Read Aloud Children's Books

For new readers, or to assign for home.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do You Hear?

A collection of books

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Cat in the Hat

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Collecting Colors

My son is learning his colors, so one activity we do is walk around and collect objects that are that color.  When they are familiar to him, he seems to grasp the idea more easily.  I do the same thing with geometry in the classroom, or assign it for homework.
"Find as many examples of a rectangular prism as you can tonight at home and list them."
- cereal boxes, boxes of pasta, Kleenex box, TV, etc

Here Sam and I are working on collecting blue objects.

Butterflies in the Classroom

                       
One great annual project that we used to do, was raise butterflies in second grade.  It hit the standard of teaching the life cycle and the kids absolutely loved it.  Once you purchase a butterfly tent or net (circular standing net), you basically buy the eggs each year, raise them, and let the butterflies go.  The tent the children can physically sit in.  The butterflies only eat sugar water, which is easy to maintain on pieces of sponges placed inside the tent or net.  We kept track of the progress with science journals and did a mini-lesson on them each day.
A beautiful way to make science come alive in the classroom!

Bird Beaks

Part of the fifth grade curriculum is studying adaptations and how animals evolve and change to fit their environments.  One example we have used is birds, how they have beaks that fit their habitats and the type of food they eat.
A project that I have done in the past, is use different grips or vices as "bird beaks" and the children explore picking up various types of "food" with the tools provided.
I set up bowls with grains of rice (seeds), cooked and uncooked spaghetti as nest materials, twigs, gummy worms, and chunks of a material to show meat.  This can be extended in many ways and with a variety of materials.
The different types of beaks we used were tongs, scissors, a cup, tweezers, and pliers.  The kids had a chart to fill out as they used each type of beak with a different material.  We made observations in science notebooks and held a discussion afterwards to share our findings.

Math Recipes

Every year, measurement is taught at the end of the year.  In order to incorporate it throughout the year, I plan in some projects related to the current curriculum.  We are currently studying fractions and decimals with fifth graders, so this week we will be making smoothies and trail mix.  Here are two easy, "no cook" recipes.  There is a space for the kids to double or half the recipe, so that they are using math operations with fractions.  The students had fun!  (Except one told me, "Mathematician's Smoothie?  That title just sucks all the fun out of it")

Mathematician’s Smoothie Recipe

Before you begin…                                                                              

       Prep time:  5 minutes

       Cooking Time:  0 minutes                

       Total Time:        5 minutes

Oven Temperature:        N/A

       Yield: (how much you get)
               one 5 oz cup

       Difficulty: easy

Tools…

       Measuring cup(s)

       Large Spoon for scooping

       Blender

       Knife

       Cutting board

       Cup (for drinking)

      

Ingredients (What you need)         double           quadruple               

1/3 cup of blueberries                 _______        _______

1/2 of a banana                           _______        _______

(or 1/3 of a large one)

1/4 cup of orange juice               _______        _______ 

3 large strawberries                     _______        _______

4 ice cubes                                  _______        _______

    

      

Instructions…

1.      Chop the banana into slices.

2.      Cut the strawberries.

3.      Measure ingredients and put them in blender.

4.      Mix for about a minute.

(You may need to open blender and stir and remix.)

5.      Pour carefully into cup and enjoy!

Note:  if you are making at home, you can use different fruits, juice, or add yogurt or milk.

Extra Credit:

Divide this recipe in half:

       3 tablespoons of blueberries     ______ banana

       _____        strawberries           ______  juice

                     _____ ice cubes                

Trail Mix Recipe

Before you begin…

       Prep time:  5 minutes

       Cooking Time:  0 minutes

       Total Time:        5 minutes

       Oven Temperature:        N/A

       Yield: (how much you get)

     4-6 bags

       Difficulty: easy

Tools…

       Large Bowl

       Large Spoon for scooping

       4-6 plastic sandwich baggies

Ingredients (What you need)                  Double                 Half

       ½  cup raisins                                     _________           ________

       1 cup Cheerios                                   _________           ________

       1 Cup Pretzels                                    _________           ________

       1 12 ounce package of M&M’s           _________            ________

       2 cups of Goldfish                               _________            ________

Instructions… 

1.      Place all ingredients in a large bowl.

2.      Stir to distribute everything evenly.

(Be careful not to crush the pieces.)

3.      Scoop an equal share into each bag.

Polenta Pizza

We're working on cooking at home!  We'll get into the measurement aspect in a few years.  Here's a quick recipe that is relatively healthy and fun.

1/2 tube of pre made polenta (or homemade)
1/3 of a cup of tomato sauce
slices of cheese (fresh mozzarella is yummy, but whatever is handy & your child enjoys)
a teaspoon of olive oil

I precut the polenta into slices, precut the cheese, and greased the baking sheet with the olive oil.  I set up the little work area with the baking sheet, the sauce in a bowl, and a teaspoon and showed my toddler what to do.
-Place the polenta on the cookie sheet (rearrange if necessary so they aren't touching)
-Put a tablespoon of sauce onto polenta
-Place a slice of cheese on top
We assembled the "pizzas" and I put them in the oven at 350 for about 10 mins (until cheese melted).

Slightly messy activity but a fun process!

George Mixes it Up

Here is a bulletin board illustration I use.  We usually read George's Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl in reading groups, I have a whole unit I have built around it.  I use George on a bulletin board to "spice up writing" collecting adjectives or vocabulary words throughout the year.