Christmas Book Lists of Christmas Past

I’ve been working on my 2023 Christmas Picture Book list for almost a month now, there are SO many good Christmas picture books out there and this is my favorite post I write all year! Picture books are magical year-round, but for some reason, the magic seems to double around Christmas. We’re not quite ready to roll out the red carpet for our 2023 list, so to hold us all off, here are all of the links to past year’s Christmas picture book lists.

Find the very first Christmas book list here:

My second year of writing a Christmas picture book lists almost felt wrong because it seemed like so many incredible holidays and celebrations were left out. Thus came the Christmas Book List as well as several other lists of holiday books!

By my third year of writing my Christmas Book lists, it felt like a tradition.

Last year’s Christmas book list almost felt like it couldn’t be topped, but maybe this year I’ll say the same thing.

Stay tuned! The Christmas Picture Books of 2023 will be hitting the blog soon! Which books are you hoping to see on the list?

Christmas Reading Bingo Chart: FREE Downloadable PDF

Our reading bingo charts have become pretty popular with the reading crowd around our town! Each holiday and season I’m getting new requests for more. You can see our past reading bingos here:

Summer Reading Bingo

Fall Reading Bingo

As always, these are FREE to download. We love sharing this free resource for those who need or want it. These bingo charts have been great for readers who want a challenge and for readers who need some motivation or direction to get started.

On the bingo chart, there are several squares for reading books about different winter celebrations and holidays. If you don’t know where to find these books, look no further! We did the work for you last winter! Check out our winter holiday book lists:

The bingo charts are available in both color and black and white, for whatever your preference is. Download them here!

The Importance of Being Thankful- Ideas for the Classroom

Thanksgiving can be a tricky topic in school to learn about and celebrate, especially when we want to be respectful of those who may not celebrate the holiday.

At its very core, Thanksgiving is about being thankful, which is always a great topic and value to teach to all ages of children in schools. You don’t have to explicitly celebrate Thanksgiving in your classroom to celebrate and learn about being thankful.

We can start off by having a simple conversation about being thankful and what it means to us. We can talk about the different things we can be thankful for from everyday necessities like water, food, and shelter, to the bigger things like our gaming systems at home, bikes, etc. There are also things to be thankful for like friends, family, and teachers.

Ways we can incorporate thankfulness in the classroom-

A thankful tree art project- an empty tree trunk that eventually is filled with leaves that are written with what the students are thankful for.

A thankful turkey art project- similar to the thankful tree, but a more “Thanksgiving” approach if you’re wanting to head that way.

Write thank-you notes to teachers, janitors, administration, cafeteria workers, and more.

Take a few minutes of class each day to have the students tell everyone what they are thankful for.

Create thankful journals in class and write in them when possible.

Have students write what they are thankful for on a strip of paper and draw a few each day to read to the class.

Let the students highlight each other when they see the kindness their peers are showing.

When we are looking at the good, positive aspects of our lives, the good only gets better. That’s why promoting and talking about being thankful in our classrooms is only a net positive for everyone. It’s eye-opening for everyone to see what others value and are thankful for in their lives, and can remind us more about what we are thankful for in our lives.

Do you talk about being thankful with your students? What does this look like in your classroom?

Differentiated Spelling Lists: There’s a Reason for Them

My daughter brought home her first spelling list to practice this school year, you can read about how hard she worked for her spelling test in my post here. 

Recently, we had quite the opposite experience with her. After a few weeks of great scores on spelling tests, she started becoming incredibly confident in her work, which really was great! Until that translated to being too confident. I think you already know where this is going, don’t you? 

We had a week where homework was a fight. I tried to find a good balance of prompting and encouraging, but not pushing too hard either and causing more pushback from the constant nagging. It’s a delicate balance! By the time the spelling test came around, she hadn’t practiced the words at all. They also do a reading test, where they read a passage and answer questions about the passage… This also was never practiced during the week prior to the test. I figured there were probably going to be some great natural consequences for her when she realized how much harder the tests would be when she didn’t spend the time practicing. 

We had dealt with some academic-related anxiety with her earlier in the school year, so knowing this, I had a conversation with her before the school day to prep her for the pending spelling test that I was anticipating ending in tears. We talked about trying our best and how sometimes when we don’t practice, the test can be a lot harder for us. When we do practice, it’s much easier because we know what to expect. She took it all in and seemed like she understood what I was saying. 

That afternoon she came home with a spelling test in her hand. Her final score? 100%. She completely aced it! I couldn’t believe it. Everything I was trying to do had backfired completely. What she had just learned was “I can get a good score even when I don’t put in the time and effort.” 

This is why differentiated spelling lists are so important. Because odds are, there was also a child in that class who despite the work, time, and effort put in, still did poorly. This doesn’t mean one child is better or worse than another,  it means that the needs and levels are different and therefore should be differentiated. 

Reading groups are differentiated for the most part in our school, why can’t we include spelling words and tests in that as well? 

What are our students actually learning if they are either trying too hard or not trying hard enough on their spelling tests each week? 

Many of us have specific guidelines and curriculums we must follow as a teacher, but how can we still use these, but work around them in creating and using differentiated spelling lists? 

Other posts on spelling words that may be helpful: 

School Affirmations Round Three

Last month we featured a post of affirmations for students to use at school. We also have a list of Back to School Affirmations. They were so popular that I knew right away we needed a part three. 

Affirmations can be so important to us when our bodies are feeling one way, but we need to remind ourselves what is important and who we are. They may be awkward at first to say to ourselves, but given practice and time, it can 

“When I want to shrink, I choose to expand” 

“I deserve to take up space” 

“I am enough”

” I am not responsible for others happiness” 

” I can feel hard feelings until they pass” 

“I can have restarts. I can try again. Mistakes help me grow” 

” I am doing warrior work” 

“I own peace and presence in all circumstances”

” I am brave” 

” I can communicate my needs clearly” 

” I am capable of moving forward” 

“I am still learning. I deserve grace” 

“I hold serenity and peace” 

” I am a champion” 

” I can feel frustrated and be calm.”

“My voice matters” 

“I embrace change and welcome challenges”

” I have the knowledge and space to overcome any obstacle I face”

Putting Homework in the Child’s Hands

Homework… it can be such a tricky topic! There is little research that shows homework being effective for children in elementary-aged classrooms. Upon a quick Google search, “Is homework effective for elementary-aged students?” There are pages of results full of articles denying that homework is academically effective. 

So as a teacher or a parent with higher-ups enforcing homework in the classroom, what can you do? 

Change the role of homework, stop seeing it as academic advancement, and start seeing it as an opportunity for students to build their self-awareness, self-fulfillment, and responsibility. And we do this by putting the homework in the child’s hands. 

This means as teachers we are encouraging parents to remind, but not nag, about the homework. 

It means, if possible, grading based on completion and participation instead of correctness. 

It means giving the responsibility of the homework, completion, and bringing it back and forth from home to school, to the child and not the teachers or the parents. 

It’s doing our best to teach them the intrinsic motivation of learning and practicing by watching them accomplish more and do better with the work they have put into their studies. 

It can also mean starting the conversation with your principal and superintendent about the research on homework in younger grades and seeing if you can help change school policies. 

In the end, putting the homework in the child’s hands and letting them take control of their learning can bring them more benefits later than actually doing the homework will.

11 Jokes to Use in the Classroom

Jokes in the classroom are important, you can read more about it from our earlier post here. Try these fun jokes in your classroom and let us know how they go! 

Why was 7 afraid of 8?
Because 7, 8 (ate), 9!

What did one wall say to the other wall?
I’ll meet you at the corner!

What do you call an illegally parked frog?
Toad!

What’s worse than finding a worm in your apple?
Finding half of a worm in your apple!

Why are fish so smart?
Because they live in schools!

Which teachers have the greenest thumbs?
The Kinder GARDEN teachers

Why was the geometry class always so tired?
Because they were all out of shape

Why didn’t the skeleton go to the school dance?
Because he had no BODY to go with!

What is a cat’s favorite color?
Puuuurrrple

What did the teacher do when she got to the beach?
She tested the water

What vegetables do librarians like?
Quiet peas.