Columbus Day Activities

We all know the phrase "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue..." With that, Columbus Day is quickly approaching and I wanted to give you some activities that I had found.

On-line Activity:

• Webquest
• All About Christopher Columbus

Worksheets:

• Biography
• Word Search
• Maze
• Coloring Pages
• Page # 1
• Usually around Columbus Day you can find some valuable worksheets at The Mailbox. You must be a member (it's free when you sign up for the basic version) and you will receive related activities regarding your grade level.

Other Activities:

• Writing
• Students can write about if they were explorers
• Students can write about life on one of the ships
• Students can write about what it was like to sail with Christopher Columbus
• They can can also write about if they were to discover a New World what would it be like

Books:

   

Here is a cut out of Christopher Columbus that your students can put together to create him...

Christopher Columbus Cut Out PDF

Here's a mini-book from The Mailbox that your students can create. It will open in another window as a PDF file.

To make the mini-book, copy the pattern onto white paper (they suggest construction paper). Have students color each page as desired along with the ship. Once students have colored each have them put the pages together in sequential order and staple the sails. Next, have students glue the flag and the ship to a popsicle stick. Once they've glued, then glue the last sail to part of the stick. After it has been glued together have students read each of the pages.

Fall Love and the Pumpkin Patch

Fall is here!! Probably, one of the greatest things about fall besides the cooler weather is the pumpkin patch. For some reason, I still even as an adult enjoy going out to the pumpkin patch and picking out the perfect pumpkin. So in honor of Fall and pumpkin season, I gathered a few activities to go along with this theme. :)

Math:

• Pumpkin Number Cards
• Pumpkin Missing Number Worksheets

Science:

• Pumpkin Life Cycle Worksheet
• Life Cycle of a Pumpkin Mini-Book
• A few sequencing cards from Montessori

** Don't forget if you log onto The Mailbox you can also get a few free worksheets regarding fall and pumpkins

Books:

Some Fun Pumpkin Books:

Fire Safety Books

Here are a few books regarding Fire Safety for the upcoming Fire Prevention Week (10/5-10/11)...

Fire Prevention Week 10/5-10/11

Below are some great activities for Fire Safety/Prevention Week from Scholastic and Sparky the Dog...

Free Worksheets/Lessons from Scholastic

• There are a variety of activities/worksheets that your students can do from Scholastic
• Pre-K to K Lessons
• Grades 1-2 Lessons
• Grades 3-5 Lessons

Activites: The activities below are found on the website (just click on activities to access them)

• Escape Plan Grid
• Bookmarks
• Origami Dog
• Sparky's Home Safety Checklist
• Sort it Out
• How to Draw a Fire Dog

Coloring Pages:

• Thank you's to Firefighters
• Stop, Drop, and Roll
• Stop, Drop, and Roll (in Spanish)
• Remember the Steps

Other:

• All About Firetrucks
• All About Sparky
• Sparky's Website
• Games and What Not's from Scholastic

Free Activities from Creative Press

Here are several activities that you can use within the classroom. All open up in PDF form. Each are from the Creative Teaching Press website underneath their teacher resources.

Social Studies:

• Three Branches of Government
• The Presidential Election

Language Arts:

• Adjectives and Adverbs
• Contraction Fold-A-Book
• Grammar Minutes
• More Grammar Minutes
• Cooties ABC Order
• Bookmarks
• How Many Letters In Name
• Consonant Blends and Digraphs Word Wallet
• Basic Word Families --- I have, Who Has
• Long Vowel Patterns: ei, eigh, ey
• BINGO
• Word Addition
• Juggling Vowels

Math:

• Leapfrog Game
• How Many Letters in Name
• Money Count
• Algebra
• Count to 100
• Time to Half Hour
• I Have, Who Has Number Game
• Minute Game 1
• Minute Game 2
• Multiplication and Division
• Cootie Catchers -- Even and Odd, LCM, Rounding, Mean, Median, and Mode
• Number Riddles
• Number Bingo
• Word Worth

Science:

• I Have, Who Has Weather
• Cootie Catcher -- Living and Nonliving, Body Systems, Food Chains
• Gravity Experiment
• Seeing Color Experiment
• Evaporation Experiment
• The Water Cycle
• Bird Watching

Classroom Management:

• Rules Rap

Other Activities (Can be adapted to each course of study):

• Content Cubes

Reader's Theatre

Reader's Theater: Slurping Beauty

Here is a free Reader's Theater for you guys called Slurping Beauty. It's really cute and hilarious. I laughed from the beginning to the end and the kids seem to really enjoy it. Just click on the link above to access the PDF.

Here's a little clip via YouTube.

Activities for September 11

I know many of us remember 9/11/01 for some we were sitting at our desks in school, for others they were out and about, and for some they were at work. Each of us watching the horrors that unfolded right before our eyes. I know for myself I was sitting in my high school math class right at the start of my sophomore year watching everything unfold on the TV and hoping for my uncle who was at the Pentagon. It was hard then and still hard today, especially for teachers and new teachers who having to incorporate this into their curriculum.

Now 10 years later and with 9/11 just around the corner here are some activities to incorporate with classroom lessons and discussions. These are just a few, please keep in mind all are not suitable for younger elementary students --- use your discretion and use them as valuable resources.

Websites:

• 9/11 Memorial
• Pentagon Memorial
• Flight 93 by the National Park Service
• Smithsonian
• FEMA --- the picture above illustrated by a 5th grade student to talk about their hopes and feelings regarding 9/11 --- very inspiring
• Teacher Vision --- September 11th