December is here, and the students in Mrs. D’s class couldn’t be more delighted. There has been non-stop talking about candy canes, sugar plums, winter wonderland, and of course- the holidays!
If you want to lean into the excitement this month, check out these December lesson plan ideas that will keep the magic of the holiday season alive with lots of learning!
And if you’re looking to add a little merry to your classroom setup, grab these Holiday Themed Editable Classroom Labels.
December Lesson Plan Ideas for Holidays
Celebrate Christmas cheer with this Christmas Lapbook {with 10 Foldables!}. Perfect for students grades 2nd through 5th, this download gives students the chance to share their favorite Christmas memories while reflecting on a bit of history about the holiday (like who, what, when, and where). This lapbook includes activities that touch on the 5 Senses of Christmas, Sequencing How to Make Hot Cocoa, Christmas Winter Weather, Building a Snowman, and more! This interactive lapbook can be used all month long, and there are tons of prompts to keep students busy.
Christmas isn’t the only holiday in December. So reach for the Holiday Lapbook Bundle {Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah} to teach your students about these December holidays as well! With 44 pages, this download includes lapbooks for all three winter holidays!
Build a paperless gingerbread man during free time, center time, or indoor recess with this Digital Build a Gingerbread Man Activity. With 13 different digital worksheets, students can follow along with various prompts to build their own holiday cookie friend.
The “Give a Mouse” series by Laura Numeroff is an elementary classroom staple, and it just wouldn’t be the holidays without Merry Christmas, Mouse!. We love to read this book and then do center-time activities as lesson extensions. The Merry Christmas, Mouse Book Companion, and Adapted Piece Set feature worksheets for students to practice sequencing, vocabulary, writing prompts, story sorting map, tracing, graphing, task cards, and more! The Merry Christmas, Mouse Adapted Book, and Pieces is an engaging way to get students involved in the storytelling process. And subs love when you keep this in your emergency plan stash because everything they need (except for the book) is included!
Squeeze in some counting practice with this Digital Christmas Themed Counting to 20 Activity Bundle. This functional, differentiated, and paperless skill work is the perfect addition to your rotations and centers. This digital set of errorless work pages will help your students practice basic skills. They have a blast working through the eight different counting activities themed with candy canes, cookies, elves, gumdrops, ornaments, poinsettias, presents, stockings.
*note: you MUST have access to Google Slides to use this digital download
Younger students love these Reindeer + Santa Disguise Task Boxes. With three levels of differentiation, students giggle while matching dressed-up Santa and his Reindeer to the occupation they’re disguising in. Use these to work on vocabulary, practice and model communication, hand-eye coordination, visual-spatial perception, colors, shapes, and patterns.
We practice life skills every chance we get, and the holiday season is brimming with opportunities to do that. With the Christmas Letters + Envelopes Life Skills Task, students work on adding return labels, address labels, and stamps to holiday envelopes. The download is customizable. You can create labels for each of your students so they can practice their address as well! You can print out the envelopes that come with the download or use your own for a realistic experience.
For bonus points, you can set this up in a holiday-themed post office center!
The Christmas Adapted Book Bundle is a must-have during December and keeps students engaged during literacy blocks. This digital + printable bundle is filled with fictional and non-fictional books, in Level 1 and Level 2 that include:
Our Adapted Books feature interactive pages with pieces, comprehension questions, and paper comprehension tests that are great for tracking data.
to bring worldly traditions to your lesson line-up, the Holidays Around the World Adapted Book and Activity Bundle is just for you!
December Lesson Plan Ideas for Non-Holiday Activities
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow is another book we read every year, and the students love it because it is so interactive. This is a great book to practice sequencing, and what better way to do that than with this Old Lady Swallowed Some Snow Book Companion. Practice sorting and sequencing the events in the story with ten different graphic organizers, two different, fun, and effective Old Lady sequencing crafts, a Velcro sequencing page, and the Old Lady Swallowed Some Snow Adapted Piece Book Set.
If you’re looking for an errorless yet hands-on math activity, the Digital Winter Themed Counting to 20 Activity Bundle features seven digital worksheets around cute winter themes!
*note: you need Google Slides for this one!
The December Adapted Book Bundle is a digital and printable download featuring these nine differentiated adapted books, pieces, and comprehension questions:
• Winter
December is a busy (and short) month in our classroom, and we like to make the most if it.
What are some of your go-to December lesson plans? Tell us in the comments below!
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:
- December Books for Special Education Classrooms
- Holidays Around the World for Special Ed
- DIY Classroom Fireplace
