Have you ever wondered what my creative writing class looks like? I'll be happy to take you along. Welcome to 5th grade creative writing class! Turn your books to lesson 27, a free writing lesson focusing on words and memories associated with Christmas.
I began the class by reading several Christmas poems to the students. Besides getting our minds going in the "Christmas direction", I think its vitally important to immerse students in poetry whenever possible.
The students already know how to do a free writing lesson; write nonstop for a set amount of time.
But first! Discussion. We always have a bit of talk time to help the students get their minds going and you can trust 5th graders to have plenty of talk. :-) Words like snow, pecan turtles, hot chocolate, Baby Jesus, candy canes, gingerbread houses were some of the ideas we rolled around. I set the timer for two minutes to see how many words they could come up with.
I told the students my favorite five-dollar-gift Christmas story from when I was a young girl before we dug into the memory section of the lesson. We discussed traditions and special things different families do over Christmas time such as candle light suppers, doing firewood with Grandpa, snowmobiling or sledding, frosting cookies, or taking drives to look at the Christmas lights in town. I love hearing the children verbalize these happy times and see their eyes light up as they remember the good moments from other years. We spent five minutes writing nonstop (with a little prodding to keep the pencils moving) about the memories from our family Christmas's.
I love teaching this particular group of students. They are excited, driven, motivated, and quirky students. It's been a joy interacting with them during class time plus reading what they come up with. They dig into writing every single time even though they think I make them overwork their poor brains. But, that's what good teachers do. Lead the discussion, draw the heart, stimulate the mind, then put it all into action.
My daughter always sits in her chair beside the girls and looks at books or writes and draws. Or sometimes, like today, passes out Lindor chocolates because, after all, it's almost Christmas time! :-)
Here's the happy group of my favorite 5th graders! I enjoyed seeing Christmas through the eyes of these students and hope you did too.
A few reminders for you before I sign off. You can still purchase a card/stationary bundle for a discounted price plus get an extra card for free.
Here is a link for last years Christmas post that still warms my heart. I think you'll enjoy it too. Go ahead, grab a hot chocolate and curl up and read A Christmas Carol once again this holiday season.
Merry Christmas to everyone!
-Jennifer Yoder
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