Yesterday I was an iPad workshop and got to talking with a 4th grade teacher sitting next to me (Don’t you love that about trainings and workshops? You never know you might meet!) As we chatted, somehow I ended up showing her the Christmas Unit that I used every year with my 4th graders. I told her I would email the unit to her…but then I realized that I have never shared it with my fellow Nerdy Teachers. So here you go, Borrow and Share!

Christmas Cranks Unit Plan

This link takes you to my unit plan page. It is designed for 4th grade Reading/Language Arts, but it could certainly be adapted for younger or older students. It also crosses curricular areas because we learn about Victorian England, write a summary and evaluate the movie version of A Christmas Carol.

Santa Skeletons

As I collected resources for this unit I found this picture from my first year teaching (Check out those computers!). We were finishing up our Human Body unit in science and the skeletons made our classroom look like Halloween instead of Christmas…so we made Santa Skeletons! (Note: Look closely, do you see the Spiderman Skeleton?)

Christmas Book Box

Christmas Book Box: First Year

Here is a bonus idea for you! Every fall I collected high interest books from Scholastic book orders, Half Price Books, and the Scholastic Warehouse sale and kept them tucked away. Then the week before Christmas break I wrapped a big paper box and put all the books I’d collected in it. I kept it out in my classroom and the kids would go crazy just waiting to see what was in the box! During our Christmas party the kids would get to open the box and explore the new books that were then placed in our classroom library! (So it was a Christmas gift for me too :) I did this every year and it was always a big hit. As I started having siblings of former students they would beg their siblings to tell them what was in the box, but it was kept a big secret…such a fun tradition!