60 Activities for November/December, by Elizabeth Swartz
60 Skill-Building Activities You Can Use Right Now!
Balls Galore
Math Provide a selection of sports- ball symbols. Ask your students to sort them according to types initially, then arrange them in a pattern for another student to continue.Holiday Cards
Writing/Art/Computer Skills Take a digital photo of each of your students. Print it on the cover of a greeting card. Have the students dictate or write a message. Use math and art skills to design and complete a patterned border on the cover as well as the inside of the card.Matching Madness
Math/Art Using various art supplies, make matching pairs of large paper stockings. When completed, hang all the stockings around the room in a random fashion. Ask pairs of students to go around the room matching and collecting the stockings. For a follow-up activity, bring in several pairs of regular socks, separated and tossed into a basket. Have children work individually at matching the socks.Try and Try Again
Poetry/Fine Motor Skills Use the following poem to reinforce the patience necessary for someone learning to tie their shoes. Copy the poem onto a bulletin board. Give each child his or her own shoelace to practice tying, then post each student's name and his or her shoelace bow next to the poem when the skill is accomplished.Penny Power
Logic/Reasoning Use several pennies to make a tower. Spread the same number of pennies on a flat surface. Ask the students to guess in which set there are more pennies. Can the children tell without counting? Repeat this activity using different numbers of pennies in the tower and the layout, and then using different objects.Favorites Week
Reading/Math Pick a week in November as "My Favorite Book Week", invite your students to bring in their favorite books for you or a special invited guest to read aloud. Talk about what it is that makes a particular book a favorite. Tally and graph the results.Ransom Writing
Writing Provide catalogs, magazines and newspapers out of which children can cut words. Have the students glue the words on a piece of blank white paper in the proper order to send a message or tell a story. Do specific fonts or styles of print seem to change the meaning of the message? Why? What do bold printed words seem to say?Potpourri Rocks
Art/Science Ask the children to bring in different kinds of rocks to examine. Then, in a small bowl, mix together:- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup salt
- 1/2 tsp. scented oil
- food coloring (optional)
- 1 cup warm water
Have the students mix the ingredients with their hands until a stiff, smooth dough forms. Allow each child to shape small pieces that resemble rocks. Let the dough air-dry for 24 hours or until hard. Make a couple different batches using different coloring. Use for holiday gifts by placing them in colored mini-cupcake papers. Be mindful of allergies when selecting fragrances.Bean Bag Pitch
Physical Activity/Hand-Eye Coordination Make or purchase several bean bags. Collect empty soup or soda cans and build the cans into a pyramid. Have students stand behind a line 2-3 feet away from the cans and throw a bean bag underhanded at the pyramid. As their skills improve, move the students back and eventually include some full cans in the pyramid.Coming or Going?
Art/Science/Writing Use oak tag and various colors of crepe-paper streamers to create windsocks. Hang the windsocks near a door or window. Observe the windsocks regularly to determine in which direction the wind is blowing. Record the results. What patterns do the children notice? What kind of weather follows a particular wind direction? Can the students predict a change in the weather based on their observations and recordings?Trace a Can
Fine Motor Coordination/Art/Math Place empty cans of various sizes in a learning station with large pieces of drawing paper and colored pencils or markers. Have children trace the cans in a sequential order – smallest to largest, largest to smallest, plastic first, then metal, etc. Ask the students to number or label the circles, then cut out the circles and reorder them on a contrasting color paper.Pretty Packages
Science/Prediction/Math Wrap several packages of different sizes in holiday paper. Leave some boxes empty or fill with shredded paper or popcorn; weigh others down with rocks or books. Put two boxes on a table. Ask the students to compare and contrast the packages both before and after picking them up. Can they predict anything about weight or possible content? Can they express heavier and lighter? Using four or five packages, can they put them in progressively heavier order? Next, get out a scale and let the weighing fun begin as you chart and graph these mysterious packages. Finally, open the packages and see if the students' guesses were accurate.Crystal Ornaments
Science/Art Fill a one-quart widemouth jar with hot water. Add one cup of Borax laundry booster and stir until dissolved. Bend chenille stems around cookie cutters to form shapes. Glue or twist the loose ends together. Attach a 12-inch piece of string to the shape and tie the other end to a pencil. Immerse the shape in the water using the pencil to support it. Leave it in water for 2-8 hours. The longer it is left in, the more crystals will form. Remove the shape from the solution and let it dry thoroughly on waxed paper. Attach a ribbon hanger and display.Mayflower Voyage
Social Studies While talking about the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, go to www.scholastic.com to see a unit about the first Thanksgiving. This site includes a diagram of the Mayflower. Explore the site to discover what each part of the ship was used for and to learn about the passengers. What impact did the time of year have on the trip? How big was the ship? Take your students outside and measure it off on your playground. Could your students design a large diagram of the Mayflower for other classes?Pictures of Pals
Reading/Art Share the book Ruby Paints a Picture by Susan Hill (HarperCollins, 2005). Perhaps not everyone's individuality comes out, as in long ears or a fluffy tail, but all the smiles show through, and that is the best part of us all. Children can make paintings of one another in front of a tree or desk. Make the background something that everyone can draw successfully.Scrubbing Song
Music/Health Sing these words to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" to encourage children to wash their hands often and for long enough to stop the spread of germs.Parent Activity
Math Open a deck of regular playing cards. Remove the joker and face cards. Shuffle the cards. Place one card, face up, then another, face down, in front of your child. Ask your child to guess if the number on this second card is larger or smaller than the one before it. Continue in this fashion. As long as the child is correct, he or she keeps the cards. When he or she has all the cards, he or she wins. Another game to play is to turn over a card and ask whether that number would be rounded up or down to get to the nearest 10.Company's Coming
Reading/Writing Use traditional family holiday activities to practice predicting events, sequencing events and summarizing. Ask your students to design a cartoon of preparations for company including the shopping, cooking and cleaning. Before the holiday, write predictions of what will happen, who will come etc. After the holiday, ask your students to write summaries and compare with the predictions. How well do your students know their company?Read-Aloud Guest
Listening/Reading During Children's Book Week enjoy a tape or CD of an author reading his or her own book. Sit together on the floor with the lights out to really focus on the story. Afterwards, talk about the sound effects, the inflection of the reader's voice and anything else the students noticed while listening.Tag It
Spelling/Reading Get a large package of gift tags and on each tag write a spelling or vocabulary word. Challenge the children to put the tags in alphabetical order. Students might take the tags to their desk or home to refer to as they make lists.Kindness Counts
Reading/Writing Share aloud The Kindness Quilt by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace (Marshall Cavendish, 2006), which begins with a short retelling of the Aesop's Fable about the mouse who saves the lion. The characters in the story draw, on squares of paper, pictures of acts of kindness they've done for others. The teacher then joins the squares together into a kindness quilt. What different acts of kindness can your students suggest? Create as a class a kindness quilt.Plan a Parade
Art/Social Studies Prior to the annual Thanksgiving Day parades, talk about why communities have parades. Ask students about parades they have seen and the different facets of them. Have students draw large mural-sized pictures of a parade they would plan for your community. What would they be celebrating? How would they depict that?Clap in Time
Music/Physical Education Clap a rhythm for students to repeat. Take turns assigning different leaders. Give the leader a triangle on which to tap a rhythm. Walk around the room in snake-like fashion as the rhythms are created and repeated. Use wood blocks, finger cymbals or a tambourine for variation.Free Writing Day
Writing November 15 marks the annual celebration of "I Love To Write Day." Learn about this day by visiting www.ilovetowriteday.org. Then, provide your students with time, materials and space to write whatever they like to write most. Invite them to share what they've written only if they want to today.Mountains in the Window
Social Studies/Art One-quarter of the surface of the world is made up of mountains, and mountains are home to 12% of the world's population. International Mountain Day is celebrated on December 11. Take some time to talk about what local mountains mean to your community or how different your community might be if it was in a mountainous region. Help your students create a picture of a mountain range, then place a window frame over it for display in your classroom.Comparing Thanks
Social Studies Read aloud Giving Thanks: The 1621 Harvest Feast by K. Givings (Scholastic, 2001). This book tells the story from the viewpoint of the Pilgrims and also from the viewpoint of the Indians. Use a Venn diagram or other graphic organizer to compare and contrast the viewpoints. Do your students know other books that show differing viewpoints? How would they go about writing one?Thanksgiving Proportions
Health Brainstorm a list of the foods eaten at Thanksgiving meals. Ask your students to put the foods in the correct food groups (www.choosemyplate.gov). Are any of the food groups overloaded?Character Cards
Reading/Art Help make trading main-character cards the "in" thing in your classroom. Take students to www.readwritethink.org to customize trading cards using good descriptive language. Laminate the cards and let the collecting begin.Veterans Day
Reading/Social Studies Take the class to your school library to research materials available on the five branches of military service. Divide the students into five groups, assigning each group one branch to read about and then write a letter of thanks and support to the local organization for the veterans of that group.Books of Gratitude
Social Studies/Writing Encourage your students to create their own flip books about things for which they are thankful by going to www.readwritethink.org. Print the booklets to share and send home.Measuring Mascots
Math Place a classroom stuffed animal on graph paper to measure area. Then take a piece of yarn and lay it around the toy to measure perimeter. After modeling, send the students off to measure other furry friends. Plan ahead if you need them to bring in special mascots from home to measure.Parent Activity
Social Studies/Spatial Relations Help your children with geography skills by bringing home maps of the country and/or the world. Compare places, research regional sports, dream about future vacations, check out from the library books about places of interest and travel the world together on the couch.Holiday Poetry
Poetry/reading/Writing Talk to your librarian about getting extra holiday poetry books for your room and share poems daily. Read the one below together and then ask the kids to write a poem of their own about the upcoming holiday.Our Bill of Rights
Research When teaching about the Bill of Rights in December, go to Ben's Guide to the United States Government for Kids at bensguide.gpo.gov. You'll find great explanations, good visuals and an entertaining look at the way government works.What's the Price?
Math For realistic estimation fun, set up a game show atmosphere and use empty food packages, soda cans, video game cases, as well as everyday classroom supplies, to have students estimate costs. How much do the students know about money or the costs of things around them? Were they surprised by any of the real prices?Fast-Action Stories
Reading/Writing During Children's Book Week pull out a fast-paced sports fiction book like Dunk Under Pressure by Rich Wallace (Viking, 2006). Discuss what it takes to write a book like that. Can you make up a story about basketball if you've never played the game? Have students try their hands at writing a sports fiction story based on whatever sport they have played in the past, even if it is a family reunion volleyball game.Kwanzaa Count
Social Studies/Music After reading books about Kwanzaa, lead students in singing the following song to the tune of "The 12 days of Christmas." Have students write their own lyrics by substituting different Kwanzaa gifts.
The Seven Days of Kwanzaa
by Jacqueline Schiff
On the first day of Kwanzaa,
My true love gave to me
A bracelet of African beads.On the second day of Kwanzaa,
My true love gave to me
Two tapes of gospel music, and a bracelet of African beads.On the third day of Kwanzaa,
My true love gave to me
Three flutes for playing,
Two tapes of gospel music,
And a bracelet of African beads.(Additional gifts: fourth day: four books on Africa; fifth day: five family recipes; sixth day; six masks from Zambia; seventh day: Seven Anasi legends.)
The History of Food
Health/Science Provide each student with the name of one type of food. Then take them to www.foodtimeline.org to find out the history of the food. After each student has completed his or her research, use the compilation of everyone's work to create a food timeline. You can even put one person in charge of the history of American school lunches.Poor ol' Pluto
Science/Math Read the new planet definition sheet from the International Astronomical Union at www.iau.org. Discuss the changes, then ask your students to conduct a poll among their peers and parents. Record the results on a graph. How many people think Pluto should still be considered a planet? How many people agree with the new classification?Wish List Addition
Math Have students write their holiday wish lists and then research actual prices. Calculate the total sticker price. Is it a realistic list? Ask students to prioritize the list and "cut the budget" by 30%. Does cutting a budget mean different things to different people?Holiday Differences
Social Studies/Reading Help students get a realistic taste of holiday differences in the historical context of our own country by reading aloud and discussing, Christmas in the Big House: Christmas in the Quarters by Patricia C. McKissack and Frederick L. McKissack (Scholastic, 1994). Assign different groups to illustrate the lives of the plantation owners and the lives of the slaves who served them before the Civil War.Hobby Handbook
Writing Have each student select his or her own favorite hobby about which to write a how-to article. Ask the students to present their essays to the class, along with some hands-on examples. It could be a craft like wood burning, knitting or grilling cheeseburgers.Holiday "Specials"
Social Studies/Math Ask students to collect holiday sale flyers and catalogs. Are identical items priced differently at different retailers? Ask your students to calculate what a video game at 15% off costs compared to the original sticker price. What lessons have they learned from comparison shopping that they can share with their peers?Life at Jamestown
Reading/Social Studies Read Read aloud Blood on the River: James Town 1607 by Elisa Carbone (Viking, 2006) and discuss how many problems were caused by poor or no communication during the settlement of Jamestown. Is it possible that those same issues of communication still cause unnecessary problems? Do your students have any examples from current events in the world or in their school? How can communication problems be prevented?Kwanzaa Symbols
Language/Music Sing the following song to the students, to the tune of "My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean," then have them practice the Swahili pronunciation and the actions. As you sing it again, invite the students to act out the song and join in the chorus.Philharmonic Fun
Music Provide students with background knowledge of a philharmonic orchestra by taking advantage of the website put together by the New York Philharmonic Society, www.nyphilkids.org. There are videos about specific instruments, games kids can play and even a spot where students can compose music.International Trade
Social Studies To illustrate international trade graphically, obtain a large world map and various colors of yarn. Use one color to illustrate each country, or one color to illustrate each commodity. Have students make an appropriate key, make a map and trace the trade route present today. Is there still a triangular route? How has it changed? How would the students suggest showing the directionality of routes?Citing Sources
Writing/Research Use the printout of an article on any topic that you are teaching to teach the students how to cite sources. Start by having students use colored pencils and markers or a checklist of information needed for a reference.Yearly Closure
Social Studies Use the last days of the year to actually close it out properly. Students should be guided to look back over 2013 before trying to plan for 2014. What did they learn this year? What are they able to do now that they couldn't do last year at this time? Help them write mini-flashbacks of events that have helped them to learn and grow.Sudoku Fun
Math Use Sudoku puzzles from newspapers and magazines to help your students build logical thinking skills during down-time. Set up Sudoku clubs and challenge tournaments involving students at various levels of accomplishment. Use a kitchen timer during timed sessions. Award prizes and make math fun.Time Study
Math/Health/Physical Education Assign a given period of 24 hours including a school day when students will be asked to record their actions. Have them divide the results and make a graph showing how much time is spent in school, at meals, exercising, doing homework, commuting and sleeping. Where do all the minutes go? Are the graphs showing particular patterns? Next, try keeping a record on any Saturday. What do the graphs tell your students about themselves? Do they see changes they want to make?Paper-Bag Book Club
Reading Begin a book club by inviting interested students to bring a paper-bag lunch to eat in the classroom on a particular day and talk books. At this first meeting, set up a timetable and discuss the books to be read. Many authors have websites that you can also visit with the club to follow new titles from favorite authors.Calendar Challenge
Computer Skills Have the students each design, using a desktop publishing software program, a calendar for the month of January. The calendar might include birthdays and anniversaries of family members and friends as well as notes on their responsibilities at home and at school.Parent Activity
History/Social Studies Take advantage of this time of year to instill in your children a respect for cultural differences by attending holiday concerts, programs and activities within your community that may differ from your own family background. Also take extra time to explain the history and background for specific traditions within your family.A Magazine by Kids
Reading/Writing Visit www.skippingstones.org with your students to familiarize them with the multicultural international magazine that is for and by students like themselves. Encourage them to write something to send in for possible publication in Skipping Stones.Civil Wars
Social Studies During current events, have students collect articles about the war in Iraq. Compare and contrast what is going on there with the American Civil War. Do the students think the situation in Iraq is or is not a civil war? What evidence do they see in the national and international daily news that helps them decide? What makes it harder for us to decide today?Physical Sciences
Science Activities dealing with physical sciences for grades K-8 can be accessed by topics – measurement, forces, momentum, energy, springs, heat and temperature, wave energy, circuits, magnetism, optics – at www.thephysicsfront.org.Whose Work?
Language/Writing Discuss with your students the far-reaching problems of plagiarism in all circles of literature and research. Are they clear about what constitutes plagiarism? You can use this website to prepare your students with current information: www.plagiarism.org.Peer Partnering
Study Skills Assign students from different ability levels to be peer partners for one unit of study. Have the partners set up a timeline for the project that is due and devise a division of labor. Help the students plan time management and provide materials as necessary. At the end of the unit, interview the partners. What did they learn from each other? How did working together on the project go? What would they do differently next time? Did they need to use problem-solving skills? Assign different partners for the next unit.New Discoveries
Science/Research Learn about one of the new planets by visiting the website www.sciencedaily.com. After reading the article, challenge students to come up with the specific requirements necessary to reach planet status. Make a Venn diagram using knowledge about planets versus moons. What does the number stand for that labels a new planet? What is a dwarf planet? How will the scientists go about naming a new planet? How would your students name it?
Primary Grades
If At First You Don't Succeed, Tie, Tie Again
by Heidi Bee Roemer
I did it! I did it!
It took a long time
'til I learned when to loop
and I knew when to wind.
I practiced and practiced.
I tried and tried.
But finally did it!
My shoes – look!
they're tied!
Scrub-a-Dub
by Marie Cecchini
Scrub, scrub, scrub-a-dub,
Wash your hands again,
Rub the soap around and rinse,
So germs go down the drain.
Middle Grades
Holiday Cheer
by Heidi Bee Roemer
Christmas carols,
Crisp, white snow.
Stockings hanging
in a row.
Plate of cookies,
Pile of toys.
Giggly girls
and wiggly boys.
Flickering candles,
Glistening tree.
Here's a gift...
to you from me.
Kwanzaa Symbols
by Jacqueline Schiff
The candles go in the kinara (kee-NAH-rah),
The juice fills the Unity Cup.
The corn is placed on the mkeka (em-KAY-kah);
One ear for each child growing up.
Chorus:
Kwanzaa, Kwanzaa,
Oh, bring out its symbols for everyone.
Kwanzaa, Kwanzaa,
Oh, bring us its friendship and fun.
Intermediate Grades
THIS MONTH'S CONTRIBUTIONS:
Sherry Timberman, Kennebunk, ME, #9, #13.
POETRY: "If At First You Don't Succeed, Tie, Tie Again" and "Holiday Cheer" by Heidi Bee Roemer, Orland Park, IL. "Scrub-a-Dub" by Marie Cecchini, West Dundee, IL. "The Seven Days of Kwanzaa" and "Kwanzaa Symbols" by Jacqueline Schiff, Moline, IL.
Illustrations by H. Robert Loomis.
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