The week before Christmas Break (yes, I said it, CHRISTMAS break!), is crazy, the kids don’t want to learn, and let’s be honest, I don’t want to teach…but learn and teach we must! My first year teaching I wrote a Christmas Reading/Writing/Social Studies Unit that I aptly name, “Twas the Week Before Christmas: Christmas Cranks”. I realized that I have never posted my resources for this unit and thought I would pass it along.
Christmas Cranks: Scrooge and The Grinch
Twas the week before Christmas Unit Plan (PDF with links to resources below)
This is a unit plan complete with daily activities and assessment tools. This unit takes about 5 days, but could certainly be stretched or condensed to meet your pre-break needs.
Resources:
This is a PDF version of the book for students to follow along. I print it as a booklet and let the kids take it home when we are finished!
A Christmas Carol E-Book Version
This is an epub version of the Christmas Carol–the same as the PDF.
Dickens Intro (PowerPoint)
This is a PowerPoint that introduces Charles Dickens and Victorian England. Great for discussing the setting of the book! You can also watch this BBC video about Charles Dickens. My kids usually want to watch it about 3 times, they think it’s hilarious.
I really focus on Character, Plot and Setting for this unit. This is a simple worksheet where the kids match a description of the characters with their name. Could be used as a quiz?
A Christmas Carol Summary Rubric
After we are finished with the book I have the kids write a summary. This is the rubric I use to assess the summaries.
Christmas Cranks (Compare Scrooge and the Grinch)
After we finish reading A Christmas Carol we read How the Grinch Stole Christmas and we compare Scrooge and The Grinch. This is pretty funny when the kids bring up things like “The Grinch is green and Scrooge is…”
Christmas Carol Movie vs Book Response
Strategically timed so that the day before Christmas break we watch a movie version of A Christmas Carol. I always show The Muppets Christmas Carol, because it is my favorite! It’s really kid friendly and holds their interest. I give them the movie vs. book comparison sheet and tell them they can fill it out as they watch or when the movie is finished.
If you just want the whole unit zipped together in a nice neat little package!
**I realized when putting this page together that I can’t find the original source for some of the resources–please let me know if you see something that belongs to you and I will credit you!** Image Credit: http://www.filmcritic.com/features/2009/11/poll-scrooge-versus-the-grinch/
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I’m new to 4th and all your sharings are awesome and now in my files. I feel very prepared for the rest of the year and excited to use the rest for next fall.
Thanks again for your generosity
You’re welcome Joyce! I hope that 4th grade is going well, it really is the best grade!
Amy