Winter Olympics Unit Ideas

Excitement is in the air as the Winter Olympics 2010 is due to begin in several days. Now is a wonderful time to teach your homeschooler about these time honored games, as well as the basics behind this tradition.

Begin your Olympic theme with an appropriate vocabulary list. Below is a list of words to know, geared for an upper elementary student. You can use half or one quarter of this list for younger students if desired. Also, remember that while older students can utilize a dictionary to find definitions, younger students can still participate by discussing the meanings of these words. You might like to try using a "KWL" chart with your children, as this is a good way to determine prior knowledge. Remember, "K" is what they know, "W" is what they want to know or learn, and "L" is what your child learned at the end of the lesson.

Vocabulary List
1. victor
2. compete
3. ability
4. stadium
5. February
6. Olympics
7. televised
8. gold
9. silver
10. bronze
11. luge
12. skiing
13. Canada
14. torch
15. champion
16. competitor
17. nation
18. Greece
19. ancient
20. sports

A lapbook is a fantastic way to learn about the Ancient Olympics, as well as the current day games. A review on the lapbook from "A Journey Through Learning" is featured on the Homeschooling Site, and you can find that link below.

If a lapbook is not your choice for teaching your homeschooler about the Olympics why not try an Olympic Journal! You can use a simple notebook, or create a book from construction paper, etc. Your homeschooler can record results from various Olympic events, journal daily Olympic happenings, answer writing prompts, report on an Olympic hero, write facts about a country participating in the games, and much more. Check out the latest BellaOnline article on "Writing Prompts for the Olympic Games" for detailed ideas on journal activities.

Books on the Winter Games 2010 are a must, and be sure to discuss the various events with your child. For those of you who are adventurous you can role play favorite events at home. With all the snow that has fallen in many parts of the U.S. many of you will find it easy to recreate the games!