Let’s be honest, January in the classroom can feel a little… tough. But you don’t have to just survive this cold, dark month. Instead, make January magical with the right mix of great classroom read-alouds and hands-on activities that help students reset and re-engage in learning! In this post, I’ll show how you can use amazing stories and simple activities to reset routines, rebuild connections, and start the new year off with confidence. Don’t miss out on the must have freebie too!
Kick Off January with Meet January and Back-from-Break Feelings
One of the best ways to ease students back into the classroom after winter break is by starting with a powerful read-aloud. Meet January by April Martin is the perfect story to help students start fresh as they transition back to school. Not only does it open the door to talk about new beginnings and changes, but it also encourages conversations about how students are feeling as they return. To extend the lesson even further, pair this read-aloud with the Back from Break Feelings Chart and reflection activity. As a result, students can process emotions like excitement, nervousness, or even sadness while also having a safe way to share and connect with others.
After reading, invite students to share how they are feeling after break. Create a class anchor chart together and discuss what you notice as a class. Add in a little writing and drawing about their feelings to ease them back into learning. This simple yet meaningful routine, not only supports social-emotional learning but also helps re-establish classroom community in January after a long break.
Click the cover to grab a copy of Meet January.
Set Meaningful Goals with The Word Collector and a “Word of the Year”
Reading The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds invites students into a celebration of words! It is the perfect read aloud to build meaning of words, discuss their power, and we can connect them with meaningful goals for the new year. After reading, transition into the Word of the Year activity: students brainstorm words that resonate with them, words they’d like to live by or grow into, and then choose one word to guide their goals all year long. This process helps students internalize a growth mindset, set purposeful intentions, and connect their goals to a single, meaningful anchor. Additionally, as they write and share their chosen word, the class builds a collective vocabulary of goals for the year and it makes a wonderful bulletin board to refer back to! You can learn more about this meaningful activity HERE.
Click the cover to grab a copy of The Word Collector.
Reinforce Expectations with The Wish Tree and Classroom Mystery Rewards
Another wonderful January read-aloud is The Wish Tree by Kyo Maclear. This story sparks meaningful conversations about kindness, hope, and community. Without a doubt, they are perfect themes for students returning from winter break. After reading, connect the message of the book to your classroom routines by practicing expectations in a fun and motivating way.
One of my favorite strategies is using a Mystery Reward anchor chart. Each time your class follows routines and works together, they reveal a piece of the chart until the surprise reward is uncovered. This positive reinforcement not only gets students excited but also makes practicing routines feel like a team challenge instead of a chore.
Grab the Mystery Reward FREE by subscribing below! It’s the perfect companion to The Wish Tree and will help you review expectations with ease!
Click the cover to grab a copy of The Wish Tree.
Turn The Bad Seed into a Growth Mindset Lesson for January
The Bad Seed by Jory John is always a student favorite, and it’s the perfect way to ease into conversations about growth mindset after winter break. This story shows kids that even when we make mistakes or don’t make the best choices, we can always try again and grow. After reading, discuss how the seed changes throughout the story and what that means for us as learners. We also love using the metaphor of planting a seed for the new year. We even send home THESE and let students plant them!
Guide students in sorting examples of a fixed vs. growth mindset. Then let them reflect on times they’ve had a “bad seed moment” but chose to do better. Afterward, we complete the bad seed craft. It’s a simple writing activity where they share one way they want to “grow their mindset” this year. This activity gives students the chance to reset, build self-awareness, and start January believing they can do hard things.
Click the cover to grab a copy of The Bad Seed.
Making January Magical with Read Alouds
Coming back from winter break doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. On the contrary, with the right activities and intentional read-alouds, you can reset your routines, reignite classroom community, and make January one of the most magical months of the school year.
The best part? You don’t have to plan it all yourself! My After Winter Break Kit has everything you need including these engaging activities! Lesson plans, student activities, read-aloud pairings, and teacher checklists, all done for you. Just print, prep in minutes, and enjoy a smooth, successful start to the new year.
Grab the done-for-you After Winter Break Kit and take the stress out of January. Your students will love the activities and you’ll love how easy it is to make this month magical with no stress for you!
I really hope you enjoyed learning about awesome January classroom read alouds to make this month magical! Additionally, don’t forget to subscribe to my email list! Not only will you get the most up to date tips, tricks, and classroom projects, but also more fun FREEBIES including the Mystery Reward FREEBIE! You will also have exclusive access to tons of digital how to videos! If you would like to learn about this and other things happening in my classroom follow me @sweetnsauerfirsties on Instagram.
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