A Language Arts idea on Climax using "How The Grinch Stole Christmas"

A Christmas lesson on the Advent Calendar (also a Religion lesson)

This is a collection of Christmas Journal Ideas

Here's a Christmas lesson plan that "S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-S" the song "Silent Night"

A short Christmas activity on the song "Up On The Housetop"

A high school lesson plan for students in child development/care classes - creating fun Holiday ideas for children

This Science lesson teaches all about Crystals and can be used to make Christmas Ornaments

A Christmas time Music idea that involves Caroling to the other classes

Here's an idea for a Holiday Calendar to countdown to Christmas (or other events)

A collection of some fun Christmas Activity ideas

An Art lesson for making Playdough Christmas Ornaments

An interesting Art idea for creating "Holiday Rugs"

This idea is called Holidaymakers and teaches Planning

An idea for making decorative Christmas ornaments out of Light Bulbs

A winter idea for creating "Marshmallow Snowmen"

A lesson on Comprehension and Inferences that uses a book called "The Snowy Day"

This is a Christmas idea for Writing Letters to the Three Wise Men

The student will read a modified version of "the Night Before Christmas."

The student will complete a cloze activity on the poem.

• Students will recognize that the Christmas tree is one symbol of Christmas. 
• Students will demonstrate their ability to identify symbols. 
• Students will compare the lightstock (Christmas pyramid) with the Paradise tree. 
• Students will apply their knowledge about the history of ornaments. 
• Students will analyze and observe evergreen samples. 

Students will use and demonstrate their mapping skills.

• TLW learn how to estimate prices of items
• TLW use Christmas catalogs to search for the costs of wanted items 
• TLW use problem solving strategies and the spreadsheet to find out what can be purchased

CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS AROUND THE GLOBE WITH A "WORLD" OF CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES!

MINI-GEOGRAPHY AND MUTI-CULTURAL ED: Christmas AROUND THE WORLD 
dmulticultural

Seasonal
Christmas/December Holidays:  Great site full of good Christmas Links

Holiday Lesson Plans and Resources

LEARN NC Lesson Plan: Christmas Around the World. (by: Myra Lanier)

 Lights resources 
The children complete a booklet that I have generated over the years.  After the title page, there follow 18 pages to teach about the festivals.  Each year I have the booklet printed up in the order in which we will study the festivals.  Each festival has an informational page followed by an activity page.  The informational page includes descriptions of the festival including customs and symbols, and where appropriate, a color-in picture of the country's or culture's flag.  The activities include color by number, cut and paste and fill in the blank pages.  In addition, the following books are read in part or in their entirety: 

Winter Lights: Celebrations Around The World

Lesson Plan - Light in Festivals
Background information:
Light is an important element in many holidays and festivals throughout the world. It is the symbol of the divine and bringing light into the world. Light also has meaning related to the religious or cultural background of different countries.  Throughout the month of December, many countries use light as an important symbol. Five holidays being discussed in this unit are Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Le Re'veillon, Los Posados, and St. Lucia Day.

 Preschool Planet - A World of Information and Fun!
Holiday Celebrations for Kids

Art/Writing. If you could give any gift to the people of the world, what would that gift be? Draw a picture of your gift and write a sentence to explain what your gift is and why you chose it.

Geography. Hang a world map in the center of a bulletin board. Invite each student to write on a card the expression "Merry Christmas" in a different language. (For a source, see the "Merry Christmas" Around the World page of the WorldView Christmas Web site; the page provides translations of "Merry Christmas" for more than 20 countries.) Attach yarn to each card. Invite students to post the cards around the map on the bulletin and to extend each strand of yarn from a "Merry Christmas" card to the appropriate country.

Table Reading. Provide table reading practice using one of two Teaching Masters provided. The TMs provide tables showing the ten most popular holiday greeting cards mailed in the United States. Choose the Primary TM (practice for younger students) or the Upper Grade TM (for upper elementary students and above).
Answer Key for Primary TM:
1. Christmas, 2. 1 billion, 3. Mother's Day; 4. Halloween; 5. Thanksgiving; 6. 250 million, 7. Jewish New Year.
Answer Key for Upper Grade TM:
1. Christmas, 2. 1 billion; 3. 50 million; 4, Halloween; 5. 75 million; 6. 1 million; 7. 250 million; 8. February, because many more cards are mailed for Valentine's Day than are mailed for St. Patrick's Day; 9. 2,700,011,000; THINK ABOUT IT! Accept reasoned responses (probably not as many as are mailed at Christmas, but more than are mailed at Easter).

Gift Ideas. Sometimes students don't have the money to buy a small gift for another family member. Giving of themselves is a great gift idea. Students might

• Create a simple "coupon" or "gift certificate" form that children can fill in and give as a gift. The form should provide spaces labeled TO:, FROM:, and MY GIFT TO YOU:. Students might want to brainstorm gift ideas (ie., raking the yard, babysitting, serving breakfast in bed) before filling out their gift certificates. 
• Create a "job jar" by decorating a large jar and putting inside it small folded slips of paper with odd jobs written on each. A few blank slips might be included so parents can write on them a preferred "job" for the student to do.

Writing. Ask students to pretend they have pen pals in foreign countries. Their pen pals celebrate Christmas (or other holidays) in a way very different than they might do. Invite students to write letters to their pen pals to explain how their families celebrate the holidays.

Literature Connections. A ton of literature about the holidays is available. I found a nice listing on an ERIC listserv that you might want to take a look at. Some of the listed titles have activities provided. Take a look at Christmas Literature Activities.

Research. Invite students to research different Christmas symbols such as the Christmas card, the star, mistletoe, the poinsettia, holly, the Christmas tree, and Christmas carols. Also students might research the different faces of Santa Claus, including St. Nicholas, Father Christmas, and Santa Claus. Among the Internet sites students might use are Symbols of Christmas, General Christmas Traditions, Santa Around the World, and Santa Claus and Related Traditions.

Article by Gary Hopkins
Education World¬ Editor-in-Chief
Copyright © 1997 Education World

MORE CHRISTMAS FUN ON THE INTERNET

• Brief History of Santa This story traces Santa from the first well-known gift-giver, St. Nicholas, in Myra (modern-day Turkey) in about 300 A.D. 
• The Christmas Trivia Quiz Learn all about the Christmas holiday while having fun with this self-correcting quiz. 
• Christmas Crafts and Activities This site provides links to all kinds of "crafty" sites. You'll find recipes for playdough, gak, and finger paint; pictures to color; directions for making rock candy and recycled paper; and tons of other arts and crafts ideas. 
• Rosie's Christmas Tongue Twisters "Seven Santas sang silly songs," "Running reindeer romp 'round red wreaths," "Tiny Timmy trims the tall tree with tinsel," and many more! 
• Christmas Word Search Puzzle 1 and Christmas Word Search Puzzle 2 Just the cure for puzzle-itis from John's Word Search Puzzles. 

Christmas Tree Fun, Facts and Figures From the National Christmas Tree Association come facts, sales figures, folklore, and more.

Climax is a hard concept to teach in this grade level, and last week I had prepared the usual diagrams and illustrations for the lesson, when I realized I wasn't getting through to these kids!   So, I thought, what have they all seen or read that we can use as illustration?

 Answer: How The Grinch Stole Christmas!!
 We made a rising/falling action graph on the blackboard, and used the crucial parts of the story  to fill in both parts. Of course, everyone knows that the climax is when the Grinch realizes that  his evil ways have gone too far, and his heart grows four sizes too big, instead of one or 2 sizes too small. At the end, we sang the theme song from the Who's Christmas Tree Sing A Long, and then went on to pick apart other "stories"....

 A very successful way to drive home the concept!