5 Resources to Save Your Sanity in December
December can be the most wonderful time of the year
There are points in every school year when “teacher tired” takes on a different meaning. There’s beginning-of-the-school-year-tired and end-of-the-school-year-tired. And of course there’s the kind of tired that can only mean it’s December.
December is when you fight to hold onto your sanity in spite of all the holiday season throws at you as a teacher. Students struggling to stay on task because they are SO EXCITED it’s almost winter break? Yep.
Special assemblies and parties and interruptions almost every day? Yep.
Trying to take care of all the things for your outside of school life and keep your classroom humming along? Yep.
Let me help take some of the overwhelm out of the holiday season in your classroom. I have organization tips, writing activities, and holiday activities perfect for your upper elementary students.
Read on as I take you through five teaching resources that will help save your sanity and keep your students engaged this holiday season.
1 | Printable Organizational Tools
I have three printable tools that will help you get and stay organized during the craziness before holiday break.
Calendar Spread
These pages are adapted from my personal planner which is designed with watercolor pages and beautiful script fonts. I find having beautiful tools helps motivate me to stay organized! Make several copies of these pages and place them in a binder. Now you have a free calendar that will keep you well-planned for several months.
Organizer
It can be challenging to keep track of all the comings and goings in your classroom during a regular week. During the hectic weeks before winter break, it’s even worse! Support staff schedules change, assemblies are scheduled (sometimes last minute), parents show up with surprises for the class or for you. It seems as if anything and everything happens to interrupt your normal classroom routines.
I never have enough room in my usual weekly planner to keep up with all the changes, so I created a separate spreadsheet just for them. Print it, use it, and preserve your sanity as much as possible!
Gift Tracker
It happened to me – every year – and I have a feeling it has happened to you. Students surround your desk with gifts in outstretched hands and no matter how hard you try, you lose track of which gift was from which student.
It’s a problem that needs a solution, so I created this recording sheet to quickly make note of each gift I received and which student gave it to me. I also use it to keep track of what thank you notes I’ve written.
You can access all three printables inThe Treasury. This free members-only area contains exclusive resources just for subscribers. Simply sign up and download all of these sheets plus everything else in The Treasury.
2 | Holiday Lights Task Cards
As a way to incorporate non-fiction text review into the excitement of the holidays, I teach a “Winter Holidays” unit that focuses on the celebrations of Hanukkah, Christmas, Diwali, Kwanzaa, and Chinese New Year.
Students are asked to find commonalities between the diverse holidays. They discover that lights are important in all of the celebrations. We use this idea of lights to talk about how people can be lights for each other by being positive, kind, helpful, or thoughtful.
Two weeks before winter break, simply replace your typical morning work with these FREE Holiday Lights Task Cards to promote positivity in your classroom before students leave for winter break.
They can be used in multiple ways – as morning work, homework, early finisher tasks, and more. Find the cards here.
3 | Holiday Writing Activities
Who doesn't love an ugly Christmas sweater?
This Ugly Sweater Writing resource was created to provide students with short, engaging writing tasks before the holiday break. You’ll love how interconnected the tasks are and how simple the resource is to use!
Each day of writing includes a short prompt centered on those ugly holiday sweaters we all love to hate, a graphic organizer for collecting ideas, and space for completing the written piece.
Students get creative drawing visuals to go along with their writing. When all activities have been completed, students will have practiced narrative writing, opinion writing, and written an informative piece.
Spread some kindness with simple writing tasks.
Help students appreciate acts of kindness while increasing positivity in your classroom with this Thankful for Kindness Prompt for December.
Help students appreciate all acts of kindness - both big and small. These resources help students identify times when others have shown them kindness and how it made them feel. They then give thanks by writing that person a note. These resources include two options so that one can be completed in class and given to peers and another can be taken home and given to family or community members.
4 | Holiday Close-Reading Mini Units
I'm a big believer in choosing substance over fluff when it comes to celebrating holidays in the classroom. To learn why, see this post.
I have a collection of holiday-themed Close Reading resources that work especially well this time of year. Students learn about various holidays while practicing important reading skills. Each one contains original nonfiction passages and guided close reading practices along with writing responses, vocabulary activities, and more.
Each lasts 5 days and would be perfect as an emergency sub resource should you have to be out of the classroom unexpectedly.
5 | New Year's Goal Sheets
You won't use this resource in December, but if you prep it now - you'll thank yourself later.
The new year is the perfect time to refocus on our goals. This is true for us as teachers and it’s true for our students as well. Use these simple sheets when students return from break as a simple way to set goals for the new year.
Spend a few minutes copying the New Year's Resolutions/Goal Setting Sheets before you leave for break and you'll have an easy writing activity ready to go at the beginning of January!
Closing Note
There is so much to enjoy about the holiday season. And spending time with your students in the time leading up to the winter holidays gives you a front-row seat to their joy and excitement. Those weeks leading up to winter break will also be filled with challenges, interruptions, and general craziness.
With careful prep and planning, and some done-for-you resources, you can take on whatever the holiday season sends your way and save your sanity!
Click the image below to save these ideas for later…
