Are you looking for Christmas activities for students to enjoy? Try using a few of these unique Christmas activities for the classroom so that your students can experience the holiday season while still learning. I’ve compiled a list of my favorite ways to incorporate the Christmas spirit into my English class so that we can have some fun and also review for the testing season.
These are a few of my favorite unique Christmas activities for high school students, but many of my friends who teach middle school ELA also enjoy using these suggestions in their ELA classrooms, too!
This is an activity that I love to use because it works with any text. Students can choose which text to analyze, or you can “gift” them a chosen text. Ask your students to create a snow globe for any given piece of text where they have to incorporate symbols, themes, characterization, and more!
The activity is quick and easy but it’s a fun way for them to review what they’ve read, practice analyzing a text, and get creative! Students will have so much fun creating their projects that they won’t realize that they’re actually reviewing literary elements. This is a great activity for ELA to keep your students completing standards-based writing activities while still having fun.
2. Build a Literary Snow Man with Winter Poetry
I like to ask my students to read some traditional winter-themed poems. You can assign a different question for each “piece” of the snowman. I draw 3 circular shapes on Google Slides, type a question on each piece, then have students put together the “Snow Man” as they read the poem + answer the questions.
Some of my favorite winter poems to use are:
1. “The Snow Man” by Wallace Stevens
2. “Winter’s Artist” by Suzanne Bates
3. “Snow Day” by Billy Collins
4. “Blizzard” by Linda Pastan
5. “A Winter Blue Jay” by Sara Teasdale
3. Use holiday-themed writing prompts
I love to have my students write creatively. Sometimes, we require so much academic writing from them that they do not remember how fun writing can be! I love to challenge my students with a Christmas writing prompt where I’ll throw in a standards-based requirement like – include a symbol! Or be sure to use at least 2 metaphors!
I do a quick Pinterest search for holiday writing prompts, or I’ve even had students come up with their own! You can also use my own list of 12 Christmas writing prompts that I use in my own classroom. You’ll be surprised by how great their creative stories can be!
4. Watch and analyze a Christmas movie!
I am such a sucker for a good Christmas movie! My students always ask me if we can watch a holiday film, and this year I decided to give in! I create a list of questions that students can choose to answer as they watch. I make it seem more like a Christmas activity by having them answer the questions on Christmas coloring sheets. Of course, you wouldn’t have to do this…just watching a Christmas movie in class should make them happy! 🙂
Some of my favorite Christmas films to watch and analyze are:
- Edward Scissorhands
- White Christmas
- The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
I use question stems from our ELA standards guide, or this great list of Bloom’s Taxonomy question stems that I found here! You can check out my list of questions + Christmas themed question sheets here.
5. Watch a short film – and read the short story to match!
I love using short films in the classroom to really engage my students. One of my all-time favorite short films to watch and analyze is Magi (a Christmas short film). I like to ask my students to reflect on irony, symbolism, and the author’s purpose as we watch.
As a follow-up, you can have students read the classic Christmas short story, “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry. This is such a beautiful piece about sacrifice, love, and the true meaning of Christmas. You can snag all of my resources for both the short film + the short story here!
A few of my favorite resources for the short story can be found here and here!
I hope that you’ve enjoyed these unique Christmas activities for the classroom! I know that they are PLENTY of other fun resources to use to celebrate Christmas in the classroom. Let me know some of your favorites! You can also check out some of my other fun recommendations for students here!
