Halloween is one of my favorite "holidays" of the year! I love to dress up in a silly costume for school and really enjoy seeing the creativity of the students - some of their ideas are incredible. (Last year, we had 5 students come as different Tetris pieces that all fit together!)Halloween falls on a Wednesday this year... smack in the middle of the school week! I know that my students will have the "Halloween Wiggles" so I like to have some activities that I can do with them to help them focus and get back on track!
Here's a fun freebie for you to use as a writing prompt, poetry prompt, art prompt or simply as classroom decor! You can download it at my TpT store OR you can download it directly from my blog by clicking the image below. I like to display the poster (or project it with a document camera) and have the students use the words or images as prompts for a story or poem. Perhaps they have to include the purple words in their first paragraph, or put 2 orange words in their first sentence.... Why not write a haiku using a word from each color?? Or write a poem using the images as a starting point? Students could also use the poster as an inspiration to create their own "word art" or "subway art". (You can find lots of other examples of "subway art" online.)I'm sure you can think of even more ways to use the poster! Please share your ideas... I'd love to hear more!The full download includes a copy of the poster in color, a copy in black/white and a sheet of b/w pumpkin writing paper!Have a Happy Halloween!
Addie
I love the Olympics.... I mean I really LOVE them! I love the way so many nations of the world come together for sport and celebration. I love watching athletes overcome challenges to put their best foot forward while representing their country. I love what the Winter Olympics did for my hometown in 2010 - the feeling in Vancouver was unlike any I've ever felt before and the pure joy of the event will live with me forever. Lastly, I love the values that the Olympics can teach students... work hard, play nice, the honor of representing one's country, and the importance of taking care of yourself physically and mentally.
I really wish (sounds weird, I know...) that I was teaching during the Summer Olympics as there are so many great teaching opportunities that can cover so many subject areas and grade levels.
Here are a few fun suggestions for those of you teaching this summer (or even for those of you who are back to school in August)- Follow an athlete from your hometown, state or province. See what kind of background information you can find on them and then track their progress at the Games.
- Create a new Olympic sport and test out the activity with your classmates / students.
- Keep track of the medal count and work out the percentage of gold, silver and bronze that your country wins. Create a poster to track the medal count.
- Have students "adopt" an athlete from another country - find out their story and a little bit about their country and then share with the class.
- "Adopt" another country to cheer for and find out as much as you can about their athletes.
- Make a medal count prediction and award the person who came closest.
- Research London, England and find out what they did to prepare for the Games.
- Research the history of the Olympics and have students present some of the main ideas to the class.
- Have your own Olympic games - but keep it light and fun and combine athletic events with math and literacy events.
- I'm sure that there are 100s more engaging activities that you can do to highlight the Olympics. Share your favorite below!
Here's a FUN FREEBIE for you to use with students that involves them pretending to attend the Olympics and then writing a "postcard" and sending it home. Click the image below to download a copy of the activity - template and extension ideas included!Hope you're all having a fantastic summer! Let the Games begin!Addie 
I love April for a number of reasons... the days are noticeably longer, spring flowers are in their full glory, there's a hint of summer in the air.... AND we celebrate EARTH DAY on April 22nd! It's a great day to focus our attention on the environment and to think what we can do to reduce our "ecological footprint". In order to understand the importance of preserving and conserving, students need to understand the unique qualities and characteristics of Earth that make it habitable. Here's a fun and educational activity to get students thinking about Earth and what makes it stand out within our solar system. Students pretend to be aliens visiting from another planet (a great hook for students of almost any age!) and they must send back a report to their home about what makes Earth unique. It's a fun group activity that asks students to work collaboratively to come up with a Top 10 List.
This is also a great activity at the start of a geography unit or science unit on biomes, landforms, or ecosystems.
Happy Earth Day!Addie
