At the start of the New Year, making resolutions can be a fun way to develop critical thinking skills and teach life skills, both of which are important, especially in middle and high school. The start of January is a fantastic time as students are acclimating to a new routine and sometimes new teachers. This is where New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet Activities come in handy!
Guiding students through the process of brainstorming, reflecting, setting, developing, and reaching their goals is always a plus! It is rigorous and relevant for any level of student and/or teacher!
Keep reading for New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet Ideas your students will actually enjoy using and implementing!
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10 New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet Ideas
1. Brainstorming Words
Before beginning anything, be sure to get students to reflect on what they do know. Generating words and phrases surrounding the New Year is a great way to activate their critical thinking skills!
Here are 6 questions you might ask as a New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet Idea:
- What words come to mind when I say “2024” versus “2025?”
- What words relate to the New Year?
- What are you excited about in the coming year?
- What do you envision for how you want to grow in the New Year?
- What aspects of your life do you think need some change and/or development in the New Year?
- What words connect to New Year’s Day or New Year’s Eve?
Simply encouraging students to think about the New Year, jot down ideas, and discuss what they know is a great way to start the process!
Click to read the post below for New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet Activities for Poetry!
2. Read New Year’s Poems
Getting another perspective or two on the New Year can add to your students’ repertoire as a New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet Activity. My favorites are Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s “The Year” and Lord Tennyson’s “Ring Out, Wild Bells.”
They have similar ideas with very different perspectives on the upcoming New Year. Delving into some poetry analysis at the beginning of January is a wonderful way to make poetry come to life in a real and exciting way!
In fact, Wilcox’s poem begins with the following question:
What can be said in New Year rhymes,
That’s not been said a thousand times?
Great question, right?
You could summarize each poem, analyze imagery, examine the types of words in each poem, or practice some test prep skills with a quiz!
Check out the entire poetry pack here!
3. Write a New Year’s Acrostic Poem
Students can use the acrostic poem templates you offer or use their own words to create a New Year’s Poem! They might be sincere or even satirical. The choice is theirs. And make sure to offer time for students to share their poems!
Here is my own acrostic poem with a bit of a different spin for the New Year:
N-New Year’s Eve night
E-everyone gathers
W-without me
Y-yes, it is true that I
E-eat day-old pizza
A-after sleeping all day
R-rain checking my friends
S-safe on my sofa
E-eternally grateful for
V-vast tv options & chocolate, an
E-extrovert’s nightmare
Utilize these templates to make the process easier!
4. New Year’s Quotes Analysis
One way to expand your students’ preconceptions about the New Year is to research what other people believe and/or say. I personally enjoy having students research and reflect on specific New Year’s Quotes before they start making real-life goals.
These are my top 5 quotes:
- “The beginning is always today” ― from The Short Stories of Mary Shelley by Mary Shelley Melville
- “New Year’s Day… now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.”― Mark Twain
- “Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.” ― Benjamin Franklin
- “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” — Frederick Douglass
- “When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” — Confucius
Students might discuss these quotes as a part of a Four Corners activity, a Small Group Quote Arrangement, a Think-Pair-Share, or even a Socratic Seminar! So many options, so little time!
Afterward, students might write about the quote in a paragraph by making an argument (disagree or agree), explaining the quote, or considering how it might apply to their lives! Incorporating quotes as a part of the New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet will help students make connections and build engagement!
5. Choose a Word of the Year
It is currently super popular to choose a WORD OF THE YEAR that will guide you in some overarching way. Whether the word is from Scripture, a piece of literature, or a line from a movie, we all need a way to narrow down what we want into something more purposeful and succinct.
This year, I have chosen the word “RESOLUTE” because it reminds me of Joshua 1:9 as well as the Declaration of Independence. At difficult times, we must become resolute, intentionally stubborn, and determined to achieve specific goals.
So many times, I am too content to let go of a goal because I forgot about it, or I only put in half the effort, or I simply don’t want to continue. I can try to justify my actions, but people who make great strides are laser-focused.
As a fun activity, your students might research a bunch of words that might characterize a fantastic New Year full of possibilities.
- Trailblazing
- Visionary
- Inspirational
- Determined
- Fearless
- Mindful
- Friendship
- Genuine
The options are endless! Then, have students reflect on how the word might apply to their lives. What does the word look like in action? What does the word NOT look like? What synonyms, antonyms, or images are related to the word or even a group of words?
In the era of immediate satisfaction, we need to teach our students these thinking skills, even if it takes a bit of time. It will be worth it!
6. Create a Vision Board
Now, I am not a big “Manifest Your Life” type of person. Things can’t just come about because I want them and think all the time about them.
Instead, I believe in correlation. The type of person who is intentional and has direction will usually achieve their goals because they can see what they want and make plans for it!
Creating a New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet Vision Board is an innovative and fun way to engage students in January. They can choose a word, phrase, or quote and build their vision for the New Year around it!
7. Make Resolutions
Ultimately, I want students to learn how to set goals for the New Year. People may say they have goals, but rarely do they write them down in a detailed, deliberate way.
To help, you could offer categories for students to choose from, like the following in a New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet:
- Physical Goals
- Educational Goals
- Extracurricular Goals
- Mental Health Goals
- Reading Goals
- Character Goals
- Generosity Goals
- Job Goals
- Financial Goals
- College Goals
For each category in the New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet, students might create one or two particular goals.
- Physical Goals- Run a 5K.
- Educational Goals– Get on the honor roll.
- Extracurricular Goals- Become a better artist.
- Mental Health Goals– Pray and go to church.
- Reading Goals- Read 10 books this year.
- Character Goals- Be kinder to my parents.
- Generosity Goals- Volunteer in a pet shelter.
- Job Goals- Get a summer job.
- Financial Goals- Save $500.
- College Goals- Take the ACT twice.
You might need to help students with the word, or better yet, let them help each other! Additionally, they can work on visualizing the achievement of their goals!
See all of the activities above in this New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet and Activity Resource!
8. Develop a Year Plan
To achieve New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet Goals, you need a plan. That is always the kink in the process; developing a plan takes much more time than actually creating the goals!
I like to think about the Year Plan as a set of steps and consistent actions I must take to achieve my goals. Here are some examples to use for your New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet:
Physical Goals- Run a 5K.
- Sign up for a 5K around 6-12 months away.
- Walk every day for 30 minutes.
- Do Strength training two times a week.
- Commit to running five minutes during each walk.
- Join the cross-country team.
Educational Goals– Get on the honor roll.
- Attend class every day on time.
- Take notes.
- Complete and submit all assignments.
- Use an agenda to log activities.
- Retake low-grade assignments.
- Email the teacher for help.
Extracurricular Goals- Become a better artist.
- Invest in some art supplies.
- Watch video tutorials on certain techniques.
- Attend a skills-based workshop.
- Post my work online for others to see and admire.
- Read 5 books about artists I admire.
Reading Goals- Read 10 books this year.
- Research books and genres.
- Choose 10 books to read this year.
- Break down the number of pages and read around 20-30 per day.
- Set aside time to read in a specific place.
- Reward myself as I finish each book.
Character Goals- Be kinder to my parents.
- Do the dishes without being asked.
- Take out the trash when it gets full.
- Offer to help with certain chores.
- Say “Thank You” at least once a day.
- Make dinner twice a week.
Job Goals- Get a summer job.
- Ask my friends and family about opportunities.
- Write a reasonable resume with skills and any sort of volunteer or job history.
- Volunteer at a business or nonprofit during the Spring.
- Look up videos on how to interview.
- Apply to at least 5 jobs a week in April/May.
Use this New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet as a guide for your students!
9. Narrate New Year’s Resolutions
I get that not everyone likes to journal, but the process of writing down a story from one’s life can be a healing balm and a testament to the power of intentionality. For example, I was skimming through my journal from 2020 and noticed that I had created a list of 6 desires. And guess what?
3 out of the 6 had been fulfilled! At that point, I had two children but wanted another child; we currently have FOUR! I am also now homeschooling my two eldest, and my husband has a job he loves!
I had no idea!
Reading through my reflections, I was able to discover my thought process and dreams. Students can do the same! They can narrate their desires, hopes, and dreams for the New Year in an easy-to-use New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet Writing Activity! Whatever story or idea comes to mind, write it down! They can share it with others, post it somewhere in the classroom, or keep it hidden somewhere secret. It is up to them!
10. Present to Others
When incorporating any of the New Year’s Resolution Worksheet Activities above, you may want to provide an easy opportunity to share with others. A major standard of English is verbal/oral communication.
Students could share any of their goals, visuals, poems, etc., in a small group, to the whole class, or in pairs! The goal is to speak about what they have created as a part of the New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet finale!
New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet & Activity Resources
Celebrate the New Year 2025 in style! This New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet and Activity BUNDLE provides relevant and easy-to-teach resources to help middle and high school students get back into the swing of things after winter break!
They can read a New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet Poem or 2 and develop their goals in a New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet related to different areas of their lives!
Do you need more fun New Year’s Resolutions Worksheet and Activity Ideas? Check out my store, Kristin Menke-Integrated ELA Test Prep!
