January Writing Activities

I start the new year with the poem “Months of the Year” by Sara Coleridge. The rhyming couplets and seasonal imagery makes it an interesting way to launch into a discussion of what happens through the year. After reading and discussing the poem I prompt the kids to tell me the highlights of each month. I write the following categories on the board: holidays, colors, nature, activities. Then on chart paper I list their responses for each month. Using the information gathered the kids write their own “Months of the Year” poem. For each month they write a couplet, but I tell them not to worry about rhyming. I keep this assignment pretty relaxed. Since it’s the first week after winter break, I want the kids to enjoy being back at school, and to perceive the task as a fun activity.

For upper grades: I would encourage 4th and 5th graders to write a metaphor for each month. What are some images that come to mind for a particular month? Focus on one image. Think of something you can compare this image with. Now write your metaphor. Example: April images might be spring flowers, blossoms, new growth, animal babies.
A metaphor might be: April is a paint brush, sweeping cheerful colors across the land.

Dreams ...

We honor Martin Luther King, Jr. by thinking about how the world could be a better place. I got this idea from a book I found at a Scholastic Book Fair called WE DREAM OF A WORLD. This book was created by the students of a 5th grade class and entered in a contest held by Scholastic. They won and the prize was publication of the book. In the book each student contributed a page of text and illustrations. A template guided the format for the text. A really easy task to implement. I thought this idea of thinking about problems in our world and what it would take to solve the problems fit perfectly for the week leading up to the MLK holiday.

The template for this activity looks like this:

WE DREAM OF A WORLD ….

Students think about a problem in the world to focus on and complete the topic sentence with how world would be if the problem didn’t exist.

Did you know?

They write a few facts/statistics about the problem

What you can do:

Here they write down what each of us can do to make the problem go away.


This is how I teach the lesson:


1. Read the book and show students the pictures.
2. Discuss the problems mentioned and ask them to think of other problems we have in our world. List their responses on chart paper.
3. The kids decide on a problem to focus on. For homework they should research facts about the problem and its impact on our lives. They should also think about what we can do about the problem.
4. In class the next day have a discussion and encourage students to share new information. It’s important to emphasize what we, as individuals can do to solve problems in the world.
5. Hand out the templates. Guide the kids through the three main prompts.
6. Students illustrate the idea using symbols and pictures. 

I had a very positive response to this activity. The kids came up with thoughtful responses and my bulletin board looks very attractive with their pictures and pretty borders around their text.

Winter Stories - To Share ...

My students rose to the challenge of the assignment and produced rather creative stories. In this blog I am sharing the best one, as well as another that is representative of the quality of writing I got from the top one third of my students. Do keep in mind these students are third graders. You may notice a few "problems" in the stories such as incorrect factual information, or plot details that don't quite connect, or wrong word usage. I believe that it is important for the teacher to overlook these sorts of things. Kids need to feel free to be experimental in their writing. Teachers should provide a safe environment for this.

Here then is a story by a boy whose talent will be immediately apparent!


 The Time Capsule
by Liam

It all started in the year 3907, when my Uncle Jack constructed a time portal. It was made for a new type of study. I was such a curious boy. I kept hearing in my mind, “This would answer all your questions about the past.”

Oh, so sorry, name’s Willy. On the 17th of December, Uncle Jack went on a vacation to Hawaii with a new girlfriend. I decided I would take a trip to the dinosaurs. I called up my parents and said, “I’m having a sleepover at Luke’s house.”

After school, I literally flew to my uncle’s house. Luckily the back door swung open. I lurked in and saw a lot of rusted junk. In the very back of the second floor, I saw it!

It was five feet wide and was as tall as an average door. I ran in and saw a clock. But the clock wasn’t going in any direction. I assumed I was to crank it back, so I did. When I cranked to the five the machine started swirling around and then I heard a spheeeee! I got extremely dizzy and almost puked.

I fell right into deep snow. There, I saw in the damp light about ten yards away, a gigantic wooly mammoth with clumsy babies struggling in the deep snow. I started feeling a horrifying frost bite slowly freezing parts of my body. I suddenly heard the most terrifying sound. The rumbling of a huge snow avalanche. I started to freak out so much you could see the bloodred veins in my eyes.

I trudged to the nearest cave I could see. I then jogged to the back of the cave. I realized there was no way I could survive in these freezing conditions. I then sprinted out of the cave. When I got to the snow I started to walk. Every step I took went slower and slower.

Finally, I got to where I thought the destination of where I thought the contraption was. In the place of it there was a deep, rectangular print. In fact it was so deep you could see the frozen dirt below.

I started to ask myself where it had gone. Who had taken it? I was starting to feel nauseous so I sat down next to a tree. I then realized there were huge footprints in the deep snow. Once more I trudged through the snow around a frozen lake, over a hill, then stopped.

There, right in front of me was the time capsule and the woolly mammoth with its babies. The babies were crawling all over the time capsule. I yelled, “GET OFF THAT!” I realized that was a horrible idea because the woolly mammoth wasn’t at all happy and the babies seemed pretty frightened.
It looked like the woolly mammoth was going to put a two foot long paw on me until I couldn’t stand the pressure any longer. I thought about the frozen lake and how much the woolly mammoth weighed. I slowly ran over the hill and jumped right down and slid. The woolly mammoth ran on and then I heard a crackle. The ice was separating. I was five feet from the other side. It was cracking into big chunks of ice.
I jumped three feet and I landed on my stomach. I managed to pull myself on the snow. The woolly mammoth fell in. I felt sorry for her, but I wanted to get back. I walked back over the hill and hopped into the time capsule.
When I got back it felt like I hadn’t been there for 18 million years.

And here's a story by a girl who has a strong interest in the performing arts.

The Ice Dragon and the Snow Leopard

By Aliyah

A Japanese Ice Dragon and a snow leopard attacked five million years ago. Now, if you’re curious to know what happened and how it all began, then listen. One day there appeared a crystal rock on a grassy, snowy mountain. When the sun, moon, and stars were in place the crystal rock burst open. Out came the Ice Dragon and the Snow Leopard.

Now people never saw this happen. One day the Ice Dragon and Snow Leopard were wandering about. Thy came to a town where there were people. The Ice Dragon and Snow Leopard didn’t know people were people. A boy shouted, “Dragon! Leopard!” All the people were terrified.

It was December when this happened. The people called the police, the army, and the president and government. Some people were crazy and wanted to ride and pet the animals. The army and police came. The government and president were too scared.

The army tried to hurt the animals, but they missed. The Dragon and the Snow Leopard roared. The people didn’t know that these animals had powers. The Ice Dragon’s power was breathing ice, so things froze. The Snow Leopard’s power was to think of as much snow as it wanted and it would appear. Luckily they didn’t use their powers.

The police came with an animal trainer, called Penny. Penny had dirty, blonde hair. She was wearing a purple shirt that said “Animal Trainer” in small letters at the top. She had a cat with her. Penny went to pet and calm the leopard. The leopard let her pet it. Then she pet the dragon, who also let her pet it. The people were amazed. They couldn’t believe their eyes. They said it was a miracle.

The dragon swooped down and picked Penny up. Her cat was on the leopard’s back. She was flying on the dragon! They went to the land where the Ice Dragon and Snow Leopard were born. The Ice Dragon said in a low voice, “This is where we were born.” Penny was surprised that the dragon could talk. The leopard said, “We were born from stone.”

The cat got off the leopard’s back and hopped back into Penny’s arms. For a long time the leopard and dragon showed Penny and her cat around. They showed her the waterfall, and cherry blossoms, and the koi fish. They said that when they were born the crystal had lost four pieces and they needed to find it before December was over, or there would be no more winter. Penny said she would help find the stones.

Penny and her cat slept in one of the caves. In the morning they all woke up. Penny jumped up on to the Ice Dragon with her cat. The Snow Leopard said, “Each stone represents one of the elements – water, earth, fire, and air.” The leopard went into one of the caves and got a map and gave it to Penny.

She opened the map. “First stop, Water Island,” Penny said in a loud voice. They flew up over into the sky and through the clouds. They could see the town’s people. They looked like ants. They past by other places too. Finally they got to Water Island. They all landed safely.

Penny opened the map. For some reason it had changed. It had some weird words: Stick your hands in the lake, but not to bake, and comes a crystal. Penny got off the Ice Dragon and stuck her hands in the water. She could feel something hard. She pulled it out. “Is this it?” she asked.

“Yes, it is,” said the Snow Leopard.

Penny jumped back on the Ice Dragon. Next stop: Fire Cave. The map changed. This time it said, “Take a piece from your body and burn it to dust.” Penny asked the Snow Leopard, ”Can I take a piece of your hair?”

“Yes.”

She took a piece of the leopard’s hair and burned it to dust. She saw a burning stone.  She took it but it was hot, so she put it in her pocket.

It was getting late. December was almost over. Next stop: Earth Boulder. They flew over to the place. As always the map changed again. It said, “Push the boulder with courage and light, to roll down the hill.” Underneath the boulder was a crystal. Penny picked it up and put it in her pocket.

Her cat was getting hungry so Penny gave all the animals her left over berries. She jumped back on the Ice Dragon and set off. It was December 29th.

Next stop was Western Air Town. She opened the map. It said, “Take something sharp and blow in it.” Penny took a little piece of her cat’s nail and blew into it. There was a big wind and a crystal appeared.

“We have all the crystals!” shouted the Ice Dragon and Snow Leopard. They flew somewhere and slept there for the night. The next morning they all woke up. It was the 30th of December. They hurried home and put the crystal in.

We did it! They all cried. That’s why there is winter!