Christmas is a wonderful time of year. Kids love it. Teachers love it. Parents love it. But, keeping students engaged and on-task during the holiday season is no easy feat. Therefore, teachers need to use high-interest and engaging lessons to keep kids learning through December. Middle school students will love these holiday, Christmas-y lessons. Here are 23 Christmas-Themed ELA activities that middle schoolers (and teachers!) will love.
1. Book-A-Day Advent Calendar
Pick 12 or 24 books to make a Christmas reading advent calendar. Wrap each holiday book in Christmas paper and have fun unwrapping a book a day. You can then do a book talk on each book, read the first chapter of each book, or read the entire book with the class (depending on length).
Learn More: Growing Book by Book
2. Las Posadas Compare and Contrast Activity
Use this FREE graphic organizer to compare and contrast holiday traditions around the world. You can use any text, fiction or nonfiction, to teach students about an American holiday tradition and a world holiday tradition, like Las Posadas, then have them complete a Venn diagram.
Learn More: Amy Lemons
3. Christmas Story Retell
This freebie lesson is perfect for assessing comprehension while letting kids use their imaginations. As an added bonus, students will practice identifying the problem and solution in the story while retelling the story to each other.
Learn More: Amy Lemons
4. Design a Book-Themed Ugly Christmas Sweater
Using a book that you’re teaching, have students design an ugly Christmas sweater. They can make it a sweater that a character would wear, a sweater that represents a theme of the book, or even a sweater that the author of the book would wear.
Learn More: Made with Happy
5. Design a Christmas Corner Bookmark
Use a class period to have kids design a holiday bookmark. They can use the bookmark to represent a classic story or they can design their own unique Christmas-themed bookmark.
Learn More: Red Ted Art
6. Read and Write Winter Poetry
Students will love celebrating the holiday season by reading winter and Christmas-themed poetry. After reading several poems, have kids write their own poetry. The poetry analysis & writing will help kids build essential writing skills.
Learn More: Pan Macmillan
7. Create a Christmas Themed Escape Room
Students of all ages love escape rooms, and you can create an ELA Christmas-Themed one that challenges and engages learners. Create escape room-style games that are a challenge for students that also help to build ELA skills.
Learn More: Secondary English Coffeshop
8. Compare/Contrast Christmas Traditions From Around the World
Choose various holiday traditions for students to learn about. Find an informational article for each tradition, then have students read and analyze the text. Next, have students compare and contrast each cultural tradition. This also can double as a discussion activity.
Learn More: Julie Faulkner’s Blog
9. Candy Cane Prepositions
No one likes grammar, but you can make grammar fun using Christmas-themed grammar lessons. Use Christmas-y sentences for students to identify parts of speech, like prepositions.
Learn More: The Teacher Bag
10. Create a Book Themed Christmas Tree
This is a fun activity for the whole school. Each class can create their own hallway Christmas tree using an educational ELA theme. Have students decorate the tree to represent the book(s) they have been reading in class.
Learn More: Education World
11. Read a Christmas-themed short Story
There are so many Christmas-themed short stories available that you can read and analyze with middle school students. In fact, there are so many that this would be a great way to have students read in literary circles.
Learn More: Mind Roar Teaching Resources
12. Make a Christmas List Or Give a Gift to a Character
This is a fun and quick creative writing activity that middle school students will love. Assign each student a character from a book you’re reading in class. Then, have students create a Christmas list as if they were that character. You can also have students give a gift to a character.
Learn More: Classroom Freebies
13. Attend a 19th Century Christmas Party
This holiday party is a great way to celebrate on the last day before the holiday break. Have students dress as a character from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol after completing the story unit. Have kids help you plan the party using the brainstorming sheet and make it true to the 19th century.
Learn More: Read Write Think
14. Write a Radio Script for A Christmas Short Story
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was actually the first book transmitted over the radio. Have kids complete a collaborative writing activity by turning the story into a radio script.
Learn More: Read Write Think
15. Christmas Around the World Comparison Chart
This is another comparison activity where students will compare Christmas around the world. Use the provided graphic organizers to have kids identify the food, symbols, dates, decorations, etc. that characterize each type of celebration.
Learn More: Education World
16. Who Really Wrote “The Nightmare Before Christmas”?
In this investigative lesson, students will look at the facts, conduct their own research, and decide who really wrote “The Nightmare Before Christmas”. This is a great lesson to teach argumentative writing as well as finding credible research.
Learn More: Education World
17. Christmas Tree-Shaped Poems
This is a fun holiday creative writing activity. Students will write a poem in the shape of a Christmas tree, then they will share their creative poems with classmates.
Learn More: Education World
18. Step-by-Step “How To” Writing
This creative writing prompt teaches kids how to write a process analysis response. They can choose to write about how to decorate a Christmas tree, how to make a Christmas ornament, how to build a snowman, etc.
Learn More: Homeschool Breakroom
19. Host a Debate: Real or Artificial Tree?
If there is one thing that is true about middle schoolers, it is that they love to argue. This activity is perfect for teaching kids how to create sound arguments and share their thoughts in a public forum. So, which is better? A real tree or an artificial tree?
Learn More: Homeschool Breakroom
20. Countdown to Christmas Daily Writing Prompts
Use daily high-interest writing exercises to countdown to Christmas. These prompts are high-interest, engaging questions and ideas that will get kids to write and participate in class. Use a mix of descriptive writing and persuasive writing to encourage students to try new writing styles.
Learn More: Minds in Bloom
21. Santa Really Does Exist Persuasive Writing
Middle school is the perfect time to have students write a persuasive paragraph about Santa existing or not, especially because some students may not know the truth yet! This Christmas-themed prompt is sure to get kids excited to write.
Learn More: The Holiday Zone
22. Literary Device Scavenger Hunt
This awesome scavenger hunt can be used as a review activity or simply a way to treat your pupils to a bit of fun! Have them search their classroom for a bunch of Christmas-themed items that are listed on their scavenger hunt sheets. Once they’ve found them all, challenge them to see if they can group these item names into various categories of literary devices.
Learn More: Teacher’s Pet
23. The Polar Express Book vs. Movie Compare/Contrast
What is teaching in December without a Christmas movie?! Use The Polar Express book and movie to teach a compare/contrast unit. There are also other great ideas for how to use a book and movie in tandem in the ELA classroom found on the website linked here.
Learn More: Education World
Christmas Activities For High School Students: Games, Writing Prompts, Activity Books, Gift Exchange, And More