Summer Activities for After School

Let's learn about...

Bubbles!

The sun is out, the weather continues to get warmer and the focus is anywhere but in the classroom. How do you harness the summer energy? By meeting them in the middle!

This is a lesson that was designed with my after school program children in mind, which means it can so easily be adapted for Kindergarten all the way to Grade Six.

Phase One: The big question: How can we make the BEST bubbles for chasing?

Phase Two: An informal KWL chart, then time to experiment! 

Since this was with the after school program, we did the KWL chart as a discussion. If this was a classroom activity, students could work in groups to create their own KWL charts.

K - bubbles need water and soap, sometimes bubbles can have glue, bubbles need a stick to blow through

W - How much soap do we need? Can we add food colouring? If we use a star-shaped stick, will the bubbles look like stars? What is the best size for a bubble wand? Are big bubbles better for catching? Can we add anything else in the water to make bubbles?

L - This section will depend on the questions asked by your group. 
In our group, several of our kindergartens were surprised to find out that a star-shaped bubble wand still made round bubbles! Our grade four, five and six students experimented with different amounts of corn syrup, glue and dish liquid. They discovered that sometimes less is more - especially when the corn syrup made "heavy" bubbles that did an immediate nosedive! 

This was such an exciting activity for everyone involved and a great excuse to get outdoors and have some fun. 

Happy bubble blowing!

Too much corn syrup = heavy bubbles!

We found a great balance of soap and water.

Shaped bubble wands don't mean shaped bubbles! 

(photo from Google Images)

Guess Who's Back!

Welcome back to my blog!

I had originally intended for this blog to act as a working document for all of my pre-service teaching lessons. I began curating some of my favourite lessons, but as the years went on, they fell to the back burner as I feverishly worked to finish my degree. 

However....

I'm back and ready to post again! Once again, I am starting up my blog and hoping to keep up to date on some exciting lessons. As one school year is ending and another is just around the corner, I can't think of a better time to dive back in.

Please feel free to use any part of the previous or upcoming lessons - or leave a comment with ideas or insights. Collaboration makes the world go round!

Stay tuned. I can't wait to share this new adventure with you :)

- Julia

Christmas Activities - Activity 3: Holiday Homophones

In December, some colleagues and I planned three activities that could be used in an activity centre for the holiday season. Each of these activities can easily be adapted from Christmas to winter activities, or objects from any other season! I'll post alternative ideas under each Christmas activity.

Activity 3: Holiday Homophones 

Planned for use with Grade 2+

Quick Review:

[Source]

A homonym is one of a group of words that share the same spelling and the same pronunciation but have different meanings. 

A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning. The words may be spelled the same, such as rose (flower) and rose (past tense of "rise"), or differently, such as carat, caret, and carrot, or to, two and too.

The Activity:

Purpose:

• A fun way for students to review homonyms 

Materials:

• Construction paper, markers, ruler, scissors, glue, bristol board, laminator, velcro (optional)

Instructions:

Approximate sizes based on legal size (8.5 x 14 inches) paper.

Assembled fireplace

• Trace each shape on coloured construction paper as indicated in the picture above (I made 4 of each, but any number can be used)
• Draw bricks on the red construction paper with a thin black marker or black pen
• Write homophones in black marker on white pieces of construction paper (the fireplace mantel) and glue to the top of the red fireplace.
• Glue the black pieces of construction paper at the bottom of the fireplace in the centre
• Write homophones in black marker on the yellow pieces of construction paper 
• Glue the yellow pieces on a piece of bristol board and glue the fireplaces on the bristol board
• Laminate the bristol board and cut the pieces out
• Optional step: add a small piece of velcro to the back of the fire pieces and a small piece in the centre of the fireplaces
• Ask students to match the homophones on the fire pieces with the words written on the fireplaces

Finished Product

Note: Do not glue flames to the fireplace. 

They are meant to be removed after each use but can be temporarily attached using velcro pieces.

Adaptations:

• Use fish tanks and fish for an activity that is appropriate year-round. This would look especially effective if teaching words with more than one homophone (eg. sent, scent, cent) 
• Replace the fireplace with the fish tank, and the fires with fish

 

Christmas Activities - Activity 2: Word Endings

In December, some colleagues and I planned three activities that could be used in an activity centre for the holiday season. Each of these activities can easily be adapted from Christmas to winter activities, or objects from any other season! I'll post alternative ideas under each Christmas activity.

Activity 2: Stocking Word Endings

Planned for Grade 1, can easily be adapted for other grades

An envelope to hold all of the pieces.

I would recommend a more durable envelope for classroom storage

The Activity

Purpose:

• A fun way for students to review word endings (also - word families, rhyming words)

Materials:

• Construction paper, markers, scissors, glue, bristol board, laminator 

Instructions:

• Print pictures of stockings or draw stockings on red construction paper and cut them out (stockings should be at least half of a sheet of construction paper)
• Draw the white "fluff" for the top of the stocking on white construction paper and cut it out
• Glue the stockings on white bristol board and glue the white fluff at the top of the stockings. It should stick out around the top about a 1/2".
• Write the word ending at the bottom of the stocking in black marker.
• Draw or print pictures of three (or more) candy canes on white construction paper. Decorate them and cut them out.
• Write words with matching endings on the candy canes in black marker (see picture above and below)
• Glue candy canes on the bristol board
• Laminate the bristol board and cut out the stockings and candy canes.
• Cut a line with scissors or a utility knife in the middle of the white fluff leaving an inch of construction paper on each side (see picture below).
• Explain how to match the candy canes and stockings to your students.

That's it!

Here is the finished product:

Alternatives:

• Use a flower shape - Write the word ending in the middle and have words on each petal

Christmas Activities - Activity 1: Mood Match

In December, some colleagues and I planned three activities that could be used in an activity centre for the holiday season. Each of these activities can easily be adapted from Christmas to winter activities, or objects from any other season! I'll post alternative ideas under each Christmas activity.

Activity 1: Face and Mood Matching Game

Suitable for Kindergarten - especially for Language Arts and Religious Education outcomes

Make sure you have an envelope to hold all of the pieces. 

I would highly recommend laminating the construction paper or using a more durable envelope.

The Activity 

Purpose:

• Match the mood on the faces to the mood listed on the body to review concepts about moods in class
• Note: Kindergarten students may need help reading the words 

Materials:

• Construction paper, markers, glue, scissors, bristol board, laminator 

Instructions:

• Print various pictures of toys or draw your own on construction paper (make sure they're at least half of a sheet of paper so you can draw or see the expression on the face)
• Draw the head separately, or cut the head off the picture and lay aside. Create a "stem" at the bottom of the head (see above picture).
• Glue the body and head piece on bristol board and laminate the bristol board. This makes the pieces thicker and more durable.
• Cut out the body and head pieces. 
• Use scissors or a utility knife to cut a line across the neck of the body piece. This allows the head piece to slip in.
• See picture below for finished product.

 Ta Da!

 Explain to your students how the pieces fit together and then you're ready to go!

Alternatives:

• Use pictures of children in summer clothes for a summer activity
• Use pictures of students in school clothes for use at the beginning of the year
• Use popular TV characters to motivate hesitant children to get involved with the activity

How To: Make a Headband Game!

Make your own headband game for any subject!

I made the headbands out of construction paper and printed images and attached the pictures using a paper clip. To make a version that will last longer, follow the directions below:

Materials: Construction paper, tape or glue, scissors, velcro, a laminator, printed pictures

1. For this activity, I used pictures taken from the BBC worksheet page for Religious Education, but other pictures can be used to play this game in any subject! 

2. Print pictures from a template such as the one I used, or collect and arrange pictures in a table created on a word processor and print the document

3. Cut out each image and attach it to a piece of construction paper to make the paper thicker, or print using cardstock. Cut the picture out.

4.  Cut construction paper of various colours into strips to make the headband. Attach more than one strip to make the headband larger if necessary. 

5. Laminate each picture and each strip of construction paper. Cut the laminated pieces leaving a small border around the pictures and headbands (this keeps the laminated border sealed)

6. Add small pieces of velcro to the ends of the headband to make the size adjustable

7. Add a small piece of velcro to the back of each picture, and one piece on the middle of the headband. This allows pictures to be attached and removed easily

That's it! A simple reusable game for any subject!

How To: Make a "Caring for Creation" Tree!

This project was originally created with a colleague for a Religious Education activity, but this can so easily fit science curriculums as well! 

Materials: Construction paper - black, brown, green, Glue stick, Scissors, Pencils, Black marker

Instructions: 

1. Have students select a piece of construction paper to use as the background colour and lay it aside

- We chose black to make the tree stand out - dark blue would also look great!

2. Ask students to trace an outline of their hand on brown construction paper, cut out the outline, and lay it aside 

- This will make the trunk of the tree

3. Ask students to draw and cut out different sized hearts on green construction paper 

- This will make the leaves of the tree

4. Have students glue their hand outline at the centre of the bottom of the page to create the tree trunk

5. Have students glue the hearts around the fingers of the hand outline to create the leaves of the tree

6. Allow the glue to dry, then ask students to write "I care for the environment by..." on the trunk of the tree, and ways they care for the environment on the leaves of the tree.

- Have students write their ideas in pencil first and then outline in a thin black marker

That's it! This makes a great piece of work for students to post on a wall in the classroom and gets them brainstorming about ways they can contribute to helping the environment!