Winter, Christmas, and December Teaching Resources
Teachers Have Class! Issue #13/December 2010 Winter, Christmas, and December Teaching Resources and Ideas
Welcome to the 13th newsletter of Teachers Have Class from Unique Teaching Resources!
I am writing this 13th edition of my newsletter from my new home in Flagler Beach, Florida. If you have been receiving Teachers Have Class for awhile, you will know that I have been living and teaching overseas for the past 16 years. I have taught in China, Indonesia, Kuwait, and I spent the last 13 years in Bahrain.
I left Bahrain the end of September and I spent the majority of my time in September packing up the belongings in my house that I wanted to ship back to the United States with me. This included a lot of teaching resources and novels for children. During October and November, I spent a lot of time looking for a new place to live, buying a car, and purchasing items for my new home. I also had to start from scratch and set up insurance, bank accounts, electric, phones, cable, and the internet.
Consequently, I have not been able to work on new resources for my website since around the middle of September. I was able to respond to all of the letters that I received from teachers and help them out if they had problems downloading a resource, but I didn't have all of my teaching materials with me that I normally use when I am working on developing new projects.
If you have visited Unique Teaching Resources during September, October, or November, you will have noticed that I have not added any new resources or made any changes to my website. Normally, I am working on new projects all the time and posting at least 2 new resources each week. This will soon be my schedule again! My household goods shipment from Bahrain is due to arrive around December 16, and then I will have all of my teaching materials with me and once again I can devote my time to working on new ideas and projects for my website.
To the American teachers who are reading this newsletter, I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I spent my first Thanksgiving in over 16 years with my family and I enjoyed every moment of it, from watching the Macy's Day Parade and the Dog Show, to eating way too much turkey and stuffing. I had a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving and I am grateful to now be living twenty minutes away from my parents after living on the other side of the world and so far away from them for a long time. I am also extremely thankful for the teachers who visit Unique Teaching Resources and for the blessings that this website has brought to me in experiences, new friendships, and stories that teachers have shared with me about how their students are enthusiastic about reading during the past year.
As you enter the month of December, I know that it is a hectic and busy time of the year for you. You are trying to finish up units of curriculum before the winter holiday and possibly completing time consuming tasks like report cards as well. I hope that this month is a joyous month for you, your students, and your family. Before you know it, it will be your well deserved winter holiday and the first half of the school year will be behind you.
Seasons Greetings and Happy New Year,
Heidi McDonald
Special Reminder:
Reminder: The links to download the free teaching resources that are found in this edition of Teachers Have Class will only be available for 5 days.
After 5 days, the links to these free December teaching resources will be removed. Then, I will post this newsletter on my website so that teachers who visit Unique Teaching Resources will be able to read old editions of Teachers Have Class.
Although teachers who visit my website can read all of the previous editions of my newsletter, I only provide these free monthly resources to the teachers who have signed up to receive Teachers Have Class. These free resources are my small way of thanking these teachers for their support and interest.
So, be sure to download your free December resources promptly!
Winter Wonderland Creative Writing Stationery Set
Each month I provide a free stationery and worksheet set in my newsletter because many teachers are often looking for thematic worksheets for each month, especially for creative writing.
Below is my Winter Wonderland Creative Writing Stationery Set and the link to download it. The title banner is 5 pages long, which you can assemble and use on your bulletin board display. There are color and black and white copies of the stationery for you to choose from. There are 7 pages in this free PDF December Creative Writing Stationery Set.
Solve Santa's Puzzles Addition, Subtraction, and Multiplication Puzzles
Teacher's Have Class tends to focus on language arts since this is the subject area that I have spent the majority of my time teaching. For December, I wanted to include a free mathematics teaching resource for teachers to use and also a free powerpoint presentation to help give teachers an idea of the powerpoint presentations that are available on Unique Teaching Resources.
For this Solve Santa's Puzzles powerpoint lesson, students have to solve addition, subtraction, and multiplication equations, using an engaging Christmas puzzle style format.
I have designed this math powerpoint presentation to be completed during a week in December. There are 5 puzzles, and I have my students complete one puzzle each day as a warm up activity while I am collecting their homework or organizing materials for their mathematics lesson.
You will need to review the order of operations with you students before they complete these puzzles so that they understand that they should multiply, divide, add, and then subtract when solving mathematical equations.
If your students have enjoyed competing these math puzzles, I have created similar math puzzles for other holidays and seasons throughout the school year.
This Christmas Tree Sticker Chart Set includes a 5 page bulletin board display banner, a color tree template, and a black and white tree template.
Cut out your students' sticker chart templates along the thick black border and you will have unique Christmas Tree shaped sticker charts to record your students' progress and goals during December. There are 17 sticker chart circles on this Christmas tree sticker chart template.
Here is a set of A-Z bulletin board letters in red and white and green, (upper and lowercase letters) that you can use for your December bulletin board displays. Each letter takes up the majority of the space on one page, and there are 104 pages in this teaching resource set.
When I am making these letters, I try to use large borders around each letter so that they are easier to cut out. As a teacher, I hate cutting out the middles of letters with a blank space in the middle (a, b, d, o, p, q, etc), and I find this tedious. I have placed a black background behind these letters so that I didn't have to cut out the middle sections of those letters. You can still choose to cut out these empty spaces in those letters, but I think that they look fine with a black background behind them, and this saved me time by not having to cut out these small spaces in particular letters.
December Calendar and Monthly Writing Prompt Ideas
Each month I provide a free calendar set in my newsletter. These free calendar sets could be displayed on a bulletin board or placed inside a pocket chart. Below each calendar set, you will find a list of writing prompts for that month that may spark an idea that you could use with your students.
Below is my December Calendar Set and the link to download it. The December title is a 2 page banner that should fit in most standardized monthly pocket charts that many teachers use. I have designed large December days of the week that you may find useful. The calendar number dates also fit in pocket charts, and I have included a blank square and a birthday square to use. There are 11 pages in this free PDF December Calendar Set.
December Writing Prompts: Are you looking for a creative list of writing prompts and journal ideas to use during the month of December?
Below, you will find a list of general December writing topics and a list of specific calendar dates for December with corresponding creative writing ideas and topics.
I have created this list of December writing prompts and ideas for elementary school teachers and students, but many of these creative writing ideas and topics would also be appropriate for other grade levels.
You will find December writing prompts below that contain underlined links. If you click on an underlined link:
You will be directed to another page on Unique Teaching Resources that contains detailed lesson plan ideas for this writing prompt idea.
You will be directed to another website that contains useful information related to this writing prompt idea.
General Christmas and December Writing Prompts:
What are your wishes for the world this holiday season? What does it mean to have the "holiday spirit"? The best gifts are gifts from the heart. What does this mean? It is better to give than receive. Describe a time when you did something thoughtful for someone or gave a person a thoughtful gift. This holiday season I plan to do something helpful to others. My plan is... If I owned a toy store I would... Write about one of your family's holiday traditions. Describe it in detail, tell how you feel about it, and what this tradition means to you. The gingerbread man jumped out of the oven and... Rudolph’s nose was green! The day Frosty the Snowman met Rudolph Decorating the Christmas tree I’m an elf at the North Pole Dear Santa You go to the mailbox and discover you have a letter from Santa. Write a letter to Santa describing someone that know who has been very good and kind this year. Use your imagination to describe Santa's journey with his reindeer. Draw a map from the North Pole to your house. Then, write the directions in a paragraph. My New Year Resolution is
December Celebrations, Events, Holidays, and Dates in History:
December 1 On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to obey a bus driver’s order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger. Rosa Park’s brave act of defiance became an important symbol of the Civil Rights Movement and the resistance to racial segregation.
How did Rosa Parks show that she was courageous?
What is the bravest thing you have ever done? Include details about the event and why you think you were brave.
December 5 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on December 5, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria. He began composing his own music at the age of five and toured Europe as a concert pianist at age six.
What would it be like to be famous at an early age?
Play a piece of Mozart’s music for your students and have them write how it makes them feel and the images this piece of music creates in their minds.
December 5 Walt Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois. Walt Disney is a famous American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, and theme park creator. Walt Disney Productions is one of the world's leading producers of movies for children. Disney’s animated characters, such as Mickey Mouse, are well known by children around the world. In the late 1940s, Disney first drew sketches of his ideas for an amusement park where he envisioned his employees spending time with their children. His original idea expanded in concept and eventually became Disneyland, which first opened in 1955.
What would it be like if Walt Disney was your father or grandfather?
When Disneyland first opened in 1955, it consisted of five themed areas: Main Street, U.S.A. (an early 20th century Midwest town based on Walt Disney's childhood), Adventureland (featuring jungle themed adventures), Frontierland, (illustrating the western frontier), Fantasyland (bringing fantasy into a reality), and Tomorrowland (looking into the future).
Pretend that you worked for Walt Disney in 1955 and write an idea for a 6th themed area for Disneyland.
Describe the theme for this area and the rides and buildings that would be included in this new area of Disneyland.
December 7 December 7 is Letter Writing Day. Letter writing is fast becoming an almost lost skill. Most letters that are written today are e-mails and shorter messages have become instant messages.
Do you think that handwriting should still be taught in school now that most correspondence is done on a computer? Write an essay supporting your opinion.
Hand-write a letter that you will actually mail to a friend or relative. Bring this letter home tonight and mail your letter to this person.
December 10 The Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony takes place on 10 December in Oslo, Norway each year. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded each year on this day to people who have made the most valuable contributions to the good of humanity.
You have been selected to receive this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Why have you been selected as this year’s recipient?
If you could award this prize to someone that you know, who would you select and why?
Research a past winner of The Nobel Peace Prize and write a short summary about this person and his or her achievements.
December 21 December 21st is the first day of winter.
What is your favorite winter activity that involves snow and why?
If you don’t live in an area that receives snow, why would it be fun to live somewhere that it snows in the winter time?
What would it be like if it was winter all year long?
Ideas for Books: December, Christmas, and Winter
For books to read with your students for the month of December, I have two books that I have created a complete set of teaching resources for. I have a separate web page for each of these books that gives details and photographs of the resources that are available for these books.
Click on each underlined book title below to go directly to that particular web page to find resources that were created for that specific book.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens This book is a Christmas classic that has been adapted into different versions of reading levels and there are many movie versions of this popular novel. I have created two projects based on this book. The first is a group project that is in the shape of a wreath (an example is shown below). The second is a Scrooge Character Body project which requires students to create a body for Scrooge and write a character description about him.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss This book is a Christmas classic by one of the most popular children's authors of all time. This book has also been created into a movie version. The main project on this page is a set of writing templates in the shape of the Grinch's head (an example is shown below). Your students will enjoy coloring their Grinch templates and responding to the story on these uniquely shaped Dr. Seuss writing templates. The other teaching resources on this page are some fun activities that you can use with your students that are related to Dr. Seuss' use of rhyming words and comparing how the Grinch changed from the beginning of the story to the end of the story.
Recent Updates On Unique Teaching Resources
If you are interested in viewing teaching resources that are related to December, Christmas, and winter themes, please click on one of the snow globes below.
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Please be sure to check out the other pages on my website for a large variety of other teaching resources that will engage your students in learning and save you valuable time.
Sincerely, Heidi McDonald
Creator and Site Manager Unique Teaching Resources
P.S. My next newsletter will be my January Issue.
I plan to send out this newsletter around December 28, 2010.
Thank you for your interest in subscribing to my newsletter. Remember to download your free resources within 5 days of the date that it was sent.