TeachersFirst's Christmas Resources
We Wish You A Merry Christmas! This collection of Christmas-related resources is sure to get you into the spirit. Find historical information and research, some neat ways to correlate the Christmas Holiday into your language arts classes, art, social studies, and many other subjects, plus some “educationally fun” ideas to use to celebrate. There are resources here for all grades. Don’t let the season pass you by without checking out these FREE resources.
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Official NORAD Santa Tracker - North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)
Grades
K to 6In the Classroom
Include this site as a center activity during any December teaching unit on holiday celebrations around the world. Use the site to introduce a unit on Holidays Around the World and for a final project to enhance learning and have students use Google My Maps, reviewed here, to create a virtual field trip around the world featuring some of Santa's stops and local traditions. Browse through the TeachersFirst Christmas Resources Special Topics Page, found here, to find additional holiday season resources to include in your unit. Create a class book together using Book Creator, reviewed here, to share holiday celebrations and traditions from around the world.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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All About the Holidays - PBS Learning Media
Grades
K to 12tag(s): 100thday (9), back to school (62), chinese new year (5), christmas (36), cinco de mayo (10), easter (10), elections (82), fathers day (12), fire prevention (16), flag day (5), halloween (32), hanukkah (12), hispanic (32), holidays (178), july 4th (12), Juneteenth (22), kwanzaa (11), labor day (5), martin luther king (45), mothers day (13), new years (5), pi (26), presidents (133), rosh hashanah (13), st patricks day (12), thanksgiving (22), valentines day (12), veterans (29), womens suffrage (46), yom kippur (13)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site to use as a resource for teaching material during holidays throughout the year. For each holiday use a bookmarking site such as Wakelet, reviewed here, to organize and share lesson materials, videos, and game sites for your students. Instead of worksheets or written reports, enhance student learning by asking them to create infographics sharing information about any holiday. Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, is a very easy to use tool that includes pre-made templates. Don't keep student learning to yourself, share their knowledge through holiday podcasts for your entire school and community to hear. Spotify for Podcastors (was Anchor), reviewed here, features many kid-friendly tools to get you started with creating and sharing podcasts.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Learning with Santa Tracker - Google
Grades
K to 8tag(s): christmas (36), coding (90), cross cultural understanding (167), cultures (145), game based learning (181), holidays (178), map skills (56), maps (206)
In the Classroom
Add this site to your tool kit of December teaching resources. Include the games on classroom computers and add to your class website. Replace paper posters and have students share their favorite activities using an on line poster creator like Web Poster Wizard, reviewed here, or PicLits, reviewed here. After practicing coding using the games provided on this site, enhance learning by challenging students to create their own game using a tool such as Scratch, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Santa's Village and Tracker - Google
Grades
K to 6tag(s): christmas (36), cross cultural understanding (167), cultures (145), holidays (178), maps (206), seasonal (17)
In the Classroom
Share a link to the Santa's Village on your class website and classroom computers. Allow students to explore and try options offered each day. Replace paper and pencil and have students share information from the daily activities on a blog using edublogs, reviewed here. Include images and videos of activities with blog posts. Use the site to introduce a unit on Holidays Around the World and for a final project enhance learning and have students use Google My Maps, reviewed here, to create a virtual field trip around the world featuring some of Santa's stops.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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NorthPole.com - Northpole Productions, LLC
Grades
K to 7This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Introduce the NorthPole to students by projecting it for all to see the different areas to explore. Add a link to classroom computers for the entire site or specific areas. Post a link on your class web page or newsletter for parents and students to use at home. With younger students, consider demonstrating how to write a letter to Santa or send a postcard to a relative from this site. Take photos, or have older students take photos, of the crafts and recipes the students make and post them on your website for parents to see. Engage older students by having them post the photos with and explanation using a portfolio tool such as bulb, reviewed here. Alternatively, students could enhance their learning by annotating images taken of their activities with text, URL's, or videos using Genially, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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15 Spanish Christmas Dessert Recipes - Spanish Sabores
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): christmas (36), cooking (30), cross cultural understanding (167), cultures (145), holidays (178), spain (12)
In the Classroom
Ask parents to volunteer to cook and bring in items for celebrations. Have students create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Image Annotator, reviewed here to describe the different foods or ingredients. Have students create maps using Zeemaps, reviewed here. Students can add text, videos, and location stops from their around the world food tasting! If teaching Spanish, have students rewrite recipes in Spanish.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Gifts of Character Readalouds - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 6tag(s): christmas (36), holidays (178), independent reading (86)
In the Classroom
Mark this one in your favorites to bring out in late November, just in time for the holiday season. Or include it during a character education unit. Maybe invite some parents to volunteer as readers, modeling how adults give of their own time to support others.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Make a Victorian Cornucopia - TeachersFirst
Grades
3 to 10In the Classroom
Try this easy activity during a Christmas 'Round the World unit or as part of a study of the Victorian Era. Have students take digital pictures of the steps and include them on your class web page or wiki (with captions!) so others can try the activity at home. Older students could enhance their learning by posting the photos with and explanation using a portfolio tool such as Seesaw. Seesaw also offers tools for incorporating blogs. Alternatively, students could transform their learning by annotating images taken of their activities with text, URL's, or videos using ThingLink. Make cornucopias as gifts for a visit to a local nursing home or children's home so the activity becomes a service project.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Nutcracker Study Guide - Inland Pacific Ballet
Grades
4 to 8tag(s): christmas (36)
In the Classroom
Use this site as a resource during a historic examination of Christmas. Have students re-write their own version of the story using a different setting, time period, or both be sure that they consider how costumes, sets, characters, folk dances, music, landmarks, locations, events, and animals might be different. Have students consider the Dance of the Snowflakes scene in The Nutcracker. Discuss what animals they might find living in this kind of habitat? What else would you likely find living in this habitat (plants, trees, insects, etc.)? Have students record their ideas on a graphic organizer and draw pictures to go along with it, or replace the pencil and paper with a blog tool like Penzu, reviewed here. With Penzu you can add images or your own artwork as illustrations.Have students compare or contrast The Nutcracker with another folk tale, fairy tale or story they have read or are familiar with.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Aspects of the Antebellum Christmas - Tim Crumrin
Grades
7 to 9In the Classroom
Use this website as a resource during a unit on Christmas, or while looking at the differences in American life before and after the Civil War. Extend learning and challenge students to create a Venn diagram using an online tool like 2 and 3 Circle Interactive Venn Diagrams, reviewed here, and then writing about their learning and understanding using Telegra.ph, reviewed here. With Telegra.ph you just click on an icon to upload images from your computer, add a YouTube or Vimeo, or Twitter links. This blog creator requires no registration.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Dickens and Christmas - David Perdue
Grades
7 to 12In the Classroom
Use this website as a tool during a unit on Christmas or Charles Dickens. Divide students into small groups or pairs to read the information on this page. The text might be challenging for some students. Pair weak readers with a strong reader. Exchange paper and pencil and instruct students to use Webnote, reviewed here to take online "sticky notes" for the important information they learn. If some of the passages are difficult, even for the strong reader, have them use Rewordify, to replace the difficult text shown with easier to understand words. Be sure to tell students to use Webnote (mentioned above) to make a sticky for the difficult word or phrase and its definition, or easier wording. Allow ESL/ELL students to try using Text to Speech Reader, which will allow these students to follow the highlighted text as the article or passage is read to them. Redefine learning and challenge students to create a multimedia presentation around a theme from Dickens using one of the TeachersFirst Edge tools. Some tool suggestions are (click on the tool name to access the review): Canva Infographic, Lucidpress, Powtoon, and MoocNote.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Victorian Christmas - TeachersFirst
Grades
4 to 8In the Classroom
Save this site as a favorite on your desktop and use it to add supplementary activities to your classroom before Winter Break. Many of the sites can be used as webquests, classroom activities or Learning centers. This could be a great way to mix the holidays into content, comparing today's celebrations to those of the 19th century.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Christmas/Holiday Traditions - myvocabulary.com
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): christmas (36), holidays (178), vocabulary (238), vocabulary development (90)
In the Classroom
Share the puzzles on your interactive whiteboard or projector or make them available as links on your teacher public page. Have students (or groups) create their own illustrated dictionaries of terms using a tool such as Bookemon, reviewed here. As you add more vocabulary lists during the year, have them select their favorite 6-10 terms from each list to add to their "book."Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Visions of Christmas - American Antiquarian Society
Grades
2 to 12In the Classroom
Art teachers, enlarge the antique photos and engravings by double clicking on the small picture. The enlarged image can be printed to be included in a vast choice of art projects. Around the holidays, project one of the pictures on your interactive whiteboard or projector for students to use as a writing prompt, as they write a story about what they feel the picture portrays.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Lovely Christmas
Grades
1 to 8In the Classroom
Be sure to check out this informative website when planning holiday lessons and festivities. Have a worldwide holiday celebration with traditional activities from different cultures and religions or include some of these explanations as readings during a holiday musical program at your school.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Giving Tree Lesson - TeachersFirst
Grades
2 to 8tag(s): character education (77), christmas (36), empathy (31), guided reading (33), writing (323)
In the Classroom
This lesson can be adapted for use in a language arts class with students of varying ability levels in grades 2 - 8. This lesson is also well-suited to a multi-age activity with "big buddies" and "little buddies" from upper and lower grades working together. School counselors and emotional support teachers may find this activity helpful for small groups working on social skills, character education, and specific traits such as empathy.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Christmas Cookie Archive
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Consider putting a link on your class web page and ask parents to volunteer for a "cookie country" and a date to send the cookies to class. That would be a good day to present some of the customs for the country they chose using one of the links mentioned above.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Handmade Holidays - HGTV
Grades
2 to 6tag(s): christmas (36), crafts (54), holidays (178), Juneteenth (22)
In the Classroom
The third topic is 75 (80) Christmas Crafts for Kids. On an interactive whiteboard or with a projector use Padlet, reviewed here to choose several of the crafts you and your students think they might enjoy making. Even before having students choose the craft they want to work on, start gathering materials; the materials don't have to be for the craft they are making, but create a "general materials" box, or area in your classroom. Many of the ideas use inexpensive or free materials! For those that don't, think creatively (use paper plates instead of real plates).You and your students may want to plan on walking around the school, they can walk through their neighborhoods to find twigs and such. Perhaps some of the families have old yarn they can donate. Allow individuals and small groups to choose the craft they would like to make.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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World Advent Calendar - Woodlands Junior School
Grades
2 to 6tag(s): calendars (37), christmas (36), holidays (178), seasonal (17)
In the Classroom
Be sure to put a link to this Advent Calendar on your website for students and parents to enjoy at home. Use some of the activities at stations around your room the days before the holiday break. Allow students to explore when finished early with required work and at recess and lunch time, or you could ask your media center teacher to put this site on the library computers for students to use.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Christmas Traditions Worldwide - History Channel
Grades
4 to 7tag(s): christmas (36), cross cultural understanding (167), cultures (145), world war 1 (78)
In the Classroom
Use the video on the "History of Christmas" page to show students how the tradition of Christmas evolved from ancient times. The section about the Christmas Truce of 1914 would be a really great find for a class working on WWI, particularly if the timing is right before the holidays. Unfortunately the video on that page is not free to view at this time; it accompanies the article, and teachers can just as easily display or print the article to share the same information. This would be a really great way to show the human side of the war instead of an endless list of battles and alliances.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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