Classroom Ideas

Please check the download page for material that you can download and print yourself that correlate with each idea.

Book Reports

Book reports have become an integral part of our classroom routine.  Students are given two weeks to complete their book reports, which vary in genre.  Here are a few examples of the reports I assign.

First Nine Weeks – Poster Advertisement

Students made a poster advertisement of their mystery book to try and entice other students to read their chosen book.

Second Nine Weeks – Memory Bags

Students collected objects that could retell their story and placed them in their memory bags. 

Third Nine Weeks – Puppets

Students designed their own puppets to help retell their story to the class.  We really enjoy our puppet shows.

Fourth Nine Weeks – Story Sandwiches

Students made their own sandwiches with the information from their stories.

Classroom Economy

In our classroom we have a classroom economy.  Students are paid a weekly salary for certain job duties, behavior, attendance, and cleanliness and organization.  Students save their money for things they wish to purchase.  Below you will find our classroom jobs and our reward list.  A big thank you to Ms. Newingham for this great idea.

The Doorbell Rang

This is a great book written by Pat Hutchins.  This book gives students a real-world understanding of division.  Reading this book while students use a hands-on manipulative such as paper cookies or real cookies gives them this real-world experience.

Friendly Letter

Knowing the parts of a friendly letter is an important skill in third grade.  To get the students up and moving I came up with the following little jig.

Heading – One hand on both sides of your head

Greeting – One hand out imitating a handshake

Body – Both hands brush the side of your stomach (body)

Closing – Hands brush across your knees

Signature – Stamp your feet twice

In my class I also require students to write me a friendly letter every two weeks that tells me of a book they're reading.  This is an idea you might want to consider because it reinforces so many language arts skills.

How Big Is A Foot?

This book, written by Rolf Myller, is great for teaching the need for a standard unit of measurement.  I try to read this book stressing what a dilemma the king and queen are in.  “What in the world are they going to do?”  After reading the story, pass out foot cutouts and have students measure various objects around the classroom.  Check out the download page for copies of the feet and room measurement activity sheet. 

The Math Curse

Reading the Math Curse by Jon Scieszka is a fantastic way to get students thinking about math in their everyday lives.  They will see that math is all around us – everywhere.  While in college I wrote my own version of The Math Curse.  This book chronicles a day in the life of Mr. Michael and the “Math Curse” he has.  Having students write their own “Math Curse”, or simply giving them an activity sheet of the various problems throughout the book are two ways of assessing students’ knowledge of various math skills.

Multiplication Book

In third grade learning the fundamentals of multiplication is very important in understanding future skills.  To do this I read students the book Each Orange Had 8 Slices by Paul Giganti, Jr.  Students created their own version of this book in a very funny and creative way. 

Reader’s Choice

Would you recommend this book to others?  This is what I ask my students to tell me every nine weeks.  I place a book on my magnetic whiteboard for children to move their magnetic pictures either under the yes or no sign.  This shows children that reading is important and valued in our classroom and gives them a chance to voice their opinions (which they love to do).

The Reading Café

To celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday our class hosts Dr. Seuss’ Reading Café for our kindergarten students.  Invitations are sent out to our guests to get them excited and eager to come to the reading café.  When guests arrive I have two students that check students’ invitations and hand them off to their waiter/waitress.  Once our guests are shown to their seats students take their order by going over the menu of books.  While guests wait for their order they get to snack on cupcakes and goldfish crackers. Yum!  Thank you to Mrs. Findlay for this excellent idea.

Rocks, Rocks, Rocks

Igneous, Metamorphic, and Sedimentary rocks can be really yummy to learn.  To show how these different types of rocks form I use food, which is something I really enjoy.  Thanks to Mrs. Gold for sharing this idea.

Igneous Rocks – form from hot, melted lava that cools and hardens into a rock.

To show this process we melted chocolate chips and placed it on a piece of wax paper.  Then, we smoothed it under the wax paper and put it in the freezer.  When it freezes, it’s a different shape.

Metamorphic Rocks – for when two or more types of rock merge into one.

To show this process we gathered rolling pins and pieces of white and wheat bread.  Students rolled and pressed these two pieces of bread together.

Sedimentary Rocks – form when layers of sediment merge through time from pressure and heat.

To show this process we had cookie dough, sprinkles, chocolate chips, white chocolate chunks, M&Ms, and raisins.  Students were given a piece of cookie dough and were allowed to add different layers of sediment.  After forming the layers of sediment we baked our “rocks”.

The Wax Museum

The Wax Museum has become an annual tradition in my classroom.  Students choose a famous American to research and present.  Students complete a project board consisting of a bio poem, timeline, different quotes, and pictures.   Upon completion of research and project boards students get to portray their famous American during the Wax Museum.  Green buttons are placed under the students’ stand and once pressed students (wax figures) come alive and begin speaking.  Things like this are what teaching is all about.

Workshop

Workshop is a fun time for students to interact and learn from each other.  I allow 30 minutes in my reading block, and I have students divided into 4 different groups, which rotate daily. Students do many different activities such as bingo, folder games, reading, game boards etc…  These activities help to reinforce many different math and language arts skills.  This is a must for any classroom, and it gives students a break from the quiet routine of the morning.  In fact I often play these activities in the floor with the kids.

Write From The Beginning

Writing is crucial for students to master.   Our school system is very fortunate to have discovered this writing program.  I allow 30 minutes in my daily schedule for writing.  Many teachers cannot find the time to allow for this, but I feel that it teaches and reinforces so many different language arts skills that it’s essential to the learning process.

- On day one students begin completing their graphic organizers (flow map) with opening sentences, main ideas, and supporting details.

 -On day two students complete their transition words and closing sentences.  I also have students circle their paragraphs with different colored markers to show when a different paragraph is started.  In our school third grade students are required to write a total of five paragraphs. 

-Day three and four consist of students writing and me checking their papers. 

-On day five we read and share our papers aloud with our classmates.

Click here to learn more about Write… from the Beginning.