Keeping students engaged through a variety of Christmas Activities

Everyone loves the hustle and bustle of the Holidays OUTSIDE of the classroom! Our job as educators is to keep students engaged and learning until the very last minute of instruction before Christmas break. Most children are filled with anticipation and excitement leading up to Christmas/Holiday break. Let’s face it we, as teachers are leading the pack in the excitement overload department.

How can we keep students engaged and squeak out the final days with our mental status intact? Well, read on! These products and ideas help me in my own classroom. I am hoping to bring some fun and inspiration to all of you as we all gear up for much-needed rest and relaxation!

If you want more information about any of these products, simply click on the button under the cover image!!

Interactive Christmas Literacy Bulletin Board

These differentiated cookie sheet sets are beneficial in teaching ALL of your students about reading sentences. They are perfect for an interactive bulletin board on reading sentences, a whole group lesson, a small group lesson, a literacy center, or in dramatic play! Start with set 1 pointing to the words and matching pictures and then gradually progress to just reading words. Finally, students can make their own sentences with the words and pictures.

Interactive Christmas Math Bulletin Board

Use these Christmas trees and Christmas wreaths as an interactive bulletin board, a whole group lesson, a small group lesson, a math center game, or for early finishers. Count the lights on the tree or the berries on the wreath! Velcro the amount and then compare the two of them side by side. Copy two sets if you are working on the concept of “equal”. There is a data sheet included at the end to assess comparing amounts with less than, greater than, and equal.

Christmas Thematic Unit

Use this super comprehensive unit about Christmas to have fun during the holidays. Each activity is created around literacy and math standards. Perfect for creating activities for your literacy and math centers. Use any of the activities during whole group time or for individualized instruction. There is a page at the beginning to help you print out the color or black-and-white activities with all of the page numbers. A data-sheet is included at the end to help keep track of the progress of your students.

All activities are in color and in black and white!

LITERACY ACTIVITIES:

• interactive Vocabulary for Christmas
• interactive WH- question book
• ornament UPPERCASE letter match
• ornament UPPERCASE letter to lowercase letter match
• beginning sound mat with letters A-Z

MATH / SCIENCE ACTIVITIES:

• matching numbers on ornaments to a number on the star (0-9)
• counting to 10 with ornaments using one-to-one correspondence
• sequencing numbers on stockings up to 10
• matching shapes on ornaments to shapes on the top of the Christmas tree
• making patterns with stockings on a chimney (ABAB, AABAAB, ABBABB, AABBAABB, ABCABC)

Christmas Number Activities- Google™ Slides

Here are some of the reasons I am using Google Classroom™/ Google Slides™ Digital resources this year:

• awesome way to engage and interact with students during virtual learning, especially the LIVE sessions
• great way to assess by assigning these slides to your students for their asynchronous time and then checking for mastery
• great way to integrate technology during in-person instruction
• students can access these materials anywhere
• students can use these materials on iPads, Chromebooks, and other devices such as a computer

There is a PDF included in the download to explain how to add this to your Google Drive™ and how to assign these slides to your students in Google Classroom™

This pack of 43 slides has 4 different number activities for Christmas:

1. Match the number on the ornaments with the number on the star.
2. Put the numbers on the stockings in order on the fireplace.
3. Count the gingerbread men up to 20 and put them on the cookie tray.
4. Put the trees in order by size and by number.

Christmas BOOM™ Cards

These 28 task cards have 2 different kinds of slides:

· 12 vocabulary slides with the word said in the sound icon and real photos (2 numbers are wrong and 1 is correct)

· 16 WH- question slides with the question asked in the sound icon- “What is the boy holding in his hand?” “Where is the present?” (2 numbers are wrong and 1 is correct)

These cards are aligned to Ohio’s Early Learning and Development Standards- Language/Literacy. I can identify real-life connections between words and their use. I can understand and use question words. (What? Who? Where?)

Digital task cards would be great on a laptop, desktop, Chromebook, tablet, or any

other mobile device that can access the internet. They can even be used on your Smart Board. Here is the best part – they are self-grading and allow you to track student progress. Plus, they are no prep which means no printing, laminating, or storage.

FEED ME!- Christmas Counting Activity

Use these adorable Christmas pictures to help engage your students in learning and fun! These are perfect for IEP goals about following directives, speech goals on vocabulary acquisition, teaching one-to-one correspondence, or just having fun before the holiday break! ALL activities come in color and in black and white. There are 4 die to choose from to help differentiate your instruction. (1-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20) Each one has a “you pick” option.

If you have enjoyed reading this blog, please check out my BLOG on using positional words or the BLOG on my interactive posters! Let’s keep it fun! Subscribe to my email list to continue to receive freebies and emails about other amazing products! Just scroll to the top or look to the side for more information!