Winter is almost here and so are some cool winter lesson ideas for teaching about this chilly season! And with ‘here’ I mean the Northern Hemisphere: winter starts on Tuesday! Of course, I will first enjoy my Christmas break, but then I’ll get excited for what comes next. I’m already planning my winter language arts activities for after Christmas break.
I love teaching about the seasons! I love talking about what we like about the different seasons, writing about it, learning vocabulary and learning about various traditions. It’s so helpful in understanding the world around us and why people do things. And winter is just such a cozy season with lots of those traditions and holidays to learn about. Here’s what I’m planning on doing this year.
Winter lesson plans and activities your students will love
Winter Discussions
I love getting my students to practice speaking, and one of my favorite winter lesson ideas is to speak about winter! I will ask them things like: What do you like best about winter? What winter activity do you like most? etc. I have them do this in small groups, so that there is no pressure to speak perfectly, or for a very large group of peers. Another added bonus is that there is enough room for everyone in the group to talk about what they think. For this purpose I have created a set of 12 discussion cards that I will pass out to each small group. They must discuss every question at length and give answers with good reasons!
These cards may also be used for writing practice! Check them out here for FREE!
Winter Writing
I love writing even more than speaking, and I love when I get to see the awesome things my students write! I don’t care if they are non-fiction, fiction or argumentative pieces: seeing what my students are capable off always amazes me! And it amazes them too, it shows them how awesome they already are and didn’t even know it. For this purpose I have developed 4 different sets of writing prompts, with 6 or 12 prompts each: a non-fiction set, with the same questions as the discussion cards above; a narrative set of 6 sentence prompts for writing a story; a picture prompt set of 6 pictures to write about; and a roll-the-dice sheet for which students must roll the dice 4 times for 4 categories of prompts to write a story on.
Winter Vocabulary Games
I enjoy teaching my students new vocabulary, and to practice those words with games is even more fun! First I get them to find out what the translations are for words they know in their L1, or teach them through reading a text or listening to audio about it. Showing them pictures is always a great help! Then I will play dominoes, memory and a match the picture game with them! These are printable games. If you are virtual or hybrid, I have a digital dominoes or digital memory game as well!
Winter Task Cards (BOOM Cards)
My newest love is task cards! I love the printable ones I used at Thanksgiving, and now I’ve made a set of digital ones! Task cards get students move around the room to find a new card. Then they must answer the question on the card. My favorite thing about digital task cards is that they are self-checking, which makes it even easier for teachers and students alike. Students can correct their own errors on the spot. Check out my winter task cards to see how that works!
Winter Choice Board
The last thing I have planned actually involves the major language skills, except for speaking, but listening, reading, writing and vocabulary are in there: my choice board! In it, I give my students 9 options to choose from, and I will tell them to choose at least 4 to finish before the end of the lesson. Options include reading a text and answering questions, watching videos and answer questions, and doing a Kahoot! quiz! It’s a great way to keep them busy by themselves for a while, so it’s a great pre-holiday activity!
What are your favorite winter lesson ideas?
I hope you got some inspiration for your lesson plans about winter from this post. What are your favorite lesson activities for this season?
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