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December 11, 2018

December Books - Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa

Confessions of a Frazzled Teacher
If you haven't noticed, I am OBSESSED with children's books. My classroom library is currently at about 3,100 books. This is not enough. I don't understand teachers that say they have enough books, because there is no such thing as enough books! 

I love the change in months, because I can update my monthly book display! While December does not hold the claim to the most monthly books (February does), it does have a ton of books. Below are a few of my favorites.

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Christmas Books


      

I love How Santa Got His Job and was super excited when the sequel came out. The original book is great to teach cause and effect skills with your students. Creating job applications/descriptions for the elves or reindeer make a fun companion activity.

      

Now that Auntie Claus has a sequel (actually two but I don't recommend the other one), I use these books for comparing and contrasting.

 

While I do not use these books for activities, they are fun reads!


      

To me, Christmas is not complete without the Grinch or the Polar Express! I devote one day to each book. For the Grinch, we complete acts of Kindness to grow his heart. In The Polar Express, we have a math lesson on how to make hot chocolate as we mix it up in the crock pot. Yummy!


     

Depending on my students, I may try to fit in a chapter book. In the past, we have read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. This one is definitely for older students! My students the last few years do much better with Stanley's Christmas Adventure. One of these years, I will get my act together and read the original book earlier in the school year. Until then, I have to explain how Stanley is flat...although in this book he's not!

Hanukkah Books


           


The Magic Dreidels was recommended to me by another teacher. My students and I enjoy it. This is an awesome book to teach character traits to your children. My students had strong opinions on Fruma Sarah and Jacob!

Unfortunately, there are not very many books that I would recommend. Anyone know of any great Hanukkah books?

Kwanzaa Book





If you thought my Hanukkah collection was sad, please don't look closely at my Kwanzaa books. I read this one each year, but I am not extremely thrilled about it. Don't get me wrong. There is a TON of great facts in here. The writing is just a little dry. There is also a cute story line woven in the book. It's just too wordy for a picture book. I am desperate for great Kwanzaa books. Any ideas?

What are your favorite December books?

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