Favorites
Some I like to do are:
(3rd grade)
Before Christmas, I get a class set of month-old toy ads from the local toy store. I surprise my class by giving them a pretend amount of money to spend, like $75, and let them go through the ad to make their "wish list." The lower the amount, the more picky they have to be. They have to write the name of the toy and how much it costs. When it's all added together, they can't go over the preset amount. I don't mess with tax added in, but do talk about it so that they know they can't spend exactly what the toy is worth in real life. It's a real life application, and it's always a big hit.
I like exploring poetry, reading all different kinds, and exploring the elements. Students do "rough drafts" of each: cinquain, haiku, biopoem, diamante and illustrate their poem. We publish it into a nice finished folder. It's a keepsake.
Another big hit I've done and that is very adaptable is a recipe lesson with a Mexico unit of study. Along with our trade books and webquests, we explore mexican cooking. I acquire tons of cookbooks or magazines that have Mexican flare recipes. We talk about the ingredients, measurements, and compare/contrast american cooking to cultural Mexican cooking, i.e. bread vs. the tortilla. Students browse through the books and pick a recipe that looks simple enough to really make, and they copy it neatly onto Mexican themed paper with their name at the bottom. (We have to discuss the construction of a recipe verses a written paragraph, too.) I take big construction paper with a Mexican theme paper glued on the top and put "Mrs. B's Class Mexican Cookbook." I laminate the construction paper and fold it in half to create a "book." I copy each students' recipe (a class set of each one), and organize them together. I punch holes, and tie the holes with yarn in a knot, then a bow. Another class keepsake with a contribution from the whole class. It sounds like some work, but it's not really too bad. Just do a little on it for a few days, it gets done!!
I do simple problem/evidence/solution/results graphs on posterboard with 4 big squares or circles for students to write in. Draw arrows to connect. I laminate so they last, and students use vis-a-vis markers to write in their analysis of the book we are reading. These wipe off with a wet paper towel. But you could do story elements or cause/effect--anything.
Hope you can use some of these!
