End of School Activities

Seventeen Days....

Is it bad that we teachers count down the days? 

Nah!  We deserve a break, right!

It's not like I don't enjoy being at school.  I love the kids.

But, Geeeeeeeee..... After testing (and more testing).....
Summer can't get here fast enough.

How about you?... Ready for summer?

They used to say that  teachers had three reasons to teach.

June

July

August

That is a thing of the past for me.  I get out in on May 23 and go back at the end of July. It seems to get earlier and earlier ever year.  Crazy how that works.

Do you have an 'end of the year checklist' at your school? 

I shall be getting that in the next week or so.  My heart rate always seems to go up when I get that list. Good grief!  It is so stinkin' long with so many things to do.  Plus we have to get a signature for just about everything we do.  We run around from place to place, deadlines to meet, materials to account for, data to calculate..... the list goes on and on.  So much to do!

I actually like the last couple of days of school when there is  time to do a few fun activities.   I don't know how it is at your school, but they collect our textbooks about a week or more before school gets out. Therefore you have to come up with activities to keep the kids motivated and on task.  Here are a few activities I plan to do.  You can find these in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

End of School Year Word Search Activity

End of School Memory Book

End of School Year Cootie Catcher Activity

End of School Year Activities

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Test Taking Motivational Messages

Get Your Students Motivated for "The Test"

Don't you just love the book Testing Miss Malarkey? It's always a fun one to read right before those annual standardized tests.  There is always such stress behind these tests, so anything that can bring a smile is an accomplishment.  I always like to do something special for the kids, whether it's just doing something special the day testing begins or sometimes I will go all out and do something every morning when they come in.  Lots of people will leave Smarties on the desks reminding kids how smart they are.  I tried to come up with a few different ideas to use this  year.  Our Georgia State test starts this Monday, so I plan to leave a special message on the kids' desks for them to find each morning when they come in.  If you would like to do the same, feel free to download this FREE file.  Just click the link below.  It is always appreciated if you choose to download something to please help spread the word about my blog. Thanks much!

Printable Test Taking Motivational Sayings

And while I am in the test taking mode, I thought I would share this with you.  :-) It's just a little something I put together to express my opinion.

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Fun Cootie Catchers

Cootie Catchers.... AKA  Fortune Tellers

You know what I'm talking about, right?  They have been around forEVER! What's amazing though is the kids still love them.  Over the years I have had kids that really get into them, while other groups of kids will make them here and there, and at times it may just be one or two kids in the class.  There is no telling what the kids will write on the inside of their cootie catcher.... everything from "You will get married to Bobbie", to "You live on Mars." to whatever else they can come up with.  These are just non-sense fun and probably something you tell the kids to put away or throw away.  Right? 

Have you ever thought about actually encouraging these little cootie catchers?  By the way, where did that name come from anyway?  I understand the fortune teller name but cootie catcher???? not sure about that one!  Anyway, I thought my kids would love to be able to use a fortune teller that was promoted by the teacher.  They would think of me as the cool teacher, HA!  :=)  In an effort to try it out, I made a couple.  They were a big hit!  I plan to make many more simply because they do offer a great review opportunity.  With testing coming up, this is a fun way to review skills previously taught. Check them out, and get all the details in my Teachers Pay Teacher's Store.

Printable Number Cootie Catchers

Printable Landforms Fortune Tellers

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Landforms Activities

Landforms

Landforms are one of those objectives that comes up several times throughout the elementary years.  I think we all cover one form or another in our geography teachings.  Our county curriculum map has me teaching landforms at the beginning of the school year, but  as we get near the end of the school year, I shall be doing some review.  With end-of-the-year testing coming up soon, this is also a good time to go back over some of the landform vocabulary.  Below you will find a few items I added to my Teachers Pay Teachers store. For more details, either click on the picture or on the link above the picture.  The landforms KWL chart is a freebie.  Enjoy!

Landforms KWL Chart

Landforms Word Search

Landforms Memory Game

Landforms Mini Book Activity

Landforms Puzzle Activity

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Puzzle Sight Word Literacy Centers

Puzzles Literacy Center

Puzzles ... How fun is that!!

I have put together some little puzzle activities for the classroom.  These are the first four, and there will be lots more to come.  These first puzzles simply have basic sight words on them.  They are themed for spring.  There are many ways you can use these little puzzles.  You can have them baggied up for kids to do when they are finished with their work, or you can have them available in a literacy center.  The kids can work individually or with a partner.  You can get all the details for each puzzle product in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. 

Puzzle Sight Word Center

 Search my TpT store for all puzzle choices.

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3-D Solid Figures Marshmallow Activity

3-D Figures and Marshmallows

 

 

My students love geometry, and I do too.  I wanted to share a couple of fun activities we did recently. For sarters, they got to design a net and then turn it into the 3-D figure.  You probably have these outlines in your math teacher resource books. Here are a couple of samples.

Next, they were able to build 3-D figures using marshmallows and toothpicks.  They always love this activity.  I will include a picture, and then there is a link to the skill sheet I made to go along with the activity.  You can get this from my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  On this sheet, they write the vertices, edges, and faces for the figures they build. Your students will love this!

Click below to get the details for this activity sheet.

3-D Solid Figures Marshmallow Activity

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FREE Printable SpringtIme Game Board

Spring Game Board

 

Looking for a spring themed game board?  How 'bout trying this one.  It's FREE, and you can use it in your classroom with your own creative game ideas. Although it has Easter eggs, it is not too Eastery for school (since Easter is a religious holiday).   Just print, laminate in a file folder, and you are good to go.  Click the link below to download.

Printable Spring File Folder Game Board

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FREE Types of Triangles Game

3 Types of Triangles

Equilateral

Scalene

Isosceles

I swear...

I never spell isosceles correctly the first time.

I put together a fun and easy dice game for the three types of triangles. It is a B*a*S*i*C  game, but it serves the purpose of reinforcing these three triangles. Yes, I know you can have an acute, right, and obtuse triangle, too, but this game doesn't cover those. Oh well.

This will work perfectly as a math center activity.

If you would like to try it with your students, print it for FREE.  Just click below.

Printable Triangle Geometry Game







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St. Patrick's Day Homework Pass

FREE St. Patrick's Day Homework Pass

Spread a bit of luck to your students on St. Patrick's Day by gifting them with a homework pass.
OH!... and the little leprechaun was done by me as I played around with my Bamboo Tablet.

Click below for the free download.

 Printable St. Patrick's Day Homework Pass

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Figurative Language Activities

Figurative Language Activities

We have spent the last couple of weeks studying figurative language, and my students have had so much fun.  It really is a fun topic to teach!  One of our class activities has been the making of a figurative language mini book.  As a new type of figurative language was introduced, the students added the definition, example, and an illustration to their booklet.  I don't know about your kids, but mine always like to make little books. 

We have covered many types of figurative language, but one activity in particular I wanted to share with  you is on Idioms.  Are you familiar with the books My Mama Likes to Say, My Teacher Likes to Say, and My Daddy Likes to Say by Denise Brennan-Nelson?  If not, you have got to use them when you cover Idioms.  Plus, I found a great packet to go along with idioms that was put out by the publisher of the books.  It's free, so click HERE to get that. 

In my store, I also have resources to go along with your figurative language unit.

Here is a set of figurative language posters.  I use these to project on the SmartBoard when introducing a new type of figurative language.  You could easily just print them out and use them for display on a bulletin board.

Click here to view the figurative language posters.

I also made a figurative language game.  Visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store for all the details.  Your students are sure to have fun playing this as a literacy center.

Click here to view the figurative language game.

Here are a few pictures from some of our figurative language lessons.

The picture below is an alliteration number line.  Each students was given a number, and they had to write an alliteration that went along with the beginning sound of the number they were given.  They looked really cute hanging in order out in the hallway.  I also hung some other examples of alliteration around the posters.

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Lewis and Clark Activity

Lewis and Clark Activity

If you are like me, you are always looking for ways to integrate the subjects of social studies and science into your reading and writing activities.  We have been studying Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and their expedition to the Pacific Ocean.  Of course, Sacagawea was along for a good portion of the trip, too.  Because we know so much about their journey due to the journals they kept, I thought it would be neat for the kids to write from the perspective of one of the three people and recount some of the adventures, discoveries, and hardships they faced.  Plus, I found the coolest extra-large journal-looking paper at the Dollar Store, so it made for a fun activity.  Even fourth graders love it when you pull out cool writing paper! Most wrote more than would fit on the journal  paper, so they had to write some on notebook paper and staple it to the journal sheet.They look great hanging out in the hall.  Here is a peek

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Finished with Work - Now What

"I'm Finished" FREEBIE

Can I read?

Can I draw?

What to do.....

Do you tell your kids to read when they are finished with their work?   You know what I am talking about..... that 5-10 minute block of time when other kids are trying to get finished with their work.  Well, I just heard a new coined phrase for reading during that time period.

 It's called "Babysat by the Book!"...........

Okay, before you think I am crazy, I did not come up with the term, nor did I say I agree with it. Actually, I often times tell my kids to read when they are finished. But, I guess it did make me start to think.  Maybe I should come up with a few other things for them to do. The hard part about having kids do something other than read is that:

1) It needs to be a pretty quiet activity.

2) It doesn't need to be worksheet after worksheet.

3) It has to be something they don't need a lot of help with.

Anyway, I decided to put something together. It may look simple, but it actually took me a lot of time to come up with the activities and get it typed up.  The activities had to meet all three of the requirements above. My plan is to have my kids keep a composition notebook available for the activities they do when they are finished with their daily work.  We will call it  something like, "What should I cook up now that I'm done?"  They will glue the below sheet into their notebook.  Just fold it in half and glue down one side, and it will fit perfectly.  They unfold it to read it, but it stays glued in.  They can pick the activity they want to do.  You can create your own rules, such as they have to do them all before they repeat one, or whatever you want.  Also, they have to finish one before they start another, etc.

Also, notice that I tried to word everything around activites that could be reused throughout the year.  Such as the topics of study in the classroom change, but the activities on the sheet don't change.

Here goes if you would like to use it.  Please come back and let me know how it goes.

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CLICK HERE to download the 
"Finished with Work, Now What" file.

Also, I am going to rack my brain to come up with some more activities for grades 3-5, so if you comment with activities, I can put together a second version.  Also, remember that this doesn't have to be ALL the time.  They can still read at times.  This is just another option.

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FREE St. Patrick's Day Bookmarks

FREE St. Patrick's Day Bookmarks

Oh my!!

I am not sure why I  started drawing pictures with my computer mouse, but I did. The end result is this cute (well, sort of cute...) little pot of gold with a rainbow and clover. And of course, I had to make something with it, so it became a St. Patrick's Day bookmark.  I hope you can use it in your classroom. It's a freebie, so just click the link below.

Printable St. Patrick's Day Bookmarks

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Money File Folder Game

Money File Folder Game

Show me the money!

(that saying is so overused)

We don't really talk too much about money in fourth grade other than when we connect it to our lessons on decimals or when adding and subtracting larger number using a dollar sign and decimal point.  With that said, I have sort of been on a decimal point kick, so when I saw these cute litle money graphics I decided to buy them and put together a counting money game.  Get all of the details at my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Remember, just copy, cut, laminate, and put the game in a file folder. I have done the hours of work. So easy for you!

Money Game

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FREE St. Patrick's Day Bag Toppers

FREE Printable St. Patrick's Day Bag Toppers

Greet your students at the door on St. Patrick's Day with a special  treat. Or, have a treat waiting for them at their desk along with a themed St. Patrick's Day word search. Visit my page link above with FREE themed word searches. Fill a snack sized plastic zip-lock baggie with Lucky Charm's cereal, and then use this cute baggie topper I put together as a FREEBIE.  Just fill the baggie like normal and staple the topper on the baggie.

Click here to download the FREE St. Patrick's Day Bag Topper



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For more fun and creative ideas, click the above picture to go to my store.