Teacher Idea Factory

Teacher Idea Factory

GOING FOR GOLD WITH AN OLYMPIC THEME

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The Olympics always make for a wonderful classroom theme.  From a couple of days to an extensive study, the GAMES provide a way for us to engage kids and incorporate some stellar character trait lessons.  The WINTER GAMES fall at an especially critical time.  Coming off of the Winter Break, many kids need a little review when it comes to proper behavior.  Looping in the upcoming Olympic Games to help set the stage for “gold medal” behavior is a no-brainer.  Keep reading to learn more.

Here’s my thought process on this one.  Over the years I have noticed that the kids tend to need a refresher course on the whole notion of respect, teamwork, and being their “best selves” when January hits.  Well, the Winter Olympics just so happened to be the PERFECT “sizzle” I needed to launch a kindness spiral review (if you will).

MEDAL UP CLASS PROJECT

Here’s an idea for you. Launch a class project in which your babes become “kindness judges” throughout the duration of the Winter Games.  As these student “judges” witness classmates making good choices, helping others, showing kindness, and/or being their “best selves,” they complete a Gold Medal Card in their friend’s honor.  At the end of the day, these medal cards are shared with the class and these babes are celebrated.  These medals will then be hung in a “Caught Goin’ For Gold” display area.  I am going to challenge my babes.  My goal is to get our classroom doors covered with golden medals by the time Closing Ceremonies hit – I know we can do it!
 

WEAVE IN THE STANDARDS

While you’re at it, why not toss a corresponding writing/craft activity that will elicit some positive student reflection (with a hint of cute)?  With my firsties, I like to my students them to compose a paragraph on how they can be their “best selves.”  My topic sentence . . . There are three ways that I can be a “gold medal student” at school. How you like them torches?  It all ties together with a neat little bow.  This is a generic olympic idea . . . so don’t forget to bring it out at the beginning of the year for those Summer Games.  It’s a great INTRODUCTION or REVIEW of behavior expectations.

***NOTE — On a mildly related, and rather dippy side note, it took me ALL day to make this one little person.  The hair was almost the death of me.  (If you go with something similar, just have the boys ditch the ponytail!)  Seriously folks, it was almost comical how bad I was at this {well, I can laugh now}. The head was too fat, the eyes were too small, the mouth didn’t look right, I didn’t have any gold glitter . . . I was a hot mess. However, I think it all came together alright in the end.
These ideas and templates can be constructed on your own with a bit of elbow grease on the computer.  However, if you are looking for a levelized ready-to-go packet with all the elements, check out my collection >>> Caught Goin’ For Gold.

MINI READERS & OTHER CONNECTIONS

In addition to this character traits, the Olympics lends itself to wonderful read and respond lessons as well as all sorts of writing exercises.  I made a collection of Mini Books with Winter Game themes many years ago (recently updated with the South Korea reader).  The kids always eat them up and it’s a great way to break up a small group rut.
My goal here was pretty straightforward.  I wanted to create a series of mini books to help get my kiddos excited about the upcoming games.  These work well in oodles of different classroom settings – small or whole group.  When I drafted my books, I chose to write one focusing on the host country, another highlighting the basics/history of the Winter Olympics, and a third one showcasing many of the Winter Game sports.  Here’s a wild idea for you . . . it worked for me.  I made a few of the Olympic readers interactive.  This provides a built-in read and respond to text feature.  Students read the passage on each page and completed the related prompt in pictures or words.  (See example below.)  This works oh so nicely for ANY theme!
Alright, so there you have it.  A post dedicated to giving an OLYMPIC THEME a go in your classroom this winter.  As stated above, all of these ideas can be done pretty easily on your own.  However, if you are looking to save a couple of steps, here are the links to my Winter Olympic Mini Readers and Caught Goin’ For Gold Packet.  Thanks for taking the time to roll on in.  I hope to see you again soon.

Comments

  4. Mrs. Spangler in the Middle says

    I love the idea of "Goin' for Gold" in respect to character building and teamwork – this is precisely what I am working on – but with middle school. I think it would definitely still work – just with a few age tweaks. Thanks for the post!

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