55 Activities for August/September, by Elizabeth Swartz
55 Skill-Building Activities You Can Use Right Now!
Kitchen Cupboard Math
Math Provide boxes or shelves of various sizes. Have children set up the "kitchen," with the utensils, boxes and cans in the appropriately sized places.Sunny Reminders
Reading/Art Help the children make bright sunflowers on which to paste their new words. Then glue a magnetic strip on the backs of the sunflowers and send them home to be displayed on the refrigerator, where the words can be viewed and practiced.See and Tell
Description/Art Describe to your students what you saw on your way to school today and sketch it on the overhead. Then ask your students what they saw on their way to school. Encourage them to watch carefully tomorrow morning to see if they can spot something new or different and be ready to draw a picture of it and tell the whole class about it.Having a Ball
Physical Education/Poetry Introduce ball activities by sharing the following poem. On the playground, divide the children into groups and space the groups a safe distance from each other. Assign each group different lines from the poem to act out. How many different ways can the children roll, kick, throw, bounce, pass, catch, hit, toss and dribble?Friendship Stories
Writing Use this activity as a chance for your students to get to know each other. Take digital pictures of each student and print two of each photo, one small and one large. Use the large ones to make a rebus story together on large paper. Then divide the students into groups. Help each group incorporate the smaller photos in a rebus story about the friends in that particular group.Design a Home
Social Studies Give each student the floor plan for a home. Provide a pile of magazines from which the students can cut pictures of appropriate pieces of furniture or fixtures for each room. Ask for volunteers to explain their home-decorating decisions.Great Grandpas
Reading/Art Read aloud the book Henry and Mudge and the Great Grandpas by Cynthia Rylant (Simon & Schuster, 2005) and discuss visiting people in retirement or nursing homes. Using drawing paper, square templates and markers, create several checkerboards. Collect two different colors of bottle caps from plastic drink containers to use as checkers. Donate the sets to a local home for the elderly.Tissue Tattoos
Language Help your students each cut out the letter of the day from brightly colored tissue paper. Place the letter on the child's skin and cover it with a damp paper towel. Let sit for several seconds, then remove both papers and allow the letter to air-dry for several minutes. Students can proudly wear their letter "tattoos" until the ink washes off.Counting Classmates
Math/Art Create a counting book by snapping digital photos of your students doing like things – two students bouncing a ball, three students jumping rope, four making faces, etc. Mount the pictures separately on oak tag, then ask the students to put them in order from smallest numeral to largest, separate the odd numbers from the even ones, etc.Fish Folding
Science/Art Fold small rectangular or square pieces of paper in different ways, some parts overlapping and others three-dimensional, to suggest the outer shape of a fish. Glue down the overlapped areas. Color the fish in bright contrasting colors with some areas solid and others textured. Display the fish on a blue background. Add other details such as seaweed, seashells and air bubbles to finish the fishy display.Summer Action
Language/Physical Education Have students collect pictures of favorite activities they engaged in during the summer. Make large-type printouts of the verbs represented. Mount the pictures and verbs on a display board. As you point to each of the verbs, call on a student to read the word and demonstrate the physical action.Sunshine Seasons
Science/Art Read together Sunshine Makes the Seasons by Franklyn M. Branley (HarperCollins, 2005) and then use an orange or a hard foam ball, pencil, flashlight and pushpin to show children how the earth rotates on its axis and around the sun at the same time. Have one child stand in the center and be the sun, while other students take turns being the earth and seeing how much of the sun reflects on the "earth" at different times of the year where you live.Getting to Know You
Art/Spelling Provide each child with a blank name tag and a pile of alphabet cereal, noodles or paper letters. Have the students arrange the letters to spell their names. Provide the name to match, if necessary. Once the letters are arranged in order, help the children glue them in place and decorate the tags.Cell Phone Dialog
Reading/Writing Model a cell phone conversation with another person, then show students how to write the conversation, making proper use of quotation marks. Repeat the scenario, this time walking around the room, sitting awhile, then standing, etc. When writing about this exchange, have students add details they witnessed that would not belong in quotation marks.Pattern Play
Fine Motor Coordination/Math Provide felt shapes and craft sticks. Model putting together a pattern, then pass an empty craft stick to a student to reproduce the pattern. Let each child create a pattern of his or her own and then hand the stick to someone else to copy.Kid Clocks
Math/Physical Education Use a pencil and a long piece of string to make a large circular clock on the classroom floor. Yarn or tape can be used to mark this outside rim of your clock. Students will make numerals on large pieces of cardboard and stand in the appropriate place on the face of the clock. Select one student to carry the big hand and one the little hand. Prepare ahead a set of time cards, some in digital format and some analog. One child will select a time and the ones with the hands will illustrate the time. Vary the game by having some cards say things like "advance five minutes" or "time elapsed 35 minutes," etc.Parent Activity
Reading/Prediction When watching television or reading aloud with your children, pause and ask, "What do you think will happen next?" and also, "What makes you think that?" Also use these questions during everyday activities to encourage the kids to think beyond what is immediately happening and to use the clues around them.Story Keys
Reading/Writing Provide each student with a set of five story keys to fill out during or after reading a story. One key will read "Who"; on the back the student will write the main characters. The other keys will read "When," "Where," "Why" and "How." On the back of each key should be written a word or short phrase to which the student can refer when retelling the story.Rainy-Day Science
Science Set up a scientific process for studying rainfall during a certain period of time. Always observe the rain from the same spot, using the same criteria. Does it always come at the same time? Does it always come from the same direction? Does it always fall straight down? Have students document and graph results. Are there any general trends? What might account for the differences?Cartoon Characters
Writing/Character Traits Use a set of cartoon characters that students are familiar with while writing a class story. Explain traits as something consistent within a character. For independent practice, assign each student a well-known character about whom to write a story, keeping that character true to form.Plot Parallels
Reading/Writing Show a short cartoon with characters the students know. Have them identify main and supporting characters, setting and plot. Are there any books that they know of that have the same plot? Are there instances where the same plot has taken place in their own lives (something lost or a misunderstanding, for instance). Ask students to write about such a situation and how it was later resolved.Poetry Hats
Art/Writing Decorate hats that students bring to class, or design and create hats that students can put on during writing times for inspiration. Then share this poem with the students and invite them to share some of their poems aloud.September Sunflowers
Art/Math Create sunflowers that are the height of each student and the teachers, writing the students' and teachers' names on them. Invite other classes to do the same, and compare sizes between students of different grades, between students and teachers and between various teachers. Make graphs showing results and display the finished sunflowers in the hallways or lobby.Gauging Rain
Science Practice reading rain gauges by providing several in the room and using colored water in them. Add levels, compare levels, graph levels and discuss where the proper gauge placement would be to insure realistic readings.Grateful Collages
Language/Art In celebration of Grandparents Day, have your students write poems about their grandparents' favorite things. The children might surround the poems with images of those things, making sure to include self-portraits or photographs of themselves. Frame and laminate the collages for gifts.Book It
Writing Watch with your students how a book is made in this documentary video at www.everseradio.com, then watch this video on "How to Make an Instant Book" that you can make in your classroom. Then turn a story written by your own class into a big book using chart paper, markers and lots of imagination.A World View
Reading/Social Studies Help your students realize they are part of a global community by introducing them to pressing issues, and to kids their age from around the world dealing with these issues. Go to www.christianaid.org.uk and click on the "Stories" section to read about how these young people fight poverty in their communities around the world.Magnifying Magic
Science Make a simple magnifying glass using a six-inch square piece of waxed paper. In the center of the paper, place one drop of water. Look through the water at objects you wish to magnify. The back of a penny provides for interesting viewing, as does a leaf of lettuce. Can the students think of ways to keep the water on the paper? Would the size of the water drop make any difference? What does the waxed paper do for the experiment?Point of View
Reading/Art Have all the children take turns sitting in front of the room in the teacher's chair or standing at the podium on the stage. How does the point of view change? Likewise, in the following poem things appear to be quite different from what they are in reality. After reading the poem, try drawing objects from new points of view.Parent Activity
Study Skills During these early weeks of the new school year, take time to go through each of your child's new textbooks. Look together at the table of contents, pictures, review questions and glossaries. While doing this, have the class syllabus handy to write down dates of tests and projects on your child's own school calendar or in an agenda book. Help map out plans for beginning, working on and completing projects that may not be due for many weeks.World Peace Day
Reading/Social Studies September 21 is World Peace Day and a great way to celebrate is to read about the young man who made it happen, Jeremy Gilley. Read his book, Peace One Day: The Making of World Peace Day (Putnam Juvenile, 2005). Or, visit www.peaceoneday.org to learn about the documentary Jeremy made of his quest to establish this day. Do your students think they can influence world peace? What could they do September 21 that would bring more peace to their own school or neighborhood?Volume Values
Math Assemble a collection of liquid measurement containers and some items of interest to the students. Half fill a container with water and document the level. Then have a student carefully place an item, perhaps a small, hard ball or toy car in the water. Read the water level again and determine the amount of volume taken up by the item. Remove the item. Have another student place his hand in the container while another reads the level of displacement. What is the volume of the student's hand? the car? Make a graph showing the results of several experiments. Can students predict what an approximate volume is?Timeline Adventure
Reading/Writing/History Before students try their hands at creating timelines of their own, they might enjoy the interesting, short and easy-to-read pages of Viking History and culture for grades 1-4 at www.bbc.co.uk.Myths and Legends
Reading Find samples of tales from Native American cultures, Korea, England and Australia at www.planetozkids.com. Then bring your students to the library and research in groups tales from other lands and cultures. Have each group prepare to share stories from one culture with the rest of the class.Careers in Nursing
Research A good website where students can find information about a career in nursing is www.discovernursing.com. Invite some nurses to talk to the class; include LifeFlight, emergency room and clinic nurses for several different viewpoints.License Plate Puzzle
Language Have students collect the messages they see on vanity license plates. Ask them to write the message on the front of an index card as it's written on the plate and to write its long-form interpretation on the back of the card. Let the class exchange cards and see if they can solve the mysteries. Why do people choose to display messages this way? Is there a particular trend? What does it say about language? Is there any relationship between this shorthand and the messages used in Text Messages?Integrating Fitness
Physical Education Meet with your physical education teacher and plan for specific exercise breaks during your day. For online suggestions, go to www.kidshealth.org. Increase physical activity in the classroom and utilize it to enhance, rather than disrupt, learning by placing it strategically between classes. Yoga stretches can be one segment, deep breathing another. Plan specifically for the students you have this year by talking with their last year's teachers and getting to know the kids yourself. Make exercise breaks part of every day from day one.Healthy Living
Health/Art Provide markers and paper on which the kids can make a timeline of their day at school as it affects their health. The timeline should start with breakfast, some exercise and continue through the day with healthy snacks, lunch and the exercises you incorporated in the activity above. Indicate movement by using bikes, racers, skateboards, etc. to show the continuance of sequence and momentum.Mood Music
Music/Health Include the students in the planning for these daily exercises by asking them to bring in "workout" music, "stretching" music, and "deep breathing" music. Discuss what it is about the music that makes it appropriate. Is it the choice of instruments? Is it always related to rhythm? Does it work the same for everyone?Life Science in Class
Science Start the year with a classroom companion animal. Encourage students to research what pet might be most compatible with their classroom environment, the kind of enclosure and supplies it will require and what caring for the animal will entail. Begin a log book in which students record feedings, cleaning of cages or tanks and note observations about the pet's behavior. As the year continues, plan other units of study around the pet, considering its genetic traits, its classification and its purpose in the environment.A Healthier Generation
Health Find health-related success stories and ideas for your school/community on how to cultivate a healthier generation of children at this website: www.healthiergeneration.org.Crossing Borders
Reading/Geography/Current Events Read aloud or plan a literature circle using Crossing the Wire by Will Hobbs (HarperCollins, 2006). Use a map to follow the progress of Victor across the desert of the U.S. Southwest. Follow newspaper accounts of immigrants from Mexico who are trapped in unsafe trucks or who freeze to death in the desert at night. Get your students interested in one of the most important concerns facing America today with this excellent book.Visions
Reading/Poetry/Art Read a poem or a section of a book to students and ask them to draw what they pictured as you were reading. Ask them to share their drawings. Was everyone visualizing the same thing? What were the main differences? Why do people hear things differently? Why would people picture things differently? Read the following poem out loud and talk about visualizing. What are its strengths and weaknesses?Absorption and Weight
Science/Math Begin the experiment with three identical disposable diapers. Make some hypothesis about the absorption and weight capacity by reading the claims on the package. Pour water onto a diaper, one cup at a time, and document changes in appearance, weight and durability. Submerge the second diaper in a container of water and soak it. The third diaper will be left dry. Record the various weights. Open the diapers and observe the filler. What has happened? What conclusions can be drawn about the materials? Try the experiment again with diapers of a different manufacturer. Repeat the experiment using paper towels of several varieties, eyedroppers of fluid and marbles for weight.Consumer Calculator
Math Make copies of a popular sale flyer for your class. Have students use calculators to determine if an object that is on sale for 15% off will be less expensive purchased that way or in conjunction with a "total lot purchase" of 40% off. Use the specifics in the flyer to determine the questions. Help students discern when a sale is good and when it's too good to be true.Comparative Living
History Have students draw sketches of their bedrooms including all of the contents, labeling each item. Place the date at the bottom of the page. After studying a particular time period in history, get out the sketches and ask the students to do a comparative sketch of what their bedroom might be like in this other time period, perhaps during the Civil War or at the time of Lewis and Clark.Colorful Review
Language Get a large, inflatable, multi-colored beach ball. In each section write the name of a part of speech. Read a sentence, then throw the ball into the room; whoever catches it must pick out in the sentence the two parts of speech touched by their hands. You will be surprised how much fun this back-to-school English review can be.Conversations with History
Social Studies The Institute of International Studies at the University of California at Berkeley offers a collection of video interviews with diplomats, foreign correspondents, soldiers, statesmen, artists and activists from 2001 to the present. A new international personality is added weekly. Take students to conversations.berkeley.edu to see these primary source materials.Baseball Fever
Math/Social Studies Follow the Little League World Series at www.littleleague.org. Read about teams from other parts of the world. Keep track of the scoring records, have students graph progress and make predictions of the outcome.Exponential Fun
Math Take your students to this teacher-created website filled with fun mathematics and begin with the activity titled "The Million Dollar Mission." Then move on to graphing, geometry, algebra, polyominoes, etc.Rice for the Sudan
Math/Social Studies Research the cost of a 50-pound bag of rice at a shopper's club store and determine how many people could be fed if each person is given one cup of cooked rice. Plan an experiment to find out how much uncooked long-grain rice it takes to make one cup of cooked rice. Then determine what the cost of each meal would be from that one bag of rice. Can your class find some way to raise enough money to send one or two bags of rice to the Sudan? Is it possible for the world to solve the hunger crisis in the Sudan? Have your students brainstorm solutions to world hunger.Parent Activity
Current Events Make time to talk to your kids about what is going on in the news and how it relates to what they are reading and studying in school. How do current events such as gas prices, employment rates and the illegal immigration issue touch your own family? Help your children make the connections between their world at home and the larger world.Working It
Interviewing/Writing Practice interviewing techniques in class, then prepare particular questions dealing with the world of work. Ask students to interview members of their community about their work lives. Compare results: How many students found people enjoying their careers? What were those careers? How many interviewees wished they were doing something else? How many had lost jobs or made major career changes? Were there any patterns throughout the interviews? Did this project give your students ideas for future career choices?Moon Tracking
Science/Art Check the phase of the moon in the daily newspaper and set up a chart for students to observe and record the changing of the moon. Provide art supplies that can be used to create the cycles of the moon. Allow for differing variations by encouraging students to include some part of their local environment in the drawings such as trees or tall buildings that are in sight when the moon is being observed. Record documentation for each sighting of the moon.Community Development
Social Studies Take photos of an open piece of land for sale in your community. Have students research the zoning for the area. Find out how much property there is and the asking price. Divide students into teams to study what the land would be good for and how local citizens would like to see it used. Are there conflicting opinions and desires? Have each team present its ideas and findings to the class. Ask town officials to come to the class to discuss the students' ideas.
Primary Grades
Balls
by Jacqueline Schiff
Balls are for rolling,
For kicking and throwing.
Balls are for bouncing,
For passing and catching.
Balls are for hitting,
For tossing and dribbling.
Balls are for playtime
Outside in the daytime.
Poetry Hats
by Holly Howrilla
When I place this hat upon my head,
all these words just spill right out.
Whether I'm reading, writing or spelling, I just want to shout...
Listen to me read!
And read just what I write!
I think all these words
are really
OUT OF SIGHT!
Middle Grades
Perception
by Martin Shaw
When you bend to touch your toes,
The whole world turns upside down.
The floor becomes the ceiling,
And a smile become a frown.
Clocks may be more confusing,
Upside down and on your head,
For, what seems time for sleeping,
May be dinnertime instead.
Intermediate Grades
Visualizing
by Holly Howrilla
We visualize by what we see,
We put a picture in our mind.
It looks like this,
it looks like that,
and it's interesting to find,
that imaginations do run free,
things may be pictured differently,
and what another visualizes,
may not be the same as me!
THIS MONTH'S CONTRIBUTIONS:
Genevieve Bylinsowski, Byron, IL, #36; Harry T. Roman, East Orange, NJ, #28, #55; Helen Wubbenhorst, Mesa, AZ, #10.
POETRY: "Balls" by Jacqueline Schiff, Moline, IL., "Poetry Hats" and "Visualizing" by Holly Howrilla, Muncy, PA. "Perception" by Martin Shaw, Bronxville, NY.
Illustrations by H. Robert Loomis.
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