The Three Bears' Christmas

I don't usually read holiday books at school.  We read them all the time at home and I pull out seasonal/holiday books from our basement as we move through the year.  An easy homemade advent calendar thing I've done for years is to wrap 24 picture books in tissue paper and each time we unwrap one to read before bed.  The last book, The Night before Christmas that my mother read to me when I was little.  It's nice to have that tradition from my childhood and my time with her to share with my girls.  It always warms my heart. 

The other night B unwrapped The Three Bears' Christmas by Kathy Duval.  She had so much fun hearing this version it made me think about sharing it with my students.  We were just finishing reading several versions of the three bears.  We focused our learning heavily on The Three Bears by Byron Barton which I reviewed to learn about characters, setting, and retelling/sequencing.  My students loved it.  They were using many reading strategies, thinking, and talking about the story.  As one student declared, "We are using our picture clues!"  The three bears have gingerbread that is too hot.  They take a walk where Papa and Mama are redirecting Baby Bear's thoughts.  They return to find things not the same at the house and red items are left behind.  My students had a lot to say about the character replacing Goldilocks and why Goldilocks isn't in this version.

Happy Holidays to everyone.  Take the time to rest and enjoy the spirit of the season.