Christmas

Christmas Books

Songs and Poems

Way Up in the Christmas Tree

(Tune : "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)

The Pocket Book

David Cooper & Lynn Taylor

Way up in the Christmas Tree

(Two little candy canes ) *

smiled at me!

I shook that tree

just as hard as I could

Down came the (candy canes) *

(mmm... they were good!)

* Add other verses by substituting other

Christmas tree ornaments:

two pretty lights....twinkled at me!

two shiny bulbs ....glistened at me!

two tiny dolls....winked at me!

two yellow stars....sparkled at me!

Did You Ever See a Reindeer?

by Cheryl Heltne

Sung to: "Did You Ever See a Lassie?"

Did you ever see a reindeer,

A reindeer, a reindeer?

Did you ever see a reindeer

With a bright shiny nose?

A bright shiny nose,

A bright shiny nose.

Did you ever see a reindeer

With a bright shiny nose?

Oh, his name is Rudolph,

Is Rudolph, is Rudolph.

Oh, his name is Rudolph

The Red-Nosed Reindeer.

The Red-Nosed Reindeer,

The Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Oh, his name is Rudolph,

The Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Five Little Trees

The Pocket Book

David Cooper & Lynn Taylor

Five little trees, sitting on a hill,

The first one said, "I think I feel a chill!"

The second one said, "There's a man in town."

The third one said, "He's going to chop us down!"

The fourth one said, "Then we'll shine and shine!"

The fifth one said, " 'Cuz it's Christmas time!"

Then "Ahhhhh...," went the people

As on went the lights,

And the five little trees

Were all shining bright!

Reindeer, Go

Reindeer, go,
Over the snow,
Fast, fast and never slow;
Up and down,
Through the town,
Go, reindeer,
Go, go, go!

Reindeer fly,
Up in the sky
Where stars are twinkling high;
O'er the hill,
Smooth and still,
Fly, reindeer,
Fly, fly, fly

Ten Little Christmas Elves

Ten Little Christmas elves,

Busy making lovely toys,

Helping Santa fill his list.

For all good girls and boys.

The first elf painted a bright red truck;

The second elf added a quack to a duck.

The third elf dressed a pretty baby doll;

The fourth elf made a round orange ball.

The fifth elf stuffed a fuzzy teddy bear;

The sixth elf sewed a funny hat to wear.

The seventh elf put the wheels on a train;

The eighth elf wrapped up a candy cane.

The ninth elf drew pretty pictures in a book;

The tenth elf made a gingerbread people to cook.

Ten little Christmas elves,

Busy making lovely toys,

Helping Santa fill his list,

For all good girls and boys.

Ten Little Reindeer

by Mabel Dutch

Ten little reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh;

One breaks his harness. Nine speed away.

Nine little reindeer, afraid that they'll be late,

Run so hard one tumbles. That leaves only eight.

Eight little reindeer speeding close to heaven;

One goes into orbit, leaving only seven.

Seven little reindeer landing on a roof:

One goes home 'cause he hurt his little hoof.

Six little reindeer flying through the air;

One makes a wrong turn. Only five are there.

One reindeer says, "I'm sorry, I can't run anymore."

His friends insist he rest, but that leaves only four.

Four little reindeer, tired as they can be;

One falls asleep and that leaves three.

Three little reindeer bringing toys to you.

One wants to stay and play-deserts the other two.

Two little reindeer; their work is almost done.

One runs to the stable-leaves the work to one.

Santa says, "Well done, my friend, best of all the reindeer.

I'll make you the captain of my team next year."

Christmastime

by Judith Taylor Burtchet

Sung to: "This Old Man"

Christmastime, Christmastime,

Is a very special time,

With a tree and gifts and goodies to eat.

Christmastime is really neat!

I'm a Little Reindeer
(Tune: I'm a little teapot)

I’m a little reindeer, ready to fly.
I’ll pull Santa’s sleigh up in the sky.
Christmas is here; we can’t be late.
All the children just cannot wait!

Santa Claus
(Tune: "Are You Sleeping?")

Santa Claus, Santa Claus,
Ho, ho, ho.
Ho, ho, ho.
Where is Santa?
Where is Santa?
I don't know.
Do you know?

Christmas!!
(Tune: "Jingle Bells")

C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S is here
That's how we spell Christmas
It's the best time of the year!

C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S is here
Oh what fun we'll have today
With all our friends so near!

Hello Santa

by Kristine Wagoner

Sung to: "Frere Jacques"

Hello, Santa. Hello, Santa.

How are you? How are you?

Busy making games,

Checking children's names.

How are you? How are you?

Hello, Elves. Hello, Elves.

How are you? How are you?

Busy wrapping toys,

For the girls and boys.

How are you? How are you?

Hello, Rudolph. Hello Rudolph.

How are you? How are you?

Landing on you toes,

Shining up your nose.

How are you? How are you?

There's a Little Elf

Sung to: "If You're Happy and You Know It"

There's a little elf that's sitting on my nose,

There's a little elf that's sitting on my nose.

He is sitting on my nose,

Then off away he goes.

Now there's no little elf sitting on my nose.

There's a little elf that's sitting on my knee,

There's a little elf that's sitting on my knee.

He is sitting on my knee,

Just watch and he will flee.

Now there's no little elf on my knee.

There's a little elf that's sitting on my head,

There's a little elf that's sitting on my head.

He is sitting on my head,

Then he goes to bed.

Now there's no little elf on my head.

Where Is Santa?

by Debbie Heller

Where is Santa? Where is Santa?

(Put hands behind back.)

Here I am! Here I am!

(Make a big belly with arms.)

Merry, Merry Christmas!

(Sing in Santa voice.)

Merry, Merry Christmas!

Ho-ho-ho! Ho-ho-ho!

(Put hands behind back.)

S-A-N-T-A

by Debra Lindahl

Sung to: "Old MacDonald Had a Farm"

Who laughs this way--"Ho-ho-ho?"

S-A-N-T-A!

Who drives the sleigh through sleet or snow?

S-A-N-T-A!

His hair is white, his suit is red,

He wears a hat to cover his head.

Who brings fun for girls and boys?

S-A-N-T-A!

The Night Before Christmas,

In Texas That Is

"Twas the night before Christmas in Texas, you know,

Way out on the prairie, without any snow.

Asleep in their cabin were Buddy and Sue,

A'dreamin of Christmas, like me and you.

Not stockings, but boots at the foot of their bed,

For this was in Texas, what more need be said.

When all of a sudden from out the still night,

There came such a ruckus it gave me a fright.

And I saw 'cross the prairie like a shot from a gun,

A loaded up buckboard come out at a run.

The driver was geein' and hawin' with will,

And horses, not reindeer, he drove with such skill.

C'mon, Buck and Poncho, and Prince to the right,

There'll be plenty travelin' for you all tonight.

The driver, in Levis and a shirt that was red,

Had a 10-gallon Stetson on top of his head.

As he stepped from his buckboard he was really a sight,

A beard and a moustache so curly and white.

As he burst in the cabin, the children awoke,

And were both so astonished that neither one spoke.

And he filled up their boots with such presents galore,

That neither could think of a single thing more.

When Buddy recovered the use of his jaws,

He asked in a whisper, 'Are you Santa Claus?'

'Am I the real Santa? Well, what do you think?'

And he smiled as he gave a mysterious wink.

Then he leaped in the buckboard and said in his drawl,

'To the children of Texas, Merry Christmas, y'all!

Opening Activities

"See The ..." Wall Christmas Tree

adapted from Kinder Korner

www.kinderkorner.com

Pocket Chart Stories

Happy All Year

Monthly Poems Featuring Jack O' Happy and Friends

Created by Victoria Smith

Illustrated by Christine McWhirter

www.kinderkorner.com

Pine Tree Happy

Kindergarten Good Morning Songs

by Victoria Smith

www.kinderkorner.com

Must Be Santa

It's Almost Christmas Time Teaching a Theme Using Whole Language Strategies by Anne Cotton and Fran Martin

We begin by using the book Must Be Santa by H. Moore and B. Fredericks. After the children are familiar with the tune (Raffi) we use the pocket chart story to help us build the song. We track the words each time we sing the song. We sequence the pictures in the pocket chart and sing the song again to check for accuracy.

Beard that's white

Special night

Suit of Red

Cap on Head

Cherry nose

Ho, ho, ho

Come our way

Reindeer sleigh

It's Almost Christmas Time

It's Almost Christmas Time Teaching a Theme Using Whole Language Strategies by Anne Cotton and Fran Martin

These sentences are written on sentence strips to match individual word cards. I also have pictures that correspond with each sentence.

Angel sitting on top of the tree

Stockings hung all in a row

Wreath of holly on the door

Christmas cookies on a plate

Decorations on a tree

Bells are ringing everywhere

Stars shining in the night

Santa coming down the chimney

Reindeer prancing through the snow

Snowman standing in the snow

Candy canes for us to eat

Fire burning in the fireplace

Sleigh filled with lots of toys

Red and green everywhere

It's almost Christmas time.

Each verse is used like this:

Angel sitting on top of the tree,

It's almost Christmas time.

My teaching buddies made a book for the students to illustrate. You can use all or just a few of the verses for your book.

Evergreen Happy

My students loved Apple Happy and Jack-O-Faces so much that I had to use Susie Haas' Evergreen Happy.

Emergent Readers

What Is It? from Hubbard's Cupboard

http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/Sight_Word_Booklet_17-_it.PDF

It's Christmas from Marcia's Lesson Links

http://www.marcias-lesson-links.com/christmas%205%20senses.pdf

At Christmas Time from Marcia's Lesson Links

http://www.marcias-lesson-links.com/At%20Christmas%20Time.pdf

Predictable Books

It's Almost Christmas Time

I can see a Christmas tree.

It's almost Christmas time.

I can see an angel.

It's almost Christmas time.

You can use as many of the sentences as you want to make this predictable book.

The Christmas Party

by my good friend Lynette O'Briant

The Christmas tree

the food

the gifts

the cards

the reindeer bags

the fun.

The End

Each student illustrates his/her own reproduced book.

The Christmas Tree

by Vicki Witcher

found at www.kinderkorner.com

adapted by Tracie Pohlmeyer and Diane Eckhoff

Here is the angel.

Here are the lights.

Here are the ornaments.

Here are the candy canes.

Here are the bells.

Here is the star.

Here are the presents.

Here is the garland.

Here is the Christmas tree we like to see.

Since I am not an artist, I found clip art pictures for our book. I have made this into a pocket chart story for read the room activities.

Christmas Tree Pointers

I got these pointers at a craft show. The children love to use them to read big books.

Class Books

We make a "Santa, Santa, What do You See?" class book. The book is a Santa shape book. __________ sees a __________ looking at her/him. In the student space, I have copied a Santa hat and will add each student's photo. The children love to see their photos in our class books.

Make a class book "All I Want For Christmas Is..."

Make a class book "If I Were A Gift..." ...I would be __________.

We used the TLC Santa heads to make a class book, All I Want From Santa is...

Nursery Rhymes

I use "Little Jack Horner" during this unit. We will make Little Jack Horner from More Nursery Rhymes from TLC.

http://www.tlclessons.com

Don't be afraid to change paper colors. It amazes me that by just changing the background color, the project will look totally different.

We use this pocket chart for read the room activities.

We also make a class book, titled Put in Your Thumb. We use this frame-________ put in his/her thumb and pulled out a __________.

Click Here for the Blackline Thumb Drawing

Math Activities

Christmas Tree Workjob Mats

Borrowed from Kinder Korner

www.kinderkorner.com

I copied Christmas trees onto construction paper. I wrote 0-10 on the trees. Presents are used as counters. The students put the right number of presents under each tree. You need 55 presents.

Graphing

Where Did You Get Your Christmas Tree?

We Cut It Down

Christmas Tree Lot

It Is Alive

At a Store

Christmas Countdown

We make paper chains to countdown to Christmas. We start with a yellow bell that has a poem on it. The chain links are a red and green AB pattern. This is the poem:

From December 1st to Christmas

is the longest time of year,

Seems as if old Santa never will appear.

How many days till Christmas it's mighty hard to count,

So this little paper chain will tell you the right amount.

Tear off a paper chain every night

when the sandman casts his spell,

And Christmas Eve will be here by the time you reach the bell.

The Shapes of Christmas

This book is great for reinforcing these shapes: circle, triangle, square, rectangle, diamond, and oval.

I copy a book for each child. For each page of the book, the children sound out and decide what letters are needed to write the words as I write the correct letters on the white board. Last year this was given to our parents for Christmas. You must give yourself plenty of time for this book. Start early in December so you will be finished before the holiday hustle and bustle begins.

You can find this and many more great books from KinderLit.

www.kinderlit.com

Christmas Tree Shape Match

http://www.preschoolprintables.com/filefolder/tree/filefoldertree.shtml

Creative Writing

We use a Santa creative writing pattern during our Christmas unit. The top is Santa's face and his beard has lines for writing.

Teacher Created Materials, Inc. 1989 December Monthly Activities

I hope to find __________ under my Christmas tree.

If I were a gift ...

All I want for Christmas is...

Art Activities

TLC

Santa, Reindeer, and Nutcracker from the Winter book from TLC and Santa from Beginning Lessons. Toy Soldier from the People book.

http://www.tlclessons.com

TLC Big Santa

TLC Big Texas Santa

My teaching buddy, Diane Eckhoff, made some adjustments to the TLC Big Santa and came up with a Big Texas Santa.

TLC Reindeer

TLC Nutcracker

TLC Santa

TLC Toy Soldier

These TLC Toy Soldiers were made by Mrs. Eckhoff's Kindergarten Class.

TLC January Tree found in A Year of Quilts adapted to a Christmas Tree.

http://www.tlclessons.com

TLC Drum

http://www.tlclessons.com

TLC Angel

Found in More People adapted to a Christmas ornament.

http://www.tlclessons.com

Christmas Elf

Created by Mrs. Eckhoff's Class

Reindeer Antlers

Teacher's Friend December

I copy reindeer antlers on brown construction paper. Cut out and staple to a paper headband.

Coat Hanger Reindeer

Created by Miss Popp's class.

Pull the bottom of the hanger to make a rounded diamond shape. Stretch a knee high stocking over the hanger and tie it at the top, below the hook. Use brown paper to trace each hand. These are glued to the top like antlers. Then cut out two white circles and two black circles for eyes. Cut a red circle for the nose. You could use a red pom-pom for the nose or red paper and glitter.

Rascal Reindeer

from Happy Hangers Leap Frog Learning Materials, Inc.

Made by Mrs. Huitt's ESL Kindergarten Class

Paper Bag Reindeer

Copy a reindeer head and 4 hooves for each child. They color and then cut them out. Stuff a lunch sack sized paper bag with newspaper and twist top of the bag and close with a rubber band. Give each student 4 pieces of brown construction paper to fold accordion style for legs. Glue on the head, legs, and hooves. To make reindeer into Rudolph, put red glitter on his nose.

Poinsettia

Each student needs 3 red bracts (modified leaves) and 2 green leaves. They trace onto bulletin board paper and cut out. I staple the bracts together and attach the leaves to the back. Yellow paper is curled for the flowers (cyathia) of the poinsettia.

Tissue Paper Wreath

Have your students fold a cheap paper plate in half and cut the middle circle out. Then glue green tissue squares on the plate until no white is showing (or almost no white). Add a few red tissue squares for holly. Add a ribbon or yarn for a hanger.

Stained Glass Ornaments

Copy a pattern on paper. Tape it to the workspace. Cover with plastic wrap. Using a black permanent marker, trace the outlines onto the plastic wrap. Fill in with permanent markers. Die-cut four inch circles for the back of the ornament. Cover the circles with aluminum foil. Tape the artwork to the foil covered side of the circle. Then cover the back with another four inch circle to cover any tape or messy aluminum foil. Use yarn or ribbon to hang on tree.

Cinnamon Ornament

6 Tablespoons warm applesauce

10 tablespoons cinnamon

Form dough and knead between hands until very pliable. Sprinkle board with cinnamon and roll dough to 1/4" thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes. Make a hole at the top so the ornament can be hung. These may be air dried for 3 days or baked in 150° oven (leave door open) for 6 hours. Dough makes 5 to 10 ornaments. We added acrylic paint for the ornaments.

Beaded Christmas Wreath Ornament

We make these ornaments to hang on the classroom Christmas tree. You will need beads from a craft store, pipe cleaners, and yarn for hanging the ornament.

Reindeer Ornament

These ornaments are also made to hang on our classroom Christmas tree.

3 Popsicle sticks

wiggle eyes

red glitter pom pom

green construction paper for holly leaves

red glitter for holly berry

yarn for hanging the ornament

Ice Cream Cone Ornament

Spray a sugar cone with acrylic. Pull a cotton ball apart and hot glue it into the cone. Hot glue a white satin ball into the cone. Spray craft glue on the ball and then sprinkle with glitter.

Beaded Candy Cane Ornament

We used tri-beads and a pipe cleaner.

Handprint Santa Ornament

With all the talk about the handprint calendars, this was a last minute ornament made for our parents. On the back of the ornament, I glued a picture of the child, wrote his/her name and Kindergarten 2002.

Glass Snowman Ornaments

http://www.kinderart.com/seasons/glass_snowmen.shtml

I made these for my students, but with adult supervision and one student at a time, I believe Kindergarten students could create their own original faces using small bottles of slick paint. They could also choose their own fabric and pom poms.

Handprint Snowman Ornament

http://www.littlegiraffes.com/christmas.html

For three years I have wanted to do this ornament. I started early and found the blue plastic balls. Thanks to Nora for the great idea off of her website.

I painted half the child's palm and fingers white with acrylic craft paint. I set the blue ball in their hand and they grabbed hold of it to create the five snowmen. We used sharpies and permanent markers to make hats, faces, and scarves. Attach a tag with this poem:

These aren't just five snowmen

As anyone can see.

I made them with my hand

Which is a part of me.

Now each year when you trim the tree

You'll look back and recall

Christmas of 2004

When my hand was just this small!

This year I used clear ornaments that I had bought several years ago. I added some artificial snowflakes to the inside of the ornament.

S'Mores Snowman Ornament

http://www.makingfriends.com/winter/ornament_smores.htm

I made several adjustments to this ornament. I couldn't find Foamie marshmallows, so I used real marshmallows and sprayed them with clear acrylic spray. Use craft glue instead of hot glue. I also used ornament hooks to hang them on our Christmas tree.