1-2-3 Come Travel Around The World With Me! Woo Hoo! Having spent over 200 hours researching & creating, plus a small fortune on graphics designing things, I’m so excited to post this jumbo “labor of love”, "Travels Around The World" packet, which features the awesome talents of 38 clip artists! This super-fun packet is extremely versatile, as everything stands alone, so you can mix & match creating a unit that is tailored specifically for your class, or use pieces and parts with lessons you already have implemented. I think my students, favorite part of our Travels Around the World is making the cereal box suitcase, which can be done in class or for homework. The sky's the limit of how you want to design them. We add 2 file folders to make a drop down interactive "briefcase" of sorts, which includes a pocket for their passports, tickets and boarding passes. The extra files are a great way to keep everything neat & organized and provide space for them to glue on a variety of activities that we do. My kiddos absolutely LOVE collecting the "suitcase stamps/stickers" to decorate with. They get a few to start out, then receive more as we travel to the various countries. Others I use as a motivational & behavior modification incentive, which is very successful. Another huge hit is making a passport. There are 4 options, including a passport specifically for "Christmas Around The World" traveling, as well as a huge variety of passport stamps, which they also enjoy collecting. The train tickets and plane, bus, & boat boarding passes. are also a huge hit. Via a letter, students are invited to come travel with the gingerbread man, who makes a speedy tour guide. "Gin" keeps them apprised of places they should visit by sending postcards. I had an absolute blast designing these from real photographs & stamps from those countries. There are 3 from each country, as well as "color me" postcards, so that students can practice "point of view" writing in a fun way. A set of gingerbread-themed posters announce where children will be traveling and how they will get there. The 6 countries included in this packet are: USA, Mexico, Canada, Sweden, Italy & Germany. I've included a variety of maps, which come in color to use as posters, plus black & white for students. They come labeled & unlabeled, so you can use them as an assessment tool as well. My personal favorite activity, is the "Snap & Scrap" journal, with a Christmas-themed page, as well as a generic counterpart. I've included several pages of interesting information about how each country celebrates Christmas, should you want to do the "Christmas Around the World" theme. The "snap" part, is a camera craft featuring a lens "booklet", with pictures specific to that country. You can opt to do just the camera(s), or hinge them with a piece of tape to the "scrap" page, so that it flips over to reveal the information underneath. Each country also comes with factual information, which is incorporated in the "Fan Of Fun Facts For _________" craftivity. The title is a double play on words, for the craft opens like a fan, and students quickly become "fans" of these super-interesting facts. Later, check comprehension by playing "Name That Country?" by reading a fact and having students tell what country it came from. "I Spy A Country" is another game you can play to help reinforce map skills. Teachers jot down 3-5 clues on the poster, then students write down their dated-answer on their worksheet. X number of correct answers and they receive a "super spy" stamp for their suitcase. I've also packed in a lot of travel-themed writing prompts, such as making an itinerary, which provides a vocabulary building opportunity. Students can also do a "Sightseeing Check It Out Then Check It Off" list, flag booklet, and travel journal. There are several options for the travel journals as well, from a "color me" text it page, to a cut & glue class-made book. They are different enough so that you can do them all, or pick & choose what's appropriate for your kiddos. The beauty of this jumbo packet is that it's very versatile, so you can mix & match things to do individually, as a whole group, with a partner, in small groups, or for homework. The projects can also supplement other geography activities you already have implemented. Besides social studies, many items practice a variety of other standards like graphing, weather, telling time, comparing & contrasting & research, with a bit of math tossed in for good measure. There are also a variety of ways to use the packet. Teachers can give the information, or students can pick a country and research it independently. The "Travel Bucks" are a fun way for students to give their presentations, as they become "travel agents", who share highlights about their country, in the hopes that their fellow classmates will use their travel cash to buy a trip from them. Top sales certificates & suitcase brag tags add to the fun, and are a wonderful incentive. An easy-peasy writing prompt for any age, is the "ginger-gram", where students fill in the blanks with a country they would like to live in, as well as one they would not. Older students can explain why. Another simple writing activity is the "Travel Quilt" craft, which practices adjectives in a unique way. Even younger kiddos can do this, and completed projects make an awesome bulletin board. The "Peace is in our hands" craft, is also quick & easy, with lovely results making a terrific hallway display. This craftivity really helps children wrap their heads around the "big picture" of their "personal geography" and their cut out hand prints add that keepsake, finishing touch. I've included a poster for the center of your display, as well as a suitcase sticker kiddos can earn upon completion. Because my kiddos are learning about seasons, weather and appropriate clothing to wear, I designed the "Pack It Up" suitcase craftivity; where they color, cut & glue various clothes suitable for a particular country, to a "suitcase" page; while older students simply list the items they want to take. The suitcase opens to reveal several pages of the different things they packed for the various countries that they visited. Besides a “Christmas Around the World” theme, you can use this unit all year long, as I have matching generic counterparts. Start whenever you want, then in December, board the “Holiday Express” & add the activities of how these countries celebrate Christmas. Lessons are easily diversified for various classroom abilities & grade levels. Simply pick what’s appropriate for your kiddos. "Travel Tweets" are also an interesting way to get students enthusiastic about writing, as is the "Welcome To Our House" booklet, "Airport Adventures" and "Whooooo Do You Want To Travel With?" color-me worksheets. Besides black & white versions for students, I’ve included colorful templates, so you can quickly make samples to share. There are also graphs, Venn diagrams, posters, a song, and some worksheets, which can also be used as assessment tools. As you can see there's a ton of fun for you to choose from including some puzzles. These come in color for an independent center, as well as BW so kiddos can make their own, as they practice recognizing & sequencing numbers from 1-10, or skip counting by 10s to 100. Click on the link to zip on over to my TpT shop to take a look. Travels Around The World. Today's featured FREEBIE comes from the packet and is a "Merry Christmas From Around The World" poster and coloring card, which includes an alphabetical list of how 28 countries say "Merry Christmas" , with 4 links to other websites with more countries. Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by. My feet have hit the floor running, as there is much to do, and not enough time in the day to get it all done. But I will endeavor to slow my pace and enjoy the journey, making sweet memories, as we decorate our blessed home for Christmas. Wishing you and yours a special day. "Maybe Christmas" he thought, "doesn't come from a store." "Maybe Christmas perhaps, means a little bit more!" -Dr. Seuss From "The Grinch"