There is a lot of debate this year about celebrating holidays in ELA classes. Some people are for it, while others believe that we should not celebrate anything. It seems like it is an endless debate.
How about we call it a truce and look at creative ways in which we can include the views and desires of all students without being offensive? Instead of an “either…or” mentality, we could adopt a more flexible approach. The key is to offer alternatives, to have honest discussions and to do what we can do and not decide to change others, regardless of our own beliefs.
It does not matter if we are for or against celebration holidays in ELA classes. It matters how we respond to our students’ needs. If they want to celebrate and be festive, let them be. If they prefer not to, let them be.
PICTURE PROMPTS
One way to include a large variety of holidays is to offer them pictures as a writing prompt and support. This means that everyone can select what they want and write about what they feel comfortable. Using picture prompts helps them interpret, describe and predict based on visual cues.
NARRATIVE ORNAMENTS
If our students want to trim a Christmas tree, let them do it and transform this into a way in which we assess their prior readings. The narrative tree ornaments can be used with any novel or short story. In this way we will cover elements like plot, theme, summary, keywords and quotes.
CHRISTMAS WRITING
If our class wants to embark on a journey into Christmas writing, a 12 day challenge is exactly what they need. They can use the prompts to increase their writing stamina as they have to write for 12 days in a row. It is a mini-quest and the victory of finishing it will bring them increase confidence in their skills.
DECEMBER CHALLENGES
We can decide to challenge our students in a positive manner. The December Student Challenge wants to bring positive activities and attitudes in the lives of schools and students. We can offer them ELA, SEL and interdisciplinary activities, which the students can perform during a month while exploring the critical and imaginative thinking and personal response.
There is lots of choice for us when it comes to celebrating holidays in class. No matte what we decide, we should keep in mind the following quote: “If you have the choice between being right and being kind, choose being kind” (Dr. Wayne W. Dyer)
It’s your turn now! Drop us a comment below and tell us how you celebrate holidays in your ELA class.
Nice post. I learn something more challenging on different blogs everyday. It will always be stimulating to read content from other writers and practice a little something from their store. I’d prefer to use some with the content on my blog whether you don’t mind. Natually I’ll give you a link on your web blog. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks a lot for the article.Thanks Again. Awesome.
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