Holiday Linky: Teaching students to GIVE!

Hello Friends! I'm so excited to be linking up with my wonderful friend Amy at Learning Lessons with Mrs. Labrasciano today!!!

A ton of fabulous teachers are sharing different ways to celebrate the holiday and I can't wait to read them all!!! Make sure you join in on the fun and link-up at the end of this post. We are also giving away a lot of money to Amazon. Enjoy!

Today I want to talk to you about GIVING. It is so often that our students are quick to talk about what they NEED when in reality it is just something they WANT. Even my two year old is guilty of this...clearly because its all about HER! 

I worked at a Title one school full of needy children and families for 4 years and even these students were able to participate in the giving aspects of the holidays. I teach this important lesson two ways during the holidays. The first way is by giving to our friends in class. It's very simple. Almost to simple. We do a book exchange!

I send home a holiday note asking the parents if they would be willing to participate in our Holiday Book Exchange first. Then I send home an additional note attached to the holiday Scholastic Book Order. In the note I mention that the price of the book should be less than 3 dollars and does not need to be purchased from scholastic. Make sure you send this out early enough to receive the book order in time for parents to wrap them and send them back. 

You can choose to split your class into boys and girls for the exchange or just ask for gender neutral books. You could also do a Secret Santa Exchange! I usually just request gender neutral books. We then sit in a big circle and hold our wrapped books. I read a version of T'was the Night Before Christmas that includes several "right and lefts" every time the students hear the word "right" they pass the book they are holding to the right. Same goes for when they hear "left"! This gets VERY entertaining with a bunch of 5 year olds. As I'm sure you can only imagine. Hopefully by the end of the story they understand left and right. Hopefully. 

Click on the picture above to download your free copy of the story!

The second lesson I do to teach my students about giving is a teddy bear drive! I actually learned about this charity when I was in high school and fell in love! 

The charity is called S.A.F.E. - Stuffed Animals For Emergencies, Inc.

They have several chapters all over the states. You can click here to find one close to you! Basically every kid gets to donate a new or used stuffed animal to children. It is the simplest charity and the students can really relate to how important a stuffed animal can be for a child. I even have the class write a letter introducing their stuffed animal to the new child! These are the cutest! I'll be sure to share this years letters once we get closer to December! I hope these ideas help you get your students in the spirit of GIVING!

Speaking of giving we are giving a lot today! Enter below for a chance to win an Amazon Gift Card as well as some great products from some GREAT teachers! I've included a winner choice from my store too! Good Luck!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Holidays!!!