Letters To Santa…
December is a crazy month for most schools in the United States. There are performances, celebrations, benchmark test, and field trips. Kids are excited and teachers are ready for a break. Educators must be diligent to ensure students stay focused on learning during December with so many distractions. As teachers, we always want every lesson to be engaging, relevant, and purposeful. But with so many distractions during this month, teachers need to think strategically when planning activities and tasks to make sure students stay engaged. For the month of December, I will share my favorite activities you can use with students in multiple grades and subject areas to help keep student learning engaging and purposeful.
One of my favorite assignments for December is for students to write letters to Santa. The catch is, students must write their letter from the perspective of someone we have studied in history. I borrowed this idea from my favorite teacher, my Aunt Violet. In fact, about 99% of my best lessons come from her. She taught 4th grade, and I taught 8th grade, but the beauty of this assignment is that it works in multiple grades and content areas. The students will love it and it will enable them to practice writing skills and apply their knowledge of the content.
You can download my Social Studies assignment here. Teachers of any subject can change this assignment for any class.
- Elementary Teachers: Students write letters to Santa asking for things they “need” and “want.” Students should be able to differentiate between needs and wants in their letters.
- Math Teachers: Give students a budget and allow them to do comparison shopping for items they would like Santa to buy. Students can tell Santa the stores that have the best-priced items on their list. You can also give students a credit card and allow them to calculate interest for their items.
- Music Teachers: Students write from the perspective of their favorite musicians and create Santa a playlist for his sleigh ride.
- Science Teachers: Students write from the perspective of their favorite scientist or write what scientific invention they would like Santa to invent.
- Language Arts Teachers: Students write from the perspective of any character from books they have read this year. Students can practice “persuasive writing” to convince Santa to bring the presents they want.
- Physical Education Teachers: Students write letters to Santa giving him healthy eating and lifestyle advice for how he might trim his waistline.
- Art Teachers: Students draw or create Santa a piece of art they studied this year. Another idea may be, to raffle off the students’ art for your school or raise money for families in need during winter.
This assignment allows students creativity to shine. Students will often take on the full character of the person they choose and write in the dialect of that person. Many students will enjoy making their letters look authentic, by burning the edges of the paper or soaking the paper with tea bags.
If students do not believe in or celebrate Christmas or Santa, you should offer an alternative assignment. The alternative assignment can be downloaded here. Allow students to choose which assignment they would like to complete. It’s also a great idea to invite students to read or present their letters to the class on the due date. This gives them practice in public speaking. It was never a requirement for my class, but many students enjoy reading their letters and expressing their creativity.
I find that this is an assignment that sticks with students. They may not remember the causes of the revolutionary war, the great migration, or the impact of the dust bowl in Ms. Knox’s class. But students will remember writing this letter. Students will learn the historically relevant concepts and knowledge focused on their person and time period through their letters. Students will also be able to develop their research and writing skills and apply them through this assignment.
So embrace this crazy month, get into the Christmas spirit with your students, and bring learning to life by allowing them to see how fun learning can be!
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