I’m lame. I’ll just admit it. I usually forget to plan something cool for April Fool’s. I’m the one looking for a last-minute joke to play so I don’t expose myself as a lame-wad. So here are some of my favorite last minute April Fool’s Day pranks for teachers to play on their students:
Last Minute Pranks (No prep required)
- Assign the kids new seats and then re-assign seats again many times throughout the day.
- Announce that the awesome field trip that was planned for today is cancelled because nobody brought in their permission slips on time.
- Tell your kids that because it’s a leap year, they have to stay in class an hour longer every day this month.
- Tell your students that lunch is cancelled because the cafeteria ran out of food but everyone else at the school got to eat.
- Ask everyone to turn in their homework that was due TODAY and is worth 90% of their grade for this quarter.
- A funny prank for little kids is to begin your lesson of the day with your mouth moving but no sound coming out. This REALLY freaks kids out.
Some prep required
- “Accidentally” show a list of silly files on your computer when you’re getting your projector hooked up. For example, name files “Teachers who might be vampires” or “Celebrity Visits at Our School”
- Send several kids to the principal’s office for no reason. (Be sure the office and your principal are ok with this.)
More prep required
- Rearrange all the desks or tables in the room. Maybe change them to all face a different side of the room, making a new front of the room.
- Switch out all the students’ chairs for smaller ones. When your kids comment, deny that there’s a difference.
Click here for more April Fool’s Day ideas.
The California science standards for 1st grade require students to:
The California Science Standard for 1st grade (1-LS3-1) says “Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents. [Clarification Statement: Examples of patterns could include features plants or animals share. Examples of observations could include leaves from the same kind of plant are the same shape but can differ in size; and, a particular breed of dog looks like its parents but is not exactly the same.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include inheritance or animals that undergo metamorphosis or hybrids.]”
Yay for graphic organizers! I’m getting good at them. I’m finding that the key is to make them simple so that the format doesn’t distract kids. Anyway, here’s my newest social studies graphic organizer. It’s about the causes of World War 1. It’s similar to the other social studies graphic organizers I’ve made.
I’ve got another graphic organizer for you! This is my second 
I’ve had the most success teaching social studies when I let my students take notes and draw pictures of the event we’re learning about. I’ve made a simple graphic organizer to teach/summarize causes of the War of 1812 (just like I made a 
Squarehead Teachers 