The holiday season is upon us! That means excited students and low attention spans. How about trying some Christmas writing prompts for a bit of calmness and creative writing practice? And for more ideas, see this earlier post.
Keep reading for some fun ideas for your students!
Christmas writing Prompts
Making their own Christmas books is a great way to encourage your kids to write. They seem to feel that it’s more fun to write in a booklet than on a plain piece of paper.
It’s really easy to make books for your students. You’ll need a piece of colored paper for the cover and back, and then half as many writing pages as the total page count will be. Simply fold each sheet in half in a hamburger fold and make strong creases. Put them all together and then place the cover paper in the front. Staple on the crease. Long-arm staplers work best but a regular one can work too. You may just have to manipulate the papers a bit to get the crease under the staples.
Of course, your kids will enjoy decorating their book covers. Provide markers, colored pencils, maybe some Christmas wrapping paper, ribbon, etc. so they can really make the books their own.
Using Their Journals
There are several ways you can use these journals.
- Pick one writing prompt for the whole class to work on.
- Give several choices to the whole class and let each student choose which one they’ll use.
- Write prompts on strips of paper and let students pick one.
- Use them in centers.
- Set the atmosphere for some mindful creative writing by playing some Christmas music on low volume.
Ideas for Writing Prompts
- Describe your favorite Christmas tradition.
- What are some ways to help others at Christmas time?
- Which do you like better – fake trees or real trees? Why?
- It just wouldn’t be Christmas without …
- What’s the most important thing about Christmas?
- What is the favorite Christmas gift you’ve ever received?
- Tell about your favorite Christmas story.
- Write a letter to Santa.
- Describe how Christmas makes you feel.
- How do you decorate your home for Christmas?
Ready to Go Writing Prompts
If you’d like a whole set of Christmas writing prompts that’s all ready to go, you need to check out this resource.
You’ll get 25 journal prompts that will work throughout the whole month of December. The writing prompts are open-ended and can be used for a daily response journal or more structured and guided journal writing, after class/small group discussion or research.
There are 2 versions to make differentiation easier and give your students exactly what they need to be successful in their writing.
1. Version 1: contains a printable file with 25 writing prompts using guided handwriting lines. These pages are perfect for students who are still working on proper letter formation and spacing.
2. Version 2: contains a printable file with the same 25 writing prompts, but with lined paper which is ideal for older students and students who are more skilled in proper letter formation and spacing.
3. Workbook Cover: this is an extra page to place in front of the writing prompts and make a writing journal for the full month of December.
4. Bonus Resource: contains a free writing checklist and writing rubric, just in case you might find them useful.
Do you have any favorite December writing prompts? Please share!
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