Spaceman.

     

Activity:

When your child or student is learning how to write, they may have trouble with spacing. When I was learning how to write, I was told to put my pinky finger in for appropriate spacing. This way, you can do a unit or just a lesson plan on space, astronauts, etc. and incorporate a writing activity with it, give each student a “spaceman” space maker.

Materials Needed:

Popsicle sticks (enough for your students)

Small pictures of astronauts, no more than an inch wide (picture above)

Laminator machine – optional

Scissors

Glue (hot glue or Elmer’s glue)

Directions:

Print out the pictures of the astronauts. Laminate the entire page before cutting them apart (optional, but will last longer this way).
After cutting out the spacemen and women, glue them to the popsicle sticks. And presto, you have a space maker for those beginning writers.

Appropriate Age Level:

I feel most students start learning how to write sentences and phrases around 1st grade. Obviously, these space makers are not needed for the upper grades.

Found At:

http://lovehugsandladybugs.blogspot.com/search/label/freebies

Handprint Calendar.

Activity:

I did something like this when I was in kindergarten. We made t-shirts, and did one design every month we were in school. Although, we did not use our hands, my teacher had different stamps. This is a fun way to teach the different months to students. The only thing to this activity is you will have to watch what children are in your class. Having a diverse class is more common now than it ever was, and some of these children do not celebrate the holidays you would think to put on there.

Materials Needed:

T-shirt or Pre-made Calender Book (whichever way you decide to go)

Paints

Stencils for shapes that are not hands (if I were teaching, I would just add the small detail before or after depending on the month)

Directions:

For this activity, it might be nice to have an “Upper Level Buddy” so we do not get paint all over the classroom. Find shape you want to use for that specific month, do a demonstration. This way the students know what they should be doing. On ones like the pumpkin, add the the mouth and eyes after the paint drys. Have fun with this. The students will love to have something they made to share with their friends and family.

Found At:

http://eisforexplore.blogspot.com/2011/12/handprint-calendar.html

Matching Game.

Activity:

What a fun way to recognize upper and lower case letters. This is a matching activity, if that wasn’t obvious. The students will be able to start identifying that “G” is the ice cream scoop that goes with the “g” cone.

Materials Needed:

Construction Paper – colorful for ice cream and brown for the cones

Scissors

Marker

Velcro

Laminating Machine (optional)

Directions:

Cut out the ice cream scoops from the colorful paper and cones from the brown paper. Decorate with other makers or crayons if you would like. If you are planning on creating this matching came to be reusable, at home or in a classroom, I would recommend laminating them for a little extra protection. After laminating add a small piece of brown velcro to the front of the wide end of the cone and on the back of the bottom of the ice cream scoop. And now, you have a matching game for the ABCs!

Appropriate Age Level:

This activity, as explained, is definitely for 1st grade and below. You could very easily make a math game out of this for older grades. You could also put a picture on one side and the word on their other. This is a very easy activity to change around a little bit.

Found at:

http://littlepageturners.blogspot.com/2011/07/abc-scoops.html

Counting with Beads.

Activity:

Visual Counting with beads. There are different numbers on each pipe cleaner, this number indicates how many beads the students are supposed to have. A teacher could also bring ideas of color coded beads to each number (i.e. Use green beads with number 1, 3, and 5 – Use read beads with number 12, etc.).

Materials Needed if counting to 20:

1 – Scissors

1 – Glue Stick

15 – Pipe Cleaners

20 – 2×1 inch pieces of construction paper

A good sized handful of beads (at least enough to fill each pipe cleaner)

1 – Bowl or container

Directions:

Use the scissors to cut the construction paper into 2×1 inch pieces and the pipe cleaners in half. After cutting, fold each piece in half and write the number on each side. Once each piece is numbered, cover the inside with glue. Place a half piece of a pipe cleaner on glue to make a flag, so to speak. Continue until all number flags are put together. When glue has had time to set, put beads in the bowl and start counting.

Appropriate Age Level:

This activity could be used for multiple grade levels. If you are working with beginner counters I would suggest maybe only going to ten, maybe 15. You could also do addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division on these to make it useable for older levels.

*When/if using with young children, make sure to watch carefully. We do not want anyone choking on a bead or two.

*Also, explain that the beads are not to be throw at anything or anyone.

Ready for some in class ativities?

My name is Bridget. I am in school to become an Integrated Elementary and Special Education teacher. For a few different classes of mine we are expected to create our own lesson plans. I believe no less is going to be fun for the students unless there is an activity involved. So, as you are probably guessing, I am going to post about different activities I think elementary age students would really enjoy. Just remember, you can always tweak things I write to work better for your classroom! I hope you enjoy and find use in what I find!