The #1 Curriculum and Assessment Partner for Educators

www.edmentum.com

[Teacher Tips] Keeping Students Engaged Before Winter Break

[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!

Turn your countdown into caring activities 

Throw in some themed projects 

Research holidays around the world... 

...and throw in some reading and comprehension activities

Put on a costume

Turn staying on-task into a game 

Sprinkle in some hands-on activities and group work 

Connect back to student interests 

Partner work is prefect for chatty students

Hand out small prizes for completed work

Keep expectations reasonable 

Make the class novel cozy 

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.