1-2-3 Come Do Some New Year "Craftivity" Resolutions With Me!

When one thinks about the New Year, it’s inevitable that a few resolutions come to mind. This was a new word for my Y5’s, so I presented it as a "promise" to themselves, of what they’d like to improve on. 

For a quick, easy and fun writing prompt, have your kiddos choose a partner, and take turns tracing each other's hand on the New Year's template.  Once done, they fill in the details: "I made these resolutions and I'm trying to keep them..."

This simple January writng prompt makes an interesting Daily 5 activity too.  Have students include the year (written on their fingers) and glue their school picture somewhere on the page.

Be sure and make a sample to show your class.  My Y5's always enjoyed learning about me.  I added a bit more pizzazz by gluing on flat-backed rhinestones to my "rings."

After students share, mount their work on a variety of colors of construction paper and sprinkle over a wintry-printed bulletin board. (I buy discounted Christmas wrapping paper with snowflakes for this purpose.)

Click on the link to view/download the High Five's For A Happy New Year "craftivity."

For another New Year craftivity, I used Tagxedo, one of my favorite educational word art sites. Set this up as an independent computer center for students to think up their own designs and words.

The packet has a list of 68-positive "resolution" words + an ABC booklet for students to "improve" themselves "alphabetically".

Completed projects make a very interesting January bulletin board.  Click on the link for this great verb reinforcement tool and vocabulary builder.  New Year's Word Art Craftivities.

Another awesome bulletin board for January, features a  New Year's writing prompt as well.  Here, resolutions are viewed as goals.

Since basketball, soccer and football are all sports where players score goals, I thought it would be fun to have students write what their goals are for the New Year on the ball of their choice. I've included a poster that you can put in the center of your bulletin board as a caption. 

Besides the balls, there are also 2 writing prompt pages for journal writing, which includes one with a hockey theme.   Click on the link to grab the New Year Goals Packet. 

For another creative writing bulletin board and some parts of speech practice,  I know your kiddo's will enjoy playing the Fractured New Year writing prompt game.  Students take turns rolling the dice to fill in a word from the adjective, noun or verb list, which then creates a hilarious story. 

When everyone has completed the game, have students read their stories aloud, and enjoy all of the giggles, mount on construction paper, scatter on a few stars (suspend some from the ceiling) and you're done.  Click on the link for Fractured New Year fun. 

Finally, I’ve also designed a New Year's graphic organizer with some interesting writing prompts for students to complete. It also includes a box for their resolutions.

Children can draw a picture of themselves or glue a photo in the center oval.

That's it for today.  I have quite a few finishing touches that I need to accomplish before I can finally rest and relax.

It's time to get some hustle bustle going, so once again I'm dashing.  Wishing you a productive and fun day.

"Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, it will be happier." -Alfred Lord Tennyson

1-2-3 Come Do Some New Year Activities With Me

As schools are coming to a close for a nice holiday break, I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a happy, healthy, safe and relaxing New Year.  I'm posting these popular New Year activities early, because if you're like me, I wanted to have my first day back, planned and run off before I left for a much-needed break.

I also didn't want to have to worry about putting up a bulletin board, so with that in mind, I designed some writing prompt "craftivities".  Completed projects make awesome bulletin boards or hallway displays.  (Easy-peasy and another thing checked off my list.)

Along with millions of others, we enjoy watching the Tournament of Roses Parade.  With that in mind, I made up 6 interesting writing prompts that you can give your students on the day they they return from break.  Quick, easy and fun, the "parade packet" fits in well for your writing block or  Daily 5. 

One prompt is specifically about the parade, and includes a Venn diagram comparing Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to the Tournament of Roses New Year's Parade.   Venn diagrams are a simple way for students to practice comparison and contrast writing.  The other 5 parade-prompts, are generic in nature, so children who don't watch those parades have other options.

Click on the link to view/download the New Year Parade Writing prompts. 

Another prompt, is a Happy New Year craftivity. Run the balloon pattern off on a variety of colors of construction paper.  Students choose one, trim, and complete the 3 writing prompts.  Children add hands to the clock so that it reads midnight.   You can also have older students write a longer prompt on the back of their balloon.  

The photo shows last year's sample, but I've included two patterns with a blank for years (201____ as well as 202____) so that you can use this craftivity in years to come. 

For that finishing touch, tie on some curling ribbon & glue on a school photo. Completed projects look wonderful dangling bak-to-back from the ceiling, or scattered on a bulletin board.  Click on the link for the Happy New Year Writing-Prompt Craftivity to view/download it.

Another simple New Year craftivity that makes a great January bulletin board, is entitled "Past Present and Future." Students reflect on the prior year, jotting down memorable moments from that year, as well as their current activities, goals and hopes for the New Year. 

My sample is also from last year and from a high school student's perspective.  As with the other dated activity, I've included templates through 2024, so you can reuse this idea for awhile as well.  Mount them on a variety of colors of construction paper, scatter on a few snowflakes and you're bulletin board's done.  Click on the link for the New Year Past & Future writing prompt.

Finally, my personal favorite, is a January writing prompt that I call "More or Less."  It's a nice way to review this math symbol as well. 

Have students brainstorm a list of things that they think they should do less of (watching TV, playing computer games, fighting with siblings ...) as well as a list of things that they think they should do more of (studying, reading, exercising etc.). 

Write these on the board to help with spelling.  Students return to their desk and write their own list on the pre-writing paper. 

When they are happy with their lists, they write complete sentences on the greater than and less than symbol pages. 

Have students color the symbols their favorite colors.  When they are done, students trim their papers. 

To turn this into a really interesting January bulletin board, have students trace their foot (with their shoe on).  Offer a variety of colors for students to choose from. 

They cut out their foot, glue on the "More or less I will try to put my best foot forward in the New Year" square, add a photo, name and the year.  Click on the link to view/download the More or Less New Year Writing Prompt packet.

That's it for today.  Thanks for visiting.  I hope you found a few things here that will help launch the New Year with enthusiasm for writing. 

I have a few last-minute things to get for tonight's special dinner, so I'm hitting the floor running.  Wishing you a stress-free day. 

"Remember to enjoy the doing of your "to do" list, and not just the accomplishment of getting it done."

1-2-3 Do Some New Year Activities With Me

I hope everyone had a safe and relaxing New Year.  We enjoyed watching the Tournament of Roses Parade.  I made up a few interesting writing prompts that you can give your students on the day they come back.  They are nice for the writing portion of your Daily 5. 

One prompt packet is about the parade and includes a Venn diagram comparing Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to the Tournament of Roses New Year's Parade.   Click on the link to view/download the New Year Parade Writing prompts. 

The other is a Happy New Year writing prompt-craftivity. Run the balloon pattern off on a variety of colors of construction paper.  Students choose one, trim, and complete the 3 writing prompts.  Children add hands to the clock so that it reads midnight.  Gluing on a school photo adds that finishing touch.  

You can also have students write a longer prompt on the back of their balloon.  Tie with yarn or curling ribbon and dangle from the ceiling. 

I've included a pattern for this New Year (2014) as well as two with a blank for whatever number (201____ and 202____)  you need, so that you can use this craftivity each year.  Click on the link for the Happy New Year Writing-Prompt Craftivity to view/download it.

There's also a packet of New Year posters, mini-cards and bookmarks that you can print off and place in your students desks, on their tables or tuck into their backpacks.   Click on the link to view/download the Happy New Year Poster-Bookmark packet.

I had a request for a list of my favorite books for January, so I compiled one with 77 of my all-time favorites.  Click on the link to view/print it. January Bibliography 

Finally, in yesterday's blog article I promised to complete the Snowman Color Matching Game that's a great companion to the Snowman Colors packet.  Click on the links to grab them.  There are several ways to use the Snowman Color Matching Game packet. 

Students can match the scarf and hats to the appropriate color word snowman as an independent center, or children can pick a partner and take turns spinning. 

Whatever color they land on, is the snowman that they "dress" in the matching colored items. I've included a blank set, where students can draw on their own snowman faces, as well as a set that has faces on them. 

You can give each student their own snowman to complete and have them glue the hat and scarf on.  These can then be used for your winter word wall. 

Students can also make their own personal "favorite" color snowman, as I've included a snowman pattern for that too. Click on the link to view/download the Snowman Color Matching Game. 

Thanks for visiting.  Feel free to PIN away.  I design and blog daily, so I hope you can stop by tomorrow for the newest FREEBIES.  I'm working on some adorable mitten activities, interesting stuff for Martin Luther King Day, as well as some super-fun things for Chinese New Year.   

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do, than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -H. Jackson Brown from P.S. I Love You

1-2-3 Come Do Some Fun New Year Activities With Me

Each month I tried to introduce more vocabulary words to my students.  It was always amazing to me, that my Y5's had no clue what some of the simple seasonal words meant and some of my kiddo's had never even heard the words before.

With that in mind, I designed this ABC New Year booklet.  It was fun and challenging to think of words with a New Year-theme that started with each letter.  

You can make one for each student so they can trace and write the words, or you can simply make a teacher's copy and share a page a day for the first week back after break. 

As you read the booklet, have students shoot up their hand if you come to a word they are unfamiliar with, and take a moment to define it. Discuss the words and what they mean.  See if they can come up with anymore and add them to the list.

For individual practice have children write that day's words in their writing journals or student-made dictionaries. This makes a wonderful Daily 5 word work activity too.  Click on the link to view/download the New Year's Alphabet Booklet.

Since the New Year revolves around time, I thought it would be interesting to design a New Year easy reader, that takes a child from noon, on New Year's Eve, to ringing in the New Year at Midnight. 

You can send the booklet home to be completed with their family, and then returned, or have this ready to go on students' desks for their first day back after break.  Children trace and write the digital time to the hour + draw the appropriate hands on the analog clock. 

The story ends with a writing prompt about what children did on New Year's Day and how they celebrated.   Click on the link Happy New Year Telling Time Booklet.

I've made 3 matching Happy New Year cards to go with this booklet.  They make a nice little surprise tucked on or in their desk when they return from break.  Click on the link to grab them.

Venn diagrams are an easy and fun way to help students understand the concepts of comparison and contrast.  They are a great precursor to help students write that type of paper, and are extremely helpful for the visual learner.  Click on the link to take a look at 7 Venn diagrams with a New Year's theme.

Finally, my first graders especially enjoyed making class books. 

Students complete the writing prompt and share their page with the class; collect, collate add a cover and you have a student-made book for your classroom library. 

I had a special book basket for these.  My students enjoyed looking at their endeavors.  You could really see the improvement that happened as the months flew by and the basket filled up. They are great to share during parent visits and conferences too.

 Click on the link to view/download the 3 writing prompt pages for a New Year's class book.

For 16 more writing prompts for January, click on the link. These are great for the writing portion of your Daily 5, or interesting ideas for your students' writing journals.

Thanks for visiting.  Feel free to PIN away.  If you'd like to see all of the creative educational things I spend way too much time pinning, click on the big heart to the right of the blog. 

I hope you can pop back tomorrow for the newest FREEBIE. Wishing you a blessed New Year!

"I think in terms of the day's resolutions, not the years'." -Henry Moore 

1-2-3 Come Do Some New Year Craftivities With Me!

I wanted to get some “Happy New Year!” items designed and posted before you leave for Christmas break, so you can get a few things ready for when your kiddo’s return, before you take off that teacher hat and truly relax.  

Start things out by leaving a bookmark on or inside your students' desks, as a sweet surprise when they come back.  I've taped a lollipop on the back of mine, that they can quietly suck on while they do their morning tabletop lessons.  Click on the link to print some off now.  Happy New Year bookmark.

The Place Value “Happy New Year!” craftivity can be done as a whole-group or independent center. Students trace and write the numbers, cut them out, arrange them in correct order to form the New Year and then glue them under the appropriate place value “door.”

The last door helps children practice subtraction as they subtract the year they were born, from the New Year, to get their age. It’s self correcting, because they know how old they are!

Before hand, demonstrate yours on the board to review how this is done. Even when I was in my 20’s children always thought that was so “old!” Click on the link to view/download the Place Value New Year craftivity.

Some of my kiddo’s had not mastered counting backwards from 10 to 0, so I designed the New Year’s Glitter Ball Slider to help them practice.   Even little ones are familiar with the New York, Times Square countdown ball, so this was a great Segway.  

I’ve also included a strip to count from 20.   Add some silver glitter for that extra bit of pizzazz. I had my kiddo’s crouch down and then jump up and yell “Happy New Year!” when we got to zero. Click on the link to view/download the Happy New Year Countdown Slider.

When one thinks about the New Year, it’s inevitable that a few resolutions come to mind. This was a new word for my Y5’s, so I presented it as a promise to themselves, of what they’d like to improve on.  

With that in mind I designed some New Year word art craftivities last year, using Tagxedo, one of my favorite educational sites. You can set this up as an independent computer center for students to think up their own designs and words.

The packet has a list of 68-positive "resolution" words + an ABC booklet for students to "improve" alphabetically.

Click on the link for this great verb reinforcement tool and vocabulary builder.  New Year's Word Art Craftivities.

For more parts of speech practice,  I know your kiddo's will enjoy playing the Fractured New Year writing prompt game.  Students take turns rolling the dice to fill in a word from the adjective, noun or verb list, which creates a hilarious story. 

When everyone has completed the game, have students read their stories aloud, and enjoy all of the giggles.  Click on the link for Fractured New Year fun.

Finally, I’ve also designed a New Year's graphic organizer for students to fill in with some interesting writing prompts.

  Children can draw a picture of themselves or glue a photo to the center oval.

Thanks for visiting today. Feel free to PIN away. I hope you can stop by tomorrow for the newest FREEBIES.

"Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passsed." -Cavett Robert