All holidays are HARD. And many of our students need a little extra prep to be successful through the new foods, crowds, smells, and schedule changes. Prepping them using resources they are familiar with is a great way to keep anxiety low. When you expect what’s coming next, you’re more likely to be successful right?!, same goes for our students.
SOCIAL STORIES
Using social stories is a great way to do this. You can find social stories online, or you can make your own together as a class as part of a whole group lesson using an anchor chart! If you have a small class, you can send home a note asking parents their Christmas plans and customize it to each child (parents really appreciate this!) You could even sit with each student and make them together based on parent notes.
Tips for using social stories:
+ Create them based on student need
+ Use them as a whole group lesson with assessment
+ A great opportunity to talk about differences
+ A great opportunity for compare/ contrast anchor charts
I also like to use these social stories for instruction- which means we need some type of assessment. My students are very familiar with comprehension sheets. So I make one according to their story and assess them that way. This gives me feedback on how much review I need to do before the big day!
CHRISTMAS DAY SCHEDULE
Christmas Day schedules are another great resource to send home with parents. If you use a basic schedule outline, you could print blank ones and have parents fill them in at home, or you could send home a baggie with a variety of visuals for students to choose. They don’t need to be laminated or perfect- since it’s for one day and may change from year to year- save your lamination and just use a glue stick 🙂
Tips for Christmas Day Schedules
+ Keep it simple
+ Use basic pictures and words
+ No need for lamination
+ Go over it ahead of time and tell parents to do the same the night before
Putting these supports in place will help your students through school festivities at home. The best part? While prepping your students for big holidays and events, you can also work on important academic goals- comprehension, reading, sequencing, trying new foods and so much more!
No time to make your own schedules? Grab the Christmas Visuals set here!
