Here’s one teacher’s genius idea for literacy centers:
She keeps the signs in a file so she can reuse them if she wants. I love her idea to stamp spelling words in your journal. And she uses the roll-a-word from this post. Overall, this is a great option if you’re looking for a quick, easy way to do centers.
Students always like telling someone about themselves. Here’s a bulletin board idea that will do just that. Click here to see my Back To school Bus Bulletin Board (similar idea). First, have the students make their truck (directions on the printable itself and below).
Click here for the free printable PDF: Just Keep Truckin’ Bulletin Board
Decorate your truck according to these directions:
Once all the students finish, have each student present their truck to the rest of the class. If your class is large, limit each student to 1 minute to share or allow students to only share their truck with those near them. Then put each truck up on a bulletin board and call it something clever (“Just Keep Truckin’!”, “Travelling Down the Road to Success”, or something…).
Many parents want a summer work packet for their student(s) so they don’t forget everything they learned the previous year. There’s validity in this (as any teacher can tell you!). Here are some packets for you to browse and find the one that fits your student(s) best:
Lower Elementary Grades
1. Persuasive Letter
Your school cafeteria is going to serve ice cream for dessert. The students get to pick whether it’s chocolate, vanilla or strawberry. Write a letter telling the school board what flavor you want and why they should choose it.
2. Persuasive Prompt
You want your friend to come over and spend the night, but your parents don’t want to let you because it is a school night. Make a convincing argument to your parents that they should let your friend come over tonight.
3. Three Choices Prompt
You are going on a vacation and you can only have one kind of toy or activity for the whole trip. Your choices are dolls/action figures, books, or coloring pages. Which would you choose? Explain why.
Upper Elementary Grades
4. Persuasive Letter
Your state is going to give an award to the best elementary school teacher. Your principal is trying to decide which teacher will be nominated from your school. Write a letter to the principal recommending a teacher for nomination and explaining why that teacher should be chosen.
5. Persuasive Prompt
Because of budget cuts in the school district, your school is considering dropping one of the following classes from the curriculum: music, P.E., or art. Write a letter either explaining which one the school board should cut or which ones they should not cut and give reasons why or why not. If you think none of these classes should be cut, offer an alternative.
6. Three Choices Prompt
The city has an empty lot and they’re trying to figure out what to put in it. The three choices are a Boys and Girls Club recreation center, an indoor water park, or a skate park. Which do you think they should choose and why would you choose it?
Here’s a cool art project I recently saw. Each student got a single piece of wood (stirring sticks from Home Depot) and decorated it to represent them. Then they glued them together and then tied fancy string on the bottom before attaching it to a frame. It’s a fragile project, so you have to display it somewhere with little nearby traffic. But it sure looks cool!
This could also be a cool project for individual students. Have each student decorate wood pieces based on different areas of their life (ex- one stick for summer, school, each family member, hobbies, goals, etc.).
Free worksheet for kids about the history of Father’s day. A special thank you to all those loving fathers out there! Click here for the free printable PDF: Father’s Day
Squarehead Teachers 