Ericas Ed-Ventures

Primary Education Ideas

Hanukah, Christmas, New Year’s, and plus FREEBIES!

The December holidays are upon us!  Next week, I plan to do some Hanukkah activities with my class.  My favorite is having them try latkes (pronounced “lot-ka-z”).  I usually ask for a parent volunteer to make them.  They sell frozen latkes in grocery stores here and they just need to be fried up or baked.  They are best served up hot! The students try their latkes with applesauce, sour cream, and plain.  Then they graph their favorite ways to eat the latkes.  Click the pictures below to snag this freebie packet to try with your students.  
PS – My all time favorite Hanukkah book is The Chanukah Guest by Eric A. Kimmel!

I also have a Hanukkah vs. Christmas picture Venn in my HUGE, 111 page packet, Have Yourself a Very Common Core Christmas packet.   Click on the link or the cover below to check it out.  You don’t want to miss out on this one. 
Here are a few of the many activities from that packet! 

Are your students all about GETTING this Christmas?  I wanted a way to teach them compassion around the holidays.  I came up with this simple $3 unit which focuses on read alouds to convey the message of compassion.  I am doing the unit this week with my first graders and you could hear a pin drop when I read the stories!  This unit is really hitting home for my students this year because many of them know people who lost everything in the hurricane.  I am proud that my students are learning that “giving” can feel as good as “getting!”  Click below to check out the packet on TpT!
There are just not enough weeks in December!  I always have to do one of my all time favorite units: Common Core Gingerbread Man Activities.  I love all the variations of The Gingerbread Man that are out there.  It is a favorite of the students and they LOVE reading/listening to all the various versions.    They love to predict whether or not the gingerbread character will get eaten.  I was worried that one of the books was a bit graphic (the gingerbread man’s face frowning as the fox gobbles him up), but they didn’t even flinch! I don’t have kids of my own, so I am not used to what they are exposed to on TV and video games.  
My packet comes with an extensive bibliography list.  Have you ever heard of Stop That Pickle!? Click the images below to check out this packet on TpT!  599 people have purchased it and loved it!  
While we are still on the topic of Christmas, you can find these Christmas themed FREEBIES by clicking the images below. 

Click here for a free SmartBoard: Art Follow the Directions Christmas Tree Craft.

Right after Christmas comes New Year’s!  You know you need to take all that holiday stuff down and put something new up quick.  This packet has just what you need to start the New Year off on the right foot!  Click the images below to check it out on TpT.

I hope you, your family, and your students have a joyous holiday season!  

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Comments

  2. I am going to download the Snowman Poop and Reindeer Food labels immediately—AHHHH!!!! So CUTE! I also LOVE the Teaching Compassion at Christmas Time pack–we started brainstorming some ideas as a class today to do random acts of kindness around our school and spread the Christmas spirit! I love that your unit goes along with that! You are an inspiration, Erica!