Do you have a hard time getting your kindergarten and first grade students interested in writing? When December rolls around, I break out the Christmas writing prompts to get students engaged and excited to write.
It's easy to teach first graders the writing process when you add some fun writing prompts or story starters to your lesson plans. Young children love to write about things they're interested in like their favorite animal, favorite food, a good friend, their favorite sport, or even their favorite place to visit. But one of the best first grade writing prompts has always been their favorite holiday.
By the month of December, many of your students have probably mastered writing complete sentences so it's time to introduce procedural writing. This is when students begin to write step-by-step instructions for how to do something. A fun way to introduce procedural writing in December is by using some Christmas writing prompts like how to decorate a Christmas tree. Take a look at how you can do this in your classroom.
Best Christmas Writing Prompts
Every child loves Christmas! There’s so much magic and excitement in the air. Sometimes it’s hard to contain that in the classroom, but I’ve found that if you combine the Christmas magic with your lesson plans, students are not only excited but they’re learning too!
By the month of December, we’re in full swing with our procedural writing, so one of the first how-to writing prompts we work on is How To Decorate A Christmas Tree.
Step 1 – Read Aloud
We begin the lesson with a favorite book, Mr. Willoughby’s Christmas Tree. This cute rhyming story tells the tale of a Christmas tree that's a bit too tall for Mr. Willoughby’s living room so he chops off the top and throws it out.
Here’s where the story begins, as that little tree top travels from house to house, only to end up back in Mr. Willoughby’s living room as the Christmas tree for a family of mice. Reading this circle story is a great way to begin our writing lesson.
Step 2 – Decorating Our Tree
I have a tiny Christmas tree that I put in my classroom, so after we read the story, the first thing we do is decorate our tree. The students help put on the lights and ornaments and finish with a hand made star on the top. As we decorate, we talk about what we do first, next and last and how we can write using step-by-step instructions.
Step 3 – Shared Writing
If this is the first time your students have tried procedural writing it's important to model the writing process to your students. There's no magic wand to helping your students become good writers but I do think that modeling is the next best thing! As students watch you write the steps for how to decorate a Christmas tree it helps them develop their own creative writing skills. I use this anchor chart to show students how to write the steps using the temporal words first, next, then, and last.
Step 4 – Independent Writing
Finally, it’s time for the students to do their own procedural writing with How To Decorate A Christmas Tree. It really is one of the best Christmas writing prompts because students love the topic! I've found an easy way for students to get started with this type of writing is by using writing prompt worksheets. In your classroom, you may have young learners at all different stages of writing so using differentiated writing templates is a good option to help you meet the needs of each 1st grader in your class.
Step 5 – Christmas Tree Craft
When the students are finished with their writing, they make this simple Christmas tree craft. I put all the patterns in trays at each table and the students use their creativity to create their trees. They can choose their favorite color ornaments and make their own creative design. I love to hang these Christmas writing prompts and their craft in the hallway for a holiday bulletin board display in December.
Your students will need lots of practice to master procedural writing. If you're ready to get started, you can grab this first-grade writing prompts bundle that has everything you need for an entire year of procedural writing! You'll find lots of great ideas and unique topics with lesson plans, differentiated writing templates, and crafts your students will love. Take a closer look here.
Looking for more ideas?
Need more writing inspiration for those cold winter months? Take a look at how we incorporate procedural writing as we make hot chocolate and build snowmen!
SAVE THESE IDEAS
Take a minute to save these tips to your favorite December Pinterest board so you can remember them later!
