{Books Teachers Love}-Olive the Other Reindeer

Welcome back to the December Books Teachers Love, a monthly post about our favorite read alouds for upcoming month. Each month, you will have a chance to win 4 of the 12 books we blogged about!

I picked a fun read for December, Olive the Other Reindeer by Vivian Walsh. This is such a cute twist on a classic tale. 

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The story is about a cute pup who thinks she is a reindeer when she mishears a Christmas song. Right way, she heads out from home to the North Pole to help Santa. 

I always read aloud Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer to my class, its a familiar story to most students but always a fun one for first graders. 

A few years ago, when I first saw "Olive, the Other Reindeer" I just knew it would be the perfect read aloud to use for comparing and contrasting with the classic story of Rudolph.

I like to read aloud Rudolph first and discuss with my students the main events & details of the story We discuss the familiar themes such as Rudolph being left out of the games, feeling sad about his unique nose, and how he ends up saving the day at the end.

On the second day, I LOVE to read "Olive the Other Reindeer" to my students, they love the silly twist on the classic tale and are full of connections to the other text and their own experiences too! 

In some ways, Olive is similar to Rudolph because he uses his unique talents to help

 Santa save the day when trouble strikes on Christmas Eve and feels a bit different compared to the other reindeer.

However, Olive has a more pleasant experience in joining Santa's reindeer for the big night. Your students will love this silly story! 

I made a few graphic organizers to help my students compare and contrast Rudolph & Olive after we do it in whole group. The companion pack below includes pieces to make an anchor chart version of the student pages above.

You can check these out in my shop here or by clicking the image above. 

I also made a creative writing activity as an extension to help my students put their opinions down on paper! You can grab this sample of the Olive & Rudolph Reading Companion here as a freebie! 

You can win your own copy of "Olive the Other Reindeer" along with three other fantastic December read alouds for your classroom! 

Be sure to stop enter the giveaway below & stop by the other blogs to see what their favorite read alouds are for December. 

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{Holidays Around the World} -Mexico

Bienvenido a Mexico! I'll be sharing with you how Los Posadas is celebrated in Mexico during December as a part of their traditional Christmas celebrations. 

A posada is an important Latino holiday tradition that happens the nine nights before Christmas. "Posadas" is Spanish for the word "inn" or "shelter". They are done to remember the pilgrimage by Joseph and Mary who were looking for a place to stay in Bethlehem. The Lodgings start from the 16th of December until the night of the 24th. The people of the neighborhood celebrate this by going to different houses each night. 

A procession is formed by two people who carry the statues of Mary, Joseph, and an angel. They are also accompanied by a donkey. People carry candles, sing litanies (prayers), stand by the door of a house and ask for lodging. Those people who are already inside, sing songs denying their entry until they see that it is Joseph and Mary asking for lodging. Towards the end of the celebration, the doors are opened and the people who were standing outside are let in.

This is the part where it turns into a party! Punch is made from hot fruits; food and some goodies are served to everyone. The children play traditional games while the adults eat & mingle. 

Click on the book covers to check them out on Amazon.

  {Reviews based on Amazon's descriptions and my own opinions mixed in}

A story of a little girl guiding the reader through the steps to prepare for Los Posadas. She counts in Spanish and the book is sprinkled with other Spanish vocabulary for fun! 

I love just about everything that Tomie De Paola does so it won't come as a surprise that is is my favorite read aloud for Los Posadas.  It tells about the traditions and how the characters are preparing for them but there are problems, the flu, a snow storm.. great for integrating some reading skills.   

A story of a little girl's first Christmas Posada party and a pinata that bring her town to life for readers. 

This one, also by Tomie De Paola, is a Mexican legend that tells of the poinsetta and how it came to be an unselfish Christmas gift from a little girl. 

After reading aloud and making an anchor chart on the way Mexico celebrate Christmas in comparison to how we celebrate Christmas.

{Click the picture to hear/watch Tomie DePaola read the story aloud on youtube}

 I like to do an art based activity to help the kids feel like they are preparing for Los Posadas just like in the book. I love making those connections. Here are some of my favorite activities I found. 

www.artprojectsforkids.org has tons of free directed drawing ideas and crafts that are perfect for in the classroom! {Click the picture to view the poinsettia directions} I use it for the directed drawing ideas all the time. To add a little spice to this one, I would have the students use gold glitter glue in the center of the flower. 

I love this ornament craft idea! It would be very cost effective gift for students to give to their family or friends at Christmas time. It would also be a perfect text to art extension after reading aloud "The Legend of the Poinsettia" to your class! 

This mini pinata is my favorite! I love it and I cannot wait to do this craft with my class this year! The pinata craft will be great after reading aloud, "Uno, Dos, Tres, Posadas!" with my class. 

Check out my Pintrest board for more read alouds, crafts, and teaching ideas for Las Posadas at school. 

I made a Christmas in Mexico/Las Posadas vocabulary matching game. I included both the English and Spanish word for each picture {that has a different word in both languages} that you can use with your class in a pocket chart or on an anchor chart to talk about Christmas traditions in Mexico! You can download it for free it here or by clicking the picture below!

 

Before you jet off to your next destination, grab your Mexico passport page here or by clicking the image below!

 Keep traveling through all the countries to collect a student passport page for each one! Grab the cover on Mrs. D's Corner blog here! 

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