: Engaging students with the excitement of the 2018 Winter Olympics can be a wonderful way to teach various subjects while capturing their interest. As educators, you have the potential to incorporate Olympic-themed lessons across different disciplines that cater to a wide range of student interests and abilities.
Here are some classroom activities and resources that you can use to bring the spirit of the Winter Games into your lessons:
1. Olympic History Research Project: Assign each student or a group of students a country that has competed in previous Winter Olympics. Students will research their assigned country’s participation in the history of the Games, medal counts, famous athletes, and any significant Olympic moments.
2. Winter Sports Math: Use statistics from the 2018 Winter Olympics, such as scores, times, and distances, in your math lessons. Have students practice various math skills like addition, subtraction, fractions, and percentages using real data from the events.
3. Physical Education – Try Olympic Sports: While it may not be possible to have students participate in actual Olympic sports like luge or ice hockey, you can adapt some sports that are feasible in your school settings, such as floor hockey or relay races on snowshoes (if snow is available).
4. Geography and Cultural Studies: Create an Olympic passport for each student that includes information about each country participating in the Olympics. As they learn about different countries and cultures associated with these nations, they can receive stamps or stickers in their passports.
5. Science of Winter Sports: Discuss the physics and environmental science behind winter sports. Explore topics such as friction on ice, aerodynamics of skiing, and how snow is made for events.
6. Art Projects: Encourage creativity by having students design their own medals, Olympic torches, or create national flags from construction paper or fabric for the countries they researched or which they feel connected to.
7. Olympic Values Education: Use the core values of Olympism—excellence, respect, and friendship—to instigate discussions on sportsmanship, the importance of effort over winning, and teamwork.
8. Language Arts – Athlete Profiles: Have students select an athlete from the 2018 Winter Olympics to research and write a biography or create a presentation about their journey and achievements.
9. Olympics Trivia Game: Create a trivia game with facts related to the 2018 Winter Olympics that can engage students while reinforcing what they’ve learned in a fun format.
10. Closing Ceremony Awards: Host your own classroom ‘closing ceremony’ where students can display their work and receive recognition for their individual projects related to these activities.
By leveraging these activities and resources in your curriculum planning around large international events like the 2018 Winter Olympics, you not only make learning more exciting but also help build global awareness among your students.
