December is a super high-energy time for Middle School ELA/R teachers (and students!) due to the impending weeks of time off that are about to be here. We need extra special help to keep students engaged, and if you’re like me, it’s probably been a hot second since you’ve even thought about doing any kind of “classroom community building” — at least since September when school started (or August, for our Southern friends who seem to start back like the first of the month!).
Plus, it’s not just about random community-building, either. December can bring up a lot of “stuff” for students in our classrooms. Maybe they’re really excited about Christmas! Maybe they’re dreading the time off because life at home isn’t consistent, reliable, or festive. Perhaps they don’t celebrate Christmas. Or, maybe they don’t live in a “Christmas-y” part of the country (why is snow associated with Christmas… I grew up in a hot, humid part of Texas where we didn’t have snow).
Therefore, let’s combine the chaos of the season with the need to continuously build classroom community through my FAVORITE December activity which involves reading, writing, speaking, and listening . . . And it’s accessible for all students, regardless of their home lives, faith lives, or other factors.
>>> It’s the Holiday Happiness Discussion Deck <<<
You can use the four questions I’m showing you in the image above as inspiration for creating your own version of a Holiday Happiness Discussion Deck, or you can get the whole thing done, ready-made for you right now, when you grab my entire Seasonal ELA Engagement Pack with the ✨Monday Method✨ Collection. Together, these two sets of resources will carry you not just through the holiday season, but through the entire school year as well!
Now, back to the Holiday Happiness Discussion Deck!
What it Is:
- 10 full-color slides, each with an image and a discussion question themed around this time of year (December, winter, etc.)
- They can be used in any order (all at once, or once a day for 10 days)
When I Use It:
- I like to use this throughout December, like after Thanksgiving Break but before Christmas Break
4 Ways to Use the Holiday Happiness Discussion Deck
Option 1 > > The Gallery Walk Print out each beautiful image (Color printer at the school? Maybe? Yes, please!) Post them around your classroom (any order is fine) Play some fun holiday music and let students move around, gallery-walk style, responding in writing to the various prompts (as many or as few of the prompts as you deem appropriate based on time and attention span) Let students share their stories and experiences with each other!
Option 2 > > Small Group Discussion Starters Use your print settings to print out 2 or 4 per page (using color if you can!) Allow students to work in small groups, sharing their experiences with each other like discussion starters Students can talk, write, etc. based on how you want them interacting with the cards.
Option 3 > > Point-of-View Instead of responding as themselves, students can respond to the prompts based on a character from a novel or other piece of literature they’ve read. In other words, this can make for a festive, yet higher-order critical thinking skill activity, too!
Option 4 > > Beginning of Class Routine Depending on where you are in the country, you might call this a hook, or a bell ringer, or a warm-up, or a do-now . . . It all means the same thing! These 15 “tasks” can give you plenty to work with to get the class going! This ensures they’re getting settled in, getting their supplies ready, and it allows you to grab a sip of water and take a breath as the class begins 🙂 And with 15 to choose from, you could display 3 each day for 5 days of the last week before break, and that allows students to choose any one of the 3 to work with on any of those days!
Ok, so again, you can use this idea to design your own Holiday Happiness Discussion Deck, or you can grab my ready-made version right now because it’s part of my entire Seasonal ELA Engagement Pack that you get with the ✨Monday Method✨ Collection. Together, these two sets of resources will carry you not just through the holiday season, but through the entire school year as well!
