Your GREEN PAGES: 44 Skill-Building Activities You Can Use Right Now!

Teaching Pre K-8, Apr 2004 by Swartz, Elizabeth

PRIMARY

Earth Day Picnic

1 SOCIAL STUDIES To celebrate Earth Day on April 22 and reinforce lessons on recycling, reusing and reducing, have a school-wide picnic. Encourage students to pack their lunches in such a way as to generate a minimum amount of garbage. Award the class and/or students who had the least amount of garbage.

Make a Deck

2 MATH Have each child or group of students design a set of playing cards. Designate four fruits, animals, etc. to represent the "suits." On each card, place a digit and the correct number of items. Use the cards to play memory match games, put in order from least to greatest and vice versa or separate each others' cards into like categories.

Light and Heavy Rain

3 POETRY/CREATIVE DRAMATICS Teach the following finger play to the children:

A Wordless Picture Story

4 LANGUAGE Fold two sheets of construction paper in half and place them inside each other to make a booklet. Have the students cut pictures from catalogs, magazines, brochures and newspapers to create a storybook without words. The pictures must be related and able to convey a story.

The Practiced Eye

5 WRITING/SCIENCE Practice predicting outcomes and descriptive writing by having children observe the morning weather and write a couple of sentences about it on their own. Put the predictions in an envelope. Do the children expect heavy or light rain? Some wind or all sun? Require that they include why they made that prediction, "the clouds were dark and low," etc. At the end of the day as they're lining up to leave, randomly open some of the predictions to see which were on target.

A Shower of Vowels

6 PHONICS Teach the children long and short vowel sounds with these words about rain, then invite the children to draw pictures for each sound.

Vowels of Showers

Rain is a a a gray day.

Rain is e e e deep street.

Rain is i i i l like.

Rain is o o o cold nose.

Rain is u u u June tune.

Rain is a a a a damp.

Rain is e e e e wet.

Rain is i i i i drip.

Rain is o o o o drop.

Rain is u u u u run!

by Jacqueline Schiff

Paper Cup Flowers

7 ART/SCIENCE Step 1: Provide small paper drinking cups with flat bottoms. Students cut slits down the sides of the cup using pinking or scalloping scissors. Step 2: Fold the cut strips outward to make "flower petals." Paint the inside of the cup, first applying white glue if the interior of the cup is waxed. Let the "flowers" dry. Step 3: Glue the flowers to oaktag, paint stems, leaves and seeds at the appropriate places and label if desired. Use a wallpaper sample to make a flowerpot for the flower.

Pretty Perimeters

8 MATH Help students grasp the idea of perimeters by making some that they can see. Measure the perimeter of the classroom, then measure colorful yarn and place it around the perimeter of the room. Measure the teacher's desk space and make a lovely perimeter of decorated tape for the floor. Measure and make perimeter trim for the windows, bulletin board, door, etc.

Muscle Power

9 SCIENCE Stretch and release a rubber band. Ask students to contribute ideas about what part of our bodies acts like a rubber band. Students can feel their muscles by placing their hands on their cheeks and alternately smiling and frowning or by placing their hand on their calf muscles and pointing their toes. What other muscles can they tighten and relax? What jobs do muscles help our bodies do? How can kids use the rubber band and objects around the room to explain how muscles work?

My Work Area

10 MATH Reinforce the meaning of area by having students measure the area encompassed by their desk or work table. Use that measurement to make an "area" rug from large bulletin board paper or ask local carpet dealers to donate samples that students can measure for the closest fit. Require students to keep all their belongings within the area delineated by the area rug. You can extend this activity by making area rugs for a pet center, art center, private reading spot, etc.

Fact or Fiction?

11 PERCEPTION Discuss a favorite TV show in terms of what part of it would be possible and what part would not be possible. Make two columns on the board or overhead and begin brainstorming. If you were discussing "Sponge Bob SquarePants," questions could include: Do friends really stick up for each other? Can it rain underwater? How would you be able to tell if it were raining or not? After brainstorming about one favorite program, try a different one on another day.

Real People

12 SOCIAL STUDIES/BIOGRAPHIES During School Library Media Month, get to know your favorite authors' favorite foods. Take a look at Writers In The Kitchen: Children's Book Authors Share Memories of their Favorite Recipes compiled by Tricia Gardella (Boyd Mills Press, 1998) and make a Cheerios® necklace as author Paula Danziger liked to do as a child. Make a class list of variations on the peanut butter sandwich, like author/illustrator Mark Teague enjoys (with tomatoes, dill pickles or sliced oranges). Other suggestions, from soups to desserts, are in the book.

Everyday Fossils

13 ART/SCIENCE Provide modeling clay for the students along with some sea shells, small plastic animals, etc. Attach a short piece of fishing line to each object. Then have the children press the object into a flattened piece of clay. Remove the object by gently tugging on the fishing line and study the resulting "fossil." Have real fossils on display in your classroom as well as pictures online or in reference books.