I know Christmas is right around the corner without looking at my calendar because:

1. Kids are acting like WILD BEASTS.
2. I’m buried up to my eyeballs in thinking about finals,  writing finals, making copies of finals, looking for finals, administering finals, grading finals….
3. I have 1017 unread emails in my inbox. Not joking.
4. My desk looks like this:

But it’s all good. I’m blessed to have a job I love, little darlings I love, and super blessed to get a 2 week break in 5 days! And I’m out-of-this-world blessed to work with Amy, my former student now colleague! She helped me work out the kinks and iron out the details for Christmas Mafia. (Today was Ugly Christmas Sweater Day but we only have Awesome Christmas Sweaters, so…)

We’re playing Christmas Mafia after finals are finished. Here it is if you’d like to play too!!!

It’s similar to regular Mafia but with a few character changes and a few plot twists. If you’ve never played the original Mafia with your kiddos, this might be a tad complicated for the first go-around. Best to break out the original version. Your little darlings will love it, or your money back! If your kids are Mafia Pros (or you’ve played it a time or two), it will be easy to introduce the Christmas Edition.

Project this slide. (If you teach a language other than Spanish, I’ll be your best friend if you translate it into your language and share it back with me!!)

Here’s the German Version, thanks to Emily Lull!!

To play, count out cards for your classes. Pull out a King of Clubs, BOTH black aces, a King of Diamonds and BOTH red aces, and then count enough number cards so that every student gets a card. (So in a class of 30, set aside the cards mentioned above and 24 number cards).  Randomly pass out one card to each student. Students should look at their card, but not show it to anyone…it’s their secret identity!

Essentially you play regular Mafia with a few changes, described below. If you need a Mafia Refresher, here’s a video of us playing the original. 

Important changes:

When the class falls asleep, the Grinch AND the Bad Elves attack–they all open their eyes and choose 1 victim. Their mission is to take out Santa, but of course they don’t know who Santa is. Then you thank them and they close their eyes. Then Santa and the good elves open their eyes. They look at everyone and pick who they think is the Grinch. Thank them and tell them close their eyes.  Teacher takes notes on this nifty page. (There are a bunch of lines for víctimas and acusados… write 1 name each round, so when you’re playing the second round, record the names on the second line.

Everyone wakes up and you narrate the story.  If the Grinch/ Bad Elves selected someone who was NOT Santa (so anyone else), they get coal for Christmas. No one goes to the hospital or dies…they get coal, they cry but they stay in the game, they still participate and they still vote. If the Grinch attacked Santa, then Santa goes to the hospital and the class has 1 round to save Christmas! If they can catch the Grinch, all will be well.

Announce who Santa thinks is the Grinch. Interrogate the Grinch (Are you the Grinch? Do you hate Christmas? Do you give coal to little kids?!) Then ask the class, Do you think So and So is the Grinch? Do you think he’s telling the truth? Then back to the accused: If you’re not the Grinch, who do you think is the Grinch? Then interrogate the next person. Interrogate 3, then vote. The accused with the most votes goes to the North Pole Prison. If the Grinch was sent to prison, the game is over and everyone wins (except the Grinch and Bad Elves, of course!) If it was a kid or an elf (good or bad) tell the class that the Grinch is still on the loose, then begin again with the next round. If Santa is sent to prison, tell the class, and the good elves can continue playing and looking for the Grinch.

I’m excited to play with my little darlings…but I won’t see them until Thursday! If you play before we get the chance, let me know how it goes!

¡Feliz Navidad, amigos!

PS- Have you heard about Comprehensible Online? The Comprehensible Input Conference you can participate in from your couch, in your PJs? Check out the list of presenters and the sessions…I can’t wait to learn some new tricks and I’m so excited to watch Martina Bex and Tina Hargeden, my CI Teacher Heros!! And Sarah Breckley is presenting too?!? Eeeekk! She’s hilarious and my imaginary CI BFF! If you want to join the party, use code AnneMarie19 for $25 off your registration cost! And trust me, you want to be at this party!