Preparing for 2010

We all want to start out the new year right, so don’t let the winter break get in your way. As excited as your students may be for the time off school, they may not be prepared to fill all that time—at least not productively. We’ve prepared a few projects your students can start before they leave and can share when they come back.

For more ideas, check out last year’s activities, each designed to keep those literacy skills sharp.

• Help students create a reader’s theater script from one of your favorite holiday short stories, and encourage them to share it with their families. Free prepared scripts are also available on the Internet.

• Challenge students to create a concrete poem in the shape of a gift, snowman, or other holiday symbol.

• Have students create a holiday bookmark, and take them to the library to check out a book to read over the break. Students can later present brief oral book reports on books they highly recommend.

• Have students look at a number of winter- and holiday-themed picture books. Encourage them to write down the best moments of their holiday, and from those thoughts create a picture book to display in the classroom. (If these turn out well, you may want to speak to your media specialist about displaying them in the media/library center.)