lesson plans

Lesson Plans for the Holiday Season

Lesson plans are an integral part of every educator’s day.  Some of you may plan every day, while others of you plan your lessons weeks in advance.  What ever your lesson planning strategy may be, it can be challenging at certain times of the year.  I know for myself, I struggle around the Winter holidays.  One reason that I find this time difficult is that I want to stay focused on my curriculum map, but I also want to fit in some fun holiday activities without getting completely off track.

In my first grade classroom, the kids catch the excitement of the season early.  As soon as the students come back from Thanksgiving break, they are ready to share their Christmas wish lists and all of their scheduled holiday happenings.  I must admit that it is easy for me to jump right in and be distracted by seasonal events and activities, too.

Several years ago my administrator and I had a conversation on ways to incorporate holiday activities into my lesson plans but still focus on teaching the standards.  She mentioned a couple of ideas.  First, you can adapt many activities to fit your lesson plan needs.  For instance, if you are currently teaching a unit on subtraction and find a great snowman activity, then incorporate subtraction examples into the lesson.  You may need to change it a bit, but that is what great educators do.

The next point that she emphasized was that you can always use seasonal activities as extensions and homework assignments.  Let’s say you want to decorate a paper gingerbread man because you read the story for a literacy activity.  First finish your lesson that meets the standards, and if time allows have students do the extra project.  If not, send it home with them.

Lastly, have fun and make use of your down time.  There are times of the year that are busy for everyone.  Once you find some great lessons that you and your students enjoy, write them into your lesson plan book and highlight them for next year.

Lesson Plans – Get started planning now

Lesson planning can be a time consuming task; however, when done purposefully it can be a big time saver.  I have to admit that I am a spontaneous person.  I feel that some of my best lessons have just happened.  I’ve filled in the lesson plan book after our amazing experience.  Maybe you are someone who meticulously writes down detailed lesson plans for each day, or someone who jots down a couple of words for each activity.  Whatever your style of lesson planning is, there is no question that it is something that all teachers must do.  So with that in mind, spend a couple of minutes thinking about how you can get your lesson planning routine off to a great start for the new year.

Both parents and teachers creating daily lesson plans should find a system that works for them.  I find that I like to pick one or two subject areas to spend a little more time writing detailed plans.  For instance, when I spend time focusing on my ESL reading lessons, I write more detailed plans.  I define my language objectives and learning objectives.  After I get into this routine, I find that it is easier to maintain.  I then rotate subject areas to focus on.

Highlighters and sticky notes are some of my favorite school supplies that I always have right next to my lesson plan book.  I use the highlighters to highlight keywords and objectives for my lessons.  I also write down extra activities that I can do with my class if there is extra time.  I move the sticky notes around depending on what activities we accomplish.

I always feel more organized after I spend some quality time writing down my plans for the week, but I always embrace those spontaneous lessons that promote learning as well.  If you are a committed planner, continue to stay on task.  If you would like to spend more time writing your lesson plans, try to make that a goal for yourself.

Best of luck to you as you start planning!