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Your Green Pages April 2006
By Elizabeth Swartz
56 Skill-Building Activities You Can Use Right Now!
For a downloadable version of the Green Pages click here. 
PDF 400KB
- Primary Grades
- Matching Sounds
Listening Open a dozen plastic eggs. Place a different material into six pairs of eggs. Materials might include paper clips, sand, rice, buttons, etc. Replace the egg tops and tape them closed. Challenge the children to shake the eggs and find the two that make the same sound. Can they guess what is inside? - Eggs That Count
Writing/SequencingTake pictures of your class throughout the day's activities. Print them and ask students to place them in the correct time sequence and to dictate captions. - Quick Stick Puppets
Reading/Art After reading a story aloud, allow children time to use paper, crayons and imaginations to create pictures of the story's characters. Attach each picture to the top of a craft stick and have the children use these puppets to act out and/or retell the story. - April Fool's Day
Language/CountingTeach this finger play to your students. Then, ask them to draw pictures of different signs of spring. How many can they think of? - Find the Number
Math Collect objects with parts that can be counted, such as a fork with four tines, buttons with two and four holes, a shopping bag with two handles, a pot lid with one handle, a toy with four wheels, etc. Display the objects and explain how each has a "secret" number; can your students find and count these secret numbers? - A Growth Sequence
Science Provide pictures of animals at various stages of their lives. Have students put the pictures in the correct growth order from left to right. After they have completed several, ask them to draw a different animal in various life phases. - A Is for Ape
Language Provide pictures of animals upon which are written the first letters of their names. Have students take turns selecting an animal and lining them up on a bulletin board in alphabetical order. - Daily Bread
Reading/Science/Health Share with your students Bread Comes to Life: A Garden of Wheat and a Loaf to Eat by George Levenson (Tricycle Press, 2004). It shows, with beautiful photographs and clear, simple text, the entire bread-making process. Bring in samples of various kinds of bread for the kids to sample. Go to www.breadcomestolife.com for classroom activities and video clips. - Some Days Are Odd
Math Provide students with old calendar pages. Have them cut the numbers apart and put the odd numbers on your "Odd Days" poster. Follow it up with a poster of "Days that are Even Better." - Working Worms
Science Obtain library books and magazines featuring information about worms, and make a poster diagram of a worm's work underground. Take your students to www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/worms/index.html to see The Adventures of Herman, a worm, as they study the anatomy and facts of a real worm. Go outside after a springtime rain to see and compare worms on the surface of the ground. - Healthy Kids
Health For a great site about eating right, exercising, going to the hospital, facing surgery or any medical terms that young children would need to know, go to www.kidshealth.org/kid Share this site with your school nurse and counselor to help prevent or remove unnecessary fear of hospitals in young children. - Geometric Gym
Math When completing a unit on geometric shapes, have students make large shapes on the floor using masking tape. Write the name of each shape on one card and place the cards in a bag. Next, put numeral cards into a bag and list individual exercises on cards and place in another bag. Take turns pulling one card from each bag and sending the students to do those three things. For example, five jumping jacks in the diamond. - Sensory Snakes
Science/Poetry/ArtRead the following poem together. Could your students write other poems telling what they know about snakes?
Snake Ears
by Marie Cecchini
Did you ever wonder
How snakes hear?
If you look real close,
Do you see any ears?So how does a snake know
When you're around?
It picks up vibrations
When you step on the ground.
Now create a snake in the grass by tightly rolling two brown paper towels to form a snake. Wrap masking tape around the entire length, using one continuous piece of tape. Tape, glue or staple the snake to a stiff piece of cardboard and paint the snake and its setting appropriate colors. Add grass, rocks or water around the snake using various pieces of colored paper.
- Picture-Perfect Poetry
Reading/Art Select a poem that lends itself well to illustration, as do the lyrics to America the Beautiful, a poem by Katharine Lee Bates and now a beautifully illustrated book by Wendell Minor (Puffin Books, 2003). Give each child one line of the poem to illustrate on a 9"x18" piece of paper. Display the pictures in order, with the words printed on or below them as they are in this beautiful book. - Parent Activity
Social Studies/Health Work together on these printable genealogy forms to put together your family tree. At www.kidsturncentral.com/topics/hobbies/genforms.htm you will find information for young kids as well as links to age-appropriate books about tracing the family tree. While you create your tree, be sure to include important family health information that your children otherwise might not be aware of. - Story Scenery
Reading/Art Create a small stage area using an empty grocery box or a life-sized stage in the classroom on which students can act out stories they have just read or written. Use various color shades of burlap to add a 3D effect as well as realism to trees and nature. The burlap has a mesh form in which older children can cross-stitch patterns for further decoration. - Rounding Numbers
Math For students with recurring difficulty in rounding numbers, make a cardboard trough with the numbers 1-4 on the left-hand, uphill side, the 5 just past the peak and 6-9 on the right-hand side. As a number is written on the board, have the child place a marble on the trough by the last digit in the number and release the marble. This visualization is fun and will be remembered. - Beginning Research
Science/Writing For help in teaching students the basics of scientific research, take them to the Kid's Science Page developed by the National Agricultural Library at www.nal.usda.gov/kids/basics.htm - A Still Pond Life
Science/Art/Writing Use a piece of plastic laminate, some tissue paper and cut-outs of animals and plants to create a cross-section of realistic pond life. Have students write how-to articles about making one, a nonfiction piece explaining something learned about pond life and/or a fictional piece about what happened called "The Day I Fell In." - Cherry Blossom Time
Social Studies Research the importance of the cherry trees in Washington, D.C. Find out when the festival is this year and follow it online at www.dc.gov or www.washington.org Are there any festivals in your area that could be compared to this one? - Poems From Paintings
Writing/Art Share Paint Me a Poem: Poems Inspired by Masterpieces of Art by Justine Rowden (Wordsong, 2005) with your students so that they can compare the paintings in the book with poems written about those paintings. Work with the art teacher to get some well-known paintings for students to view and write their own poems about. - Travel Tips
Language/Geography When concluding a unit on regions, states or nations, ask students to prepare a Travel Tips Brochure that would tell people visiting that particular place the appropriate clothing to bring, what foods to expect, types of transportation, brief history, points of interest to visit, etc. - Meters to Measure
Math/Physical Education Have students take meter sticks or wheels and plastic cones outside, where they will measure for a 200-meter run, a 300-meter obstacle course and a 100-meter broad jump area. Everyone can then take part in the athletic events that they have just set up. - Neuroscience for Kids
Science Our five senses are explained in detail at http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chsense.html At this site you'll find colorful diagrams including experiments, activities, puzzles and information on animal senses and how they work. - Sand Stories
Reading/Art Share with your class pictures of the elaborate sand paintings called mandalas that are made by Tibetan monks. Guide your students to plan a picture that represents the main idea of a story just read. Draw first with colored pencils, outlining areas of various colors. Coat one area at a time with glue, then spread the appropriate color of sand on that area. Allow it to dry completely, shake off any excess and repeat the procedure until the picture is completed. How is using sand different from either markers or colored pencils? - Poetry Power
Reading/Writing Teach your students the following poem and its motions, and brainstorm to write additional verses. Arrange to perform it for other classes. Also encourage your students to recite favorite poems or those they've authored. - Energy Activities
Science Activities that deal with electric-powered vehicles, solar collectors, etc. can be found at www.eia.doe.gov/kids/classactivities/teachers&students.html After going to the site, ask students to brainstorm ideas for saving power at home as well as at school. - Parts to a Whole
Reading/Art Separate a story into sections before the children have read it. Give one section to each child to illustrate. Then read the whole story together showing illustrations as the section comes up. Would the illustrations have been different if the whole story were shared first? How? Why? What does this tell us about how stories are put together? - Adventures in Africa
Social Studies Take your class to visit a classroom in Mozambique and see African children playing recess games. Go to www.tiretracks.org to see what else this two-year program involving 35 African countries can offer your classroom in terms of seeing the world. - Parent Activity
Reading/Art As a whole-family activity, go to a movie that is based on a book. Either before or after the movie, read the book aloud together. Compare and contrast the two. How did they differ? Did the differences change the outcome of the story? Which was preferred and why? Why do the children think so many movies are based on books? - Literary Treasure Hunt
Research During National Library Week (April 2-8), work with your librarian to make a treasure hunt for the class by writing a call number for each student on an index card. Try to match the call number with the known reading level and interests of each student. Send them to the library with the card and challenge them to find their book using the call number and their familiarity with the library. - Funny Words
Reading/Writing During this month of humor, get a pile of joke books from your library. Sit around on the floor reading jokes to each other. Which ones work? Which ones don't? Why? What is the difference? Have your students write some jokes. Are they funny? Where is the line between funny and hurtful? - Tremendous Trees
Science On Arbor Day (April 25) bring a potted tree to school. Have the students set up a method for researching its type, its care requirements, its expected growth, etc. Have them set up a program for where it will best thrive, who will care for it and charts to record information during the rest of the school year. Then decide on a fair way for the tree to be adopted by a particular family at the end of the school year. - Magic Adventures
Reading/Writing/Science Get a selection of "The Magic School Bus" books by Joanna Cole from your school library. Read one aloud for your class and discuss what parts of the book are fiction and what parts are nonfiction. Where is someplace your students would like to visit in a magic school bus (perhaps somewhere you are taking a field trip). Encourage the students to try their hands at writing about a magic pencil that will travel somewhere and learn something new. What parts of their stories will be fiction and what parts nonfiction? - A Laugh a Day
Research/Health Doctors and scientists say that laughing is good for our physical well-being. What makes it so? Have students write research questions and brainstorm about where to look for answers. Have them prepare a report citing their sources and showing by diagrams or graphs what laughing actually accomplishes in the human body. - Running for Health
Health Take your class to a great website for advice, stories, poems, printable calendars and exercise ideas at www.kidsrunning.com Encourage your students to start their own running club as the weather allows. Help them set up a schedule and workable parameters. What might they decide to suggest or add to this site in the future from what they learned? - TV-Turnoff Week
Community Awareness Before TV-Turnoff Week (April 24-30) arrives, give groups of students the responsibility of checking into activities that are going on within the community. What is planned at the library? City Hall? The museum? Have groups put together pamphlets about things to do when the TV is off. Give each group a separate theme, such as, Around the Town, Family Games, Letters to Read and Write, Starting a Book Club, etc. - Laws of Motion
Science Put a basketball or kickball on an AV cart and push it into your classroom. Stop suddenly. Ask the students what happened to the ball and why? What does that tell us about seat belts? Do another motion experiment by driving two small toy cars head-on. What happened to them? Why? This is an engaging introduction to the laws of motion. - On-the-Spot Chemistry
Science Bring some glow sticks and emergency ice packs into class. In one case, bending the plastic glow sticks will release a chemical that causes a glow that will last for hours. In the other case, snapping a chemical pouch will produce cold for hours. How do these objects work? Have students research them and produce reports of the chemicals involved. Can they find any other such items? - Learning About Slavery
Writing/History Find out what it was really like to travel on the underground railroad by going to www.usnationalslaverymuseum.org After spending time at the site, have the students write their reactions. Remind them that this is real history, not fiction. - Quarters Everywhere
Math Has your state quarter been introduced? If so, what are the symbols on it and why do you think they were chosen? If yours is not out yet, go to "the 50 state quarter program" at www.usmint.gov to check on its status. Then go to the www.moneyfactory.gov site to find out about the new color of the $10 notes that were just released in March. Why are these changes necessary? - Follow the Trail
Writing/Health/Science Ask your students to follow the trail of garbage after it leaves their house. Is any of it recycled? Where? What does it become? Does any of it go to a landfill? Where? What does that cost? Are there any changes they could make in their own purchasing or living that could reduce the amount of garbage that they create? Make flow charts showing what happens to the different kinds of garbage. - Dino Info
History/Science Students can do some great dinosaur research at the virtual Museum of Paleontology put together by the University of California at Berkeley at www.ucmp.berkeley.edu Have students compare their findings to information found in books in your library. Compare the copyright dates in the books with information found on the website. Are there differences? Why might this be? - Sports Injuries
Math/Health During National Youth Sports Safety Month, plan and conduct a grade level survey of students who have been injured while playing sports. Are some injuries more prevalent than others? Could they be prevented? Upon completion of the study, invite a sports therapist to review the results and make suggestions. - Comics for Fun
Reading/Art Collect comics from newspapers and see your school librarian for books of comic strips. Have students read and compare comics. Does the humor come from the text, the illustrations or both? How is humor portrayed through illustrations? Ask the students each to design and create a humorous comic strip of four or six frames. Share and explore what makes a comic strip "work." - Human Adaptations
Social Studies Use the book A Subway for New York by David Weitzman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005) or any book about the subway system. Then discuss how people adapted to the problems of city living by traveling beneath the ground. What problems did it solve? What problems did it create? If you were designing a city, what parts would you want to connect with a subway system? Do some research to learn what was found in New York City in 2005 that halted the progress on the new subway for a time. - Perfect Poetry Noise
Language While teaching a unit on onomatopoeia, invite students to bring in objects that make noises that sound like their word representatives. Ask each student to make the noise and then say the word; does everyone agree that the representation is true? Use these words to create poems in a writer's workshop session. When reading the poems, replace the sound word with the sound from the object. - Telling Trees
Science/Writing On Arbor Day (April 25) take your students outside and see what kind of trees are around your school. What story do they tell? Are they young and healthy? Were they planted as memorials? Why are trees often chosen for memorials? Do the trees have blossoms or seeds? Have students do the same type of investigative work on the trees around their home and write a report. - Something Else to Do
Reading Encourage children to prepare for TV-Turnoff Week by starting a book or drama club. Select the book, arrange for discussion times as certain sections are completed and then a "party" evening with pizza and a chance to act out the drama, write letters to the author or make a wall mural depicting the story. It is also fun to have books read aloud by one another in a coffeehouse atmosphere. - Masterful Mosaics
Writing/Social Studies/Art Talk about Eastern cultures that used mosaics to tell stories of their culture, their experiences and even of their everyday lives. Show pictures of the mosaics to your students. Ask them to write something about their own culture or everyday life and each design a corresponding mosaic using graph paper. Once the plan is completed, they can design and create the mosaics using materials of their choice. Display all the mosaics along with the written works. - Parent Activity
History Go with your child to the new Anne Frank site at www.annefrankguide.net Collaborate on an illustrated project or PowerPoint production for your child to take to school. See samples of other students' work from around the world by clicking on the "Expo" link. Talk about places in the world where families still are threatened today just because of their particular belief systems. - Books by the Number
Math Use math to become more familiar with, and maybe help, your school library. In cooperation with your librarian, have your students research the following: What is the total library inventory? The number of books per pupil that are current and useful? What is the financial value of the library? What are the standards for school libraries in your state, and how does yours compare? Your students can prepare a report of their findings to present to the principal. Follow up by writing letters of appreciation to the librarian and school board for providing a good library. - Annual Poet's Day
Language/Writing Start a new tradition this year by planning a special Poet's Day luncheon for your class. Each student can select a favorite poet to study, about whom they'll collect information and photographs. After they share what they've learned and samples of the poet's work with the class, invite students to recite poems of their own.
Real Roman Candles
Math/Science Romans used to use candles to mark the passage of time. Take two new candles of the same length and measure them before burning. Burn them for an hour, remeasure and record the results. Did their burning rates differ? According to your findings, are candles a reliable measure of time? Repeat the experiment several times and compare the results.- Emergency Alert
Health/Safety Be sure the students in your school are prepared for severe weather alerts. Contact the local Red Cross or go to their website at www.redcross.org for guidance. Know your school's plans for tornadoes, hurricanes or floods. Make a set of safety posters to mount in the school lobby. - Composting
Science When talking about composting, take your students to a site where they can build simulated compost piles and analyze the results themselves. Encourage students who can do so to begin a compost pile at home or within their neighborhoods as spring gardens are being planted. The University of Florida has provided the virtual experience at www.compostinfo.com/default-old.htm
April Fool's Day
by Jacqueline Schiff
1,2,3
(Hold up number of fingers indicated)
Clouds of rain I see.
(Look up; hold hands over head and wiggle fingers downward)
4,5,6
(Hold up corresponding number of fingers)
Nature's playing tricks.
(Smile slyly)
7,8,9
(Hold up number of fingers indicated)
It's smiling sunshine!
(Make a sun shape with arms over head)
Yippee yay!
(Raise arms in air like you're cheering)
It's April Fool's Day!
Middle Grades
Poetry Cheer
by Heidi Bee Roemer
Poetry Week is finally here!
So here's my "I Love Poetry" cheer:
Rah, rah! (Clap, clap)
Rah, rah! ( Clap, clap)
Poetry gets such a rotten rap
From folks who just don't get the snap.
Rah, rah! (Snap, snap)
Rah, rah! (Snap, snap)
You've got to feel the rhythm,
It's in your feet.
Your big bouncy basketball's got the beat!
Rah, rah! (Stomp, stomp)
Rah, rah! (Stomp, stomp!)
We'll read lots of poetry, learn about
rhyme and have ourselves a real good time!
Rah, rah! (Clap, clap)
Rah, rah! (Clap, clap)
Intermediate Grades
For a downloadable version of the Green Pages click here. PDF 400KB
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:
Marie Cecchini, West Dundee, IL, #1, #5; Joan Macey, Binghamton, NY, #13; Bernice Regenstein, Rochester, NY, #16, #28; Tawnee Swartz, State College, PA, #47, #53.
POETRY: "April Fool's Day" by Jacqueline Schiff, Moline, IL. "Snake Ears" by Marie Cecchini, West Dundee, IL. "Poetry Cheer" by Heidi Bee Roemer, Orland Park, IL.
Illustrations by H. Robert Loomis.
April, 2006, Vol.36, No.7
