Tag: "Classroom activities"

100th Day of School

100th Day of School

A hundred days of school is a milestone worth celebrating in a student’s education, particularly at the younger grade levels.  Students new to the school arena by now have successfully gotten through the rough adjustment period of being out of the comfort of their home with their parents and in an environment where rules and expectations are most likely different.  A hundred days earlier, students embarked on a learning adventure and have made it to the halfway point enlightened and eager to continue learning.  Here are a few ways to celebrate learning achievements on the 100th Day of School:

  • 100-Day Edible Necklaces:  Have students count out 100 pieces of ring or donut shaped cereal like Fruit Loops, Cheerios, etc.  With a being of yarn or bakers twine, string the cereal together.  For a little touch of added sweetness, use candy such as Gummy Life Savers.  Ask students to create a pattern using the cereal and candy.  Suggestion, limit the candy to 10 pieces per student otherwise you’ll be peeling kids off the wall!
  • 100 Years Ago Essay:  Ask students to research what life was like 100 years ago.  Topics could include the President and moments in political history during that year, inventions, fashion, methods of transportation, etc.  For this assignment, get as general or specific as you would like.  Have students do a comparative essay of “Then and Now.”  If you want to make the assignment more personal to students, ask them to interview the oldest person in their family.  While not everyone has someone in his or her family that has lived to 100+ but it is likely everyone has someone that has heard a story from something that occurred 100 years ago from their elder.  For example, a student’s Grandparent may be able to share stories they heard while growing up from their own parents.  The history in the stories will fascinate students.
  • Word Scramble:  Ask students to make as many words as they can out of the letters used in  “One Hundred Days.”  Award a prize to the student who makes the most.
  • “If I had $100…”: Ask students to finish the sentence “If I had $100…”  Have them draw an image depicting what they would do with the money and create a bulletin board display using their answers and drawings.
Jan 09, 2014 | 0 comments | View Post

Avaste Ye! Learn like a Pirate

PirateArr Mateys!  It’s National ‘Talk like a Pirate’ Day!  In honor of the engaging and quite humorous day, we wanted to provide you with a couple of classroom activities to put kids in the pirate spirit of looting ‘treasure’ for their brains …otherwise known as learning.

Elementary/Middle School:

Transform a Poem, Lyric, or Riddle to Have ‘Pirattitude!’

  • Give students a list of commonly used pirate words and phrases along with their definition.  Review them together so students know the audio translation of each word.
  • Have Students choose their favorite nursery rhyme, song lyric, or poem to give ‘pirattitude’ by adding in and replacing some of the original words with pirate terms.  Student should consider which part of speech the word is and use it appropriately.
  • Finally, have students present their work with ‘pirattitude’ to the class.  Encourage them to read it with as much pirate gusto as they can muster up, being as loud and proud as pirates can be!

Middle School/High School:

X Marks the Spot! Teaching maps, landmarks, and legends

  • In good pirate tradition and their sea faring ways, teach students about maps.  How to read them, latitude and longitude, tools located on a map such as the compass, and the geography of the ocean and land.
  • Create a lesson based on different landmarks discussed in pirate legends.  Discuss things like the real location of Treasure Island and the history behind its buried treasure.  Also, highlight the area of the Caribbean, a place commonly associated with pirates.  Give students a comparison of what life was like for a pirate then and what it is like for the people of the Caribbean now.

Other Quick and Easy Activities for Varying Grade Levels:

  • Color your own pirate ship.  On the mast have students fill in each sail with a positive character trait as antithesis to the commonly thought character traits of a pirate.  Use this coloring page printout.
  • Pirates had to find their way at sea but sometimes ran into trouble if they crossed the path of enemy pirates when they sailed in haste without a plan.  Have students complete this maze with a focus on thinking before they move so they don’t come to impassable waters.
  • Lastly, every student loves to walk into class and discover they are watching a movie.  Give yourself a break and watch the blockbuster movie, Pirates of the Caribbean starring Johnny Depp.  As non-historical as parts may be, there is some intrinsic value to the overall legend of the pirates.  (Note: This is only recommended for older and more mature students as the language and content at parts could be questionable.)
Sep 19, 2013 | 0 comments | View Post

Fun Ways to Increase Parental Involvement in the Classroom

For most teachers out there, if it hasn’t already, the summer is coming to a close and that means it’s time to go back to school.  You’ve probably been planning what your Welcome Back bulletin board will look like, the way your classroom will be set up, and what you will do with students that first day back but have you given much thought to the parents?Parental Involvement

Meet the Teacher night is often within the first week or two back to school.  This is the time you get to express the standards you will hold your students to but also importantly, this the time to engage parents in the classroom that will continue throughout the year.

There is a huge importance to parental involvement that often goes understated.  Meet the Teacher night is the perfect opportunity to highlight to parents that learning isn’t something that takes place strictly outside of them.  Their involvement is one of the most important components of student achievement and success.

Here is a list of 10 events and activities that will encourage parental involvement in the classroom:

  • Host a “Discovery Night” where parents, students, and teachers learn together, in an interactive way, about a topic that is of universal interest
  • Hold a “Family Reading Night”
  • Have PTA meetings that include students so parents and students can learn together
  • Organize book sales and other fundraisers
  • Arrange an “International Day” where students and parents showcase their culture through food, facts, and/or dress together
  • Offer parent mentoring programs to students including events like career days
  • Organize a “Community Day” which families volunteer their time together
  • Have a “Parent of the Month Club” as well as a “Student of the Month” club to recognize those parents and students who contribute to the school community
  • Host parent workshops on how to support student learning in specific subject areas
  • Invite parents into the classroom to read to classes, be guest speakers, chaperone field trips, and work with students to help plan extracurricular and curriculum-related events.

Meet the Teacher night is not only a great night to stress the important role that parents must take in the class but it’s an opportunity to have parents sign up and commit to events lined up for the early fall.  Have sign-up sheets laid out on a table or desks that give parents a place to pencil in their choice ways of participating.  Of course, there needs to be an understanding that while parents are signing up, they cannot foresee the future.  Situations may arise whether it involves work, another child home sick, or some other unforeseeable event that the parent cannot attend as they would like.  Flexibility and understanding needs to be a part of parental involvement.  Make sure you are covered for each event by requesting a couple more parents than you will actually need.  The possibilities are endless to get parents involved and if you haven’t done many integrated activities with parents and students in the past, you will see how truly enjoyable and educationally rewarding they can be!

Aug 20, 2013 | 0 comments | View Post