Motivate Young Writers with Holiday Topics
FAQ: What are ways to use the upcoming holidays to spur on my young writers?
ANSWER: When the holidays draw closer, young students often get so wrapped up in the excitement that they struggle to stay focused on their learning. Rather than deny them this normal reaction, let’s use it to spur on their writing.
Here are four favorite ideas that motivate students to write even more in the weeks leading up to the winter holiday.
For several days, students wrote questions to Twinkle. Maria planned this activity to coincide with instruction about writing question sentences. (TIP: Maria made sure that Twinkle replied. Of course, that only prompted students to write even more!)
If students are already writing multiple sentences, target simple opinion writing. Utilize the three blackline masters below and tape them to create a WHAT-WHY-HOW product.
- Within the first sentence students write/draw WHAT they would like to receive this holiday season.
- Within the second sentence students write/draw WHY they want it.
- Within the third sentence students write/draw HOW they would feel if they received this gift.
All four of these ideas could be easily adapted to any holiday or seasonal topic. In fact, if you check out the “Related Posts” connected to this video article, you’ll find a few more ideas that would be very appropriate this holiday season.