Teaching Ideas for January
By Marissa Despins, Ronnie Eyre, Carla Fedler, Amber Dial, Tiffany Schmidt, Vanessa Mejia, Tammy DeShaw, Mandy Neal, and Chrissy Beltran – Updated Dec 18, 2023
Creative teaching ideas for January
January is a fresh start. With that comes the perfect opportunity to refocus your teaching and brainstorm ideas to keep your students engaged. In this blog post, I have teamed up with some of my favorite educators to explore a variety of teaching ideas for January, aiming to bring a little excitement and rigor to your classroom curriculum.
Make Time for Reading
As teachers, we know how important it is for students to spend time reading. Simply put, the more kids read, the better they get at it. Studies consistently show that how much kids read plays a big role in how well they understand what they’re reading. It also helps them learn more words, gain general knowledge, and build cognitive skills.
When we get back to school from the craziness of the holidays, it is a great time to reset, refocus, and get back to what is most important. Spending some time with your learners engaged in independent reading is clearly time well spent, and it does wonders to ease the transition back into the regular classroom routines.
Interested in learning more about independent reading? Check out our posts on Why Independent Reading is Important and Tips and Tricks for Independent Reading Success. You might also be interested in grabbing our free guide to help you build your own high-interest classroom library!
Include goal setting activities
Let’s face it. After break, it is HARD to return back to school for both students and teachers. The kids are out of the school routine, so the most important step we as teachers can take is to get everyone back on track. Carla from Comprehension Connection has a really helpful post featuring teaching ideas for January. It talks all about goal setting. It includes recommended literature, writing activities, and tech links.
In the first few days, you may also consider sharing your professional goals with students too. This helps students realize everyone has room to grow. Once goals are set, revisit them often to measure progress toward meeting them too. Carla likes to post goals and celebrate progress towards them too. It’s very motivating.
Get students talking
Once students return from Winter break, they want to talk–talk–talk! The long holiday break causes them to really miss each other. Instead of fighting against their chattiness, Tanya The Butterfly Teacher looks for winter-themed teaching ideas for January that actually encourage them to talk! That way, at least their talking is on subject with the classroom activity. Her favorite example of this is the Classmate Scavenger Hunt. This high-energy activity allows students to move around the room collecting signatures from their peers on everything they did during Winter Break. Tanya also believes that classmate scavenger hunts build classroom community while allowing you to review procedures at the same time! Now that’s a great way to start the year off right in your classroom! She gives more details on how to use them for January activities in her blog post about 6 Engaging Winter Literacy Activities for Upper Elementary.
Share personal experiences
As winter break draws to a close, many of us are feeling a bit down about having to swap our comfy clothes for more formal attire, make-up and real hairdos. Fortunately, Amber from TGIF has some great teaching ideas for January to make the transition back to the classroom smoother and more enjoyable for both teachers and students. To start the day off right, she has shared TWO fun FREEBIES and easy to use printables that teachers can use to help students who may be feeling hesitant about returning to school after the break. These activities provide a perfect opportunity for students to share their winter break experiences, or simply focus on their task while listening to their peers share. By beginning the first day back into the classroom after a break with simple transition activities, these New Year’s ideas help foster a welcoming environment. This kick-start to the new year will create a positive atmosphere that encourages students to be excited about returning the following day.
Include practice Activities
In preparation for the new year, Vanessa from Longwing Learning incorporates elaboration practice worksheets into her writing curriculum. She uses the elaboration writing worksheets as a strategy to initiate a review of the writing process to write an essay in upper elementary. These great teaching ideas for January serve as a scaffold for her students, guiding them through adding details to paragraphs to have a well-elaborated paragraph. Understanding that effective writing involves more than just the mechanical aspects, Vanessa offers her students practice by offering writing practice through holiday-related writing prompts. Through these exercises, students refine their writing skills by using writing strategies.
Engage in a fun read aloud
The return after winter break can be challenging for both the teacher and the students. One thing Tammy from The Owl Teacher likes to do after winter break, is pull out some good old fashion picture books. It doesn’t matter if students are in upper elementary, they always love a good read aloud. The Owl Teacher likes to explore the exciting world of integrating literature and STEM activities from these books. In her post The Art of Literary Engineering: Crafting STEM Activities from Books, she discusses how to turn any book into a STEM activity and she provides examples to help you get started. These teaching ideas for January are a great way to enrich your students’ learning experience, engage your students after break, and make a memorable learning experience.
Bring on the drama
After the excitement of a long winter break, coming back to school can feel pretty dull and dreary. Chrissy from Buzzing with Ms. B adds a little engagement and joy into her teaching ideas for January with these fun Winter Partner Plays! Your students will love reading from the perspective of winter favorites: marshmallows, snowmen, and penguins! Partner plays are like readers theater scripts, only easier to manage.
Pair students up to read these 2-page plays and practice fluency and comprehension. You can differentiate these scripts easily by matching your students with one of the four levels included, ensuring that each student can be successful. Students can practice the plays for 5 minutes between lessons, as a morning work activity, or even as a fun brain break. Have them perform the play for another pair with a different script, record themselves on a tablet, or just practice for fun. Laugh, learn, and read together with these plays and add a little joy to your January days! Want even more plays? Check out the bundle of seasonal plays or holiday plays!
Incorporate Monthly Themes
Ah, the arrival of the new year. It’s a time of mixed feelings, as there’s a desire to celebrate with students, yet a part of you yearns to be at home with family. Children feel similarly; they’re eager to see you but also crave enjoyment. By incorporating January Activities into your lesson plans, you can inject some excitement into the classroom while still making the most of valuable time. A Teacher’s Wonderland has some great ideas for you to use when it comes to January! Make sure you check out the ideas for different New Years choice boards and activities that you can use in your upper elementary classroom!
Encourage Team Building and Reflection
The start of the New Year can feel like you are starting over or can cause quite the excitement because students want to share all about their holiday break. If your students are excited to share their holiday experiences, Mandy Neal from Teaching With Simplicity has five activities to encourage interaction, team building, and reflection. Activities include “Find a Buddy Who,” where students ask questions to find a fitting partner; “Pick a Card,” involving teams asking and answering questions about themselves; a “Compare and Contrast” graphic organizer that requires students to compare between personal and Chinese New Year traditions, “The New Year Times,” a newsletter creation project, and a “Create a Flipbook” activity for students to share and keep as a keepsake. The post provides practical ideas for teachers to harness students’ enthusiasm while fostering a purposeful and collaborative learning environment after the New Year break.
Looking for more fun teaching ideas?
Check out these blog posts!
Creative Ways to Boost Engagement
Creative Board Game Projects for Upper Elementary
Survival Teaching Strategies You Need in December
December Books and Activities to Inspire Creativity
The Benefits of a Teacher Data Binder
Practical Tips for Classroom Decor
Using Mentor Texts in Reading and Writing
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