Are you in need of some new January ideas for the classroom?
January is a strange month. In one sense, flipping the calendar over to a new year brings a feeling of excitement and renewal. But the month of January can also bring winter weather and gloominess, seeming to stretch on forever.
We can feel it in our classrooms, too, especially coming back after several weeks of vacation. It can be hard for our students to get back into the school routine after lounging around in their jammies for a few weeks. So we’ve put together some ideas that will help make the transition back to school a bit easier for you and your students. And if you’d like more ideas, check out this earlier post.
January Ideas and Activities
- New Year’s Resolutions – this may seem obvious, but having students write down their goals for the new year, or the rest of the school year, can really help to “bring them down to earth” after the holidays. You can give them some really nice paper to write on, or design something specifically for this writing. Lead a discussion on what kinds of goals are attainable for them in school, and make them positive! You might think about collecting them and then handing them back at the end of the school year so that students can reflect on their year and see what progress they’ve made.
- Cheerios Bird Feeder – January means winter weather in many places. Students are usually curious about how animals are able to live through the winter. Show them one way to help by having them make Cheerios bird feeders! These are simple and fun to make.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Cheerios
- pipe cleaners or floral wire (best option)
- some ribbon for hanging
First, shape the wire into a shape such as a heart, star, circle, etc. Bend one of the ends up a little bit to keep the Cheerios from sliding off. Then have the kids start threading on the Cheerios … don’t be surprised if a few go into their mouths!
Once the wire is full, carefully twist the ends of the wire together. Then add a ribbon for hanging.
These can be hung outside your classroom window, or each student can make one and take it home to hang in their backyard.
- Winter Words – this is a brainstorming activity. Lead a class discussion about winter and let your kids brainstorm words that describe winter … how it looks, how it feels, the weather, etc. If you don’t have winter weather where you live, show pictures or videos of snow or storms. Keep a running list of the words on the board so everyone can see them.
Then, have your students use the brainstormed words to write a story or poem about winter. Let them decorate their stories with their own artwork.
- Temperature Tracking – this activity allows you to incorporate some math and graphing. You’ll need an outdoor thermometer, red markers, crayons, or colored pencils. You can also download this free printable recording sheet.
Start out by showing the thermometer to the kids. Point out the parts and discuss why we use them. See if they know what the freezing temperature is.
Put the thermometer outside the classroom window if possible, where it can be easily seen. If that’s not possible, place it leaning up against the window. Each day at the same time, read the thermometer with the kids. Show them how to record the temperature on their recording sheets. Is the temperature above or below freezing?
Check the temperature along with the students for a few days until you’re sure they can record it correctly. Then assign pairs of students to do this each day and share their temperatures with the class. You can also have a recording sheet on the wall or project it on the screen daily. Look for patterns in the data.
Some extension ideas: after a month of recording, have students make graphs of their data. They can calculate how many days above and below freezing they found. Another idea to extend this is to choose a place that would have very different weather and use the Weather Channel to record temperatures from that place each day. Then have students do comparisons of the temperatures.
January Writing Prompts
January Writing Prompts are perfect for on-topic writing, whilst encouraging and developing students’ writing skills.
These January 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. The prompts include informative, narrative, descriptive, and opinion writing. A journal cover and writing rubric have been included for your convenience.
This resource also contains 2 versions of each prompt, one with guided handwriting lines and one with lined paper. A workbook cover and bonus resource are also included! Click the link to see a full list of prompts.
How do you celebrate January and winter with your students? If you have a fun activity we’d love to hear about it!
