Let's Talk Christmas Countdown

   Fifteen days and counting. Well..eleven days until Christmas Break.  Channeling the excitement of the season into productive learning can be a challenge this time of the year to say the least.  There are days I want to throw my hands in the air and yell "I give up!", put on some Christmas music, make crafts, and dance around. Then, there's that little nagging voice in my head telling me that I need to get them ready for a test. I can't veer far from my pacing guide or they won't be ready.  Uggh! The "T" word dampens my spirits like no other.
   So, my solution? Compromise. Stick to the pacing guide and dig deep into the creative recesses of my brain.  After doing this, I came up with my Let's Talk Trees Persuasive Writing Unit.

Here is my checklist for creating the unit:

• Needs to be engaging and Christmas related...✔
• High Interest...✔
• Common Core aligned...✔
• Follows pacing map..Close Read Information Text✔ Point of View✔Opinion Writing✔
• Fun for the kids✔

 We spent a week on the unit and yes, listened to Christmas music also. The topic of a real tree versus a fake tree for Christmas sparked some interesting debate. It surprised me how opinionated the children were on the topic. To tie in the "crafty" part, I allowed the children to write the reasons for their opinions on ornament templates and then design them. I displayed the ornaments on  our bulletin board with the tree of their choice.

To learn more about the unit you can click the picture below to download a preview. 

Merry Christmas and enjoy your remaining days before break!