Winter | Teaching English | British Council

This tip is in response to postings this year and in previous years: Christmas and how to integrate it into your lessons. I have decided to write a primary tip on a winter project that includes Christmas as just one of many aspects of winter.

I have searched the Internet and have included links to sites where you can download and print useful activities for your winter lessons. You could start a project now and spread it over the next few classes leading up to the Christmas holidays. Topics include:

the weather

Christmas

food

clothes

dates

snowmen

animals and hibernation / migration

feeding birds

winter sports (snowboarding, skiing, sledging, ice-skating, snow-ball fights)

Winter

To begin the project you can introduce it through the different seasons.

Worksheets with a winter theme http://www.dltk-holidays.com/winter/worksheets.htm

A winter scene to observe and describe http://www.abcteach.com/free/w/wintercw01_m.pdf

Writing a story about winter complete with a word bank, a picture and lines to write on http://www.abcteach.com/free/s/storystarter_winter.pdf and http://www.dltk-holidays.com/winter/index.html

The weather

How do you make a snowflake? – This web page is great for teaching instructions. http://www.highhopes.com/snowflakes.html

Make a snowflake finger puppet – Here you have a rhyme and a puppet to use at the same time. http://www.bry-backmanor.org/actpag23.html

Printable games for winter weather http://www.everythingesl.net/lessons/winter_puzzles.php

Christmas
Whether you go into the real story of Christmas or whether you approach it on a purely commercial level is up to you and your school. Speak to you mentor about what they have done in the past; what is acceptable and unacceptable.

The ultimate site for off and on-line activities for Christmas. http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/teacher/christmas.html

If you wanted to do some student-produced classroom decorations you could use these stockings as a base. They each have a winter related word on them. http://www.abcteach.com/free/members/10398.pdf

Go to the British Council LearnEnglish Kids site for a range of activities about Christmas http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-topics-christmas.htm

Food
Find out if you can make some mince pies with small groups. You could make a simplified version without alcohol and without leaving the fruit to soak for two weeks! You can tell them how traditionally when we stir in the fruit we should make a wish. You can tell them how we traditionally leave one or two for Father Christmas along with a saucer of milk for the reindeers. Here’s a simple recipe: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2174

Clothes
Here is a ready to print booklet children can make themselves which teaches clothes and colours. http://www.abcteach.com/free/b/booklet_clothes_winter.pdf

Dates
Here is a printable Santa-shaped advent calendar. They could draw a different Christmas object in each circle and learn numbers up to 24. http://www.first-school.ws/t/craft/xmas_santa1ba.htm

Snowmen
Below are two snowmen action songs that young learners will love. These songs and others can be found at:
http://www.theholidayzone.com/winter/songs.htm

A Chubby Little Snowman
A chubby little snowman
Had a carrot nose
Along came a rabbit
And what do you suppose?
That hungry little bunny,
Looking for his lunch,
ATE the snowman's carrot nose...
Nibble, nibble, CRUNCH!

I'm a Great Big Snowman (to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot")
I'm a great big snowman,
Tall and fat.
Here's my tummy.
Here's my hat.
Raisins for my eyes,
And a carrot nose,
I'm all snow from head to toe!

Animals in winter

This BBC site gives you some facts to teach your children. You could give them a set of flashcards/pictures and they have to decide which animals hibernate and which don’t. http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/reallywild/features

Here’s an illustration and bar graph for children to fill in about animals that hibernate.
http://content.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/

Here’s the lesson plan to go with the bar graph. http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/lessonplans/winter/animals.htm

Another factual site for your research. http://www.saskschools.ca/%7Egregory/winter/win2.html

Feeding birds

You could actually take the children outside and make this an authentic learning activity. Why not find a spot where they can observe the birds. They could count them, describe them and put some real food out for them to eat. They could tie food to trees or find a safe place to leave some bread or other foods. Check first with your mentor and teacher about how to organise this. Go here for some more activities. http://betterkidcare.psu.edu/BKCKitActivities/Activities43.pdf

Show them a picture of a robin redbreast and write a R,O,B,I,N poem or a R,E,D,B,R,E,A,S,T poem whereby you write the word vertically and they have to find a word about birds or winter that begins with each letter e.g. Red, Oven, Bird, Ice, Nuts. You could do the same thing for words such as Christmas, Winter or Snowman. Here are images of robin redbreasts: http://images.google.com/images

Sports and games