Merry Christmas!

Hope your holidays are merry, bright, and WARM with the love of your family and friends!

This week...

This week in the library, we have been talking about traditions. Specifically traditions passed down from ancestors that come from other countries. The kids have mentioned some really cool traditions!

After we talk, I read to them Uncle Vova's Tree by Patricia Polacco.

This book is rich with Russian tradition and an overall feeling of love and family togetherness.

We have also been reading Olive, the Other Reindeer & Mary Englebreit's A Very Merry Christmas: Celebrate From A to Z. The younger kids have loved to come up with their own Christmas words for each letter. We also do the ASL sign for each letter as we turn pages.

Christmas Mouse

Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring,not even a mouse.

With some of my younger students we are making Christmas Mouse ornaments simply by coloring a picture of a mouse (without a tail) then taping a candy cane to the back for it's tail.

I love to share Christmas traditions, but also enjoy sharing

how other celebrations are celebrated this time of year.

The first week in December I am sharing this story, since Chanukkah starts Dec 1st this year.

I also have dreidels on the table so the students can have fun playing a game from that celebration.

The second week of December we are sharing Christmas traditions. I am not reading a story, but letting students share their favorite traditions or Christmas memories.

The third week of December I will "serve" the students a cookie from a tray as they enter the kiva, then share portions of the story below about Saint Lucia Day and how it is celebrated, since it falls on December 13th.

Fun Christmas and Holiday reads...

These are just a few of my favorite Christmas stories...written by Robert E. Barry
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Written by Karma Wilson
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Written by Rick Osborne
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Written by Colleen Monroe
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and of course...
...written by Clement C. Moore and illustrated by Mary Engelbreit.

What stories will you be sharing with your students this holiday season?