ELA Classroom Activity: Celebrate the Winter Solstice With Visual Poetry
Keep your students engaged with some standards-driven creativity.
When you hear “winter solstice,” what do you think of? The longest night of the year? The earth sleeping under a blanket of snow?
More likely, because you’re an ELA teacher, this time of year means squirrely students who have finished their end-of-term assessments and are chock-full of excitement about their upcoming time off. Don’t worry. With our Solstice Poetry Mini-Project, we’ve got your back to keep your students learning.
ELA Classroom Activity: Read, Write, and Create the Solstice
This mini-lesson is solstice-themed, which is appropriate given that, in the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice usually falls on December 21st or 22nd, when most of us are (just barely) still in school.
Acknowledging the solstice is a great way to be festive without tying the celebration to any particular religion or culture since people worldwide have celebrated the solstice for thousands of years. This activity will introduce students to a beautiful piece of visual poetry and get them thinking about how form shapes poetic meaning and let them exercise their creativity through writing and art.
A Standards-Driven Poetry Lesson That’s Also Fun!
This lesson, which will take between two and five days, depending on how long your classes are, requires almost no prep. And to make it even easier, here’s a slideshow you can copy to walk you and your students through each step of the lesson. And here are the ELA Common Core Anchor Standards this lesson engages.
Tasks for Solstice Poetry in the Classroom
For the entire lesson plan and details on the tasks, please view our blog below!
Activity Task One: React, Read, Discuss
Give your students time to soak in “Solstice Blessing” by Monica Ong. Ask them to react to the visuals before they read the words.
Activity Task Two: Research Time!
Ask students to share everything they know about the solstice: what it is, what it means, and how it’s celebrated. Compile a list of responses on a whiteboard or Google Doc.
Activity Task Three: Reanalyze
Have students read “Solstice Blessing” silently to themselves once more. Also, have them review the class’s original observations about the poem.
Activity Task Four: Brainstorm and Draft
Reiterate that Ong probably chose to emphasize themes that mattered most to her in “Solstice Blessing,” and tell your students that they will now write a short poem (three to six lines) celebrating the winter or holiday-related themes they care about most.
Activity Task Five: Get Artsy!
Once your students have sketched designs for their visual poems, let them bring their visions to life! Using the materials in your school’s art closet is just fine, but if you can, provide them with heavy cardstock and an assortment of colored pens or markers to write out their poems.
