Christmas Reading Response FREEBIE

One of my favorite books to read with my students in December is Are You Grumpy Santa? Not only is it a hilarious story that kids love, but there are also so many supplemental activities you can do with it. This book perfectly lends itself to exploring emotions to enhance students' vocabulary, fluency, comprehension and writing skills while reflecting on their own feelings.  Continue reading to find out more about these activities!

** This post contains affiliate links.**

If you are unfamiliar with the book Are You Grumpy Santa, stop what you're doing right now and go check it out! We can all relate to the rough day Santa has when he stubs his toe, takes a cold shower, and experiences other funny mishaps! 

In this FREE reading response activity, students reflect on how Santa's emotions change throughout the book. They can refer to the Character Emotions Chart to draw Santa's facial expressions based on how he was feeling. Students are also encouraged to provide text evidence to support their answers. Not only that, but students can make a connection to their own personal lives by writing about a time when they felt grumpy or happy like Santa.

Additional Activities to Analyze Character Emotions

Emotions Charades

Playing charades to act out the emotions is a fun and easy way to learn what the words mean. In this version of the game, students are allowed to talk to paint a clearer picture of how they're feeling without actually saying the emotion. For example, a student may say "My mom won't let me have a sleepover. This is the worst day ever." to demonstrate that they are feeling upset. While a student is acting out the emotion, other students should be observing them closely. They will be noticing what their face, body, and voice are doing. Paying attention to these details will help students identify emotions while reading and be able to incorporate similar types of details into their own writing.

Emotions Task Cards

Fluency is a reading skill that tends to be overlooked when providing explicit instruction to our students. The emotions task cards I use not only improve fluency, but they also build comprehension. Students can read a brief scenario to determine how a character is feeling. The character emotions charts are a beneficial tool to help students identify the emotion. Once they've figured out how the character is feeling, they will read a quote from the character using expression to reflect the emotions.

Reading Interactive Notebooks

Students record synonyms for emotions words that they find during independent reading. They can also record examples of how the author provides details to show how a character is feeling rather than just stating the emotion word. These pages become a valuable tool for students to improve their own writing with enhanced vocabulary and details about how characters are feeling.

These are just a few ways emotions can be used to enhance students' comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, and writing skills. This awareness of character feelings will make a huge impact on students' overall literacy development!

Be sure to PIN this freebie to use again next year!

Click to download the FREE resource!

Click to view the other activities mentioned!

What other activities do you do to supplement the book Are You Grumpy Santa? Are they additional ways you help use characters' emotions to enhance students' fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, and writing? Be sure to share them in the comments below!

WANT TO PIN THIS FOR LATER?

The One Tool You Need to make Reading Response Digital

Are you looking to go paperless with your reading response notebooks? Padlet is an AMAZING digital tool that makes it engaging for readers to respond to text. 

What is Padlet?

Padlet is an free online bulletin board that allows multiple contributors to post ideas, images, links, videos, and more. Teachers can use the website or the app for students to access the Padlet boards they have created.

Using Padlet to Annotate Text

When setting up the padlet, teachers can create columns that correspond with text annotations. I created Padlet boards for each book club book with the following columns: questions, important details, and interesting facts. Rather than annotating text using post-it notes, students can type their responses into the shared Padlet. 

Students can also comment on the ideas posted by other students! For example - one student asked a question about an unidentified character in the book. Another student responded in the comments with new details to help figure out that character's identity.

Using Padlet to Track Characters

When reading chapter books, students can struggle to keep track of all of the characters. I created a Padlet that had columns for each of the main characters and a column for new characters. As students found additional information about each character or met a new character, they could add it to the Padlet. It was a visual way for students to easily remember what they knew about the characters.

Additional Benefits of Using Padlet for Reading Response

• Students can easily collaborate with other students who are reading the same book. 
• Students can immediately see new ideas on their device as other students contribute to the board.
• Displaying the Padlet on the Smartboard leads to more student accountability and encourages them to take the activity seriously.
• Students can respond to other students ideas in the comments. They can also like each other's comments - which adds a whole new element of excitement for them!
• There is an option for students to add pictures, so they can take a picture of their evidence from the text. 
• Teachers can customize the backgrounds of the Padlet boards. This is helpful when multiple books are being discussed at once. Different backgrounds make it easier to quickly distinguish which book is being discussed.

Setting up Padlet for Reading Response

The following video provides step-by-step instructions for setting up Padlet boards for reading response.

These are only a few ways that I've used Padlet with my students, but there are limitless options for other ways to use it. How else could you use Padlet for reading response? Are there other digital tools you use for your students to response to text? Please share your ideas in the comments below!

Want to Pin This for Later?