Hi friends,

This week on the Top Floor, we’re diving into one of our favorite classroom traditions—Winter Sports! We absolutely love doing this unit every four years, and the excitement from students never gets old.

Kicking Off Winter Sports

We’re launching our Winter Sports unit by reading informational passages about different winter sports, which we typically assign using Google Slides for easy access and discussion. As time allows, we’ll also be incorporating hands-on STEM challenges connected to each sport.

One of the highlights for students is watching short clips of real competitions in class. It’s such a fun way to keep learning relevant while practicing important informational reading skills. The kids really look forward to this unit, and it always sparks great conversations and curiosity.

👉 Winter Sports Reading & STEM Activities​

Multiplying Mixed Numbers (The Tricky Part!)

In math, we’re moving into multiplying mixed numbers, which can definitely be a challenging concept for students.

We start by slowing things down and using an area model to build understanding. We’ll be sharing an anchor chart that helps students see that multiplying mixed numbers isn’t just about multiplying the whole numbers and fractions. There are actually four partial products that need to be completed, and the visual model really helps everything click.

This approach helps students truly understand why the math works, instead of just memorizing steps.

New This Year: Individual Winter Sports + a Big Bundle Deal 🎉

This year, we’ve made Winter Sports even more flexible. Each winter sport is now available as its own individual resource on TPT, so you can pick and choose exactly what works best for your class.

To celebrate the opening days of our Winter Sports unit, we’ve also bundled all 15 winter sports together and are offering our Winter Sports Reading & STEM Activities Mega Bundle at 50% off for the next few days.

This mega bundle includes:

• All 15 winter sports
• Differentiated reading passages
• Comprehension questions with answer keys included
• Digital Google Slides versions
• Hands-on STEM challenges for each sport

If you’re planning to teach multiple sports or want everything ready to go in one place, this bundle is a huge time-saver.

👉 Winter Sports Reading & STEM Activities Mega Bundle (15 Sports)​

If you’re unsure about grabbing the full bundle, we’ve got you covered.

We’re sharing the entire Ski Mountaineering (Skimo) reading passage and STEM activity for free so you can see exactly how this unit works in action. Skimo is our newest winter sport (and maybe our personal favorite just for the name 😄), and it’s a great way to try the format with your students before committing.

👉 Grab the Ski Mountaineering (Skimo) FREEBIE here:

​SkiMountaineeringSkimoReadingPassageSTEMChallengeWinterSports-1.pdf​

If you love it and want access to all 15 winter sports, the Winter Sports Reading & STEM Activities Mega Bundle is currently 50% off for a limited time as we celebrate the opening days of Winter Sports.

Either way, we hope this unit brings some fun, relevance, and excitement to your classroom this winter!

Between winter sports, real-world connections, and visual math strategies, this week is a great example of how we try to keep learning meaningful and engaging. We’re excited to kick it off and we hope you are too!

Have a great week,

Joe and Quyen from Top Floor Teachers

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