What Happens Next?

I've done this with almost every level of student that I have taught.  It's similar to the game telephone, in  which you start a story and pass it along, although this story is written down.  I write a story starter the first time we do the activity on the top of a piece of paper, one for each student in the class.  (Or you can write one for a center activity and leave it there throughout the week).  Each student writes a sentence or paragraph and passes the story along, until everyone has added to it.  Then the stories are shared aloud at the end.  This works really well with upper elementary and high school level students.  I use it a lot with ESL students and reading aloud at the end is fun for everyone and helps them work on pronunciation.  Kids are also not shy about sharing because the writing belongs to the group and is not solely theirs.

After you have done the activity once or twice, the kids like to start the stories themselves.

This activity can take a lot of time, if you are passing the writing around the whole class.  To shorten the amount of time, you can limit it to small groups, chart paper in which kids add when they have time, or as mentioned above, leave it at a center.

Egg Container Caterpillars

Not the most original activity, but easy and fun.  Cut a cardboard egg container into strips and paint or glue tissue paper on it (the tissue paper is more "Eric Carle" related), and draw a face.  This activity can be related to spring, to the butterfly life cycle, to moods (my son likes to draw a happy face on one end and a sad face on the other), counting, etc.  It can be made as simple or detailed as you like.

Sometimes we read caterpillar books:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar- Eric Carle

Oh My a Butterfly

Butterflies- nonfiction

Magnifying Letters

Here is an idea that a colleague passed on, which is inexpensive and tactile for students.  To isolate letters, vowels, or highlight a small text or item, the glass rocks/beads that we use for bulbs or decoration are a great tool.  Kids slide them over the letters or area of text and it highlights and magnifies the portion that is covered.  They are often sold at Dollar Stores, or in the Northeast, the Christmas Tree Shops.

Raised Letters

For letter recognition for the early and tactile learner, raised letters are one method of teaching students. I have used various methods, one method that is easy and cheap is using puffy paint or glitter glue on index cards or squares of card stock (available at many dollar stores).  You simply write the letters and when they dry have the child trace over it with their finger and say the letter and the sound.  If you are teaching vowels, the vowels can be one color and consonants another color.

Yoga

I've used yoga for years, personally, in the classroom, and now with my toddler.  We're very lucky that one of his preschool teachers is actually a toddler/preschool yoga instructor, so knows how to bring it down to his level.

                                                                        cobra

                       

                                    downdog when we were waiting at an appointment

I have used it in the classroom when I taught second and third grade and had some very energetic (hyper) children in my classroom.  The whole class would do yoga for five minutes after our morning meeting and we had a "yoga corner" for kids who needed a break during working time.  This corner had a set of yoga cards, but sometimes the kids just stretched and came back to their seats.  Here is are a few shots of toddler/preschool yoga.  Now we do it when our son needs to unwind or quiet down after a big activity.

                                    Actual field trip during summer school to a kids' yoga studio.

Dream Bedrooms

To review area and perimeter a fun activity is creating a "Dream Bedroom" on a piece of grid paper.  The kids draw linear items, bed, entertainment center, bookcases, and get very creative, adding in fish tanks, cotton candy machines, etc.  They then have to calculate the area and perimeter of each object or piece of furniture before outlining them in marker and coloring them in.  You can create a bulletin board or class book to flip through and they love to share their rooms with their classmates and friends.  The students also can work on other rooms in a house.

Classmate Puzzle

I use this activity towards the beginning of the year or first days of class.  This one was made with teenagers who I teach from Taiwan in the summer.  Each student designs a puzzle piece that reflects them, their family, interests, etc.  They use them as a talking point (in this case to develop their English), when sharing about themselves.  We then put them back together (the kids do it), and glue it down and hang it outside the classroom.

Steps:

1.  Draw the correct amount of puzzle pieces.
     (If there are an odd amount of students, I have created extra pieces in the past, and made one myself
      and or written the name of the school or program on one- someone who is finished first can also
      design this one).

2.  Cut the pieces out.  Mark the top and front of each piece, or you may get backwards and
     upside down pieces back and have to remake pieces.

3.  Explain the assignment with a model piece.

4.  The kids design the pieces and share them with classmates.

5.  Glue the puzzle back together.