Christmas is just around the corner, which means winter break is too! How can you get your middle school students to write when the break is so close? Keep them engaged in your ELA class with these 45 Christmas-themed writing activities! Your middle schoolers will practice their writing and learn about the gift of giving throughout each writing activity.
1. Roll and Write!
Middle schoolers often dread writing or complain that they don’t know what to write about. Instead of telling them to use their imagination, give them a die and have them roll an idea for each part of their story. These roll-and-write Christmas stories make for a good laugh and a great writing experience.
Learn More: Simply ELA
2. Acrostic Poems
Acrostic poems are an excellent writing activity that can be used with all grade levels. Pick the holiday, and have them use creative writing to describe that holiday! You will be surprised by each student’s writing skills as they complete each poem.
Learn More: Thought Co.
3. Ten Things In An Elf’s Pocket
This creative writing activity is perfect for 6th-grade or upper-elementary students. Ask the students to imagine if they were elves. What would they have in their pockets? You will be surprised by the imagination of your students in this Christmas-themed writing activity.
Learn More: Tes
4. Would You Rather?
A great holiday game for ELA is Would You Rather? Give the students questions and have them choose between each option. Then, they can write about it in a persuasive essay and add it to their writing folders. Not only does it meet the standards, but it also gets kids engaged and passionate!
Learn More: Perkins
5. Father Christmas…Stuck in Chimney!
This fun holiday activity requires your students to use their imagination as they write a newspaper article about Santa Claus and how he got stuck in the chimney. After they finish, have your secondary students share them as a class and vote for the best story.
Learn More: Twinkl
6. If I Were an Elf…
If I Were An Elf is similar to Ten Things In An Elf’s Pocket, but in this activity, students must imagine they were an elf and all the things they would do! This fun writing activity has endless opportunities for using their imagination and creative writing skills.
Learn More: Twinkl
7. Collaborative Stories
Collaborative stories are perfect for a fun time in the holiday season. Students will write a sentence for a holiday story and then pass it to the next student. The result will be a hilarious holiday-appropriate short story in which the entire class participated.
Learn More: 100 Story Building
8. How To Catch A Gingerbread Man
This writing prompt is excellent for upper elementary students or 6th grade. Students must use their creativity to imagine how to catch a gingerbread man. Students won’t even realize they are doing an assignment as they write about this fun topic.
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9. What Brings You Joy?
A great holiday activity for middle school students to practice gratitude and mindfulness is What Brings You Joy? Students will have to brainstorm and reflect on what makes them happy as they write each one inside the word “Joy.” Then, you can hang them around the classroom for the entire class sees.
Learn More: Digging Deeper Teaching Resources
10. The Night Before…Parody
A Christmas Carol Parody is a great activity for engaging your secondary students around the holiday season. After reading The Night Before Christmas, introduce them to parodies they may know, then challenge them to write their own!
Learn More: Just Add Students
11. Ugly Christmas Sweater
Everyone loves an ugly Christmas sweater! In this fun writing unit, students will practice using descriptive writing about an ugly sweater. Then, they will pass their paper to another student and have to color a shirt based on the form! This writing game is perfect and aligns with common core standards, so it’s excellent for students and teachers.
Learn More: Just Add Students
12. Trapped in a Snow Globe
In this creative writing prompt, students must imagine they were trapped in a snow globe! They can practice writing using the five senses or write a short story. This holiday lesson plan is perfect for a busy holiday season and a stressed-out English teacher.
Learn More: Jennifer Findley
13. The Great Tree Debate
Persuasive writing is one of the common core standards for middle schoolers. Have them show what they know by answering the holiday discussion question: Which is better: real trees or artificial ones? Students can write an essay or do an impromptu speech to make the class more exciting!
Learn More: Course Hero
14. Scrooge’s Diary Entry
After finishing the favorite holiday tradition of reading or watching A Christmas Carol, have your middle school students try out a new perspective. What was Scrooge thinking? What is his diary like? Then, have them write a diary entry explaining their thoughts!
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15. Snowball writing
Snowball Writing is a collaborative activity that engages the entire class! Students will each begin a story and then pass it to the next person as if it were a snowball. Then, they continue to write the Christmas story. These collaborative writing pieces will make students excited about writing and dying to discover the story’s ending!
Learn More: Presto Plans
16. Mitten Memories
Mitten Memories is a great writing prompt that asks students to reflect on their holiday breaks over the past years. They must choose their favorite moment about Christmas and write about it with sensory details and figurative language to capture the emotion of each moment.
Learn More: The Classroom Creative
17. Gingerbread House For Sale
In this creative writing endeavor, students must create their own gingerbread house and put it up for sale. This persuasive writing lesson will have students apply their knowledge about how to convince others. Plus, at the end of the unit, they can build their gingerbread house and try to sell it to their classmates for real!
Learn More: EB Academics
18. Holiday Story Task Cards
Some students complain they don’t know what to write about, especially when it’s close to the holiday break. Keep them motivated by giving them creative writing holiday story prompts. This could be used for journal writing or in centers, but teachers love it because they will never run out of things to write about.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
19. White Out Poetry
This fun writing center activity is excellent for teaching poetry. This digital activity challenges students to change the main idea or meaning from an original poem by adding whiteout to the words making for a super fun English class.
Learn More: Now Spark Creativity
20. Throw Kindness Like Snowballs
The holiday season isn’t only about presents. Teach your students the magic of kindness and giving compliments through this fun activity. Students will feel warm and fuzzy as they read the kind things their peers write about them.
Learn More: Raise the Bar Reading
21. Mad Libs
Mad Libs are suitable for any holiday but make for a great Christmas writing activity. Elementary or secondary students will practice parts of speech as they fill in the blanks in the story. This fun idea will have your students laughing and begging to do more!
Learn More: Happiness is Homemade
22. Scattegories
This Christmas-themed writing game is perfect for a fun, engaging class time. Students will be given a variety of holiday topics, and they must think of one idea that starts with a specific letter. This activity for students is a great way to have fun in the classroom as the holiday break comes closer.
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23. Christmas Trivia
Christmas trivia is a super fun game for all ages! Your students can research facts about Christmas or any winter holiday and then write questions and answers. Then, they can have a trivia day about Christmas-themed topics.
Learn More: Adventure in a Box
24. Write a Carol
Caroling is a holiday tradition that many people practice. If you want to bring music into your classroom, have your students listen to carols, brainstorm themes about Christmas, and write their carols! Then you can go caroling to each classroom with the songs they create.
Learn More: Writing with Sharon Watson
25. The True Story Behind The Grinch
In this creative writing assignment, students must use their imagination to explain why the Grinch is the way he is. A decent percentage of students will know the movie and have crazy answers to the question.
Learn More: Writing with Sharon Watson
26. Christmas Comics
If your middle school students dread writing, have them write a Christmas comic! They can use any holiday story they know and have them rewrite it with illustrations, interjections, and dialogue. Plus, this activity meets the common core topic of writing and understanding different types of texts.
Learn More: Mindroar Teaching Resources
27. Roll a Poem
Roll A Poem is an excellent activity for elementary-aged students and up! Students will have to roll a die to create their poems. Every child will have a different poem, and they can analyze their differences.
Learn More: Paths to Literacy
28. Christmas Exchange Game
In this “Secret Santa” activity, students will have to describe an item they are willing to give. They. It must be super descriptive, as other students will need to guess the object based on their writing! Then, they get to choose the gift and see if it is what they are thinking of.
Learn More: ELA Core Plans
29. Choice Board
The Christmas Choice Board is a perfect activity for busy teachers during the holiday season. These writing activities allow your middle schoolers to be independent while they get to choose an activity that they like!
Learn More: The Library Voice
30. Sentence Mix-Up!
If you are looking for a great holiday game to play when students lack motivation, then play the Mixed Up Sentence Game! Students will sort complete sentences to create a simple story while enforcing writing rules.
Learn More: Composition Classroom
31. One Word Resolution Quilt
This short and straightforward writing unit is perfect for starting a new year! Teach your children about affirmations and self-reflection as they create a classroom quilt to remind them of the people they want to become.
Learn More: Mr. C’s SharesEase
32. Christmas Memories
Like Mitten Memories, this reflective writing prompt asks students to describe their favorite holiday memories. They should express it with figurative language as if the reader were experiencing it, showing the meaning and emotion of the moment.
Learn More: Writing with Sharon Watson
33. Debate Writing, Giving, or Gifting?
The holiday season is about giving and joy and appreciating our things. This Christmas writing activity pack teaches your secondary students the gift of giving!
Learn More: Secondary Sara
34. Winter Poetry
Acrostic poems are fun, but some middle schoolers may think they are childish. Challenge these students to create their winter poetry with figurative language and strong vocabulary they can present to their families and friends.
Learn More: Loving Language Arts
35. Snow Day Story!
The news of a snow day is a fantastic feeling for students and teachers. Engage your students in this winter writing activity by having them create a short story or narrative about a snow day.
Learn More: The Secret Life of Homeschoolers
36. Bring Meaning To The Season
What is Christmas? Why do we celebrate these winter holidays? This interactive and hands-on unit teaches your students the meaning of the season.
Learn More: Mrs. Spangler in the Middle
37. The 12 Days Of Christmas
The 12 Days of Christmas is a familiar song that most students know. Encourage your students to write daily with these prompts until the beginning of their winter break!
Learn More: Dilyana’s World
38. Christmas Cards
If you want a Christmas Themed Writing Activity, have your middle schoolers write Christmas cards to their loved ones! Remind your students to be specific about why they appreciate each person, as this will contribute to a happy and safe classroom community.
Learn More: Lanternfish ESL
39. What Does Christmas Mean To Me?
The holidays are critical moments in our lives. In this thoughtful writing activity, the students will need to think deeper about the meaning of Christmas and why it is essential to them.
Learn More: Journal Buddies
40. Santa Does Exist!
For this creative writing activity, have your kids use their knowledge of facts and opinions to write about various prompts like, “What would a day in the life of one of Santa’s elves look like?”. Remind them to use evidence to persuade their readers before encouraging them to engage in a classroom debate with their work afterward.
Learn More: Twinkl
41. Gratitude Journal
This writing activity can be used any year but is significant during the winter holidays. As a daily journal prompt, have your students write what they are grateful for and why, as it allows them to recognize how privileged they are and the good things they have in life.
Learn More: Homeschool of 1
42. If I had 1,000,00,000…
In this meaningful holiday-themed lesson, your students will be asked what they would do if they had one million dollars. Would they buy presents for the poor? Would they donate to charity, or would they spend it on themselves? Use this time as a gateway to explore the gift of giving and the meaning of Christmas.
Learn More: Think About Such Things
43. Christmas Reader’s Theatre
Reader’s theatre is an excellent way to have a fun ELA class. Have your students write or practice a holiday script and then perform in front of the entire class.
Learn More: Readers Theater
44. Picture Writing
Christmas picture writing is an excellent idea for an ELA or ESL class! Students will be given a photo and asked to write a story about it. These photos will allow students to dig deep and use their imagination to show their perspective of what is happening in the holiday photo.
Learn More: On TESOL
45. Christmas in Space
If you are looking for a unique Christmas-themed lesson, ask your students to write about Christmas in Space! There are no correct answers, and students must use their imagination and image of Christmas to explain their ideas.
Learn More: Inkling Writing
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