December Holiday Alternative Themes For Distance Learning

 

Planning themes for the month of December can be a challenge if you are trying to stay away from traditional holidays in your classroom, whether you are virtual or in person. Of course, you can move straight into winter themes, but that leaves the long month of January feeling a bit stale if you've already used winter themed work for the month of December. Here are ideas four theme to make the month of December exciting, but still leave the wintry themes for January:

4) Community Helpers: Even if you are not celebrating particular holidays, December is a time many choose to give back to those in our community that give so much of themselves throughout the year. After learning about the different community helpers in your community, you can create language and math matching activities, nomenclature cards, and three-part cards using vocabulary surrounding community helpers. You can take virtual field trips to fire stations, libraries, dentist and doctor's offices. Try creating a video of your students thanking different community helpers and emailing it to them. 

3) Trees: If you didn't study trees specifically in the fall months, it can be worth focusing on trees in December. With most of the leaves having already fallen off of deciduous trees in many areas by the time December comes around, it can be easier to study the structure of the tree itself. The changing of seasons can inspire a study of how trees do or do not change with the seasons. You can focus on the importance of trees in our environment, and why caring for them is necessary. Sorting deciduous and evergreen trees is a perfect activity, as well as creating 3-part cards using different tree vocabulary. Tree season sequencing activities compliment this theme well. Students can go on scavenger hunts in their own communities to find different trees and report back to the class about their findings.

2) Dance: With the colder weather making it less pleasant to spend as much time outdoors in many areas, coupled with the excitement of upcoming holidays for some students, there is bound to be an abundance of energy. Whether you are seeing extra squirming during Zoom meetings or extra energy in your classroom, dance can be the perfect outlet for that energy. There are a myriad of dance classes available on YouTube that you could do together during Zoom meetings or in-person. You can learn about different forms of dance and traditional dances from around the world. You can explore the dance forms that may tell stories, and those that do not. Students can create their own stories and create a dance telling the story, or they can retell a story they already know with a dance they have created. Many theaters are offering virtual field trips of their facilities. The possibilities are endless.

1) Cooking: This is by far my favorite theme for the month of December. With some creativity, it can be modified to work for distance learning. You can talk about traditional food from around the world, and learn the names of different tools used for cooking. Cooking can be a way for students to share their own family traditions without necessarily touching on holidays. Students can share dishes that are special for their families. You can create a class cookbook to include recipes from every family and any recipes you have made or will make as a class. If you teaching virtually, you can do simple cooking projects through demonstrating them over Zoom meetings, or you can work on simple, no-heat food preparation projects together over Zoom. If food scarcity is an issue for any of your students, make sure that those students have access to those food products by safely dropping the ingredients off at their homes, or having pick-up times at your school. Make sure you give families plenty of notice and reminders if you'll be working on a cooking project together over video meetings so that everyone will be prepared to participate. As always when you are working with food, emphasize good hygiene practices and be cautious of food allergies and dietary restrictions.