New Year Activities for 4th and 5th Grade: A Fresh Start After Break

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The first day back after winter break is its own special kind of day, teacher friend. Students walk in sleepy, excited, and a little out of practice at being students, and you need something that settles the room and gets everyone thinking about the months ahead.

These two New Year activities for 4th and 5th grade are how I like to start that fresh start, and today they're free: a goal-setting pennant banner and a "one word" writing project. Print them, hand them out, and by Friday you have a bulletin board full of your students' goals for the year.

The goal-setting pennant banner

Big resolutions are hard for students to hold on to. Small, specific goals are easier, so the pennant gives them seven sentence starters to finish: This year, I want to visit, see, try, learn, read, be, and feel. A student who freezes at "set a goal" can almost always finish "This year, I want to try..."

Students neatly fill out and color their pennants. Then you punch a hole in the top two corners of each one and string them all together into a classroom banner. It looks great hanging across the front of the room, over the door, or along a bulletin board.

Goal-Setting Pennant Banner (FREE)

My "One Word" for the Year writing project

Instead of a list of resolutions they'll forget by February, students choose one word to guide their whole year. The project walks them through it in four pages:

1. A brainstorming page. Students answer three questions (What do I want to get better at? How do I want to act toward others? What kind of student, friend, or person do I want to be?), write down three possible words, and circle the best one. Then they explain why they chose it, what it means to them, and how it will guide them this year.
2. A word bank of 57 words, from brave and curious to perseverance and teamwork, for the student who needs a nudge. They can always pick a word that isn't on the list.
3. A "2027" word box they color, cut out in one piece, and glue to the top of their writing paper.
4. Lined writing paper that starts with "I chose this word because..." for the final paragraph.

I love reading these. You learn so much about your students from the word they pick and why, and it's a great way to ease back into writing after two weeks off.

My One Word Writing Project (FREE)

Ways to use them

These two activities work for:

• The first day back after winter break
• A January writing project
• A New Year's bulletin board
• Morning work for the first week back
• Sub plans
• A writing center or early-finisher work

Here are your free files

Each activity is its own download, so you can print just what you need. They're both on the downloads page, ready to click. No email needed.

• Goal-Setting Pennant Banner
• My One Word Writing Project

Open the downloads page

The rest of the New Year packet is in the Club

These two activities come from my New Year Math and Reading packet. The other pieces are for Appletastic Club members: math worksheets for multiplication, addition, subtraction, and multiples, a high-interest reading passage, seven coloring pages, and a "New Year, Fresh Start" bulletin board display that your students' pennants and One Word pages are perfect for.

• New Year's Color by Number (Members Only)
• Party Hat Problems (Members Only)
• Subtraction Celebration (Members Only)
• Party Pairings (Members Only)
• New Year's Number Path (Members Only)
• History of the New Year's Eve Ball Reading Passage (Members Only)
• New Year's Coloring Pages (Members Only)
• Bulletin Board Accent Pieces (Members Only)
• Bulletin Board Words and Numbers in teal, orange, and black and white (Members Only)
• Answer Keys (Members Only)

See everything in the Club, grade by grade

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