New Year’s Day is a natural time to set goals and think about the future. As teachers, we can do that for ourselves and teach our students how to do it too. It’s a teachable moment that we can prepare for and harness. The result could be a smoother transition back to school.
New Year’s Writing Activities in My Classroom
One of the first New Year’s activities I taught in the classroom was the goal-setting snowman. Each student had to write a goal for the new year. There were rules though; it had to be measurable, include a plan of how they would do it, and couldn’t be consumer gain. So their goal couldn’t be, “I will get the latest Xbox.” It could be, “I will play with my dog for 10 minutes each day, so he feels loved and gets healthy.” There is a huge difference between these two goals and our students need to be taught about it.
Incorporating New Year’s Writing Activities in the Classroom
When students come back from their winter break they are anything but focused. They most likely just celebrated two holidays and had about 2 weeks off of school. The best way to get them back on track is to have a conversation about the New Year, it’s the most recent event in their lives. We can embrace the goals of New Year’s Day and turn our lessons into something that will meet our students halfway.
Why are New Year’s Writing Activities Important?
A new year means it’s time to tackle new things, set goals, and take on challenges. It’s a great holiday to celebrate in the classroom because it’s a natural way to teach our students how to do these things. Our students won’t know the steps to create and write an achievable goal until someone explain and shows them how. Setting goals to achieve our dreams and desires is a valuable skill. They will probably use it more than colon and semi-colon usage.
More New Year’s Writing Activities
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5 New Year’s Writing Activities
New Year’s is a hopeful holiday to celebrate. It’s a time to recognize endings, reflect, make resolutions, and celebrate. We can reign in our wild students by doing all of these things through writing. These activities give you some different options of activities to complete with your students. Help them become inspired this New Year’s.
- Around the World New Year is Part of New Year’s Writing Activities
One of my favorite news stories around New Year’s Eve is how different countries celebrate the holiday. Every country has different traditions that are fun to learn about. Our students can learn what the different traditions are and where they come from. The best part of exploring Around the World New Year’s is that some of the traditions can be done in class. Assignments are more meaningful when they are hands-on.
In this project, students research the traditions of one country. Then students create a presentation from their research and share it with the class. The goal of this research project is to expand student understanding of different cultures around the world. My favorite part is when students can participate in the New Year’s tradition in class.
- New Years Resolution is Part of New Year’s Writing Activities
Picking a New Years Resolution is a tradition at New Year’s. It’s a time when we think about how we want to change and improve ourselves. The things that we can work towards and do differently to make a positive impact on the world.
In this craftivity, students will write a New Year’s resolution that has some parameters to ensure it’s not selfish or about getting things. Students record their goals on a snowman to display in the classroom. This activity walks students through thinking about and picking a goal. They learn how to write their goal in a measurable way.
- New Years Goal is Part of New Year’s Writing Activities
Goal setting is an important skill for students to chase their dreams and accomplish what they want. There are 10 steps to writing and completing a goal. Goals can be pretty complex which is why it’s a good skill to teach students. I created a goal-setting slideshow and student workbook to teach students goal-setting easily. Now you can easily add your own flare while teaching proven goal-setting steps to your students.
- One Word for New Year’s Resolution is Part of New Year’s Writing Activities
Suddenly, one year everyone was talking about embracing one word to represent who they want to become in the new year. What a concept that by improving one character trait each year we grow as people. How concise we have to be to pick a word that represents our hopes and dreams.
In this lesson, students choose that one word, but because they are students we go beyond that. The students write about different areas in their lives where they want to see change as they focus on embracing that word. Students can complete this as digital or printable activity.
- New Years Reflection is Part of New Year’s Writing Activities
Before students can make realistic and helpful goals for the next year they need to take a look at the past year. This lesson helps students with their New Year’s reflection. They thoughtfully examine their past year to help them prepare for the next. Through a class discussions and worksheets, students reflect on their the positives and negatives of the past year.
- New Year’s Activities for Kids is New Year’s Writing Activities
Sometimes we need several activities to do with our students. Maybe you plan on having a New Year’s week in your classroom. Grab all of the New Year’s writing activities to do with your students. This bundle includes all of the activities we have talked about. You can use different activities each year or do them all. Help your students embrace new goals, new starts, and New Year’s in your classroom.
New Year’s Writing Activities Final Tips
These New Year’s activities provide a simple framework and outline for teaching about goal setting and New Year’s Eve. It’s part of our culture to participate in these activities or to choose not to, but we should know why. There are so many other pieces of curriculum to create, these are done for you. Most of these have digital and printable versions. The longer New Year’s writing activities will walk your students through the writing process. Embrace the new year and all it brings and teach your students how to also.
Here is Your FREE Prompt for Writing Poetry
I know that you needed a prompt to help kickstart your students’ writing. Here is an entire lesson for FREE. My Our School Poem guides students through using sensory language to describe their school. The step-by-step directions guide your class through the writing process with all the necessary worksheets making this the perfect lesson for your classroom.