Brrrr! I bet you’re feeling that cold winter air too… We are entering those LONG, BREAKLESS months of the school year when the students are coming down off the holiday high and struggling to stay focused. This is the best time to buckle down and get to business, but we really need to make learning engaging to get them back on track.
To help your classroom stay on track and learn with highly-engaged minds, I’ve created four wonderful winter resources that cover skills such as counting, single-digit addition, classroom decorations, and goal setting. These lessons are engaging for your students, and YOU are going to love them for their simplicity. So, grab your favorite winter beverage, and let me show you all about them!
Materials Needed: printer, paper, crayons or colored pencils, hole punch, pipe cleaners or binder rings
Directions: To start this activity print off the goal pages in black and white for students to decorate them or choose to print on colorful card stock to add a fun pop of color. Next, discuss the importance of setting goals with your students. Remind them that they can be academic, behavior, or life skill goals. Help students to develop goals that will challenge them without frustrating them.
Then, come up with strategies or steps they can take to achieve their goals. Included in this resource are data collection pages where students can monitor and track their own progress. This encourages responsibility, accountability, and self-reflection. Make sure students store these goal sheets somewhere safe so that they can be found easily when they are documenting data.
There is also a digital version of this flip book for students which can be completed on their devices if you prefer that to the paper version.
Materials Needed: printer, stapler, scissors, crayons or colored pencils, counters/manipulatives (if needed)
Directions: Your students are going to create a wonderful winter book about how ten snowmen spent their day. Each of the pages shows a way to make ten. Included on each page are rhyming sentences showing how different groups of snowmen do different things, but each time, all ten are together. There are three different versions (blank, color in the correct amount, or color in an errorless)
Start by choosing which version(s) you’d like to print and print the pages. Cut the pages out (there are two to a page) and assemble them in the correct order. Staple the pages together and let your students get started!
Students will read through the story independently, in a small group, or with the teacher as a class.
Each page promotes making ten. Give students counters/manipulatives to re-create the problem from each page if they so choose or need it. Once drawn, colored, or counted, the students will be able to write the equation that equals ten at the bottom of the page.
Materials Needed: printer, paper, something to write with
Directions: Use this adorable snow globe writing craft to practice the writing process with your students. Start by printing the paper snow globe template page. I’ve included a few different styles so you can pick the one that best meets the needs of your students. Student will write and illustrate a story about a day spent inside a snow globe! I’ve also included ideas for differentiation for students who need more support or more of a challenge.
Materials Needed: printer, paper, scissors, laminator (for extended use and extra durability)
Directions: Students will have a BLAST when you let them join in on the snowflake-making fun! Start by printing each letter and the numbers for your classroom. Then print the small snowflakes if you’d like. You can make the larger snowflakes that you see in the photo by folding a piece of anchor chart paper and cutting randomly. There are also a ton of tutorials on YouTube for creating paper snowflakes so you and your students can make them as intricate as you’d like. Cut out all the numbers and letters and the final step is to assemble the product on your door or bulletin board.
*Fonts used are KG Blank Space and Hello Sip Medium*
Are you getting excited about learning during this wintery season? I sure hope so! I also hope that these resources provide simple educational activities that help you to meet your students’ needs as well as your learning standards. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please leave them below or reach out to me on my Instagram page. And don’t forget, to let me know what topics you’d like to see covered in the future!
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