Christmas Worksheets
By Marissa Despins, Tiffany Schmidt, Amanda Cardenas, Sherri Miller, Cristy de Cardenas, and Tanya Marshall– Updated Dec 6, 2023
Christmas worksheets to bring holiday excitement to the classroom
When it comes to engagement around the holidays, Christmas worksheets are a great way to capitalize on the excitement students are already feeling. Today I have teamed up with some of my favorite teacher friends to share some fun ideas for Christmas worksheets that you can use to help up your holiday teaching game.
Utilize Christmas Reading Passages
Holiday themed reading passages are great ways to add some key reading strategy practice to your December curriculum. Reading passages offer a significant classroom benefit by catering to students with diverse skill level. These passages can be adjusted to suit both proficient readers and those facing challenges. Because of this, they help to foster an inclusive and supportive learning environment.
Read more about holiday reading passages, and ways you can incorporate them into your classroom curriculum, by clicking on the image or button below.
Include a variety of activities
When it comes to festive Christmas worksheets for upper elementary, Tanya The Butterfly Teacher believes that variety is the key! She infuses her holiday activities with fun Math and ELA review in the form of funny riddles, mazes, cryptograms and matching worksheets. Not only that, but she says that Christmas worksheets also work well to teach winter holiday traditions happening around the world. Including this cultural diversity with the game-style format elevates your December lessons beyond just a worksheet.
In her post about 25 Ways to Keep Kids Engaged During the Holidays, she delves into more details about how Christmas worksheets are just one way to make your classroom merry without the stress and extra teacher work. Check out her ideas to see more December teaching tips!
Keep things educational
In upper elementary, sometimes it seems like students are too old for holiday-themed festivities and activities, adopting a “too cool” attitude in the classroom. But the truth is, they’re still kids, and they will eat it up! (It may even boost behavior and engagement! Win-win!) Tiffany from The Learning Effect discovered that 5th and 6th graders (yes, middle school students!) still enjoy holiday-themed activities mixed into practice activities. Regardless of the grade you teach, your students will appreciate a different approach to practicing math skills.
One effective method is to incorporate themed math mystery pictures and digital pixel art activities. Holidays like Christmas can remain educationally relevant while adding a festive flair. Students solve math problems, and their solutions determine the colors they use on the mystery image. The digital variant provides immediate feedback; when a student enters a correct answer, part of the mystery image automatically reveals itself. This is an excellent way to maintain learning and engagement during the bustling days leading up to winter break!
Encourage Creativity
Cristy of Your Thrifty Co-Teacher believes in making learning both festive and educational by incorporating holiday-themed activities and Christmas worksheets in the upper elementary classroom. With a keen eye for creativity and a commitment to academic excellence, Cristy ensures that the holiday season becomes an opportunity for students to engage with curriculum standards in an enjoyable and meaningful way. Explore the seasonal magic in education in her post ELA Christmas Activities for the Classroom where she shares thoughtfully crafted ideas and resources perfect for the month of December.
Incorporate Technology
The holiday season is both exciting and hectic and keeping students focused and on task can be a challenge. That’s why Sherri, The Techie Chick, infuses digital Christmas worksheets and festive activities in the form of puzzles, games, mystery pictures and escape rooms to reinforce content knowledge in a fun way. Not only will these interactive digital Christmas activities save you planning and prep time, they keep students engaged by challenging them. They also promote teamwork, collaboration and problem-solving! In her post, 10 Festive Christmas Activities for Upper Elementary Classrooms, she shares a variety of activities to make the holiday season magical and bring joy to your classroom in December.
Make time for review
In Amanda’s experience, holiday activities are the perfect way to help build both a cozy classroom environment and bring in just that little extra something fun at a difficult time of year. After working hard all semester, Amanda from Mud and Ink Teaching likes to have her secondary ELA students review the characters they’ve read about and studied. Once students have looked back at all the books they’ve read, she has them select one character and design a stocking that symbolically represents that character. Students can work on this purely from a creative angle, but this lesson could also be used to review the different ways that symbolism works.
Interested in discovering more teaching tips and strategies?
Check out these related blog posts!
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