Teaching in Stripes: Olympics

We are 1 month away from the PyeongChang Winter Games, and I am so excited! I have loved the Olympics since I was a kid. I remember my mom letting me stay up late to watch the Lillehammer Games. It is such a special event, and it's something that I have wanted to share with students. Since I teach at a Leader in Me school, we are always talking about leadership. Olympians are such great leaders! Sportsmanship, physical fitness, strong work ethic, the ability win and lose, you get it.

The Olympics are not in my curriculum, but I just cannot stand not to bring them into my classroom and get my kiddos excited for the Games. So, I had to get creative, and I bring you....

1. Books!
Let your students read about the Olympics. I have a Winter Olympics collection that I created on Epic! that is perfect for 2nd and 3rd graders. (If you're not using Epic! in your classroom, get on it! It's the best! and free for teachers!) Reading A-Z also has some great books about the Olympics that you could easily use during guided reading or in book bags.
Here are a few of my favorite Olympic-themed picture books:

Each picture is linked to Amazon using an affiliate link. Click on the picture to find the book on Amazon.

2. Medal Count
My students will be checking the medal count for the United States each morning during our morning work time. I created a simple graph that I blew up on our school's poster maker that they'll add circles of yellow, gray, and orange to create a large pictograph in our hallway. Click on the picture to grab a copy.

3. Finger Print Ring Craft
Super simple craft! Trace a plastic cup 5 times in the pattern of the Olympic rings- 3 on the top, 2 on the bottom, interlocking/overlapping. Then use the pointer finger to trace over the rings with the appropriate color of paint using a finger print method. These turn out very cute, and they only take about 10-15 minutes. Another activity that can be done during morning work! These make a great bulletin board. I have lots of other crafts saved on my Olympics Pinterest board.

4. Brag Tags
I'm a brag tag loving teacher, and I was so excited to create a set to use during the Olympics. It might just be my favorite set! Students earn brag tags for making good choices and exhibiting strong student behaviors. Mine store their brag tags on large binder rings on Command hooks. They LOVE looking at and comparing their brag tags. Brag tags can be found here.

5. Classroom Display
I love a display that I can put up and leave up for a while. I have this one up in my classroom right now and plan to leave it up through the end of February. I have some books that I'll put out with it along with some past Scholastic News articles that I have laminated. My kids love current events displays. The bulletin board set is in my TPT store, and the vocabulary cards are in this vocabulary set.

Let me know some of your favorite Olympics activities in the comments below. It's such an exciting time! If you're looking for some other classroom activities, you may want to check out the Olympics category in my TPT store.

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I LOVE the Olympics! I have always loved the Olympics, and I get very excited when it's an Olympic year. The summer Games are my favorite, especially the gymnastics and swimming. The Olympics is also a high-interest topic for students. The summer Games are a perfect theme for the end or beginning of a school year, and it's a great theme for summer school, as well.

When I have a theme that I'd like to teach but is not in my curriculum, I always start with guided reading. I am very lucky to have a Reading A-Z subscription through my school district. On the Reading A-Z site, there are several different books that are leveled and perfect for an Olympic theme. My favorite is titled Summer Olympic Events and is available in levels H, K, & Q.

In my Gold Medal Literacy resource, I have two mini books that I also use: The Summer Olympics and Where in the World is Rio de Janeiro? They're perfect, because students can highlight and write directly in their books. The nice thing about those little books and the A-Z readers is that they come with comprehension activities and worksheets. My Gold Medal Literacy packet is loaded with word word and writing activities that can help you run a mini-unit on the summer Olympics. I used it during the last week of school, and my kids had a blast! They're definitely excited for the Games in August.

You can find my Gold Medal Literacy resource here.

Over the years, I've collected Olympics trade books as I've found them. They are kind of few and far between, at least the good ones are. I've linked up a few of my favorites and a few on my wish list. (These are Amazon affiliate links.)

What Are the Summer Olympics? I LOVE this series!

Magic Treehouse: The Hour of the Olympics- Excellent for guided reading or as a read aloud.

Ancient Greece and the Olympics: Nonfiction Companion

G is for Gold Medal- I love the variety of information in this book. It's not a great read aloud, but it is perfect to add to a themed bookshelf.

Elympics- This one looks really cute, although I do not own it.

How to Train with a T.Rex and Win 8 Gold Medals- I think this one looks so cute!

Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman- There are tons of great biographies about Olympians, and this one is one of my favorites. Excellent book!

Olympia the Games Fairy- My girls love these fairy books, so this is a good one to add to the bookshelf. It is always chosen.

...and if you're looking for some more fun ideas for teaching about the Olympics. Click on the photos to access the link.