Winter — you either love it or you don’t. Here in New England, our winters can be brutal. But they can also be beautiful and a whole lot of fun.
This post is a compilation of winter words. Here are a few ideas on how to use them:
Choose several words to alphabetize. This is a skill that ALWAYS needs some practice. For younger students that need extra support, choose only a few words that begin with different letters. With students that need less support and are up for more of a challenge, choose words that begin with the same letter, encouraging students to alphabetize by second and third letters.
Choose a few nouns from the list and ask students to list as many adjectives as they can think of to describe each noun.
Pick 8-10 words and ask student to write a short winter story using all of the chosen words. For students needing more support, they can write a descriptive sentence for each word.
Choose several words and write each one on a separate scrap of paper. Fold the papers and put them into a bag or container. Students take turns choosing a paper and describing the word on the paper for others to guess.
What words may students not know? Choose a handful of words that might be new. Discuss the meaning of the word and have them use it in a sentence, and illustrate it. Have them discuss with a partner how each word relates to winter.
A: anorak; arctic; aroma; avalanche
B: balaclava; bare; bells; black ice; blanket; blizzard; bobsled; boots
C: candles; celebrations; Chanukah; Chinese New Year; Christmas; coat; cocoa; cold; cookies; comforter; cough; cozy; crackling; curling
D: dark; December; draft; dreary; dreidel
E: earmuffs; eggnog; evergreen
F: February; fireplace; flannel; flashlight; fleece; freezing; frigid; frost; frostbite; frozen; fruitcake
G: gaiter; generator; generous; gingerbread; giving; glacier; gloves; gusty
H: hat; heater; hibernate; hockey; holly; holidays; hot chocolate; howling; hypothermia
I: ice; ice skates; icicle; insulation
J: Jack Frost; jacket; January
K: Kwanzaa
L: latkes; log; luge
M: March; marshmallows; Martin Luther King, Jr., menorah; mittens
N: New Year; nor’easter; north
O: ornament; overcoat
P: parka; peppermint; pinecones; plow; polar; powder
Q: quilt
R: radiator; reindeer; rink
S: scarf; shiver; shovel; skates; skating; skiing; sled; sleet; sleigh; slippers; slippery; slopes; sneeze; snow; snowball; snowblower; snowboarding; snowflake; snowman; snowplow; snowshoeing; solstice; soup; spices; stockings; storm; sugarplum
T: tea; thaw; thermals; thermometer; toasty; toboggan; tree; turtleneck
U: umbrella
V: Valentine’s Day; vest
W: wet; whipped cream; windy; wintertime; wool; wreath
X: eXtra layers; x-country skiing
Y: Yule log
Z: zero; zippers
Are there any other winter-related words that you would add to this list? Let me know!