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The days are getting shorter and colder, which can only mean one thing: it’s time to liven up your sessions with a little winter magic! From winter writing prompts to reading comprehension passages, check out this collection of creative winter ELA activities that will get your students excited to celebrate this cozy season.
Cool and Creative Winter Writing Prompts
Use winter writing activities to cover everything from holidays to weather to animal behavior! You can use basic writing prompts to help students learn the basic structure of different types of writing. Middle school writing prompts can be combined with other classroom content for cross-curricular assignments. Writing prompts for high schools may require longer responses, which may serve as the basis for a larger project.
- If you could choose any frozen object to fall from the sky other than frozen water, what would you choose? Will your choices have positive or negative consequences?
- The Weather Channel names winter storms based on popular names in the U.S. If you could choose how you name your winter storms, what would be your naming convention?
- Invent the next great winter sport. What equipment is needed and how to play?
- Debate why winter is or is not the best season.
- How can snow be used to help people?
- What cold weather animal would you like to have as a pet? How to keep the environment cold year-round?
- Would you rather live in an igloo, ice castle or cave in winter? Why?
- Promote a new product you’ve invented that will help people walk quickly in deep snow.
- Describe what it would be like for humans to prepare to hibernate for the winter.
- When describing a winter scene, avoid using the words “white” and “cold.”
- Write an acrostic poem using winter words like “frozen,” “blizzard,” or “snowman.”
- How would you build a real ice skating rink in your backyard?
- Imagine magical creatures that can only be seen in winter. What does it look like and what powers does it have?
- Write a winter diary from an animal’s perspective.
- Using only dialogue, imagine a day in the life of Snow and who it talks to.
Winter Writing Page – Creative Writing Prompts
Caitlin Albany
Grade: K-3
This resource includes 90 pages and 78 writing prompts, perfect for working in the morning, finishing tasks early, creative writing exercises, art exercises, creative thinking, homework, and more! All writing pages have a main line, suitable for young writers who need a little guidance and a regular writing line.
Winter Writing Prompts Do You Will February Opinion Writing Activity
Author: Think Giggle
Grade: Grade 3 to Grade 5
Standard: CCSS W.2.1, 3.1, 4.1
Help your students succeed at opinion writing with these highly fun, authentic writing prompts and topics you can use all winter long. These include opinion writing anchor charts, student reference sheets, graphic organizers, and student checklists for young writers.
Winter Creative Writing Assignments Middle School Creative Writing
by 2peasandadog
Grade: 6-8
Standard: CCSS W.6.3, 6.4, 6.5
Students assumed roles such as a winter coat, roller skates, a coffee shop owner, a local sledding hill, and a lost glove to create imaginative written products based on character-specific writing prompts. Using the RAFT format (Role, Audience, Format, Topic), students can choose from five different writing options.
Adult ESL Winter Writing Prompts
Rick Neville
Grade: Grade 10-12
These winter writing prompts transform the season’s chilly magic into powerful learning moments for adult ESL students and middle school students. Imagine your students diving deep into winter’s embrace, writing about survival strategies, comfort foods, experiences with the first snow, and yes, even hilarious passive-aggressive notes to those neighbors who don’t shovel their sidewalks.
Winter Reading Comprehension Articles and Activities
Reading comprehension about winter helps connect lessons to real life. These winter reading activities can even help students explore things they’ve never seen before!
winter realization
LaToya Reed
Grade: K-2
This no-prep resource contains 16 winter-themed reading comprehension passages and questions about everything from ice skating or skiing to meeting a polar bear or a much-needed winter vacation.
Winter Nonfiction Reading Comprehension Articles and Questions
Author: ELA and Mrs. Martin
Grade: Grade 3 to Grade 6
Standard: CCSS CCRA.R.1, R.2, R.3
Let students dig deeper into nonfiction texts with this distinctive winter reading comprehension resource. It contains 10 informational articles on popular topics such as hibernation, icebergs, and polar bears.
Winter information text reading article activity print and easel
Diana Bailey
Grade: 6-8
This ELA resource includes two reading passages about the origins of the English language, focusing on words related to winter. Each text has a work page including vocabulary and comprehension question activities.
winter poetry event
These fun, hands-on winter poetry activities have everything they need to help students learn poetry and the basics of poetry. Hone their critical thinking and writing skills. They are the perfect precursor to National Poetry Month in April!
Winter poetry creation activities in the snow—Poetry Month activities
Proud to be a junior
Grade: K-2
Teach students poetry with this winter-themed poem “In the Snow.” This is a great addition to your winter lesson planning, work together to create an anchor chart to review all the things you can and can’t do in the snow! Students can then create their own snow poem using the printable template.
Poetry Center: Cizhu Haiku (Winter Snow)
More than just a worksheet
Grade: Grade 3 to Grade 6
Through this activity, students will explore haiku while being exposed to a variety of figurative language. Use this activity just like the Magnetic Fridge Poetry, except the strips contain entire lines of haiku! There are 32 lines of 5 syllables and 16 lines of 7 syllables, thousands of possible poetry combinations!
Poetry Analysis – 5 Winter Poems – Interactive Flip Book – Digital and Paper
Commands via brainwaves
Grade: 5-8
Standard: CCSS CCRA.R.1, R.2, R.4
This winter, help your students complete five winter poetry studies in this five-day poetry analysis unit. Take all the fear out of teaching and analyzing poetry with interactive flip books designed for each poem. Each flip book contains four analysis tasks to help students gain a deeper understanding of poetry.
Winter Poetry: Shakespeare, Shelley, Hunter and Burns
Fuller Teaching Resources
Grade: Grades 9-12
Celebrate winter with students with four poems from William Shakespeare, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Anne Hunter, and Robert Burns. It’s the perfect addition to a poetry unit or a great filler activity between units or when you have subunits.
Use winter words throughout the season
Using winter-themed resources in your ELA lessons can make lessons feel relevant to the season. Go beyond simple snow activities and incorporate fun winter ELA activities into your schedule several months each year!
