How do you get your students excited and hopeful for the New Year? By giving them something to look forward to. And there's nothing better than being able to picture a better version of yourself in the future!
It seems to be a natural rhythm of life that when we begin a new year, we want to grow, become better, or improve from previous years. And we pass this onto our children. So how do we deconstruct the New Year's Resolution for our students?
1. Teach them the definition of a resolution.
Some direct vocabulary instruction of this seasonal word is critical. First have them share what they know about the word -- most of them will have some sort of connection to the word. After a nice discussion, and possibly include great goal-setting read aloud book or New Year's book to activate background knowledge, you want to provide a clear definition with synonyms, a sentence, and other connected words. My favorite terms for New Year's resolutions are hopes and dreams. What are your hopes and dreams for the year?
2. Have them brainstorm examples of resolutions or show them a list.
Depending on the grade level and students' background knowledge, teachers will either help them brainstorm a list or provide examples of New Year's resolutions. These resolutions can be general or more specific, categorized into personal, family, school, and friendships. For the older students, they can develop more than one goal.
The brainstorming process can include the goal as well as how to achieve that goal.
3. Create the resolution and post it!
With all these scaffolds, students should be able to create their resolutions mostly independently. It should be meaningful for each individual learner. Especially for the younger students, their resolutions may not be academic, even if we think their goals should be a reading or math-centered.
Options: check in with students once a month on how they're doing with their goals. It's another opportunity for students to learn about reflection and accountability.
If you're looking for a resource that has ALL these components for teaching your students about developing their hopes and dreams for the new year, then check out my product! It's geared towards students in 1st-3rd grade, but can be used with older students as well who need some scaffolded support, especially with their developing or expressing their ideas in writing.
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