When we are about halfway through January, I am totally over winter. I’m tired of the cold. I’m tired of the snow. This winter writing project and bulletin board idea is a great way to put the spark back into your teaching. Students love completing this writing project and craft, and you’ll appreciate having a beautiful wall display and formative assessment data for writing. Learn more about this winter writing activity below!
In the middle of the school year, you’ll want to capture a snapshot of your students’ current writing abilities so that you can design lessons based on your students’ needs. This winter writing activity helps you do just that! Students will write a paragraph on the winter season. You can continue to track your students’ progress using the spring writing, summer writing, and autumn writing activities as well. This resource is part of the seasonal writing bundle. At the end of the school year, you’ll have four writing samples that show your students’ growth in writing.
How this Writing Activity Helps Teachers and Students
This winter writing activity helps by…
- offering students an opportunity to practice their writing skills
- inviting students to write about a high-interest topic
- showing students how much they have grown as writers since the fall
- providing teachers with all of the materials you need to assess students’ writing this winter
- equipping teachers with evidence for report cards and conferences
- giving teachers the tools to form intervention groups and address weaknesses or misconceptions
Why Teachers Love this Winter Writing Activity
You’ll love this winter writing activity because it…
- documents students’ writing abilities, which makes it great for including in writing portfolios and sharing with families during parent-teacher conferences.
- is a print-and-go resource, which saves you lots of time planning and prepping.
- includes clear instructions, expectations, and rubric guidelines for students, so it makes it easy for students to understand the criteria for quality writing.
- serves as a great formative assessment tool that can be used year after year.
- comes in digital and printable formats so students can access them in class and at home.
What is Included in this Winter Writing Resource?
This winter writing resource includes the following:
- printables for all parts of the writing process (brainstorm, draft, and final draft) so you don’t need to supplement with additional resources
- multiple stationery options so you can differentiate based on your students’ needs
- 3 versions of photos and illustration templates so you can choose which one you like best
- rubrics that help make expectations clear to students and make grading quick and easy for you
- a self-assessment activity that help you guide students through reflecting on the experience
- a feedback form to help you identify student strengths, set goals for each student, and develop future lessons
- a teacher guide to walk you through how to implement the resources in your classroom
- digital versions of all the resources so students can access them at home or in school
How to Use this Writing Resource in Your Classroom
This is certainly a writing project you could do with your class even if you didn’t have them write about the fall, but since I have my little friends complete a sample of writing back when the leaves are orange and red and I was consuming more hot apple cider than you would think humanly possible, I had the added bonus of having my jaw hit the floor at the noticeable progress that they’ve made.
We began by brainstorming all kinds of winter-related topics, words and ideas to get their minds thinking. I then had them work fairly independently to complete their graphic organizers and compose a draft. I sat with each child individually to edit, discuss, and revise their writing goals and then they were off to use their very best handwriting to complete the final copy.
Grab the Whole Seasonal Writing Bundle!
Throughout the school year, you’ll want to capture snapshots of your students’ current writing abilities so that you can design lessons based on their needs. The seasonal writing bundle helps you do just that! You can continue to track student progress using these autumn, winter, spring, and summer writing activities. At the end of the school year, you’ll have four writing samples that show your students’ growth in writing. Learn more about the writing projects below!
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This winter writing resource is a great way to assess students’ writing skills, so you can develop whole group and small group lessons targeting the areas your students need support with. Learn more about this winter seasonal writing resource and download it today!
