“Heres a virtual movie of Father Christmas (Santa Claus) reading the poem by Clement Clarke Moore (1779 – 1863) “Twas the Night Before Christmas”. The poem is read definitively by Ernest Hare,and was recorded by Thomas Edison 1920″
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Filed under Poetry
Filed under Books, Authors & Illustrators
I have featured Su Blackwell’s work before. I admire her creativity very much, not to mention the painstaking care with detail that she puts into her work. Here are a few appropriate to the northern winter season. Click here or on any of the images to tour Blackwell’s portfolio.
Filed under Art & Design, What to Do With Discarded Books
For the librarian who’s tough – you got a problem?
For the librarian who’s very dedicated to Harry Potter
For the librarian who has a collecting problem.
Click on any of the images to see EVEN MORE at the
2012 Librarian Lump of Coal Gift Guide
and another – slightly more tasteful collection at
Ten Awesome Gifts for Librarians
Books are one thing, but stuff is another.
Maybe I’m showing my age but please, no more stuff for me.
Filed under Humour
It can be difficult for teachers to keep their young students focused on learning at this time of year. These online activities will allow them to stay in the Christmas spirit, while honing skills. There are games and activities to do as a class on the whiteboard and more for individual play in the computer lab.
If you are 5 or 6 there’s lots of Christmas number games especially for you. Decorate the Christmas trees, order the snowmen and much more.
More Christmas games, facts and activities from Topmarks
Place the hands on the clock to tell the time. Three levels of difficulty for the questions.
More in The Elves’ Game Chest at Northpole.com
“This game is a MAJOR challenge but very cool and could be great when looking at forces in science. Build Santa snow lines for his sled to travel along. My hint to you: remember that Santa can glide backwards as well as forwards. This is a brilliant problem solving game.” Via
More at Primary Games
Mad Libs are always fun…here’s one for Christmas. I might just do this one in library classes.
More Christmas Fun from Bethany Roberts
Filed under Education, Online Resources
Attributed to Clement C. Moore (although there is some controversy surrounding authorship), the poem originally entitled A Visit From St. Nicholas was first published anonymously in 1823.
Clement C. Moore
The poem, which has been called “arguably the best-known verses ever written by an American”,[1] is largely responsible for the conception of Santa Claus from the mid-nineteenth century to today, including his physical appearance, the night of his visit, his mode of transportation, the number and names of his reindeer, as well as the tradition that he brings toys to children. Prior to the poem, American ideas about St. Nicholas and other Christmastide visitors varied considerably. The poem has influenced ideas about St. Nicholas and Santa Claus beyond the United States to the rest of the English-speaking world and beyond. (Wikipedia)
A Visit From St. Nicholas, The New York Book of Poetry 1937
This enduring story is part of my Christmas tradition, as my father always read it to my sister, brother and I every Christmas Eve as we sat by the illuminated tree, in our pajamas, preparing for those ‘visions of sugar plums’ (whatever they were) to ‘dance in our heads’. No wonder it has inspired illustrators since its first (not illustrated, I believe) publication. I expect to listen to my son read it to my granddaughters tonight.
Scans of nearly 100 versions of the poem/book up to 1949 appear at Santa Claus.com and Amazon lists an absolute plethora of versions in all media currently available.
A screen shot of some of 483 results yielded in a Google search for 'book cover:"twas the night before christmas" '
My students love Jan Brett's exquisitely intricate illustrations.
Published this past October this version illustrated by Charles Santore looks very promising. Although I might be drawn to some of the antique versions, my students love explosions of colour.
The poem can be found across media and genre: from Pokemon to classical, hiphop and feature movies. I suppose I’m showing my age when I admit that I love the sonorous 1965 narration by Lorne Greene.
If you are really curious about the history of this poem you might want to check out Nancy H. Marshall’s The Night Before Christmas: A Descriptive Bibliography of Clement Clarke Moore’s Immortal Poem (Oak Knoll Press 2002).
(Source)“Reading aloud with children is known to be the single most important activity for building the knowledge and skills they will eventually require for learning to read.” ~ Marilyn Jager Adams
(Source)“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” ~Emilie Buchwald
(Source)“Reading aloud to children teaches vocabulary in one of the most natural ways possible. Most of the questions come from them rather than the teacher. Words that are puzzling can be quickly explained in the context of the story.” Frank B. May
(Source)“It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading. Something that will stretch their imaginations–something that will help them make sense of their own lives and encourage them to reach out toward people whose lives are quite different from their own.” ~ Katherine Patterson
Filed under Education
