Four Reading and Writing Activities For Grades 1 & 2: Merry Christmas, Amelia Bedelia!
Reading Activities
In Merry Christmas, Amelia Bedelia, Mrs. Rogers wants Amelia Bedelia to prepare the house for Christmas because it is right around the corner. Of course, Amelia Bedelia asks, “What corner?” and the holiday fun begins! One reading skill you can easily practice with your students while reading this Peggy Parish book is predicting. If students are already familiar with Amelia Bedelia and her regular antics when given a list of instructions, they will know that things won’t go so smoothly when she is getting ready for Christmas. Read a page to your students such as when Amelia Bedelia has to stuff the stockings. Ask students to write, draw, or discuss what they think she will do, using what they know about Amelia Bedelia to make a good prediction. Then reveal what Amelia Bedelia actually does when she stuffs the stockings.
Another reading activity you can do with Merry Christmas, Amelia Bedelia is to make popcorn balls or date cakes in your classroom. Reading recipes and following directions are also reading skills and life skills. Amelia Bedelia unfortunately messes up both of these recipes in one of the most beloved Peggy Parish books. Students can learn what Mrs. Rogers really wanted her housekeeper to do with a hands-on cooking lesson. Ask parents to donate ingredients to keep expenses down.
Writing Activities
Students can make holiday cards for each other, family members, or even nursing home residents based on illustrations and events in Merry Christmas, Amelia Bedelia. These holiday cards can have a scene from this Amelia Bedelia book. Since the cards’ recipients might not be familiar with Amelia Bedelia and Peggy Parish books, students can write a note in the card, explaining they have read Merry Christmas, Amelia Bedelia and are drawing scenes from the story. They can even explain the scene in the card. This is a fun way to write about a book around the holidays instead of doing a regular book report.
Another writing activity you can do with the book is to ask students to make a list of more tasks that someone might have to do at Christmas. For example, you might have to wrap presents or go Christmas caroling. Ask students to write about what they think Amelia Bedelia might do if these other tasks were included on the list from Mrs. Rogers. To make the activity more creative, assign them to create an illustration of one of these new tasks.
This post is part of the series: Amelia Bedelia Books
This series of articles offers some activities and lesson plans to go with Amelia Bedelia books. You can use the ideas for the individual titles listed or in general for different Amelia Bedelia stories.
