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Holiday How-To Writing

Disclaimer: Holiday times are a good time to learn about other cultures through the various holidays students may celebrate. I believe that it is VERY important to be mindful of ALL of your students and their backgrounds. Planning lessons to cover an array of holidays from cultures you have in your classroom, as well as ones outside, is crucial. This helps to create a culturally sensitive space where students are represented and exposed to learn about people from all races and backgrounds. BONUS! Students LOVE learning about different holidays! Look for my Holidays Around the World post coming soon! 

How to Catch Santa Blog Post

With that being said, it’s winter time. It’s that time of year. You know… when all the bells are ringing, carolers are singing… and children are bouncing off the walls! That span of time freshly back from a too short lived Thanksgiving break to winter break is INSANE! (Teachers, you are the real heroes!) Not only are the children literally vibrating in their seats with holiday excitement, our instructional time seems to go at 1000 mph! And of course we are expected to teach some important standards. But how the heck do we engage students and continue teaching? Well you make it fun of course! In this post you’ll learn about how I teach “how-to” writing with a fun and engaging holiday prompt! 

Bookstores these days are filling their shelves with all the holiday reads. You may have seen all the different How-To books out there. How to Catch an Elf, How to Catch a Turkey, and well of course.. How to Catch Santa! This book is SO much fun for students and serves as a wonderful mentor text to cover this writing standard. So wonderful that I’ve created this companion activity to get into the fun! 

How to Catch Santa Book

When I begin teaching about how-to writing, I typically read a TON of mentor texts and complete a Noticings Chart with students. This helps students shift into the mindset of the author and how they might have gone about writing a how to story. We have many discussions until we have a solid understanding of exactly what how-to writing includes, such as an introduction, materials, steps, etc. Once we have this understanding, students are prepped and ready to begin their own writing!

While reading “How to Catch Santa” by Jean Reagan, we do a think aloud on the different pieces of a how-to writing and notice what the author did specifically. We stop and pause for students to brainstorm and discuss different ways they may want to try and catch Santa. After reading, I use the planning sheet below to craft my own writing as a mentor for students. I am always very specific to inform students that they may NOT use my ideas or ideas from the story because they MUST be original. Students may use pictures or words when planning and they are informed that their plan is a just quick sketch of what they will write about. I always tell students that plans should take NO more than 5 minutes to complete. Check out some of these creative kids planning sheets! 

How to Catch Santa Writing

How to Catch Santa Writing

How to Catch Santa Writing

How to Catch Santa Writing

How to Catch Santa Writing and Craft Activity

After all students have completed their plans on how to catch Santa, we come back together and students watch as I model my first draft from my plan. I always encourage students while writing to have a juicy introduction that hooks our readers and a strong conclusion that wraps up our writing for our readers. I explicitly show students how I use my plan to complete my writing and elaborate! I also show students while writing how I make sure all my steps are specific and make sense together… a HUGE part of how-to writing. 

 Now students are ready for their first draft! They work to use their plans to complete their first draft. It’s in this stage that it takes the most time for students. Support and guide them but there’s no need to worry too much about grammar and punctuation in this stage… we leave that for editing. Simply give them time to write. This is also a great time to confer. When that stage is done, then we shift into peer editing! They LOVE this part because they get to shift into “teacher mode” themselves, but most importantly, they really help one another make their writing better. We always use these awesome easy to use checklists to guide them through peer editing. 

How to Catch Santa Writing

How to Catch Santa Writing

How to Catch Santa Writing

Primary Writing Checklists

Once your students have written their plans, which are always amazingly creative, finished their first drafts, peer edited, they’ve come to the best part- publishing! You want to give them ample time to get it just right. Get them in the mood to publish their final piece of writing. While students work, I love to display a fireplace to give all the cozy vibes and we listen to instrumental holiday music. Students can publish a simple shape version of their choice or a chimney version and they are both SO fun! Check them out! 

How to Catch Santa Writing

How to Catch Santa Writing

How to Catch Santa Writing

How to Catch Santa Writing

How to Catch Santa Writing

Getting Cozy While Writing

Anything that is a fun way to engage students AND cover standards is a WIN WIN in my book! With this activity and craft, students practice important writing skills, get seriously creative, and they have a blast! No matter how you’re teaching these days, I’ve got you covered. You can download both a print or digital version of the resource now by clicking on the pictures below! 

How to Catch Santa Writing

How to Catch Santa Writing and Craft Activity

Digital How to Catch Santa Writing

Digital How to Catch Santa Writing Activity

How to Catch Santa Writing Freebie

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I hope you enjoyed learning about this fun holiday writing and craft! Don’t forget to subscribe to my email list! Not only will you get the most up to date tips, tricks, and classroom projects… and of course more fun FREEBIES including The How to Catch Santa DIGITAL Circle Publishing FREEBIE! But you will also have exclusive access to tons of digital how to videos! If you would like to learn about this and other things happening in my classroom follow me  @sweetnsauerfirsties on Instagram.

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  1. Jean Reagan says

    December 14, 2020 at 3:21 pm

    Seeing this post put a smile on my face! Thank you!

    Happy writing, everyone!

    Jean Reagan (the author of HOW TO CATCH SANTA)

    Reply
    • sweetnsauerfirsties says

      December 17, 2020 at 3:03 am

      Oh my goodness!! Yay! I am so glad to hear that! You have created such a wonderful book! Thank you so much.

      Reply

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Cheers to the weekend! 🥂 What are you looking Cheers to the weekend! 🥂

What are you looking forward to this weekend?
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One of my favorite tips from @missingtoothgrins 😂

What candy is your favorite to collect this time of year? 
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It’s World Read Aloud Day! 📖 @scholasticinc It’s World Read Aloud Day! 📖 

@scholasticinc has live read alouds ALL DAY!! 👏

Check them all out now with the link on my profile. 

What are you reading aloud today to your students?
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At the happiest place on Earth! 😍 What’s mak At the happiest place on Earth! 😍

What’s making you happy this week?
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I mean.. it’s not wrong. 🤷‍♀️😂
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The 100th day of school is HUGE! It’s a time t The 100th day of school is HUGE! 

It’s a time to celebrate all the hard work and learning done together. It marks an important time that signals that we’ve spent more than half the year together! 

There are so many fun, engaging, and simple ways to celebrate that make it a memorable experience for students. 

Swipe left to see some of the fun ways we’ve celebrated together and learn easy and engaging ways now with the link on my profile or drop a 🤩 and I’ll share the link!
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Save this for easy and fun 100th day ideas! The 1 Save this for easy and fun 100th day ideas!

The 100th day doesn’t have to be overwhelming, there are TONS of easy and low prep ideas to help your students have a blast and make it easy to plan for YOU.

🌟 Have a scavenger hunt for 100 items (erasers, candy, etc).
🌟Stations are my favorite management hack for the 100th day. They rotate through fun activities all day while you get to spend more time with each group.
🌟 Pocket chart games are easy and engaging. Students work together to hunt for the special item while practicing number sense, recognition, and patterns.
🌟 Would you rather is an easy way to get kiddos up and moving while connecting. This is a great no prep time filler!
🌟 Crowns are the perfect and quiet activity to show off all their learning and make a great keepsake. 

Learn about these activities and more with the link on my profile! You can also drop a 🥳 and I’ll share the link!
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Well this should be fun! 😝 What is something yo Well this should be fun! 😝 What is something you say 2451 times a day as a teacher? Let us know below! ⬇️
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It’s time for #tptfreebie Friday! 🥳 Grab thi It’s time for #tptfreebie Friday! 🥳

Grab this adorable and no prep color by code activity.

It’s an easy and engaging QUIET activity that students can enjoy as morning work, a time filler, fast finisher, or even as homework!

Grab your FREEBIE now with the link on my profile or drop a 🤩 and I’ll share the link!

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Cheers to the weekend! 🥂What are you looking forward to this weekend?•••#elementaryteacher #teaching #classroom #teachingideas #classroomideas #education #handsonlearning #teachertribe #teacher #teachers#teacherlife #teacherproblems #firstgrade #firstgradeteacher #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig #iteach #iteachfirst #disneyteacher #igconnect4edu #teacherssupportteachers #teacherspayteachers #weareteachers #teacherstyle #teachermomlife #teachertravels #teacherweekend #teachermom ... See MoreSee Less

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One of my favorite tips from @missingtoothgrins 😂What candy is your favorite to collect this time of year? ••••#elementaryteacher #teaching #classroom #teachingideas #classroomideas #education #handsonlearning #teachertribe #teacher #teachers#teacherlife #teacherproblems #firstgrade #firstgradeteacher #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig #iteach #iteachfirst #teachingtips #igconnect4edu #teachermemes #teacherspayteachers #weareteachers #teacherhacks #classroomfun #teacherhumor #teacherquotes #classroomcommunity ... See MoreSee Less

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It’s World Read Aloud Day! 📖 @scholasticinc has live read alouds ALL DAY!! 👏Check them all out now with the link on my profile. What are you reading aloud today to your students?••••#elementaryteacher #teaching #classroom #teachingideas #classroomideas #education #handsonlearning #teachertribe #teacher #teachers#teacherlife #teacherproblems #firstgrade #firstgradeteacher #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig #iteach #iteachfirst #teachingtips #igconnect4edu #worldreadaloudday #teacherspayteachers #weareteachers #scholastic #classroomfun #makelearningfun #readaloud #classroomcommunity ... See MoreSee Less

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I mean.. it’s not wrong. 🤷‍♀️😂••••#elementaryteacher #teaching #classroom #teachingideas #classroomideas #education #handsonlearning #teachertribe #teacher #teachers#teacherlife #teacherproblems #firstgrade #firstgradeteacher #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig #iteach #iteachfirst #teachingtips #igconnect4edu #teacherssupportteachers #teacherspayteachers #weareteachers #teacherhacks #teachermemes #teachertruth #teacherquotes #teachershare ... See MoreSee Less

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The 100th day of school is HUGE! It’s a time to celebrate all the hard work and learning done together. It marks an important time that signals that we’ve spent more than half the year together! There are so many fun, engaging, and simple ways to celebrate that make it a memorable experience for students. Swipe left to see some of the fun ways we’ve celebrated together and learn easy and engaging ways now with the link on my profile or drop a 🤩 and I’ll share the link!•••••#elementaryteacher #teaching #classroom #teachingideas #classroomideas #education #handsonlearning #teachertribe #teacher #teachers #teacherlife #teacherproblems #firstgrade #firstgradeteacher #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofig #igteachers #iteach #iteachfirst #kindergarten #igconnect4edu #teachershare #teacherspayteachers #weareteachers #makelearningfun #100thdayofschool #teachertips #classroomfun #100daysofschool #100thday ... See MoreSee Less

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  • Are you looking for ways to teach kindness to kids in the classroom? Today, I’m sharing my favorite teacher tips on helping your early elementary students understand kindness in the classroom. Some of my favorite kindness activities for kids is setting expectations and modeling kindness. We love reading, How Full Is Your Bucket? By Tom Rath and more. It’s important to role play ideas for kids in the classroom. Kindness anchor charts are great to create during whole group and small group lessons.
  • Have you been looking for end of year classroom community activities? These classroom community building activities are perfect for your K-2 classroom! I love creating an end of year anchor chart so students can write down their favorite memories of first grade. K-2 students will love the balloon bulletin board countdown with themes. Early elementary students enjoy creating a reflection writing craft, first grade end of year memories, would you rather end of school year game, and much more!
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