- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: book and movie. Discuss proper use of words "fat" and "ass".
- Science: Great unit on Structures taught by the student teacher we had with us for the month of May. The highlight just may have been the gumdrop towers:
- Mother's Day brooches: (purchased plain at Michaels, painted, decorated and glittered with love at school, with safety pin hot glue-gunned to the back.)
- Also: Mother's Day newspaper pages (see Pinterest link, from MarthaStewart.com)
- Wigs For Kids: I posted about our big hair donation assembly day here. It was a pretty big deal around my house, and in my classroom...and we already have girls saying they're on board for next year.
- EQAO: this is our province's standardized testing, and the Grade 3's write tasks for Language (Reading, Writing) and Math. To make it fun, we all wear our jammies, and the kids are permitted to bring gum or hard candy from home to enjoy while they write. (Note that the parents provide treats for their own child, and sugar-free gum and organic lollipops are welcome.) Throughout the year the students are exposed to questions from past assessments (which are made available on the EQAO website for that specific purpose) so they know exactly what to expect. I'm always glad when it's done!
- Class trip to Legoland: We brought the girls here in the summer, but this was my first time taking a class to Legoland and I thought it was great. Feedback from the students and parents/grandparents was overwhelmingly positive.
- Grad time capsules Every year I get my grade threes to write predictions about their grade 8 graduations. Five years later, I visit them in June to read their work, and the kids try to guess who was who - for prizes! Lots of fun, and a nice way to connect with my former students before they move on.
- Flower art and reflection I got this idea from Pinterest, but adapted it to be cut paper instead of paint. Having the kids complete a reflection sheet on their work (what the did best and what they would change if they could) is an important step, and provides great details to use when reporting on Art.
- Father's Day toolboxes (see Pinterest link), with special messages for Dad on the back of each tool, plus draws for some great Hallmark gifts - which we did for Mother's Day too.)
- Cursive writing - No, it's not on the curriculum and no, there's not enough time for it, but I try to squeeze in some mini lessons during the month of June. This book is a great resource, teaching the letters in order of category (e.g. "mountain climbers"), not alphabetical order.
- Health - PBS Kids No Smoking website - very helpful for teaching kids about the dangers of nicotine (a drug that we study as part of our health program)
And that's the year that was! (Well, with a couple of days to go!) I don't know if any of these posts have been helpful to you, but I plan to refer back to them as I plan ahead for next year....not just yet, though!
