Yesterday my school's town lost power for almost 2 hours... the first 30-minutes everything in my end of the building was flickering off and on every minute or so, so we just turned the lights off and used one of the only things in my room that was working- my overhead projector, for a light source! We got out a flashlight to use in the bathroom and had just resigned ourselves to an afternoon with limited power when, finally, it just went OUT totally and I taught in the dark for another hour or so! It was actually kind of cute to see my students huddled around the windows to do their writing... :)
Today we made our November "Snazzy Snack" which was pumpkin pie in a bag. WOW. It was so tasty!
I can't even think ahead to tomorrow, but Thursday is a movie in the morning for the kids who tripled or quadded their AR goals for the 1st marking period and Friday we're having a read-in for the day... I'm off all next week! :)
So, today I just wanted to share with you the books that I use for my Christmas Around the World unit. I do get a lot of e-mails about this, and most of them you can easily find by searching for the title, but a few others are a little more un-obvious... so here they are!
Day 1- any The Night Before Christmas. I use this cool pop-up book:
Day 2- The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie daPaola
Day 5- Wombat Divine by Mem Fox
Day 6- Christmas Tree! by Wendell and Florence Minor- this book doesn't necessarily pertain to Germany, but I love it because it shows all these different "trees" and how each one is special to the people/animals/etc... in the illustrations
I also have the book Christmas Around the World by Mary D. Lankford that I read bits of and use as a great resource. I'd highly recommend it! This author has many other "____ Around the World" books... I'd love to check out her others!
I also have a book I got for Christmas when I was about 6 years old called My Special Christmas. By now, it has been taped together by my mom a million times and the pages are brown and wrinkly, but it stars me, my sister (Michelle), and our dog (Max) as we travel around the world, meeting "Santa" figures from many different countries. At each stop, we get a large letter. At the end of the story, we end up at the North Pole where Santa arranges the letters to spell the word "PEACE", which is his wish for "every boy and girl, and their parents too, in the whole world". I always read that to my kiddos during this too... that book is just CHRISTMAS to me! :)
Ok- I hope that helps! I plan to be back later this week with something useful for your classroom! :)
Thanks so much for the books! I can't wait to do this unit with my kids! :)
ReplyDeleteI just LOVE your classroom website - I actually have it bookmarked to use as a resource! Thank you SO much! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the books! I haven't seen some of them so I am excited to check them out!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Rebecca
teachingfirst-abc.blogspot.com
Thanks for sharing :) I love the book you have from your childhood! Sounds like a wonderful story to share with your own students.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your list of books! I have found where you can still order the personalized book here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.simplypersonalized.com/unusual-gifts/personalized-childrens-books/my-special-christmas-adventure/
Mine is on the way!
Amanda
http://mrspierce0515.blogspot.com
Amanda~ Thanks for finding that! It sounds a little different than mine... I go with an elf named Goldentoe! ;)
ReplyDeleteBut I have treasured it my entire life and know any kiddo would LOVE to have their own copy!
Thank you for creating such a unique and wonderful unit. I love love love your blog, website, and just about everything you do.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, I have that same book! The "My Special Christmas" book, that is. It's at my parents house currently, but I am so going to get that book and read next year to my students! Awesome! I am so excited to try these books out. I will spend the next year looking for them. :-)
ReplyDeleteHere is a book I recommend for Antarctica. "Antarctic Journal: Four Months at the Bottom of the World" from Jennifer Owings Dewey. My favorite part is where the penguins are on her typewriter checking things out. You will probably want to read excerpts from the book, but it would really "make" your visit to Antarctica come alive for the kids.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait until next year to try some of your ideas. Thanks for sharing.