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Christmas Stories and Activities for the Teacher.
As educators around the globe, it’s our responsibility to push open the wonders of the world to our students, especially when the holidays come around. Students in younger grades constantly get distracted and we’re the ones that get to scrounge around for fun activities to amuse them with. One of the most famous of said Christmas activities is to write a letter to Santa Claus. We see it happen in advertisements on the television, in the theaters, and it keeps that touch of belief left in us. The kids love it and it gets everyone in the spirit of the holidays. The best way is to get an older class to read the letters and respond to them. It might not seem as heart-warming, but the kids get ecstatic when they open their response. Another way to keep the younger kids occupied is the craft angle. Coloring might be good for the wee ones, but it won’t work for long. Cutting out snowflakes by folding paper is a classic—and it works too! Tree decorations, cards, and snowmen will keep their little hands busy for a while at least. The older kids are a bit tougher. They consider themselves old enough so that the ole ‘be good or you’ll get coal in the stocking’ lecture doesn’t work so much and they need those touch more specific tasks and instructions. Coloring just won’t cut it, much to everyone’s dismay. (Although there is a reason that snowflakes are such a classic!) If there’s a spare bulletin board in the class, try making a mural out of construction paper. One group does the fireplace, another does Santa, another does a table with a glass of milk and cookies, another does the tree, and so on and so on until everything gets stapled up together to make one big mural. It’s a great project because it shows teamwork at its best. Another fun project is to get a bunch of mini-pumpkins, the ones that you can hold in the palm of your hand. Cut out the middle of it, including the stem (you’ll need a semi-sharp knife, which if why this is meant for older students), and then try to clean out the inside of the pumpkin without widening the hole. Then you get a pair of candles and can stick them inside to make beautiful festive candleholders. It doesn’t take long and makes a good Christmas gift. If you have a smaller group, or one that you believe can handle things well, try making the candles as well. Each student needs one sheet of wax eighteen by eight and a half inches. Cut the sheet diagonally from eleven inches to seven inches. Take one piece and put a hair dryer on it for a few minutes until it’s warm enough to be maneuverable and place a wick slightly longer than the longest side at the longest side and slowly roll it along until you get one candle with a spiraling upper half. If you do the same with the other piece of wax, you will then have a matching set. Christmas is celebrated in different ways around the world, and there are plenty of stories on the Internet and in books that can show your students the multiple cultures throughout the planet we call home. Try going for stories that the kids can relate to without going overboard with descriptions. Foreign customs can be hard to understand, so try for moderation. The Holiday greeting of “Merry Christmas” can be translated into millions of different languages, and each is native to a certain country or region. ‘Joyeux Noël’ is French, ‘Mo'adim Lesimkha’ is Hebrew, ‘Buon Natale’ is Italian, and ‘Feliz Navidad’ is Spanish. There are plenty of activities on the Internet and in books with lists of other languages. There are lots of games, matching, rhyming, and others, that you can create. And pronouncing the words is always fun too! Whatever you decide to do, you can try to incorporate it in only a few subjects. Not all kids are gung-ho about Christmas, and every day school work still needs to be around. But all in all, make sure it’s fun. The best way to end school for the holiday break isn’t just to tie up loose ends, but to make them into pretty bows too. Wake Up Richer Every Morning... Instant Internet Business Makes Money Automatically... Thomas Hunter is an Internet marketer, author and publisher and has helped hundreds of people become successful Niche Marketers. Explore the highly profitable world of Niche Marketing at http://SixFigureNiches.com our popular website. Article Source: http://netsalesinc.com If you have a website or ezine you may freely post this article on your site as long as you include the full resource box above. All links must be active / clickable with no syntax changes.
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