[Teacher Tips] Keeping Students Engaged Before Winter Break

Everyone likely has fond childhood memories of celebrating the December holiday season in school. Many of us remember cutting out paper snowflakes to tape to the windows, eagerly discussing holiday plans with our classmates, and daydreaming about all the fun things we’d get to do on winter break. What many of us don’t recall, but many educators currently fighting out the holidays in the classroom can attest to, is the battle to keep our attention during the last few days of school while the chaos of the holidays raged around us.

At Edmentum, we know all about what it’s like to try to teach a new lesson while everyone is counting down the days until school is out for winter break. So, to help, we polled educators on Facebook and Twitter for their favorite tips, engagement tricks, and best practices for getting through the pre-winter vacation hustle.

'Tis the season for STEM!

I keep my students engaged by tying our content into fun STEM activities. For example, we will be building Roman aqueducts with popsicle sticks and re-enacting the Punic Wars with small plastic elephants. Oh, and I’ll be dressed up as a Roman pic.twitter.com/vfVsYTnr9Y

— Kristi (@CherishToday08) November 28, 2022

Turn your countdown into caring activities 

Our school does a 12 days of caring activity and the kiddos love it while also keeping track of how many more days until winter break!

— Mrs. Rusk (@MrsRuskFES) November 28, 2022

Throw in some themed projects 

I keep my students engaged by doing themed units and projects to cover content. We have a lot of fun while learning. I do a countdown to break at the end of each day if they earned it. I will wrap new books or give a small Christmas item. That helps keep them on task too.

— Ms. T (@TurlsA18) November 29, 2022

Research holidays around the world... 

I keep mine engaged with holidays around the world research, holiday math activities that include coloring, and a holiday themed call & respond. You really just have to just do your best and have extra patience at this time of year.

— Lisa Broussard (@LisaRNNRGRL) November 29, 2022

...and throw in some reading and comprehension activities

In one of my reading groups we are focusing on holidays around the world creating a passport while working on reading literature and honing in on our comprehension and writing skills!

— katie thompson (@kirsch_katie15) November 28, 2022

Put on a costume

I dress up each Friday. It keeps them on their toes! pic.twitter.com/fxWSXfsOnw

— Kristen Rauch (@kandgmom) November 29, 2022

Turn staying on-task into a game 

We do a raffle each class period. Students earn tickets for on-task, focused work, kind behavior, etc. I try to make sure each student gets at least 1 ticket & many work hard to earn 4+ so they have a bigger chance to win. I pick 4+ each period for a small snack or sticker.

— Escoto Math Teacher (@EscotoMath302) November 29, 2022

Sprinkle in some hands-on activities and group work 

As a 6th grade ELA teacher, I try to provide hands-on activities and have the students to move around the room, and have students work with a partner to complete specific assignments.

— YorkieGrandma (@RRhondasutton) November 29, 2022

Connect back to student interests 

I keep my 5th grade students engaged and focused in class by relating each lesson to topics that are relevant and interesting to them. In the beginning of the school year I gave each student an interest survey and I use data from the survey to make my lessons fun and engaging! <3

— Miss DeFeo (@nycteachers_) November 29, 2022

Partner work is prefect for chatty students

I try to do fun winter themed activities throughout the weeks and also a classroom wide positive behavior reward to work for! I also try to do more partner work because they are very chatty

— Kaiti Clark (@MrsClarkNWE) November 29, 2022

Hand out small prizes for completed work

We have an ongoing dot game on the board. The person with the most filled boxes before break gets a prize. They get to add a line for completed lessons (I teach all online courses).

— Susan Jones, M.A. Ed (@Mrs_Susan_Jones) November 29, 2022

Keep expectations reasonable 

I am keeping reasonable expectations. I have a calendar of what each day is going to look like and we will have a celebration on the last day to celebrate all of our hard work!!

— Sarah (@HealthyMomonRun) November 29, 2022

Make the class novel cozy 

Lots of hands on activities in math and science. For reading we are cozy with our novel study and hands in vocabulary.

— Jessica Cunningham (@JessDCunningham) November 29, 2022

Looking for more fun ways to survive the December holidays in your class? Check out these free winter themed teaching resources from Edmentum, stuffed with fun activities and lessons your students will love, and these fun classroom decoration ideas from other educators. And don't forget to enter our annual Educator Holiday Giveaway!

This post was originally published November 2018 by Brita Hammer and has been updated.