Are you and your students excited for the Olympic Winter Games? The Winter Olympics are especially exciting for me because they take place when school is in session. I find that timely events always get my students excited and engaged in learning! Today I'm sharing the Olympic activities for students I've created to learn or review vocabulary words.
Engage students in writing about the Olympic Winter Games using their vocabulary and language skills with this free lesson plan plus handouts and reproducibles!
The first bundle of Olympic activities I created are related to my favorite part of the Olympic Games– the Opening Ceremony. With these printables students will consider and describe imagined Opening Ceremonies for their very own nations, complete with customized torches.
HOW THE OLYMPIC LESSON PLAN WORKS
Before completing the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony activities, have students watch the Beijing Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies. An alternative to watching the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games would be to show students clips of past Olympic Opening Ceremonies.
After students have watched a clip of an Olympic Opening Ceremony, have them use that inspiration to complete the following activities with their corresponding worksheets:
STEP 1: Using the Brainstorm Sheet, have students brainstorm and write down characteristics of their own nation! After naming their nation, students will write down four of their nation's characteristics, such as favorite animals, colors, national pastimes, geography, food, clothing attire, music, population, modes of transportation, etc. Students must use at least one vocabulary word in each description.
STEP 2: At the top of the Opening Ceremony Sheet, ask students to consider what they've determined about their nations then use that information to design and describe a torch to use during the Opening Ceremony. After they've designed and colored the Olympic Torch on the worksheet, students will describe the elements of their nation's torch design using two vocabulary words.
STEP 3: Finally, complete the writing assignment at the bottom of the Opening Ceremony Sheet. Students will think about how their nation would host an Olympic Games Opening Ceremony to showcase the characteristics outlined on the Brainstorm Sheet. Students will use their vocabulary and language skills to write about their Opening Ceremony and the awesomeness of their great nation. Students can be as silly or spectacular as they want, but they must use at least 10 vocabulary words throughout their writing.
Extensions or alternatives: Have students describe the actual opening ceremonies from Beijing, or draw a picture of a moment of their opening ceremonies and label it with vocabulary words.
This simple Olympic vocabulary activity will get students engaged in word learning while reflecting on the hard work of Olympic athletes. The Think Like an Olympian Activity worksheet features five Olympians with thought bubbles. Above each Olympian, students will fill in the thought bubble with what the athletes are thinking as they compete in their sport. Students can be silly or serious, but they must use at least one vocabulary word per Olympian and all descriptions mush be school appropriate. After each thought bubble has been filled, students can color each of the Olympians.
Using the Closing Ceremonies Vocabulary Activity, have students reflect on their favorite moments of the Winter Olympic Games. They must rank their favorite moments as gold, silver, and bronze. Students will draw their favorite moments or paste newspaper/internet images above each podium. If a student has not seen any part of the Olympic Games, they can make up the moments! Finally, students will use at least one vocabulary word to describe each moment.