather it's holiday music, or happy birthday, it's about sharing music.
Making red and green paper chains and cutting out snowflakes to decorate the classroom with.
Having a Polar Express day before Christmas break!
Having each student write an essay on the Christmas tradition in their family.
Talking pictures of the students as they dress up as either santa (with santa hat and shaving cream for a beard) or one of his reindeer (reindeer ears and a red glittered nose) then decorating their picture for a "surprise" gift for their parents.
I play a clip from "It's a Wonderful Life" in my economics class.
The Winter Holiday assembly
Going caroling with students and presenting both in-school and out-of-school concerts with students.
We make coupon books for our parents as gifts. The students make four coupons:1 free hug, 1 free kiss, 1 angel for the day, 1 cleaning for the day. They make the coupon books using scrapbook materials.
S. Pierce
We let the kids bring in small amounts of money and go to the Christmas Shop and buy gifts for their parents. We wrap their purchases and then the kids have the oppurtunity to experience the joys of giving too.
Our private school is affiliated with a church, so we adopt a needy family from the church and the class room families buy gifts, food and gift cards to bless a family in need. It is rewarding to see that when we band together and each bring in what we can it makes a big difference in the life of a family in need. It also helps the children appreciate what they have.
A gingerbread man play
We do a unit on the Polar Express. Every child goes home with a bell to share with someone who must still believe!
We discuss how the best gifts are things that people put time and meaning into and they make special oranaments for family members and decorate bags.
Cathy
Each student brings a favorite family recipe which they have hand-written on a large card. The students tell something special about their recipe or read it, as they are able, to the class and tell why it is a favorite. We also identify the food groups in the recipe. We then make recipe books from the cards which I have duplicated for each student. They make a cover for the book, which I laminate, and we tie the books together with yarn making sure that each student's own recipe is the first one in his/her book. Each student wraps their own present for their family.
My favorite tradition is asking for gifts for the classroom. I ask parents for typical classroom supplies like tissues, crayons, glue sticks and pencils. I ask my parents to wrap these items. I draw names from a jar and everyone gets to open a classroom "gift." It's a fun way to increase your classroom supplies for the new year. You can't believe how excited a 1st grader is to open a box of tissues for the class!
My favorite holiday tradition is the Christmas Angel program. I work in a low socio- economic community and there were a lot of angels on the tree this year. It gets everyone into the giving spirit!
My favorite holiday tradition is teaching about different winter holidays celebrated in different parts of the world. . . some religious, and others not. We listen to stories, do an art project related to each holiday and use the globe to find where the holiday is primarily celebrated or where a tradition originated. The class then writes about each holiday and we talk about the similarities between them. It's amazing how much we all share in common! by Rose W.
I work in a low socio-economic area where most of my students' parents have not completed high school. Students and parents work together on learning goals for the new year, and we chart out how the goal can be reached. A student who would like to visit a museum devises creative ways to help the class raise the money for transportation, and helps to compose letters requesting financial help from businesses. A student looking for books for the classroom cooperatively works with other students to raise money through recycling or donations to purchase new or used books for student use.
I enjoy making ornaments with my preschoolers and letting them decorate our tree. We also love to bake and eat cookies!
I love watching the Christmas program that they all work so hard to prepare.
We watch old Christmas movies with our intermediate students. These are movies we know they most likely would never watch on their own. Seeing the joy and happiness on their faces is priceless, especially when most of them are not so sure about liking the movie in the first place!
Teaching my first graders to write "friendly letters" to Santa.
By Lisa B.
By December, my middle school Language Arts students are working on a persuasion unit. We watch "Miracle on 34th Street"...Were they persuaded by the attorneys that there really
is a Santa Clause?...They made a believer out of me!!
Teaching my children the 7 principles of Kwaanza
My eighth graders are always finishing a literature unit on Mood and Tone in December where we read two stories about wishes--"The Third Wish" and "The Monkey's Paw." We always follow the unit with "It's a Wonderful Life" (on the last day before break) to show another example of how getting your wish granted doesn't always make life better. However, most of them have never seen it, so it's a great way to send them off for the holidays and provide them with just a little hope during the season.
great!!!!
As a HS Business Teacher, my Business Honor Society prepares notes, using computers graphics, of Peace for our troops in overseas positions.
Nancy D
I can't wait to look good doing my job
I teach high school math. I have my students make Christmas ornaments that are math related. I call it our Chris-math Tree. I actually stole the idea from my high school math teacher, who was wonderful!
gingerbread houses
We do two days of Christmas crafts in kindergarten.
by Julie R.
Reading Christmas stories and making Christmas crafts
Completing Christmas crafts
making Christmas stockings and pine cone Christmas trees
A tradition we have is to create passports and celebrate the holidays around the world. As we visit each country I stamp each students passport as we learn about the customs and traditions of others who live in different countries.
I teach high school, we don't have any traditions! : )
Making a construction paper chain elf.
I teach middle school social studies. We do a pioneer celebration (no mention is made related to religious holiday) where we set up three stations to play pioneer games, make butter, and learn a dance.
by Bonnie W.
We share hot chocolate or hot apple cider together and talk.
Love the idea of a chis-math tree. Hope you do not mind if I steal it:)
I have taught 1st grade for 30 years. I love to read all of the different Gingerbread renditions and compare all of the story elements with the children. I tie in all of the curriculum requirements in all subjects with the Gingerbread stories for two weeks. The children absolutely love it!
I have been teaching first grade for 30 years. I love reading all of the Gingerbread renditions and comparing all of the story elements of the different stories. I tie in all of the curriculum requirements for all subjects to the Gingerbread stories for 2 weeks. The kids absolutely love it.
by Kathy P.
Crosby, Texas
Our school invites area merchants in to sell items at incredibly reduced prices for our students to purchase as Christmas gifts for family members. We call it the Jingle Bell Shoppe. Prices are from .25 - $5.00. The merchants are actually losing money on this because of the low prices and paying staff to man their booth. It's very kind of them, but they do it to help our children. 70% of our student body falls below the poverty level.
As an NYC middle school teacher, my classroom is a wealth of cultural experiences. I'm a Nigerian American, and my students are Senegalese, Dominican, Honduran, African American . . . to name a few. Every holiday, we celebrate family traditions, and students bring in a dish from their culture. It's a sensational day of sweet plantain, rice and beans, pastelitos, roasted chicken, spicy wings, cakes, pies . . . I love my job, primarily because of the wonderful families I'm able to work with on a daily basis.
There are nine fourth grade teachers at our school. We each take a country and celebrate Holidays Around the World. We print up passports for each of the students to take from country to country. The day is spent enjoying the ethnic foods, dance, art projects and customs of each of the visiting countries.
Our school uses our rec/gym during the holiday season to create large gingerbread house. The children love cutting up and decorating old large boxes to transform the gym into an extraordinary gingerbread house. This is a long on going project, where two other classes help build the house! by Mariel S.
I just started an event that I am sure to continue as a tradition. We had a polar express party. I printed tickets from the internet and gave each child their own personal ticktet to board the train. The kids brought in their favorite holiday mug and blanket. We watched the movie Polar Express and had hot cocoa with marshmellows. We all had a ball!
Taking photographs and making cards to give to the students parents as gifts.
We made passports for our students and then had them travel to 5 different countries to learn about their Christmas customs. The teachers changed classes, rather than the students. The students really enjoyed learning how different countries celebrate Christmas and enjoyed having different teachers share the information.
by Connie J.
Celebrate December Character Trait - Kindness and students work on a Community project.
creating memories,making it magical like it was meant for children to feel.remembering the less fortunate and reaching out to all of the children at this time everywhere.
Sharing personal holiday traditions and religions.
Writing Santa thank you letters.
by kat l.
I like to read my students the story of the pointsettia and then make pointsettia ornaments for their trees.
We write about Christmas, different topics and make an illustration about our writing. The last day of school before the Christmas vacation, we have a Christmas party and make different things through out the day like christmas trees, writing to a topic, etc.
I like to read The Wish to be a Christmas Tree to students. I then have students write about their Christmas wishes.
I teach 3rd grade. We do a research project w/partner about a holiday celebrated in another country.
Teaching the difference between Christmas and Hanukkah. Sharing the holidays.
Jamie H
researching holiday celebrations across the world and discovering the similarities across culutres
Katieanne
I teach preschool, and I make a yearly video of my class during the holidays as a gift. I love to see the reaction of the children and parents when they first see it!
Teaching about different cultural holidays celebrated around the world!
Making gingerbread houses
I love teaching my special needs students about all the different holidays from the different cultures, to help them respect each other and everyone around them. We all have different beliefs but we all have feelings and learn to understand and accept everyone for who they are.
Marge O.
I love when students share about their holiday traditions.
We adopt a child at a shelter. It is awesome to see Middle School students give at time when they only think about what they can get.
By Ms J.
making picture frame ornaments and calendars for their parents
I love to make cards with the kids. They always have something creative to say on the inside.
I love helping my students make presents for their family members. We really try to make four or five things, so the kids can give them to different members of the family.
by Arla L.
My students and I make our classroom to resemble a train car and read The Polar Express.
Every student writes one nice thing about each of their classmates. Then I type them up and print them out so each student has a list of all the nice things their classmates had to say about them.
I like to have students exchange gifts with each other. I ask the girls and boys to bring a gift for the opposite sex then on the day before vacation they get to give it to the student whose name comes out of a bag with their names accordingly. Of course I make sure that I have bought and wrapped extra gifts just in case. During the exchange we share treats and listen to holiday music. It's just fun time to enjoy!
by Aixa G
Readers are winners!
ck
I teach special education. It is alway a delight to see the snowmen that my student make each year. You would not believe how many different ways children can make a snowman and how different each one can look. i just have a great time helping each student make a snowman the way they want him to look!
by Becky C
Celebrating diversity during the winter season. Kwanza, Christmas, Hannakah, etc.
love having the students do special things for our custodians, cafeteria workers, and other unsung heroes in our schools.
Every year we read The Polar Express to our second graders during the last week of school. Then, we take them to see the movie. It's great to watch them get lost in the magic of those ringing bells!
We celebrated with a secret santa.
M. Kellerman
We collect warm clothing for the Fred Jordan Mission in Los Angeles that goes to the homeless. This is a great way for my students to realize that everyone could use a little help and it makes them more tolerant and caring for others in need.
by Carrie P.
We provide care packages for homeless shelters to distribute. It lets students feel that they are giving for the holiday and not just receiving.
A.L.
We have a "family lunch" with the paraeducators and the students in my Resource class. The students and teachers enjoy a nice home cooked meal and holiday music!
We collect underwear & socks, gift certificates for those in need & celebrate the day before the holidays with hot chocolate & the sharing of thoughtful notes to each person in our class.
I teach students who have severe disabilities. We start making cards for everyone in the faculty when we come back from Thanksgiving break, and deliver them while caroling the day before Winter break. I know by the smiles on my students' faces that it makes them feel good to spread holiday cheer.
We donate shoes to needy children in our county. It's a great way for students to learn about generosity and giving back to our community.
Making reindeer trail mix
I am advisor to the Multicultural Club. Every holiday season, the students bring cookies and we do a cookie exchange. Each student gets a bag and can fill up with cookies brought by other students. They get to chat with other students about how the cookies were made in their culture. I bring milk and we have a great time talking about our plans for the holidays.
Our school provides Christmas for over 60 needy children, some the children of prisoners. To see high school children respond with generosity of giving to make Christmas bright for someone they don't even know inspires me to be a better person and gives me hope for the future.
Pat S
Enjoying a cool lesson like making geometric snowflakes!
CSudd
I love to make different christmas projects or crafts with my students.
GStolar
We make Pizza baskets for needy families in our building. There's all the fixings for several pizzas, including the pans and pot holders.
Making patterned placemats for our local Senior Citizen Center and for homebound seniors in the Meals on Wheels Program!
My students make patterned placemats for the local Senior Citizen Center and for homebound seniors in the Meals on Wheels Program!
by Karen K.
thanks!
Making "magic reindeer dust" to sprinkle on the lawn on Christmas Eve.
I teach Spanish and we get together with the other foreign language classes at our school and the students decorate Christmas cards,and go Christmas caroling at a local nursing home. We pass out Christmas cards to all the patients. Afterwards we come back to the school and drink hot chocolate and have snacks.
by Christina W.
We provide an after school intramural program for many poverty stricken children. It provides a good place to go and stay out of trouble on the streets.
To write Santa's Letter
To have the class make gifts for a needy family.
Thank you
Thanks for helping!
Melissa S.
I teach Kindergarten. In December we have Sharing and Caring Week. Each student is assigned a "secret friend". All week they have to do kind things for their secret friend and at the end of the week the friends reveal their identities with a homemade gift.
Danah F.
Students and area families participating in food drives, toy donations, and other charities, sponsored by the school district, allows students to help other students in their schools.
Sharing multicultural stories and traditions with my kiddos.
by Fran P
I am a school counselor.
Planning a "reveillon" (french holiday meal) and learning holiday songs in French.
Andrea C.
I love having the students share their Christmas family traditions.
by Jennifer E.
Making origami santas, candles, dreidles and other holiday ornaments to hang in a window or on a tree.
Liz C.
I am the AIG specialist for k-5, so I will be doing a variety of activities integrating themes and concepts for all ages.
My favorite activity is making recipe books for the parents. The kindergarten students tell how to make an item, I write their directions down word per word. The students illustrate their pictures and we make these into books.
Making ornaments for trees that are given to various children's hospitals in the area.
My favorite December tradition is not being in the classroom. We are on a four track attendance system and I do not teach in April, August....and December! I do sub at times during the month, so I can participate in holiday happenings without having to plan or gather materials for it-quite nice!
I teach kindergarten and we love taking a ride on the Polar Express. We all wear PJ's to school and spend the morning going to the different classrooms doing fun Polar Express activities. We read the story, drink hot cocoa, make reindeer food, bell necklaces, bell bird feeders, etc. It is always a fun and memorable morning.
I started a new Christmas tradition for students this year. Since I teach high school teenagers, they often find games or parties "corny" or "childish." On the last day before Christmas break I announce to the students they have a homework assignment to complete before returning in January. After a couple of minutes of moaning and "you've got to be kidding!" I tell them to take the opportunity to do something kind for someone with whom they are not closely acquainted. I gave them examples of deeds they could perform, from small to large, and am very anxious to hear their experiences on January 5th, 2009.
Becky C.
North Augusta, SC
I have my students make holiday cards in Spanish. Most Spanish people celebrate Christmas but it only seems fair they all get to make their own. they love them and get to go home and use the vocabulary learned.
ok
thank you!!!!
Because my students are on a functional curriculum and most cannot speak, we record Christmas carols on a communication device and go caroling around the school the day before holiday break. It gives them a chance to become more comfortable being around others and it gives typical students a chance to learn more about disabilities and become more accepting. Go Special Education!!
:)
I have my students work on and perform Christmas songs in American Sign Language.
i have my students do smartboard puzzles
My students have done banners in support of Barack Obama and the inauguration. I have no idea what the forum originial comment was, but thats what they are doing :-)
I teach a bilingual class and during the holidays, I like to play a latin Christmas CD that I've had for years. The kids love it!
For the past two years I have taught in a 1st and 2nd grade combination class with another colleague. Last year we decided to have "Kindness Week" the week before our holiday break. The kids did something kind each day for people in the community. We made gingerbread houses and wrote kind letters to people in our school then delivered them. We made cookies and delivered them to people in our town and sang Christmas Carols. We collected food for our local food pantry, gently used books for our local preschool, and items for our local senior citizens and delivered all of them throughout the week. On the Friday before vacation each child brought in a wrapped toy to donate to the classroom, and we spent the afternoon unwrapping new and having a great time together playing games and having snacks! We felt like our young students truly understood the true meaning of the holidays at the end of Kindness Week and they were so happy giving!
by: Melissa L.
a bulletin board Christmas tree with "ornaments that have mathematical symbols on it. the caption: it's beginning to look a lot like Calculus
We display books about Christmas Around the World and other winter holidays.
We always make Christmas cards and gifts for our parents that display each student's picture.
Millie Young
Kindergarten Teacher
Las Vegas, NV
I teach Spanish Holiday season is perfect time for my high school students to write about their dream for Christmas or "Mi Sueño de navidad" for third year spanish. and the second year Spanish the write about the Christmas time went thier little kid or Mi navidad cuando tenía.......... Also write a beutiful Christmas card for their relative or Parent's. By Sonia L
The students are asked to bring in used glass bottles. We then engage in a discussion about recycling and we use the bottles in a art project. We use the used glass bottle and paste colored tissue paper on the outside. When it dries, it becomes a very nice vase made by the students to give to their parents as a gift.
I like to teach my students to enjoy giving during the holiday season.
I like to teach the kids enjoy sharing with other
I make tessellations to decorate the room.
by CB
The coupon is already expired. If you can please send me one the is not expired. Thank you
We make a 12 month calendar for our families. Each month has a unique design that is personalized by each child. At the end, the student writes a paragraph "About the Artist" which includes their school picture. It has become a tradition that parents look forward to when their son/daughter becomes a 3rd grader.
Hi, I just signed up too and since it is January 1st, the intro, coupon for 20% off has expired. Will there be an updated one? Also, I like to put up a "Geometree" bulletin board. It is a 3-dDtriangular Christmas Tree and the children make all of the ornaments that go on it and they all have to do with math. 3-D shapes, etc. The kids and parent LOVE IT!
Each year I love to have a "Polar Express" Day when all the children wear their pajamas to school and we take a magical journey on the "Polar Express". I dress as a conductor on the train and rearrange the classroom to look like a train. We have a readaloud of the story and do a variety of related activities. We end the day by watching the movie and enjoying hot cocoa and a special treat, which is served when the kids in the movie are having thier treat too. It is just a magical day that the kids and I look forward to.
Polar Express is my favorite for my Kindergarteners. They are so excited about Christmas coming and a pajama day with hot cocoa is a lot of fun. It is a magical story that every child enjoys and asks to hear it again and again. Last year, I was still reading it in May!
I totally agree about the Polar Express for my Kindergarteners too! It is the best! And I also love reading all of Jan Brett's books that are related to the holidays! The kids really get into her literature and learn so much great vocabulary!
My favorite classroom tradition during the holidays is having the kids write parodies of familiar holiday tunes. Then we sing them. Below is an example of parody sung to the tune of "Away in the Manger" (written by a fifth grader)
Way down in the hallway
Two kids pick a fight.
A teacher starts screaming,
"I wish you'd play nice."
The kids pay no attention.
They really don't care
That they'll be suspended
Right then and right there.j
The principal stormed in
And broke up the fight.
He told them he'd call parents at seven that night.
He said, "You're suspended,
No more school for today."
And that's why all children
Should learn to obey.
I am a brand new teacher and haev yet to create any traditins. However, I am enjoying reading those of others. Thanks for all the ideas.
Playing holiday music in band!
As a school, we have a Polar Express Night every year in December. Everyone comes to school in their pajamas and we read the book the Polar Express as we enjoy hot chocolate and cookies.
Traveling with my 15 year old daughter to other countries to see first hand how they celebrate oth Christmas and the New Year.
By Casandra
I think it's great when teachers are recognized for caring about teaching and their students.
By Sharon P.
Cutting out geometric snowflakes with my geometry classes.
Just had our first concert for the year!
-Band Teacher
Watching Polar Express!
Looking forward to the rest of the school year
Having my students bake and decorate cookies in Foods class
When my class does the secret snta and we write letters to Santa.
by Lisa H
One of my favorite holiday traditions is having my students write about their family traditions. It gives me such insight into my students and their families.
by Sue M.
I teach Kindergarten and do a Gingerbread Boy theme for December. We read all the different Gingerbread boy or girl stories. At the end of the unit, we make Gingerbread people for students to take home.
Making holiday gifts.
Holiday Potluck! Yummy and students bring in different foods from their backgrounds.
I teach special education at the junior high level. We write about our expectations for the winter vacation.
My classroom is diverse with the celebration of various holidays. I invite parents to come in to share their tradition and my kindergarteners get to experience things "foreign" to them. We decorate christmas cookies, spin dreidels, dress up for Kwanzaa and learn about Diwali. It's great! (My own two children who attended the same school and celebrate Christmas put their Star of David" ornaments on our tree and beg to play dreidel--isn't it wonderful to appreciate other religious/cultural traditions--and starting with young children is the best--you get to see absolutely NO BIAS in their eyes!!!!
Happy New Year to all!
Peggy C
Ardsley, New York
I love to teach reading.
Hi, my name is Erica. I am starting my second and final semester of student teaching at an elementary school here in Flower Mound, Texas. I want to be a special education teacher; I love helping others, and I love and adore children. Just wanted to introduce myself.
This holiday season our favorite activity in my classroom was playing the dreidel game. It was fun to expose the kids to something different that they had never done before. We all had a great time!
I have been a preschool teacher while I slowly, but surely finish up my degree in early elementary education. My hope is to be a kindergarten teacher by the end of this year...
I am a first year high school Spanish teacher. In Hispanic countries they celebrate Three Kings Day around Christmas time and children leave their shoes out for the Three Kings to fill. I had my students make shoes out of construction paper and paper cups by using a pattern. They then decorated them any way they wanted to. I filled them with candy after school that day and the students came in the next day to find them filled. They loved it! And of course we sang some Christmas carols in Spanish and watched Elf in Spanish.
Thank you for recognizing teachers.
by R.A.
Thank you!
My class shares what they are thankful for.
My class writes an essay on what they are thankful for.
During the holidays my class write letters to people in the community to thank them for the services they provide. We also make cards for the elderly in a nursing home, sometimes they don't get many visitors and we want them to feel special during the holidays!
I love to have my students write using the prompt "If I was an elf in Santa's workshop..." They love to get creative and talk about what they would make and how they would help Santa!
Moving from the elementary school to the Middle school the changes are palpable- maybe no Santa talk but lots of thought of giving back to the community. I love the spirit.
I enjoy particiating in the angel tree program at our school and the many art projects (I have a Santa's Workshop Day. Parents or family members come to help.) My favorite projects are a reindeer ornament (a picture of child's head is glued onto brown reindeer head shape and a red dot nose is added to child's face), an elf portrait (a life size face of child is printed and they cut and add a red or green hat with cotton trim), and a snowmen ornament for parents (child's hand is painted white and then wraps it around a red ball-hat, scarf, etc. is added with paint)
The Gingerbread Theme is a highlight for my kindergarten children. We read many versions of the Gingerbread Boy and compare. We bake a gingerbread boy-who escapes. Family members around the US and world send in postcards saying they have seen the GB. We find all the places on a map. After making gingerbread houses, the GB returns.
by Vicky D.
I work with underprivileged children. I love when the students and I get a break for the holidays. To prepare for that break there is always a festive holiday exchange of secret Santa. Happy holidays! Thank you Ann Taylor.
I work with students who are socio-economically disadvantaged and they need lots of support from their teacher. I enjoy helping them achieve their academic goals. Many of them would love to become desigers! Thank you Ann Taylor for your wonderful clothes.
Carol C
We love having a holiday food party where kids bring in foods that represent all the winter holidays they celebrate. Precioius to this culminating event we recognize all the varius holidays through picture books, guest speakers and arts adn crafts projects. It really raises the awareness of many celebrations to all.
Heidi
My students celebate the holidays in the caribbean by participating in class parties and we try to decorate the classroom and exchange gifts.
by Deby J
I work with preschoolers and I am an after school coach. My most memorable time with the kids are when they overcome their fears and self imposed limits.
I teach 7th grade math. I have a variety of ability levels and students that have low english speaking skills. However, I am amazed that math is a topic that seems to be easier to understand with out a translator. The students enjoy working in small groups and playing learning games. i also take them to the computer lab each week to play video style math learning games. This is the highlight of their enrichment time!
I teach English Language Learners at a primary building. During the holiday season, I like my Muslim students to become the teachers and teach their classmates about their family traditions.
I teach theatre arts and I love to have my students read holiday children's stories in a readers theatre style. They really get into them and we have a lot of fun setting up the room to make it feel like a cold winters night, we even have cookies and milk :)
Singing holiday songs with the children to brighten their day and enjoy the spirit of community. Teaching: community, respect for one another and about other cultures through song.
I am a bilingual teacher. All of my students are of hispanic heritage. With that in mind, during the holiday season I take my students christmas caroling throughout the building. This is tradition in many latino cultures, it is called "parrandas" and we use the traditional instruments, like, guitar, maracas, bongos, "cuatro", and "guiro" . We have a blast and everyone enjoys the lively carribean beat.
by Eva M.
this is cool
My favorite thing to do around the holidays is to make really colorful and interactvie bulletin boards. The decorations in my classroom let everyone who enters know what we are learning.
by Mary F
My favorite activity is teaching about children and holidays from around the world. The students always love learning about the many ways other children are the same and different in other countries.
My favorite thing to do around the holidays is invite parents and family in to celebrate completed work students have done. One new fun activity celebration are Publishing Parties where every student chooses one piece of published writing to share with friends, family, peers and other students in our school
I teach three year olds. We have many fun activities but my favorite is when the children explore the elements of Insta-snow. Insta-snow is a powder substance that absorbs water and become soft and fluffy. The children are very amazed by this activity!
I enjoy cooking a full holiday dinner with my students. We also enjoy learning about different celebrations around the world.
Writing memoirs about the students' lives and typing them so students can share these stories with their parents over Christmas.
I found a great program, Serve and Learn. This program links students, standards, community and service together. Students learn academic standards while providing a service to the community. This is not a volunteer program however, students learn while providing a service.
Hearing about students traditions and holiday plans. There is so much diversity and we can all learn from each other.
Talking and learning about all the holidays my children celebrate
We share stories about things in our lives to celebrate. It crosses cultural and religious boundaries and everyone has something to share.
I enjoy decorating a tree with hand made ornaments, all related to science. And sharing how they made their ornament and what it represents.
We enjoy listening to holiday music, making crafts, reading traditional stories, and performing poetry.
Debbie S.
We enjoy singing holiday music, making crafts for gifts, and performing holiday poetry.
We enjoy making crafts for seniors, such as decorating placemats for the holidays.
we enjoy making holiday cards for people stuck in the hospital over the holidays and giving them to a local organization to distribute.