37 Activities for August/September, by Elizabeth Swartz
37 Skill-Building Activities You Can Use Right Now!
What's He Like?
Reading Discuss character traits and guide the students to look for examples of those traits in their reading materials. Then show a video. Before viewing, assign each student one character to "study" while watching the video. After the viewing, discuss what traits each character possessed and how the children knew the characters possessed those traits.Summer Magic
Language Arts Make a summer bulletin board with sand, sun, surf, mountains, trees, etc. Give students colored construction paper on which to write descriptive words that apply to the vacations they had this summer. As students put up their descriptive words, have them talk about why that's the best word to describe their vacations.How You've Grown
Math Have students trace their bodies on large sheets of paper on the first day of school and on the last day of school. Have each child measure his or her growth over the course of the year. Make a graph showing how much the children grew. Send the tracings home with the children after comparing them.ABCs Everywhere!
Reading/Language Arts Ask your librarian for several of Jerry Pallotta's alphabet books to read to your students. Then have each student make an ABC book of his or her own by folding 14 pieces of drawing paper in half. Students then staple the book together and make a title page. Assign one letter per page. Students can illustrate each page or cut out pictures of items that begin with each page's letter.Line 'Em Up
Math Before class, prepare a set of cards from which you can select when you're lining up as a class to go somewhere. On the cards, list different forms of classification: shortest to tallest, youngest to oldest, a-z, z-a, smallest to largest, lives closest to school, lives farthest away from school, etc.Shadow Friends
Science Ask the librarian for books about shadows, especially Moonbear's Shadow by Frank Asch (Aladdin, 2000) and Guess Whose Shadow? by Stephen Swinburne (Boyds Mills Press, 2002). After reading them aloud, do a shadow experiment by going outside and tracing one student's shadow with chalk. Return to the same spot one or two hours later, repeat, then again later. Use a different color of chalk for each recording. Have the children explain how and why the shadow moved.Grandmother Fun
Poetry Celebrate grandmothers with this finger play sung to the tune of "This Old Man."
This Fun Grandmother
by Jacqueline Schiff
This fun gram, she played one,
(Hold up one finger.)
She played knick-knack with her young grandson.
(Hold up hands with palms facing; wiggle fingers.)
Knick-knack, paddy-whack, give a kid a snack,
(Rub tummy and smile.)
Gram hugged that boy; he hugged her back.
(Wrap tall finger around pinkie of opposite hand; release. Wrap pinkie around tall finger of opposite hand.)This fun gram, she played two,
(Hold up two fingers.)
She played knick-knack with her granddaughter Sue.
(Repeat palm position and finger motions.)
Knick-knack, paddy-whack, give a kid a snack,
(Rub tummy and smile.)
Gram hugged Sue; Sue hugged her back.
(Wrap tall finger around pinkie of opposite hand; release. Wrap pinkie around tall finger of opposite hand.)
This fun gram, she played three,
(Hold up three fingers.)
She played knick-knack and tag with me.
(Tall finger taps pinkie of opposite hand; pinkie taps tall finger of opposite hand.)
Knick-knack, paddy whack, give a kid a snack,
(Rub tummy and smile.)
Then she raced me home and back!
(Wiggle tall finger of one hand and pinkie of opposite hand as they race forward and backward.)
This fun gram, she played four,
(Hold up four fingers.)
She played knick-knack at the shore.
(Repeat hand position and finger motion.)
Knick-knack, paddy-whack, give a kid a swim,
(Make a swimming motion with both hands.)
This fun gram splashed grandson Tim.
(Make splashing motions.)This fun gram, she played five,
(Hold up five fingers.)
She played with her grandson Clive.
(Repeat hand position and finger motions.)
Knick-knack, paddy-whack, give a kid a lap,
(Place pinkie finger in palm of one hand.)
This gram and grandson took a nap.
(Rest tall finger and pinkie of one hand on opposite arm.)To celebrate Grandparents Day, September 7, have each child draw and color a picture of something fun that he or she does with his or her own grandmother or grandfather. Mail the pictures to the children's grandparents.
Silly Syllables
Reading/Language Arts Make a set of word cards that have one word on each card. Provide three envelopes, marked "one," "two" and "three" for the number of syllables in a word. Place the envelopes at a learning station at which children can put the word cards in the correct envelope. Make the activity self-correcting by putting the correct number of syllables on the back of each card.Bird Feeder
Art/Science Invite the children to create bird feeders by inserting four sticks into apples. Make sure the sticks are evenly-spaced. Push pieces of fruit, bagels or doughnuts onto the sticks. Tie one end of a length of dental floss to each stick. Tie the opposite ends of the dental floss together to form a hanger. Hang the feeders where they can be seen from your classroom windows. Help the children to identify birds that visit your feeders. You may want to record their presence in a class "Bird Book."Whose Shoes?
Math Draw a graph with a shoe theme on the board. How many of your students are wearing white shoes? black? with lights? without? etc. Put the same information in a Venn diagram. The next day, look at shirts. Who's wearing blue? Red? Stripes? Designs?Hurrah for Johnny!
Poetry/Health On September 26, Johnny Appleseed's birthday, place a beautiful basket of apples in the reading area. Talk about why apples are a good snack, then enjoy this poem together. After reading the poem and discussing the descriptive words, invite each student to take an apple from your basket for a snack.You Don't Belong!
Math Name three objects in the classroom and have a student identify the one that doesn't belong (i.e. desk, chair, plant). Allow that student to name the next three items. At another time, play the game using objects that are found in a grocery store (banana, shampoo, peach), in a gym (hockey stick, baseball, basketball), etc.A Tree for All Seasons
Art/Science When teaching about the four seasons, make this book. Cut a tree shape from four sheets of brown construction paper. These will be the book's pages. Fold all four pages down the center and glue them back to back so the book has eight pages. The trees should be decorated appropriately for each season with cut-out or painted leaves of various colors. On the trunk, students can write something about each of the seasons. They may also draw or attach seasonal pictures on the corresponding pages of the book.Love Those Grandmas!
Writing After reading the following poem together, have your students write their own poems about why they like to go to their grandparents' houses. Mail the poems to the students' grandparents in time for Grandparents Day.Parents Activity
Management Show your children how important their school work is to you by taking time to set up an "office" area and a "work" time in the daily family schedule for school duties. Expect them to take school as seriously as you take your job and support them in doing so every day.Compound Combinations
Reading/Writing Make cardboard placards that students can wear around their necks with yarn. On each card write one word, for example, "base," "camp," "out," "look," etc. Place 6-8 cards in the front of the room. Have other class members make as many different compound combinations as possible by moving their friends around. Have one "secretary" make a list of all the words constructed.Perfect Perimeters
Math Help students to understand the distinction between perimeter and area. While studying perimeter, give students pieces of yarn to place around the outside of, say, the class fish tank, then measure the yarn. Let students place a piece of yarn around their work space and then measure how much space they would like to have. Use yarn to measure various perimeters in and around the school building.Where Are We Going?
Social Studies/Science/Writing Show your students any one of the "Magic School Bus" videos that fits into your science or social studies curriculum and then ask the children to write a story in which they ride on a magic school bus. To what destination would they travel? After completing the fictional part of the story, have them do some research on their chosen destination to include as sidebars in their story, as in the "Magic School Bus" books.How Sweet it Is
Science During September, which is National Honey Month, read aloud the book, The Beeman of Orn by Frank R. Stockton (Candlewick, 2003) and put up a bulletin board about the various kinds of bees and kinds of honey. How do bee keepers get different flavors of honey? Is honey only harvested at one time of the year? Provide a display of fiction and nonfiction books about bees. Make a large paper beehive on which to put "bee" vocabulary as students discover new words.Golf, Anyone?
Math When studying angles, bring in a set of golf clubs to show your students. The number on the club represents the angle at which the club meets the ground (Take the number of the iron and multiply by 10. For instance, a three iron will meet the ground at a 30° angle.) Demonstrate by holding the club perpendicular to the floor for students to see. Then have them use drawing paper and protractors to draw the angle at which the ball will leave the ground when using a three iron, a seven iron, etc.Ready for Fall?
Science Seasons don't just change when we turn the calendar page or put on a coat. Start a chart now for students to add to as they notice changes in their environment as summer comes to a close. Do they record the temperature changing, hours of daylight, see animals harvesting food? Notice how the textures of leaves change, the wind direction, cloud formation, etc. Urge them to be watchers and recorders of nature. Use digital cameras for snapshots to add to the record-keeping spot.Digging Into Time
Social Studies Read aloud On This Spot by Susan E. Goodman (Greenwillow, 2004). Then do some class research into your own area. Collect information and then build a vertical timeline like the one in the back of the book.The Price of Libraries
Reading/Math September is National Library Card Sign-up Month. In order to show your students the importance of libraries, calculate how much money they save the students. The average cost of a hardcover picture book is $16.95. Ask your librarian for information about the inventory in your school library. Have students calculate the library's total financial worth, then have students keep track of the number of library books that they borrow/use throughout September. How much would it have cost to purchase those books? Do some research on libraries. Who established free libraries? Why? Where do your school library funds come from? If possible take a field trip to your local public library.Remembrance Plates
Social Studies/Art For centuries people have decorated plates with pictures of important people, places and favorite things. Much of history has been pieced together via the images on these plates. After showing the students pictures of such plates, give each student a heavy cardboard (not waxed) paper plate. Invite the students to sketch something of their time period that is worthy of being remembered, be it scenery or a facet of history. Provide tempera paint with which students can embellish their sketches. After the paint has dried, spray plates with polyurethane. Each student should write an explanation of his or her plate's painting on a card to display with the plate.Food Quantities
Math/Health While teaching measurement, include food measurements that make sense to kids. Take into consideration serving sizes. When talking about a cup, fill one with instant rice. Then add the rice to boiling water and re-measure it. When a recipe calls for a cup of rice, what is it talking about? When showing students what 1/4 of a cup looks like, fill it with a snack or cereal to illustrate what a serving looks like. Attaching measurements to specific foods will help students remember the sizes as well as to reevaluate the size of servings they currently eat. Have them bring in samples of a serving size of their favorite snack and the recommendation from the package. Are Americans overeating?Parents Activity
Reading/Language Arts Strengthen or start a new family habit at the beginning of this school year. Go to the public library, get cards for each family member and establish a routine for returning. (Maybe every Thursday evening or every other?) Pick up flyers about the library's activities. Bring the kids in for story hour and author visits. You'll enjoy them too!It Takes All Kinds
Social Studies During September, when having class discussions about careers and Labor Day, take time to talk about the people who work in your school. Make a list of all the different people and jobs that it takes to run your school district. Don't forget anybody! You can do a final check by asking for the names and titles of everyone on the payroll. In a large district, you might limit your study to your own building. Either way, you and your students are sure to be surprised at how many people contribute to the functioning of your school building.Graphing with Class
Math/Art When reinforcing coordinates, use graph paper and dots punched from various colors of paper. Call out coordinates and a color, then another and another. As you walk around the room, a glance will tell you who needs help with coordinates. It will also show you how much fun a little color can add to a math practice class. For enrichment, give the students time to make a picture or pattern with colored dots on another piece of graph paper and write the directions for making that picture using coordinates. Have the students exchange instructions and see if their classmates can recreate their picture.Scary Stories
Writing/Reading Read the first chapter of several different "Goosebumps" books by R. L. Stine. What is it that makes them scary? Why are these books exciting? What is it that makes you want to read the next chapter? Have students write story beginnings that are scary – not gory, just tantalizingly scary. Challenge the students to build up their stories' beginnings so that their readers just have to continue.Back to School
Language Arts/Poetry Read the following poem together, then invite students to write a fantasy story about what they would pack for school if they could bring anything they wanted. Make sure they think about the best way to carry all those supplies to school.Classroom Pets
Science This might be the best time to consider a classroom pet, if you never have before. There is the problem of allergies to consider, but beyond that, children love the opportunity to be around animals. If it doesn't make sense for your classroom to have a pet, perhaps there is somewhere else in the school where a fish tank, hamster cage or parrot could be enjoyed by all. Have your class research pets. What sort of animal would do best in your environment? What are its nutritional requirements, exercise requirements, etc.? Can your class raise the money for a class or school pet? Before getting the pet, make all arrangements for housing, vacations, summers, responsibilities, etc. Then bring the new friend home and establish a way to educate the rest of the school about the new tenant.Details Everywhere?
Reading Select a news magazine article with an accompanying photograph. Ask your students to read the article. What information can be learned only from the article? What can be learned only from the photograph? Do the same exercise with one of your textbooks.Whale-Sized Appetites
Science/Writing Share the following poem with your class and post it on a bulletin board when teaching a unit on oceans or fish. Have students write a poem that includes information about something that they have just studied.It All Goes Together
Art/Reading/Science Gather some models when teaching a unit on transportation. Parents and companies may be able to donate kits for making model trains, cars and planes. Have students read the directions, decorate and then present to the class their particular vehicle explaining why it was invented and what it is used to accomplish.Everybody's Game
Social Studies The Little League World Series starts, July 23, 2014, take your students to www.littleleague.org and invite them to learn about the various teams taking part in the Little League World Series this year. Math buffs can follow the statistics, but everyone should take the time to read about teams from other parts of the world. How are they like us? How are they different? Why do some teams bring all of their own food and cooks with them to the Little League World Series in Pennsylvania?Just One Day
Reading/Social Studies Provide the students with books such as One Nation: America Remembers September 11, 2001 (Little, Brown, 2001), books about D-Day, Pearl Harbor, the day Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, the day Columbus landed on what became the United States of America, etc. Divide the class into groups and have each group choose one historic day to research and on which to report. How can one day change the whole world? Do we ever have advance knowledge of which days will change the world? What might be some signs of an upcoming historic day? How can we be ready to be a positive influence on any such day? What kinds of things might the students be able to do, individually or as a group, to help change the world for the better? The students can present their findings and opinions in the form of oral reports, computer slide presentations, character dress-ups, etc.Parents Activity
Social Studies On or near Labor Day (September 1), share with your child what your job is really like. How did this become your occupation? What other jobs have you held? Did you have other hopes and dreams? What does your labor union do for you? Be sure to share the positive aspects of your employment experiences as well as the negative ones. What dues must you pay? Is your voice heard when changes need to be made? Encourage your child to talk with other family members about their occupations and the positive and negative aspects of each.
Primary Grades
Happy Apple Day!
by Heidi Roemer
One red apple
Plucked from the tree.
A bite for you
And a bite for me.
Snappily, crackily, crunch!
One red apple
Nibbled to the core.
Here's a basket –
Let's pick more!
Happily, apple-y, munch!
Grandma's Cottage: Two Dozen Reasons Why I Like To Go There
by Heidi Roemer
Cottage and lake,
Garden and rake.
Seaweed and dock,
Ducklings and flock.
Sun hat and head,
Seagulls and bread.
Picnic and lunch,
Cookies and punch.
Paddle and boat,
River and float.
Worms and fishes,
Hugs and kisses!
Intermediate Grades
Back to School
by Jacqueline Schiff
I've filled up my backpack
With the things that I need
For a typical school day –
It's heavy indeed.
There's a microwave oven,
There's a copy machine,
There's a portable locker
And a TV – big screen.
I've packed telescopes, shredders,
And a globe on a stand,
Plus laptop computers,
And maps of all lands.
I've packed boom boxes, track shoes,
And a camcorder, too,
I have microscopes, cellos.
A grand piano that's new.
So I've hired a helper
To carry my pack,
And I'll travel to school
On that cool ox's back.
Middle Grades
The Blue Whale
by Heidi Roemer
In the dark Antarctic Ocean
where crustacean plankton grows
swims a great humongous mammal
Why, her length from tail to nose
can sometimes reach one hundred feet.
Yet she's a microscopic feeder.
She dines on tiny plankton –
she's a whale of an eater.
THIS MONTH'S CONTRIBUTIONS:
Julie Bulver, Pleasant Hill, LA, #3; Jacqueline Schiff, Moline, IL, #7, #30; Marie Cecchini, West Dundee, IL, #9; VaReane Heese, Omaha, NE, #13.
POETRY: "This Fun Grandmother," "Back to School" by Jacqueline Schiff, Moline, IL. "Happy Apple Day!," "Grandma's Cottage: Two Dozen Reasons Why I Like To Go There," "The Blue Whale" by Heidi Roemer, Orland Park, IL.
Illustrations by H. Robert Loomis.
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