Making Reading Magical

If you’re like me, the most exciting and magical thing about the holiday season is seeing wrapped presents tucked beneath the Christmas tree. Not only do I love getting gifts (who doesn’t!), but I love GIVING them even more! Last year, I wrapped all of my gifts that I had bought for others, and kept them under my little Christmas tree until it was time to drive home for the holidays and bring them with me. Just seeing the gifts each day made me burst with joy! 

I wanted to capitalize on that magic and find a way to incorporate it into my classroom. I decided to gather all of my favorite holiday books and wrap them up just like presents! I used a few different patterns of wrapping paper, and even placed a few of them in boxes before I wrapped!

When I brought them into my classroom, I just set the pile under my easel. Each day during our read aloud time, my helper of the day got to choose one book to unwrap. That was the book that I would read to the class for our daily read aloud. 

This was such a simple thing to do, but it really added some magic to our read alouds. My whole class was so excited to unwrap the day’s book, and it was so wonderful to see the joy on their faces when the day’s book was revealed! This year is no different, my kiddos are filled with anticipation and wonder!

This year, I got another idea! I invited some parents into our classroom to be our guest readers each day during our read aloud time. I set up a schedule with the parents, but instructed them to NOT tell their children when or if they were coming in to read! After we unwrapped our daily read aloud book, our guest reader would come in and read it to us! My students LOVE seeing their grown ups (and sometimes older brothers or sisters from our school!) and are so surprised!

Have you done something similar? Do you have a fabulous idea for the holiday season? I’d love to hear all about it! Happy Sunday!

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