January and Winter Writing Ideas for Primary Grades

January and Winter Writing Ideas for Primary Grades

Hey, y'all! We've just gotten our first big snowfall up here at the lake, and even though it's not quite Christmas yet, we're already starting to think about our writing lessons for after winter break. January is such a busy time and writing about it makes all the craziness a little more fun. 

One of our favorite things to write about is all the things we want to do. We live in a place with snow so we have a LOT of opinions on winter. At the beginning of the month, we make our bucket list and see how many of the activities we actually get to complete. 

On a super snowy day, we draw pictures of what it looks like outside our classroom window and use adjectives to describe the scene. If you live in a place that doesn't get much snow. your students can imagine a snowy landscape or simply draw winter in your area. 

We have loved making our ghosts and turkeys and describing them for our friends. So for January, we're going to be decorating either mittens or snowmen (I haven't decided which yet) and describing them for our friends to find. My first graders love this interactive writing display and showing off their new phonics skills and creativity. 

If your littles need a mindful moment, you can always break out the five senses writing pages too. I keep these on hand (there's a year long bundle too!) for anytime we need to just slow down, but they also make a great descriptive writing lesson. (And a great excuse to drink hot chocolate in the classroom!)

After we've described our hot chocolate using our five senses, we take a few minutes to practice how-to writing by writing down the steps to make it. 

Students can also write out how to make a snowman if that's something they have experience with. No snow where you live? Make a sensory bin with snowman decorating items and a snow mixture of baby oil of flour. 

Our district has us focusing on opinion writing in the second semester and my students are very particular about their winter activities. A quick would-you-rather activity during morning meeting will gear them up for some awesome winter opinion writing. 

And sometimes, they just need some independent writing time. My students love using write the rooms to find words everywhere and explore different words they haven't seen yet (hello world map!). They also love writing acrostics and sharing with their friends which word they chose for each letter. (so mush squealing when they use the same word)

You can check out the full January writing unit in my TPT store here. While you're there, be sure to follow me so you don't miss a thing (I'm always adding new ideas, resources, and freebies!). 

I hope you found some wonderful writing ideas that work in your classroom, too. Have a wonderful week and I'll talk to you soon. 

Stay cozy,