New Year, New Beginnings

• Explore titles on this Fresh Starts New Beginnings Staff Picks list.

• Watch the complete video reading for The Night Before New Year's. Then, have students write a paragraph about their typical New Year’s Eve. Do they stay up to watch the broadcast of the ball dropping in Times Square? Do they have dinner and play games like in the book? Do they get cozy in their bed by 10pm? Or something else entirely?

• Learn about the story and some of the traditions behind Feliz New Year, Ava Gabriela! in this interview with author Alexandra Alessandri. Then students can build their own “Año Viejo” balloon (a tradition in the book) to pop at midnight and share the recipe for buñuelos, a Colombian treat found in this teaching guide and activity kit.

• Act out the story with this reader's theater script for Squirrel's New Year's Resolution.

• Imagine and draw or write about what a dream celebration would look like using the activity in the lesson plan from author Gail Piernas-Davenport for Shante Keys and the New Year's Peas. Think about who would be there, what they would they wear, etc. You can also make cut-out party hats using the author’s template!

• Find an abundance of activities in this teacher's guide from Lee & Low for Every Month is a New Year by Marilyn Singer and Susan L. Roth. Activities include researching calendars, reflecting on traditions and celebrations, and even creating a word cloud using words students come up with about what the start of a new year means to them.

• Have students share about how they celebrate New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day in their home using this teaching guide for It’s New Year’s Day.

• Share the list of activities for a “fresh start day” from page 3 of this reader guide for Melena’s Jubilee: The Story of a Fresh Start. Then brainstorm a list of additional possibilities.

• Consider the possibilities in endings and new beginnings while watching this complete video reading for The End is Just the Beginning. Ask students to consider and write about endings and beginnings in their own lives.

• Use questions in this lesson plan for The Book of Story Beginnings by Kristin Kladstrup, have students think about stories in general, discuss the elements all stories have in common, and consider how stories begin. Dive deeper into thinking about story structure using Story Map Multi-Leveled Lessons.