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On the tuff tray, children used the Little People Nativity set and Story Champs visuals to recreate the Nativity story.

ELAL: Children demonstrate understandings of messages communicated in texts.

Skills & Procedures:

Retell or dramatize a story, including characters and events.

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Children can follow a simple board game format to practice relating a numeral to a specific quantity, counting to 10, subitizing, following simple directions, and demonstrate an understanding of the journey Mary and Joseph took to Bethlehem before the birth of Jesus. On a large piece of paper, stars can be drawn or glued in any pattern. Children use a placeholder (seen here as one green person and one red person) at the starting line to travel from the starting point, Nazareth, to the ending point, Bethlehem.

Skills & Procedures:

Relate a numeral to a specific quantity.

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Saddleback Kids 4x Christmas Bible Stories

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Saddleback Kids 4x Christmas Bible Stories

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Saddleback Kids 4x Christmas Bible Stories

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Jesus is Born + More of the Christmas Story | Stories of the Bible

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Song: Away In A Manger

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Away in a Manger | Song and Lyrics | The Good and the Beautiful

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Born To Bring Us Joy

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BORN TO BRING US JOY - a new Christmas song by Angie Killian #lighttheworld

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Baby Jesus We Love You

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There Was A Little Baby

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LEGO Bible: The Christmas Story

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LEGO Bible | The Christmas Story | Stop-Motion Animation

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Animated Nativity Story

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The Visit of the Three Wise Men Retell

ELAL: Children demonstrate understandings of messages communicated in texts.

Skills & Procedures:

Retell the beginning, middle, or ending of a text.

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Before creating, the class read the story " The Most Holy Night" and learned about the first Christmas. Afterwards, they made these tape resist nativities. They also cut out shapes for baby jesus, the manger, and hay.

Skills & Procedures:

Create imaginative representations or dramatizations of stories that include story elements.

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Magnetiles are great in combination with magnetic loose parts such as bells and pipe cleaners. Children had the opportunity to create their own christmas trees and discover how and why they stuck together. They were also challenged to see how many bells they could fit on their tree.

Science

Skills and Procedures:

Explore properties of various objects using one or more of the five senses.

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After learning about Advent in Unit 2 Lesson 1.4 (The Advent Wreath Reminds Us of God's Love) in Growing in Faith, Growing in Christ, children are invited to make their own advent wreaths out of plasticine. These are taken home at Christmas for children to explain advent to their families.

ELAL: Children explore how messages can be organized.

Skills & Procedures

Represent information and ideas from a variety of real messages.

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Using these free task cards, children are invited to create a pattern out of beads and pipecleaners. They can also discriminate between patterns with different repeating cores.

Math: Children identify and create repeating patterns.

Skills & Procedures:

Create a repeating pattern with up to three repeating elements.

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Here children are invited to use dice to decorate the christmas tree. This was create in Smart Notebook. First children tap the dice to roll a number. The child who rolled the highest number gets to put their ornaments on first. Next they count the number of dots and add that many ornaments to the Christmas Tree.

Math: Children investigate quantity to 10.

Skills & Procedures:

Describe quantities relative to each other using comparative language.

Solve problems in familiar situations by counting.

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After reading the Story "A Saviour is Born", children are invited to create their own nativity scene or recreate a scene from the story using natural materials.

ELAL: Children explore how messages can be organized

Skills & Procedures:

Create imaginative representations or dramatizations of stories that include story elements.

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After reading about the Wise Men's journey to meet Jesus, children were asked to code a path to the nativity. Using the Code and Go Mouse, children made a path using the directional arrow cards, then programmed it into the mouse.

Science: Children interpret instructions in various environments.

Skills & Procedures:

Engage in activities that involve following instructions presented in various ways.

Match an action to the corresponding instruction.

Engage in activities that involve following instructions in various contexts.

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After reading the text Le plus gros sapin de Noel, children were challenged to fit Magnatiles into a Christmas tree outlined with painter's tape on the light table. This task involved children investigating shape by identifying shapes they know, and also begins the discussion about area, understanding how much flat space an object covers.

Math: Children explore size through direct comparison.

Knowledge:

Size can be interpreted in many ways (according to measurable attributes), such as: the length of an object

how much flat space an object covers (area)

Math: Children investigate shape.

Knowledge:

A shape can be represented using objects, pictures, or words.

Skills & Procedures:

Identify familiar two- and three-dimensional shapes.

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Here the teacher has set up an invitation for children to create their own advent wreath. Children must add the correct amount of candles (3 purple, 1 pink) to their creation.

Math: Children investigate quantity to 10.

Children interpret compositions of quantity to 10.

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Along with having an Advent Wreath set up on the Religion table for weekly use, children can interact with loose parts on the light table to learn more about the season. In order to make transparent candles and flames, cut out pieces from plastic binder dividers. From a craft store, cut up a fake plant or decoration to make moveable wreath foliage. Additionally, the lyrics to “The Advent Candle Song” can be posted for children to sing along.

ELAL: Children explore listening and speaking skills through a variety of literacy experiences.

Skills & Procedures:

Share stories, songs, or poems individually or as part of a group.

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Turn the dramatic play area into a stable and dramatize the story of the Nativity. Children can retell the story and identify the characters. Encourage the children to retell the story in sequence.

ELAL:

Children explore listening and speaking skills through a variety of literacy experiences.

Skills & Procedures

Express an idea or share information through the use of body language or voice.

ELAL:

Children demonstrate understandings of messages communicated in texts.

Skills & Procedures

Sequence events from a text

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Using the visuals found in the new Growing in Faith, Growing in Christ religion program, a walk through Advent was posted on the whiteboard in chronological order. As the children walk through the weeks of Advent, they will be able to refer to the visual representation of events that happened before and after others.

ELAL:

Children develop vocabulary through a variety of literacy experiences.

Skills & Procedures:

Identify the meaning of new words.

Develop new vocabulary through a variety of literacy experiences.

Transfer new vocabulary to different situations.

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Click here to visit the Advent Religion SharePoint for resources and more!

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Kindergarten Advent & Christmas Resource 

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Kindergarten Advent & Christmas Resource 

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Click here to access the "Growing in Faith, Growing in Christ" Kindergarten Advent and Christmas Resource.

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After engaging in literature, story retells, and songs about the Christmas story, children created the nativity using loose parts and recycled materials such as popsicle sticks, fabric scraps, shoe boxes, and toilet paper rolls. These creations were extra meaningful to the children as the items were brought in by the children after a letter was sent home to families asking for a collection of recycled materials!

Edmonton's Reuse Centre is also a fantastic place to visit to collect materials when engaging in a project like this.

ELAL: Children explore listening and speaking skills through a variety of literacy experiences.

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Song: Baby Jesus, We Love You

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This is an activity to deepen the children's understanding of what candy canes represent in relation to the Christmas story. After reading the story "J is for Jesus" and the poem, children took part in an activity to create the letter "J" shaped candy canes. Children used their fingerprints to create patterns using white and red paint to reflect the colors that were discussed in the story.

Math: Children identify and create repeating patterns.

ELAL: Children explore listening and speaking skills through a variety of literacy experiences.

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This is an activity to deepen the children's understanding of what candy canes represent in relation to the Christmas story. After reading the story "J is for Jesus" and the poem, children took part in an activity to create the letter "J" shaped candy canes. Children used their fingerprints to create patterns using white and red paint to reflect the colors that were discussed in the story.

Math: Children identify and create repeating patterns.

ELAL: Children explore listening and speaking skills through a variety of literacy experiences.

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Similar to "Elf on the Shelf", this "Shepherd on the Search" can be introduced in the classroom throughout the Advent season to celebrate the birth of Christ!

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Read Aloud: J Is For Jesus

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Vidéo: Bébé Dieu

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Retelling the Christmas Story Through Coding

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Retelling the Christmas Story Through Coding

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A grid was formed using a large sheet of construction paper and masking tape. Children placed arrows on the grid to various points in the Christmas story that was in the correct sequence. Once the arrows were placed, their character would follow the arrows and they retold the story of Christmas.

ELAL: Children demonstrate understandings of messages communicated in texts.

Skills & Procedures:

Sequence events from a text.

Science: Children interpret instructions in various environments.

Skills & Procedures:

Follow a sequence of two steps related to a learning experience.

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Retelling the Christmas story through coding

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Retelling the Christmas story through coding

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A grid was formed using a large sheet of construction paper and masking tape. Children placed arrows on the grid to various points in the Christmas story that was in the correct sequence. Once the arrows were placed, their character would follow the arrows and they retold the story of Christmas.

ELAL: Children demonstrate understandings of messages communicated in texts.

Science: Children interpret instructions in various environments.

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Invite children to retell familiar stories explored in class in the sensory table. This adds a sensory experience to their retells. Here, children are retelling the night Jesus was born.

ELAL: Children demonstrate understandings of messages communicated in texts.

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Children created their own Advent books to represent the meanings of each Advent candle. Using an 11x17 piece of construction paper, children drew their wreath on one side with crayons, coloured each candle, cut each out, and placed a label with the meaning of that week's candle around the outside. This was done for each week of Advent. On the other side, children cut out important individuals who make up part of the Nativity story (ex: the angel Gabriel, Mary, the Wise Men, etc.) and sequenced them in the order they were introduced. This allowed children a way to retell the story and show their understanding.

ELAL: Children demonstrate understandings of messages communicated in texts.

Knowledge: Understandings of messages within texts can be shared in a variety of ways, including

discussions

pictures with a few letters or words

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Children represented their own Advent wreaths using canvases, green bingo dabbers, purple and pink pipe cleaners, and tissue paper.

ELAL: Children explore how messages can be organized.

Knowledge: Messages can be shared in a variety of forms, including

stories

pictures

plays

land

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The light table is a fun place to create and extend the knowledge of Advent by making Advent wreaths using song. Children sang the song "The Advent Candle" while constructing their complete Advent wreath made out of cut pieces of transparent binder index tab dividers and cut fake tree limbs. Visuals on the wall support the childrens' ability to sing the song, name the parts of the Advent wreath, and identify colours.

ELAL: Children explore how messages can be organized.

Skills & Procedures:

Engage with messages for enjoyment.

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Invite children to retell familiar stories explored in class in the sensory table. This adds a sensory experience to their retells. Here, children are retelling the night Jesus was born.

ELAL: Children demonstrate understandings of messages communicated in texts.

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Co-create an advent calendar with your students. Child can take turns opening up or flipping over a number each day throughout the advent season to uncover a special activity they may partake in each day. Activities may include a special Christmas movement break, a book or song to read, a challenge to partake in (ex. jumping jacks, planks, a STEM challenge, etc.), a provocation, or special classroom activity.

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Co-create an advent calendar with your students. Child can take turns opening up or flipping over a number each day throughout the advent season to uncover a special activity they may partake in each day. Activities may include a special Christmas movement break, a book or song to read, a challenge to partake in (ex. jumping jacks, planks, a STEM challenge, etc.), a provocation, or special classroom activity.

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This nativity scene was made using five triangles, three circles, two rectangles, one trapezoid, and one oval. Learn more about this activity here.

Math: Children investigate shape.

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Book: Shh...Baby Jesus Is Sleeping

Read Aloud: Shh...Baby Jesus Is Sleeping

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Counting to Christmas- Stone advent calendar

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Counting to Christmas- Stone advent calendar

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Click here to view the "Counting to Christmas" curriculum crate that is filled with many activities, resources, literature and more!

Math: Children investigate quantity to 10.

Children interpret compositions of quantity to 10.

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In this tree design STEM challenge, children are asked to put as many ornaments on the tree as possible within a certain amount of time. Children are encouraged to used the sand timer independently as well as their fine motor skills to balance the small objects on the branches.

Math: Children investigate quantity to 10.

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Invite children to retell familiar stories explored in class in the sensory table. This adds a sensory experience to their retells. Here, children are retelling the night Jesus was born.

ELAL: Children demonstrate understandings of messages communicated in texts.

Skills & Procedures

Retell the beginning, middle, or ending of a text.

Retell or dramatize a story, including characters and events

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After reading "The Story of Christmas", images that highlight various parts of the story were printed and placed onto the grid. The children were encouraged to code BeeBot to travel through the order of the story in its proper sequence. The text was placed next to this centre at the carpet in order for children to be able to access it during play.

ELAL: Children demonstrate understandings of messages communicated in texts.

Skills & Procedures:

Sequence events from a text.

Science: Children interpret instructions in various environments.

Skills & Procedures:

Follow a sequence of two steps related to a learning experience.

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Video: A Christmas Story According to Students - ECSD

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Video: A Christmas Story According to Students - ECSD

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Video: A Christmas Story According to Students - ECSD

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A Christmas Story According to Students – Edmonton Catholic Schools

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Song: Take A Walk To Christmas

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Video: Away In A Manger

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Away In A Manger - A Christmas carol from Sing and Learn!

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Song: o Come All Ye Faithful

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O Come All Ye Faithful | Christmas Dance-Along for Kids | CJ & Friends

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Video & Song: Born To Bring Us Joy

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BORN TO BRING US JOY - a new Christmas song celebrating Jesus Christ by Angie Killian

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Book: Christmas in the Manger

Read Aloud: Christmas in the Manger

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Read Aloud Video: Room for a Little One

Book: Room For a Little One

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Read Aloud Video: The Story of Christmas

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Video: The Christmas Story

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Using a large piece of paper, a string of lights was drawn across the page. Children were encouraged to take turns while they rolled the dice, said the number, and determined which color bingo dabber they were to use by referring to the grid provided. Following this, the children were to find the corresponding number on the string of lights and "light up" the number by using the associated color!

This activity provided an exciting way to introduce low-tech coding to the children and it was a classroom favourite!

Science: Children interpret instructions in various ways.

Skills & Procedures:

Match an action to the corresponding instruction.

Math: Children investigate quantity to 10.

Skills & Procedures:

Relate a numeral to a specific quantity.

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Symbolic representation of objects can be seen during block play. Here, children have represented the Nativity story and built the manger baby Jesus lay in. Children can discuss similarities are differences they see as well as the purpose of what they built.

ELAL: Children explore how messages can be organized.

Skills and Procedures:

Create imaginative representations or dramatizations of stories that include story elements.

Science: Children examine and describe surrounding environments.

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During exploration time, children were invited to visit the Christmas card table where they were encouraged to create a Christmas card for someone else by writing or drawing.

ELAL: Children experiment with written expression of ideas and information.

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Block building can also be seen as art. Here, children are using blocks of a variety of sizes, long pieces of cardboard, strands of beads, paper cups, tinsel, and candy canes, in order to create a Christmas tree. Not only are they exploring the properties of balance and stability, but they are also able to better understand the concepts of comparing height and length.

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For this activity, children were encouraged to use loose parts to create reindeer. When collecting their materials, the class discussed and looked closely at the many shapes they would need for their creations.

Math: Children investigate shape.

Skills & Procedures:

Relate shapes in nature to various two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes.

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After reading "The Story of Christmas", images that highlight various parts of the story were printed and placed onto the grid. The children were encouraged to code BeeBot to travel through the order of the story in its proper sequence. The text was placed next to this centre at the carpet in order for children to be able to access it during play.

Science: Children interpret instructions in various environments.

Skills & Procedures:

Follow a sequence of two steps related to a learning experience.

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Green paper was put up on a wall in the classroom to create a makeshift green screen. For this project, children chose a character that they wished to represent in "The Story of Christmas", determined what props they would need, and what they would need to wear. Once the materials were created or collected, they dressed up as the character acted out the particular scene of the Christmas story in front of the green screen. Their journal drawings were used as the background of these images! This could later be turned into a classroom video where the children retell "The Story of Christmas".

ELAL: Children demonstrate understandings of messages communicated in texts.

Skills & Procedures:

Retell or dramatize a story, including characters and events.

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Classroom retell of "The Story of Christmas"

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Classroom retell of "The Story of Christmas"

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This video was created using the Green Screen App. For this project, children chose what character they wished to represent. Once this was decided, they created props, dressed up, and took pictures in front of the green screen. Once these images were combined into a video, voice-over was used within the video app (iMovie) for the children to retell the Christmas story in their own words.

ELAL: Children explore listening and speaking skills through a variety of literacy experiences.

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After reading "The Story of Christmas" children were asked to visually represent their favourite part of the story in their journals. Children were encouraged to either label the picture by identifying sounds in words, write a sentence using sentence strips, or verbally share their favourite part of story and the teacher would scribe for them. Many of these photos were later used in "The Christmas Story" video that was created with the green screen!

ELAL: Children demonstrate understandings of messages communicated in texts.

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Encourage children to explore shapes while using these Nativity Pattern Block Mats.

Math: Children investigate shape.

Skills & Procedures:

Relate shapes in nature to various two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes.

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Children will explore number while further developing their fine motor skills in this reindeer counting game. In this activity, reindeers were created using plasticine, googly eyes, and pipe cleaners for antlers. One reindeer was placed between two children and they each had one antler that would be theirs to fill up. Children took turns rolling the dice and would then add that amount of beads to their reindeers antler. The first child to fill their antler to the top was the winner of that round!

Math: Children investigate quantity to 10.

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Using a large piece of paper, a string of lights was drawn across the page. Children were encouraged to take turns while they rolled the dice, said the number, and determined which color bingo dabber they were to use by referring to the grid provided. Following this, the children were to find the corresponding number on the string of lights and "light up" the number by using the associated color!

This activity provided an exciting way to introduce low-tech coding to the children and it was a classroom favourite!

Science: Children interpret instructions in various ways.

Math: Children investigate quantity to 10.

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Create an invitation to explore patterning while simultaneously strengthening the children's finger muscles in an engaging way! In this center, you may invite children to create candy canes by placing beads onto a pipe cleaner. Encourage children to create various AB, ABB, ABC patterns while beading!

Math: Children identify and create repeating patterns.

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Symbolic representation of objects can be seen during block play. Here, children have represented the Nativity story and built the manger baby Jesus lay in. Children can discuss similarities are differences they see as well as the purpose of what they built.

ELAL: Children explore how messages can be organized.

Skills & Procedures:

Create imaginative representations or dramatizations of stories that include story elements.

Science: Children examine and describe surrounding environments.

Skills & Procedures:

Demonstrate respect while interacting with environments.

Represent a local environment in nature.