Your Green Pages April 2005
By Elizabeth Swartz

Primary Grades
1. Bring-a-Friend Day
   Math/Writing/Art Set aside a particular day when everyone can bring in a favorite stuffed friend. Count, sort and graph the friends. Write nonfiction stories about where the friend came from and fiction stories about going on an adventure together. Take group photos of the kids with their friends – all the kids together, all the friends together, then help children make portraits of their pals.
2. Shapes Everywhere
   Reading/Art/Math Introduce the little ones to art while also looking for shapes. Show them the beautiful book I Spy Shapes In Art by Lucy Micklethwait (Greenwillow, 2004). Show other pictures of artwork from magazines or your library. Help children to see shapes by themselves and also as they are commonly used in shading.
3. Healthy Snacks
   Health Cut a cucumber in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Fill it with a yogurt or low-fat cream cheese dip and top with shredded carrots. Model healthy snacks that are fun to make so your students will make them on their own. Lots more easy recipes are available in Super Snacks: Step-by-Step Healthy Recipes For Kids by Bobbie Kalman (Crabtree, 2003).

4. Homemade Stickers
   Art/Math Use the following recipe to make homemade stickers:

   4 tbsp. vinegar
   2 packages gelatin
   1/2 tbsp. peppermint extract (or orange or other extract)

   Boil the vinegar, add gelatin and stir until dissolved. Add the extract flavoring and pour into a bowl. Let it cool to lukewarm; brush a small amount to the back of any paper. Use magazine pictures, printouts from the computer or class-made drawings. Let it dry. Use the stickers for categorizing, counting, sequencing, etc.

5. Feathered Friends
   Read/Science Create pictures of robins and take pictures of robins. Have students on the lookout for the birds' arrival. Read the following poem to the children and then have them act it out with you as it is reread.
   

   Our Robin

   by Martin Shaw

   The robin puffs his bright red chest.
   To make his presence known,
   And skirts along the garden path,
   Where tiny shoots have grown.

   He brings a message in his song,
   With cheery notes that ring,
   Winter's at rest and gone to sleep,
   And now it's time for Spring.

   Follow this simple recipe to make some bird nests while practicing measurement and artistic skills:

   12 oz. bag of chow mein noodles
   3 tbsp. margarine
   3 tbsp. creamy peanut butter
   3 cups mini marshmallows

   

   Melt the margarine on low heat, then add the peanut butter and marshmallows. Remove from the heat, add noodles and mix thoroughly. Spoon mixture into paper- lined muffin tins. With clean fingers coated with margarine, shape the nests. After the nests cool, add a couple of color oval candies to each nest. Students can also write creative stories about the nest, its eggs and who will hatch there.

6. Expandable Sentences
   Language Select a student to suggest a noun, then another to suggest a verb. Build a sentence together. Add a descriptive word, an article, a preposition, etc. Then do it again. And again. Maybe the expandable sentence can become an expandable story. Stress how the words work together.
7. Bears with a Beat
   Music After enjoying the story of The Three Bears together, go to http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/pep/teachingideas/bearbeat.html to learn a great Three Bears rap that will get your kids toe-tapping to the rhythm.
8. TV Timetable
   Math For one week, have students document the time they spend watching TV and which programs they watch. Graph that information. Plan how that time can be used during TV Turnoff Week. Ask kids to track their non-school time spent TV-free. Graph those results.
9. Eggs Galore!
   Science/Poetry/Art Read the following poem to the class. Can the children discover the meaning of "dozen" and "half a dozen" from the poem? Compare the soft, leathery eggshell of the turtles to the hard shells of the chicks. Compare the raising techniques of each. Work together to make a nest of eggs using the recipe in Activity 5. Write more poems about things that come from eggs.


Hatched Batch

by Heidi Roemer

Half a dozen turtle eggs
In a clutch of sand.
Six turtles hatch.
Isn't that grand?

A dozen chicken eggs lay
In a nest of sticks.
Twelve eggs hatch. See?
A dozen downy chicks!


10. Bag It!
    Math Get some brown lunch bags with flat bottoms. On each bag write a number – 10, 25, etc. Then put a set of cards at the learning station using mathematical operations being learned. The students will put the card in the bag with the correct sum, difference, product or quotient. This can be a self-correcting activity by leaving a key on the bottom of the bag or at your desk.
11. Lunchtime Science
    Science Arrange for your class to have a chef salad for lunch together in the room one day. Also be sure there are some jars of Italian dressing. Discuss mixtures and suspensions. Can the parts of the salad be separated? What happens when the dressing is shaken? What happens after it sits for awhile? What other examples of mixtures and suspensions can the class list?
12. Dress for the Weather
    Art As the weather warms, have your young artists design their own T-shirts and rain gear. Develop fine motor coordination by having them use finger paints, brushes and scissors. Display the clothing within reach, and each morning have one child point out which article the day's weather requires.
13. Classroom Chuckles
    Language Make a smiley face on an empty plastic container. As the children find jokes or humorous parts in stories, provide slips of paper on which to copy them. Put the slips in the smiley can. When you have to wait for a few minutes, call on students to select and read a chuckle. Was it funny? What made it funny?(Get some joke books from the library to have around the room.)

14. Springtime Sundials
    Science Students can experience firsthand the oldest known way for measuring time. Using a compass, make a flat circle of 10"-12" diameter. Stand a pencil upright in the center hole left by the compass. Place it in direct sunlight. Mark the position of the shadow and write down the time. Challenge students to use the sundial for a few sunny days in a row. Will it remain constant? What could cause it to become faulty?
15. Funny Photos
    Language Have everyone (including the teacher!) bring in pictures of family members or animals doing funny things. Post the pictures on large bulletin board paper. Allow various children to write a short caption under each photo. What is it that makes them funny? Can the action be explained in one sentence?
16. Daily Descriptions
    Read Collect empty food packages and containers in your room. Ask students to highlight the descriptive words. What words are repeated? What words are general? Where does advertising end and information begin?
17. Tantalizing Tessellations
    Math At the end of a geometry unit, take a day to tessellate. Congruent shapes that are rotated, flipped or turned can be contiguous indefinitely and are fun to make. Use bright and contrasting colors. Have the students completely cover their paper with different geometric shapes. Display them all together for a visual effect that makes viewers think the wall is moving.
18. Parents Activity
    Science Students can make fossils of their own using shells, leaves, sticks and your cold coffee and its grounds. Simple directions for this activity and many more are at www.kidsdomain.com/craft/fossil.html
19. Earth Day Picnic
    Environmental Science To celebrate Earth Day and to reinforce lessons on recycling, reusing and reducing, have a school-wide picnic. Encourage students to pack their lunches so that there is a minimum of garbage. After lunch, reward the class that created the least amount of garbage and the student with the most creative idea for reducing trash.
20. Springtime Changes
    Perception/Reading/Writing What hints outdoors tell us that it is spring? Read the following poem and see if your class can work together to add another stanza about what they see around them.


Signs of Spring

by Martin Shaw

If it's time for jungle gyms,
For swings and see-saws too,
For jump ropes and for tether ball,
For visits to the zoo.

For bright blue skies and polo shirts,
For rowboats on the lakes,
For longer and more sunny days,
It's Spring for goodness sakes.

21. Our Own Rap
    Poetry/Science Learn and recite this Earth Day rap to present to other classes and community groups during Earth Day celebrations. Have students experiment with adding lyrics to the rap, incorporating movement and performing it with various instruments made from recycled materials. As the end of the rap indicates, students may form a trash-collecting "conga line" and act out motions such as throwing items into a recycling can, encouraging other kids to join the line.


Our Earth Day Rap

by Susan Lynn Taylor

Our earth is worth
the world to you.
So listen to our rap
to tell you what to do!>

Please recycle plastic,
papers and cans
and be our environment's
greatest fans!

Don't pollute our waters.
Don't litter our land
Now is the time
to take a stand.

Our resources
may run out.
We need to conserve
It's no doubt.

Be good to the Earth
and it will be good to you.
So follow us
and do what we do!



Middle Grades


22. Prefix Parade
    Language Write root words on large cards and attach to rulers. On some placards put only a prefix. Select one student to parade around the room with the prefix placard. As the prefix is placed in front of a root word, ask the student to explain the change in meaning and use the new word in a sentence. The same can be done with suffixes.
23. Pumping Soup
    Physical Education Help students get their blood circulating, increase their breathing and do some strength building with full soup cans. Start with small cans and increase to larger ones. Teach basic bicep and tricep exercises.
24. Geometry Gone 3-D
    Math Use mini marshmallows and thin pretzels (or toothpicks) to make cubes, rectangular solids and pyramids as an introduction to, or reinforcement of, geometric shapes. Round and oval shapes can be made with chenille sticks, and a combination of craft sticks and chenille can be used to make cylinders. See what other objects your students can come up with to "show shapes."
25. Homophone Humor
    Language Write a list of homophones on the board. See if the children can make some jokes by using the homophones in unexpected places. Find other examples of humor that are basically a play on words.
26. Earth Day Awareness
    Social Studies/Science/Art Join in a community education program that has gained popularity since it started in 1994. Go to www.earthdaybags.org to learn details necessary to borrow, decorate and return grocery bags to your local supermarkets. Children will get an opportunity to artistically express their care and concern for the world in a way that attracts public attention.
27. Earth Sounds
    Music Bring in CDs of rain forest sounds, music set to the ocean waves, rain coming down and various other outdoor sounds. They are available in many places; start by asking at your local library and/or music stores. See if the students can identify any or all of the sounds before reading the label.
28. Smell-ebrating Spring
    Art/Writing/Drama April 26 is National Sense of Smell Day. Take the class outside and tell them to be nose-y. Bring a notebook to make a list of all the things they smell and draw some sketches. Back in the class, ask students to write poems about what they smelled. Have them write a play entitled, The Nose Knows with characters that are parts of the nose, such as the nostrils, nasal passages and inner hairs. Encourage students bring in mystery scents for their blindfolded classmates to guess.
29. Honest!
    Writing April 30 has been named National Honesty Day. Have students write about a time when being honest saved the situation, and also about a time when they should have been honest, but weren't. Why did it matter? Do they think honesty is important?
30. Math by the Month
    Math Take your elementary or middle school students to http://my.nctm.org/eresources for some math problems of various kinds. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics changes these each month.
31. Peeking Inside
    Social Studies/Art When studying historical sites, show your students how to create a cross-section view. Demonstrate it before having students begin their own; see Welcome to Josefina's World: 1824 by Yvette La Pierre, et al (American Girls Collection, Pleasant Company,1999) for a cut-away model of a Pueblo Indian village in New Mexico. Other books in this series also have good cross-section examples. Display an open dollhouse for students to use as a model for a practice drawing.
32. North Pole Discovery
    History/Writing April 6 is the anniversary of Robert Peary's exploration of the "roof of the world." Share some of the highlights of the adventure by going to www.pbs.org, then visit www.northpoleexpeditions.com for a present-day glimpse of life at the North Pole. Have students write a nonfiction piece about what they have learned and then a fiction piece describing what it is like there now.
33. Parents Activity
    Science Discuss with your child what he/she is learning in science class. Share opinions, experiences and questions. Go to www.madsci.org to ask questions of working scientists. Answers will be returned by e-mail.

34. Pathways Around The Globe
    Geography Practice and enhance mapping skills by making maps of famous flights. One to research would be Amelia Earhart's flight in the summer of 1937. Go to www.firstflight.org to learn about her flight. You'll find information there as well about the Wright 1903 Flyer and the Spirit of St. Louis. After the maps are completed, display them in a timeline.
35. Dear Mom and Dad
    Writing After completing the above project, have each student pick one flight or segment of a flight as their own. Have them research that flight a little more and then write a letter to Mom and Dad as if they were the one on the flight. What did they see and do? Did they have trouble with weather or the aircraft?



36. The Glorious Gateway
    Social Studies When studying waterways, bridges or ports into the United States, take your students on an indoor field trip to the Golden Gate Bridge. Go to www.goldengate.org for all the information you can imagine and beautiful sites as well.

37. Which Way Is Which?
    Social Studies/Science Use pocket compasses to discover the alignment of your school. Where is north in your room? Is the parking lot east of the school? Send the compasses home for students to determine the directionality of their bedrooms, houses, etc.
38. Best Mileage?
    Math/Science Work together to determine which vehicles owned by your students' families get the best gas mileage. Researchers have determined that if birds ran on gasoline, their effficency would be 500,000 miles to the gallon! For more information about favorite springtime birds (and robins in particular), visit www.birds.cornell.edu/BOW/AMEROB
39. Hidden Habitats
    Science/Writing Hold a mini science fair this month to highlight Earth Day. Have students create dioramas of animals who depend on camouflage for safety. Post information about the animal and its habitat on the outside of the display. Challenge students to see if their animal can be almost hidden from the onlooker. Have the children write reports of one another's work as it would appear in a newspaper.
40. Cool Chemicals
    Science When studying the periodic chart that Dimitri Men-deleev developed in 1869 with only 63 known elements, challenge students to suggest how that chart could now hold over 100 elements, with ample room for more. How did his early classification leave room for accurate growth? Ask students to go to www.chemicool.com and look for their answers on the full-color Chemicool Periodic Table of Elements.

Intermediate Grades


41. A Homegrown Poet
    Poetry/History Introduce your class to one of America's poets using the beautifully illustrated, Walt Whitman: Words For America by Barbara Kerley (Scholastic, 2004). Walt Whitman used words to describe his feelings about soldiers and war, among other things. Have your students write poems about our soldiers far from home.
42. Luxury Library
    Writing During National School Library Media Month, have your students write some advertisements for your library. Why should students go there? What does the library have to offer? What surprises might students find there? Post the advertisements in the hallways, bulletins, newsletters and on the school web page. Be proud of your library!
43. ESL Buddies
    Language As your curriculum and students help the ESL students communicate in English, allow the ESL children to teach some of their language. Learn multicultural ways to say hello, put labels on everyday items and prepare your students to be a part of the worldwide community. Have a cultural luncheon where those new students can bring in ethnic dishes to introduce. Teach them English while helping them keep their pride in their own roots.
44. A Day in the Life of…
    Writing Using interview techniques or job shadowing, have students write a nonfiction account of life in someone else's shoes. Begin with family members or school employees and then move into the community. Have students sequence the article from morning to night and highlight important educational skills as they are put into practice.

45. Famous Places Game
    Social Studies Post a large world map within easy reach. Make graphics of famous places like the Eiffel Tower, the pyramids, etc. Have students take turns placing the pictures where they belong on the map. Include representations of important news stories and famous current world leaders.
46. The Magic Skateboard
    Writing Have students write a science or social studies report in the format used by the popular series, The Magic Schoolbus (Scholastic). Put a skateboard in the room that they can use in their descriptions and imaginations as they get the adventure started.
47. Prove It
    Social Studies/Reading After reading a historical novel in literature circle, challenge the students to prove what parts of the novel are true. Some novels, like The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen (Puffin, 1988), contain an epilogue that helps to distinguish fact from fiction. Other books will have to be researched piecemeal from the geographic localities, dates and important names.
48. Exchange Rates
    Math On any given day, provide a newspaper and teach students to find the exchange rate on the financial page. Then give them a travel destination and a set amount of money to exchange. How does the exchange rate effect the cost of living in a place? Which areas are the most cost-effective to visit right now?
49. Passports and Masks
    Social Studies/Art Tribes within African countries have used small wooden carved masks as proof of citizenship and for safe transport through another tribe's territory for centuries. Today, most countries issue passports for the same purposes. Research passports and view samples. Have your class design a passport for the separate grades in your school that will prove citizenship and allow for safe passage throughout the building. Why are passports helpful? Why would tribes have used carved images?
50. How Low Fat?
    Science Design an experiment to test the fat content of favorite snack foods. Crush a set number of chips or crackers of the original version and place them in the center of a brown paper towel for a set amount of time. Repeat, using the same amount of the low-fat version of the same snack and brand. Is there a difference between the two in the amount of fat transferred to the paper towel? Compare the labels for actual differences in the fat content. Write to the manufacturer to inquire about the differences in the manufacturing processes.
51. Cool Coordinates
    Math When teaching coordinates, purchase some paper checkerboard tablecloths. Cut into sections for each student. Have them draw the x and y axis, then give directions for making a star at point 3, 6 or a circle at point 7, 2. Have the students make sketches according to each other's directions. The students can use coordinates to send one another on treasure hunts, with the coordinates being the steps necessary to follow in order to reach the treasure.
52. Recycle for a Purpose
    Science/Math Select a worthwhile organization for which to raise money with an aluminum can recycling program. Coordinate this with an Earth Day program. Set a goal for funds raised; estimate how long it will take to raise the money and how many aluminum cans need to be collected to reach that goal. Estimate the volume of cans coming in and provide for their crushing and transfer to the recycling plant. How much of fundraising can be determined ahead of time with pencil and paper? How much is left up to luck or hard work?
53. Everyday Poetry
    Reading/Writing Collect used greeting cards. Divide them by types of poetry and discuss if the poetry styles vary depending on the sentiment of the card. Send students to a cooperating card shop to undertake the same kind of research. Then have them each write a poem for use on a greeting card.
54. Evironmental Awareness
    Science During Earth Day celebrations, ask your students to research the National Wildlife Federation by mail or by going to www.nwf.org for a list of national and local environmental groups. Contact one or more of the local groups to see if students are involved or can become involved.
55. Letters With Purpose
    Writing Collect packages and labels from students' favorite foods. Write letters to the manufacturers for specific information about where the food products originate and how they are manufactured into a finished product. When responses are received, compare them. Are the opinions of the students changed about their favorite foods? Why or why not?
56. Coins Have Stories, Too
    Math National Coin Week is the third week in April, providing an opportunity to research the history of coins. Go to www.money.org for some starter information. Why do our quarters have different pictures on them now? Why don't one-dollar coins ever work in America? Are coins better than paper tender? Collect coins from other countries to compare and discuss.

57. Wearable Art
    Art/Social Studies When studying and creating family crests or flags of countries, help students complete a finished product they can wear. A crest can be created on the computer or drawn and scanned into the computer. Specific T-shirt transfer paper can be purchased, allowing the student to print his/her own creation onto a transparency that is then ironed on a shirt or other piece of material. Create tournament banners, flags and clothing to be used in "medieval days" celebrations.
58. Research Keys
    Reading Write keywords on key-shaped paper and bring the class to the library for a treasure hunt. Give each student one key to take to the electronic, online or card catalog. The treasure they seek is at least one resource – including title, author and call number – they can use to learn more about their "key." Practice this step several times before moving on to deeper research.
59. Safety Survey
    Health/Math Discuss with the class how to conduct a survey. Perform the following survey throughout the school: Do you wear your seatbelt always, sometimes or never? Decide whether the survey will be oral or written. Graph the results, comparing results between grade levels. Publish your findings in the school newsletter or post on a public bulletin board.
60. Super Savers
    Math April 22 is National Teach Children to Save Day. Share ideas for saving money. Brainstorm suggestions. Suppose a student receives an allowance of $5.00 per week; how much of that should be saved? If he or she saves that amount every week, how much will be saved in three, six and 12 months? Invite a local banker to come in and talk about saving with the class, or go to www.aba.com for other ideas.
61. Terrific Trees
    Science April 30 is Arbor Day. Check some books about trees out of the library. Go for a class walk and identify trees surrounding the school. Is it easier to identify trees using the leaves and needles or the bark? Have the students identify trees around their homes. Why might these particular trees have been selected for planting in a residential neighborhood?
62. What's So Funny?
    Language In celebration of Humor Month, have students select and share their favorite funny stories. Ask the children why we say we've hit our "funny bone" when we bang our elbows. (This nickname derives from the humerus, the long bone that runs from the elbow to the shoulder.) Have students research and present the various forms of humor.

ABOUT THE GREEN PAGES: Green Pages activities are for use in teaching grades PreK through 8. Activities are labeled according to basic skill areas.

THIS MONTH'S CONTRIBUTIONS:
Julie Bulver, Pleasant Hill, LA, #19; Joan Macey, Binghamton, NY, #13; Jacqueline Schiff, Moline, IL, #28.

POETRY: "Our Robin," "Springtime Changes," by Martin Shaw, Bronxville, NY. "Hatched Batch," by Heidi Roemer, Orland Park, IL. "Our Own Rap," by Susan Taylor, Collierville, TN.

Illustrations by H. Robert Loomis.

April, 2005, Vol.35, No.7