TeachersFirst's New Year's Resources
Other TeachersFirst Special Topics Collections
The New Year is a wonderful time for setting goals, reflecting, looking ahead, and making some resolutions! This collection of reviewed resources offers ideas to incorporate New Year's activities in the regular curriculum. Whether you focus on a specific activity or simply share these for enrichment outside of class, your students will find some refreshing new ideas.
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Yong's China Quest - Lotherton Hall, Leeds Museums and Galleries
Grades
K to 7tag(s): china (56), cross cultural understanding (63), cultures (74)
In the Classroom
Use the activity in a center as part of your Chinese New Year lesson activities. Allow students to try the quest on your interactive whiteboard as a center activity. Keep a list of items found while solving puzzles, and have students research more information on them.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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MailFreezr - Duncan McLaud
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): new years (11), organizational skills (54), writing prompts (66)
In the Classroom
A good use for this would be for emails to yourself with reminders for annual events, not for personal use. Send an email to yourself at the end of a unit with information on resources that worked, classroom tips, where to find additional information, etc. Set up emails when you receive your annual schedule with reminders before each event. Use this tool as a writing prompt. Ask students to write an email to themselves as a high school senior or even to themselves at the end of the next year to see if they have met personal goals such as New Years resolutions. Have your entire "graduating" elementary class write a class time capsule about what was important to them in the year 20XX and "send" it to themselves, set to deliver at the end of middle or high school.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Accompl.sh - Accomplsh, LLC
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): new years (11)
In the Classroom
Identify the goals needed to become a better student, be more organized, or other life or study skills that students would find useful. This is a great "tracking" system to help students in class and at home. Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector, so families can make group goals together. Promote solid study skills and project planning using this tool.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
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Five Sentences - Five Sentences
Grades
K to 12tag(s): writing (300)
In the Classroom
Adopt this idea in your professional life as you correspond with parents (or suggest it to your administrator). Try adopting Five Sentences as your New Year's resolution. Though students today rarely USE email, share emails with them -- and the Five Sentences limit -- as writing prompts for a five sentence response to teach concise, purposeful writing and 'netiquette. (Note that this review, not including this aside, is 5 sentences!)Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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DLTK's Custom Chore Chart - DLTK
Grades
K to 6tag(s): behavior (34), charts and graphs (161), preK (169)
In the Classroom
Create charts for a variety of needs. Charts always come in handy for students who struggle to stay on task or to complete assignments. Charts are a fun and tactile way for students to monitor their success and stay on target with responsibilities. Use a chart system to teach organization and self monitoring for things such as homework, chores or daily jobs, morning or end of day tasks and behavior, backpack organization, reading books, math skills, and whatever else you or your students can "chart." Use this tool in the beginning of a new school year to help with expectations or recording. Special ed and gifted teachers will want to have students create their own charts to take ownership for individual goals. This is also a great tool for students to use to record their success for specific New Year's resolutions. This is definitely a link you want to list on your class website for parents to use at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Decade That Was - New York Times
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): news (149)
In the Classroom
Use this website as an activity for small groups of students working on laptops, or use the interactive whiteboard or projector to complete parts in large group instruction. Complete in the style of a Know/Want to Learn/Learned activity. As a class, have students fill in the blanks that they already know. Divide up the remaining questions between pairs of students. Have students click through the links to find the answers. Then, to conclude have the student pairs share their answers with their classmates. Since the questions are numbered, it would be simple to divide up the questions. Observe students carefully and advise them NOT to click on the answer link! Assign students a partner (or let them choose) and have the groups do further investigation about the specific question or questions they were assigned. Challenge the groups to create news reports about the events and share them using a site such as Teachers.TV reviewed here. Consider creating a similar 50 image review of your school year's curriculum using images taken throughout the year (or found on copyright-safe web sources), having student groups select the images from your collection and write the accompanying questions. A wiki would be a terrific place to create such a "Year in Review."Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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New Year's Resolutions - Myvocabulary.com
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): new years (11)
In the Classroom
Share the puzzles on your interactive whiteboard or projector or make them available as links on your teacher public page. Have students (or groups) create their own illustrated dictionaries of terms using a tool such as Bookemon, reviewed here. As you add more vocabulary lists during the year, have them select their favorite 6-10 terms from each list to add to their "book."Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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nrgBalance - Penn State Hershey
Grades
K to 12tag(s): obesity (17)
In the Classroom
Share the webcasts in your health and physical education classes using an interactive whiteboard or projector. Try some of the contests as a class. Challenge students to make one of the five suggested changes in the 1-2-3-4-5 project. Why not try one of the changes each month from January through May? Have students create a class wiki to keep track of their successes (and failures) during the challenge. At New Year's, this is a great site to share for resolutions!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Holidays - Manatee School District
Grades
1 to 3At the time of the review, the link on the Yom Kipper page to Hear the Sound of a Shofar was being updated. All of the other many links and information worked perfectly. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
tag(s): christmas (58), kwanzaa (11), new years (11), ramadan (9)
In the Classroom
Save this site in your favorites to share during the holiday seasons. Assign research groups to investigate the holidays listed at this site. Have students report their findings to the class. Create a class wiki for students to share holidays they celebrate and holiday traditions that they follow.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Six Calendars of Special Days and Festivals - Woodlands Junior School( Project Britain)
Grades
K to 8tag(s): calendars (22), christmas (58), easter (18), holidays (118), st patricks day (13), valentines day (10)
In the Classroom
As you study other cultures, be sure to include this resource for students to research the celebrations there. Or include the link on your teacher web page with the title "Every Day is a Holiday?" asking students to use the holiday calendar to become more be aware of different cultures. Instead of reporting on a current event from the newspaper, give them the option of reporting on a holiday that occurred this week in another part of the world.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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New Years Resolutions - developingteachers.com
Grades
3 to 8tag(s): holidays (118), listening (75), new years (11), vocabulary (291)
In the Classroom
Students can improve listening skills while learning about American holiday customs. Use this lesson as an opportunity for the class to find out about New Year customs in other cultures.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Countdown to the New Year - CineGroupe Sagwa, Inc.
Grades
1 to 3tag(s): china (56), chinese (45), chinese new year (3)
In the Classroom
Read The Chinese Siamese Cat to your students, then share this site using an interactive whiteboard or projector. Set this site up as a learning center during your language arts class. List this site on your class website or in your newsletter for students to explore at home with their families.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Chinese New Year
Grades
5 to 8tag(s): china (56), chinese (45), chinese new year (3)
In the Classroom
Share the "what's special about..." section with your students on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students judge which year was the most special and write journal entries or blogs about WHY.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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New Year's Resolutions - Goalsguy Learning Systems, Inc.
Grades
5 to 12Be aware: there are some minor advertisements at this site. There is also a short interactive countdown activity that requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
tag(s): new years (11)
In the Classroom
Have students use this site as a starting point in creating their own New Year's Resolutions. Have cooperative learning groups research the various holidays in December and January. Challenge students to create a multimedia presentation (video, PowerPoint, or blog) to share their findings about the holiday. Have a "World Celebrations" day and have students share information about the holiday (such as customs, food, significance, and any other pertinent information).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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New Year's in America - Jerilyn Watson
Grades
3 to 6In the Classroom
Use an interactive whiteboard or projector and take this quiz together. Or use this website as a learning station during your Language Arts or Social Studies class. In younger classes (or beginning ESL or ELL) allow students to work with a partner. Challenge students to create their own quiz on New Years (or another holiday) that incorporates grammar practice.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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New Year Traditions - Australian Media Pty. Ltd.
Grades
4 to 6In the Classroom
Play one of the New Year's songs in the background while your students use this site for research about specific countries.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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New Year's Customs Worldwide - TOPICS Online Magazine
Grades
4 to 8tag(s): new years (11)
In the Classroom
Around the New Years holiday, share this site with your students on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students read through the various country celebrations and choose their favorite and least favorite customs. Have students write a short story or blog entry describing why they made the choices that they did. Have cooperative learning groups explore this site together and take the online quiz.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Celebrating Yom Kippur - Council of American Hebrew Congregations
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): holidays (118), yom kippur (5)
In the Classroom
Share this information for students to use in comparing religious traditions in different cultures. Create a comparison/contrast "map" to promote cross-cultural understanding using a free online tool such as bubbl.us, reviewed here. Student groups can make their own maps or work together as a class on interactive whiteboard.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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