Your Green Pages January 2005
By Elizabeth Swartz

Primary Grades
1. A Perfect Fit
   Math/Science Decorate three different sized boxes, leaving the tops open. Ask your students to select an object from the table that they think will fit in the first box, second, etc. Then mix up the objects. Select an object and ask a child to show in which box it will fit. Finally, ask for suggestions of other objects in or out of view that would fit in each box.
2. Dress Me, Please
   Science/Health Provide a lovable bear and a box of various clothing. Write the name of each season on a slip of paper and put them in the bear's lap. Have a child come up, select a paper and dress the bear appropriately.
3. Where Does It Go?
   Math Write numbers on small slips of paper, fold and place in a container. Give one to each member of the class. You will draw a slip and write your number on the chalkboard. Select another student to unfold the paper and write that number where it belongs in relation to the first number. This activity can be used with a number line, fractions, decimals, etc.

4. Bearly Ready For Weather
   Science/Health Make a department store window scene in a show case or on a bulletin board. The students draw bears that are dressed for each season or have them dress up bears from home to put in the showcase. Show the seasons in sequence.
5. Label Happy
   Reading/Vocabulary Remove the labels from "reading around the room." Pass them out to your students and ask them to put the labels back in the correct places. Or, make another set of labels (cover the ones you have up) and give a label to each student to put on a piece of drawing paper and then illustrate.

6. Ocean In A Bottle
   Art/Science Give each child or group one large, empty clear plastic soda or juice bottle. Lay the bottle down, cut out the back, place sand on the bottom and decorate with sea shells, coral from chenille pieces, drawn and cut out fish, a treasure chest, etc. Then hang blue plastic wrap across the opening to give the illusion of water.
7. Today's News
   Social Studies Take your class to www.kidsnewsroom.com/index to see all the news fit for kids with front page treatment of world and national topics explained. Also included are sports, music, entertainment. It even includes a comic strip and colorful graphics. Have your students print stories to report on in class, write journal entries in response to or compare to stories from other sources.
8. People Patterns
   Math/Social Studies Line up the students in some kind of a pattern known only to you. Ask the students what pattern they see – two children with glasses, two without, three girls, three boys, sneakers, shoes, blue shirts, etc. Have students line one another up in a pattern for the others to discover.

9. Build A Box
   Art/Math Enlarge these polygons and provide several sets in various colors for your students. Challenge the students to arrange them so that they can glue them to the sides of a tissue box, crayon box (any small empty box) without leaving any openings. Caution the kids to lay out everything completely before going for the glue.
10. Tissue, Everyone?
    Reading/Health A new manners book by Lisa Kopelke called Tissue, Please (Simon & Schuster, 2004) is great for sharing during the cold and flu season. Use it as a discussion or writing starter about ways to prevent the spread of disease. Then present each student with a traveling packet of tissues to keep at his or her own desk.
11. So Many Feet
    Reading/Science/Math Read the old favorite, The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss (Random House, 1968). Then trace and measure a foot of each child. Compare and contrast the feet. What can you learn about a person by looking at the footprint? For more comparisons, include footprints of various teachers.



12. Happy New Year
    Reading/Science Read the book The Big Cheese For The White House; The True Tale of a Tremendous Cheddar by Candace Fleming (Sunburst, 1999). Then have your students create flow charts describing cheese making. Another fun activity would be to have your students make a map or trace on a map the journey that this cheese made in order to get to President Jefferson on New Year's Day.
13. Weather Person Needed
    Science/Writing Pretend the local newspaper is looking for a new weather person. Give each student a winter scene taken from a magazine or calendar. Ask each child to write a weather report based on what is observed in the picture.
14. Spaghetti Shapes
    Math/Art Provide each student with some construction paper, glue and uncooked spaghetti. Review triangles, pentagons, octagons, etc., and have the children "build" them out of spaghetti and glue them onto the paper. One child can do a demonstration with the spaghetti on the overhead.



15. Great Glossary
    Reading/Vocabulary Use a single-use or digital camera to take pictures during any unit. Print the pictures and have the class use them to make a glossary of terms for that unit of study. Students can also each make their own glossary of terms.

16. Yum! Edible Shapes
    Math/Art Give each student some cookie dough that is cut in the shapes of triangles, squares, circles, ovals, etc. Have the children identify the shapes. Mix one egg yolk with a couple of drops of food coloring. Make sure that you make enough different colors to correspond with the number of shapes you have displayed. Then, give each child in the group a paintbrush and a job, "Paint three squares blue, two circles yellow, etc." Make all like shapes the same color. You might want to challenge the children by asking if they could create a new color by combining two other colors. Don't forget that you can then bake and later eat the cookies. The same project could be done with papier maché, cardboard or clay, but make sure that no one eats those!
17. Parents Activity
    Health/Life Skills Put your child in charge of planning the family menu for one whole day each week. Be sure that the food groups are all included in the correct proportions and the foods are easily accessible. Then you can enlist your child's help in the preparation and clean up for that day's meals. Not only will they learn reading, measuring and how to eat properly but they'll also learn just how important it is to eat their fruits and vegetables.
18. Inuit Necklaces
    Art/Social Studies The Inuit people made necklaces for strength, good luck and power. They used the teeth of whales, seals and walruses. Ask your students to make some necklaces with self-hardening clay. What symbols would they shape for strength, good luck and power? Give each child a 2" piece of yarn and use a nail to pierce through each object. Set them on a paper towel overnight to dry before stringing. Will they string in a particular pattern?
19. Create a Creature
    Art/Writing Visit the website www.switchzoo.com/default.htm with your students. There are nine creatures in their own environments that students can use as models for designing their own imaginary animals. Students can change heads, trunks, etc. Have your students create a creature and then write a fictional story about it or a how-to paragraph about creating the creature.
20. Walk Your Pet
    Math/Science/Health During National Walk Your Pet Month, make some bar graphs showing how many students in your class have dogs, walk dogs or want dogs. Then make individual charts for walking the dogs and use time or distance in setting goals for each student. Is this a responsibility your students could take over for an elderly neighbor or friend? Is it only good for the health of the pet? What else do your students think that pet owners must be responsible for in caring for their pets? What is their reasoning?
21. Some Snowball!
    Writing Bring a snowball into your classroom after recess or in the morning in a cooler. Ask your students give descriptive words for the snowball. Have a tape recorder taping so you don't have to stop the fun to write a list. Pass the snowball around (you might need a couple of backups). How does it look? Feel? Change? Of what does it remind the students? After the snowball has melted, play back the tape while your students write down descriptive words or you write them on the board. Assign two paragraphs – one describing a snowball and one describing the experience.



22. Snowball Stories
    Writing Make a bulletin board of snowballs in a fort or flying in a fight. On each snowball write a noun, verb, adjective or adverb. Have students write a story using the snowball words.
23. Illustrators Wanted
    Reading/Art Prepare several text balloons. Discuss the work of an illustrator. Distribute the text balloons, pencils, crayons, etc. Ask your students to illustrate what's in the text balloon. They may add details, but must not exclude any important component of the text. What clues were helpful?
24. A New President
    Social Studies Dress up in red, white and blue and decorate the room for January 20. Watch the swearing in of the President together. Talk to your students about the president's job and why he takes office in front of the whole country.

Middle Grades


25. Memories Travel Too
    History/Writing/Reading Read the book The Memory Boat by Elvira Woodruff (Scholastic Press, 1999). Discuss Ellis Island, which has an anniversary this month. What do your students think it would be like to be leaving everything behind? What one thing would he or she want to take along to remember his or her family? Discuss and/or write about this.



26. Tradition
    Social Studies/Writing What is a tradition? With your students, talk about parades in your town. What are they for? How are they organized? Watch the Inauguration Parade or have it taped. What is the purpose of the parade? How is it organized and why? Did the President walk or ride in a car? What might be the reasons? What is the culmination of the parade? Ask your students to write reports about the parade and/or have them write responses about their impressions of the ceremony.
27. Poetry Puzzles
    Reading Share the following poem and see if your students can figure out who the silent soldiers are for real. Then have them try writing a puzzler poem for the class to figure out.


Silent Soldiers

by Martin Shaw

They stand in front of houses
In fields on sidewalks too,
As straight and tall as soldiers stand,
They stand for all to view.

In rain or shine, they stand there,
In darkness and in light,
They stand forever motionless,
Those brave bold men in white.

28. Mid-Winter Field Trip
    Science/Social Studies With your students, visit the website www.degray.com to check on the national bird. Learn about eagles as well as other birds of prey. Ask your students to make large models of the birds to hang from the ceiling in your room. Make corresponding posters of vital information to share with visitors from other classes.
29. Decimals At Work
    Math/Reading Borrow a shelf of nonfiction library books. Explain the Dewey Decimal system to the students or ask your librarian to do so. Then mix up the books and have the students put them back in order. Borrow a different shelf of books and do the same thing. Talk to your librarian about getting some of your students to help shelve books during free moments.

30. Calling All Fifth Graders
    Science/Art It's time for the annual Arbor Day poster contest. Sign up for the free activity booklet, in-depth lesson plans and contest information at education@arborday.org. Visit www.arborday.org/kids/postercontest/index.cfm to learn more.
31. Careful with Coupons
    Math/Reading Pass around coupons from newspapers, magazines and sale flyers. Have each student read the coupons and decide which ones are good deals. Which ones might not be?
32. Without A Word
    Reading/Drama Share the following poem on the overhead or on handouts. Discuss it together, then pass out prepared cards with words like, happiness, surprise, anger, hunger, pain, etc. Have each student select a card and portray the feeling on it without using any words.


Communication

by Marie Cecchini

A smile or wave,
can say, "Hello,"
A shake of the head,
says, "No, no, no."

A wink can mean,
there's been a secret we share,
While a big bear hug,
tells us somebody cares.

Without ever talking,
we can be heard.
It seems we can speak,
without saying a word.

33. Reporters Everywhere
    Writing A great on-the-spot writing assignment is to send a student to the cafeteria, office, library, etc. and have them remain there for 15 minutes just observing. Then the child returns to the classroom and writes who, what, when, where, how, etc. Also post a student at a window facing traffic, wildlife or passersby.
34. Prevention
    Health Invite your school nurse or some other health official to explain prevention of cancer and how even at a young age students can be taking care of their health. What are they familiar with in terms of prevention and the meaning of the word? After the speaker, have students make posters, write articles and give talks themselves about how to maintain healthy lifestyles.
35. Parents Activity
    Science/Organization Need some help getting that science fair project picked out and started? At www.kiddoscience.co.za/kiddoexpcryst.html you'll find step-by-step instructions for planning and constructing projects perfect for the student interested in this year's science fair.
36. Poetry Contest
    Writing/Poetry As a culminating activity for a poetry unit, consider the contest sponsored by the El Paso Public Library. It runs from January 1 - February 14 and accepts English as well as Spanish entries. There will be three awards given in each language. Go to www.geocities.com/epplkidszone for more details and get those kids writing.
37. My Day
    Poetry/Social Skills Read the following poem together and then discuss the parallels used in the first stanza. What kind of a book or song would your students like to write today? Discuss and/or write about how each person can have an influence over the kind of day that it turns out to be for every person they meet.


Today is A New Day

by Heidi Bee Roemer

Today is a page
without any words.
A song unsung
that no one has heard.

Words that you speak
can hurt or can heal.
Before you speak out,
think how others might feel –

Today's a clean slate
on which you will write.
Will you speak, will you sing
of things good and right?

38. Be Proud of that Hand
    Handwriting Did you know that National Handwriting Day is January 23? It's observed on the birthday of John Hancock, a man who was very proud of his name. Take some time today to practice good handwriting. Also read the story of John Hancock to your students so they know the meaning of taking a stand and being proud of it.
39. What Would Have Happened?
    Reading/Thinking You can use this gimmick for either fiction or nonfiction. It's a good way to check up on your students to see if they have read and understood what they were assigned. And they'll enjoy doing it, too. Ask your students to pick a point in the book where something important was about to happen. Have them change that event and then try telling how the story might have turned out. For example, what if Abraham Lincoln had survived the assassination? What if Neil Armstrong had not been able to put his feet on the moon? What if Tom Sawyer had not been able to persuade his friends to paint the fence for him?
40. Women Who Dared
    Social Studies/Reading An interesting new book is out to introduce your students to 20 women who dared to change the world – Rabble Rousers: 20 Women Who Made a Difference, by Cheryl Harness (Dutton Children's Books, 2003). The book spans over 200 years of history and will fit into abolition, civil rights, labor or woman suffrage units. Be sure to include it with your Martin Luther King, Jr. Day readings. Have civil rights changed for women? What about for African Americans? Or Native Americans? Invite an important woman leader of your community to talk to your students. This is a good book to use as a springboard for biographical studies.
41. Where Is It?
    Geography Atlases are fascinating, but kids tend to ignore them. Here's an idea to help kids become acquainted with atlases while they add to their present knowledge of geography. Create for them a set of questions whose answers will build on knowledge they already have. For example: What places in the world have the same latitude as your city or town? What ocean is nearest to you and what other states are the same distance from it? How many miles is it from your home to the closest state? Which foreign country is closest to your home? Which of the continents is closest? Where would you end up if you drove north at 55 mph for eight hours? Suppose you drove south? How high above sea level is your area? In which compass direction would you go to find land of higher altitude?
42. No Worries
    Writing Encourage the kids to write "Dear Abby" letters to get some of their worries off their chests. Let your students express their concerns about how to react to conflict by writing a letter. For example, "Dear Abby, This kid keeps hanging his coat on my hook. What can I do?" Tell your students not to use their real names or the names of anyone else. They can then brainstorm in groups of two or three to answer the letters. The answers can be shared by the whole class.
43. Superlatives Contest
    Reading/Writing Have a contest to nominate the funniest book, the scariest book, the best book, etc. A small group of students probably could survey their classmates and then tally the results. If the "winners" were written by living authors, ask your students to write them letters and let them know about the selection.

Intermediate Grades


44. Research Fun
    Reading/History Help your students to familiarize themselves with resources such as the thesaurus, dictionary, almanac, etc. and have fun with a fictional character called King Toot. An independent or small group will enjoy working through the book, Secrets of the Giant Tomesby Chris Kensler (Simon & Schuster, 2002). Worksheets and activities could be used separately, but not as effectively.
45. Calling the Mars Rover
    Science Take your students to check up on the Mars Rover at www.jpl.nasa.gov and check on some other great NASA projects, too.
46. March of the Eclipse
    Science/Drama Have students make the sun and moon then act out the drama of a solar or lunar eclipse. Use a dark classroom with black paper or a black sheet in the background and have someone holding a flashlight to provide the proper effect.
47. Count the Notes
    Math/Music Provide the students with whole, half and quarter notes to cut out and then glue onto measures that equal four beats. Compare the notes to fractions. If you need help, talk to your music teacher. After introducing the exercise, set up a learning station in your classroom where students can put notes in measures in differing orders that all add up to four beats.
48. Happy New Year, Friends
    Social Studies Arrange for your students to prepare for the Chinese New Year by researching when it will be celebrated and how the date is decided. What are the symbols for this year? With your students, make a dragon for the dragon dance either out of papier maché or cardboard and use a green table cloth for the dragon body. Plan a Chinese luncheon in your classroom that day and invite some parents.
49. Writing Poetry
    Writing Share the following poem and list other everyday items about which poetry can be written. Students could end their poems with the same last stanza as this one and exchange poems for others to illustrate.


Hats

by Marie Cecchini

Hats, hats, everywhere!
They cover our ears,
They cover our hair.

In winter they warm us,
At parties they're fun,
In summer we wear them,
To block out the sun.

What is the best hat,
You ever did see?
Draw me a picture,
Describe it to me.

50. Book Club, Anyone?
    Reading Thaddeus Rex, a popular Indianapolis musician has a terrific online reading club for kids. Your students can start a new book on the first Sunday of a month and then each Sunday, there are new postings about those chapters, e-mails can be sent back and forth and additional chapters assigned for the next week. Students must have a valid e-mail address and signed permission from a parent or guardian. This club is open to individuals, classes, schools or libraries. Visit the website www.think4fun.com to get your students started.
51. So Many Studies
    Vocabulary Write the following poem on a bulletin or chalk board. Ask students to search "-ologies" and make a picture representing that study to attach to the board with a brief description.


Poetically!

by Teddy Meister

Ologies and ologists, found at every turn,
Read them, gather them, and you will surely learn.
Ologies and ologists a chance to explore,
Some are known, others not,
But there's lots of fun in store!

52. Parents Activity
    Reading/Social Studies Get your kids used to checking reviews before buying products. Ask them to visit the website www.kidsdomain.com/reviews/index.html with you to check on software that they have seen advertised and find interesting. Be sure to also let them see you reading consumer magazines before buying household items.
53. CO2 at Work
    Science Crush five empty eggshells and place in the bottom of an empty two-liter bottle. Add one teaspoon of vinegar to the bottle and attach a balloon over the opening. Time how long it takes for the balloon to fill. Will it fill all the way? Record all the data. Use more eggshells. Repeat, using the same number of eggshells and more vinegar. What makes the balloon fill completely?
54. You Do It Very Well
    Writing/Computer Skills Did you know that January 28 is National Compliment Day? Have your students design a nice card on the computer and send compliments to three people who have made a difference in their lives.

55. A Perfect Seascape
    Art/Science As a culminating activity to any unit dealing with the ocean, use a blue plastic shower curtain for the background of this project. After students research particular types of fish, coral, shells, reef, etc., have them draw the items on the shower curtain using permanent markers. Display it where the light can shine through for the best effect.
56. Knowing Your Audience
    Language Bring in a selection of greeting cards purchased at any drug or stationery store. Read them to the students and have them divide them into appropriate groups. Which cards could you send to close friends? A boss? A parent? etc. What makes the difference in which cards we choose? How can language differ so much depending on for whom it is intended? Is this only true of the written word or is it true also of the spoken word?
57. Making Choices
    Math/Life Skills We all have the same number of hours in a day and days in a week. Why does it seem like some people are always busy and others are always bored? How do we decide what to do with our time? Have each student calculate how much time each week they can schedule themselves. Then ask them to divide how their time is spent as well as possible into a pie chart. Do your students feel that the amount of their own time represented on their graph is accurate? What priorities might each students change? Why? How are priorities set?
58. Set A Goal
    Reading Many states' standards of learning contain a suggested number of books that students should read in any given school year. While numbers are arbitrary, they can sometimes provide an incentive. Take a few minutes of class time to ask students to set a goal for themselves that is higher than last month as far as books completed. Talk about reading different genres and have your students share titles of favorite books. Ask the librarian to come in and give a short talk on the "new books" that have come into the collection. Set the goal, and get started reading in 2005.
59. Healthy Weight
    Health During the third week of January, Americans are asked to check their weight and determine if it is healthy or not. We are also asked to make appropriate changes in our diet and exercise routines. Ask your school nurse for the healthy weight chart that matches weights and heights with students of like ages around the country. Keep this chart where each student can check it. Provide a discussion time or a bulletin board with suggested ways of losing weight and preventing future health issues.
60. It Must Be The Weather
    Social Studies/Careers With your class, visit the website www.weatherwizkids.com to read and learn more about weather-related careers. Then invite a local meteorologist to visit your classroom. Compare and contrast what is presented on the website with the information that is shared by your speaker. What sort of person would enjoy a weather-related career? What kind of preparation would it entail?
61. Main Idea Jars
    Reading/Writing Fill some clear plastic quart-sized jars with a variety of related items. Have the students discuss or write about the main idea represented by the jar. For example, are they all school supplies? Cooking supplies? Pet-related items? How do you know? Ask your students if they think there could be more than one relationship between the objects. Give your students an opportunity to take turns filling the main idea jar for the class to study and write descriptions.
62. News From Home
    Social Studies Students can help troops overseas who are not getting the news by collecting recent magazines and hometown newspapers and sending them to soldiers from their own hometown. Soldiers with downtime have also requested paperback books. With your students, prepare a care box of print material for soldiers from your area or who are alumni of your school.
63. Who Said That?
    Language Arts Encourage your students to find quotations of their heroes. Ask them to write an essay explaining where and why these statements were made. This writing activity can be a good lesson on paragraphing. Have the kids use the quote as the main idea and then explain the meaning behind it. This is a great way to show contrast between main idea and details and to help with learning how to organize in paragraphs.
64. Decisions, Decisions
    Social Studies Often a person becomes a hero by making the right decisions at the right times. With your students, investigate the decisions their heroes have made which have been significant for them and perhaps, for the children themselves. What social, economic and/or political conditions existed that made these decisions necessary? For example, Sally Ride was able to decide to become an astronaut because America was beginning to recognize women in science. Harriet Beecher Stowe decided to write Uncle Tom's Cabin because of slavery. You may be able to get your students to talk about the present and to consider what might affect them – space exploration, computer innovations, fuel shortages, etc.
65. Graph It
    Math With the class, create a list of the birth (and death) dates of everyone's heroes. Ask your students to make a graph and include 50 year intervals. Is there one special time period which produced more of the heroes than another period? Do your students have any thoughts on why that would be?
66. Oaths
    Social Studies/Writing Provide a copy of the Oath of Office for the President of the United States. Discuss what it is to take an oath. Who administers the oath? Why is an oath required? What would your students promise if they were taking the office of President of the United States? Ask your students to watch the Inauguration and then write their reports and/or responses to the ceremony. Students can also research past inaugurations and present reports to the class.
67. Penmanship Partners
    Writing Here's a partnership activity that your students will love – and you get a chance to get across a good point to the kids. Ask each of your students to copy a poem, writing on every other line of the paper. Don't tell them why they're doing it until they're all finished – you want their everyday handwriting for this activity. When everyone is finished, ask the kids to pair up and exchange papers. Now tell them why they had to skip a line between each line of poetry – each student has to copy the handwriting of his or her partner as closely as possible, line under line. Kids will make more of an effort to practice good penmanship when they hear their friends say, "Hey you make your f's look like b's," or "You made your y's so long, you didn't even leave enough room for me to write," etc.
68. Look Again
    Art/Science Ask your students to sketch a constellation in the night sky in relation to an object such as a rooftop or a tall tree. They can sketch this constellation at different times every other night for a week. This is a good way to impress in them the differences in the night sky over a period of time.
69. A Modern Myth
    Art/Writing Encourage your students to dream up a design for a constellation they think they can see when they look up at the night sky. Share with your class some of the myths behind the more well-known constellations and ask them to write their own myth explaining their design.
70. Energy Chart
    Science Keep a daily chart of energy use in your school. One way is to sketch pictures on a timeline, starting with 6:00 a.m. when the furnaces are running but very few lights are used. Then show the use of showers in the gym, stoves in the cafeteria kitchen and all the way on to afternoon and evening activities which require varying amounts of energy. Perhaps the sketches will make your students think about conservation.

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:
Sherry Timberman, Albany Township, ME, #13; Bernice Regenstein, Rochester, NY, #16.

POETRY: "Poetry Puzzles," by Martin Shaw, Bronxville, NY. "Communication," "Hats," by Marie Cecchini, West Dundee, IL. "Today is a New Day" by Heidi Bee Roemer, Orland Park, IL. "Poetically" by Teddy Meister, Orlando, FL

Illustrations by H. Robert Loomis.

January, 2005, Vol.35, No.4