Here's what we did for the final 6 weeks of summer last year. Some of the activities shown in the gallery are from those weeks.
July 3rd – 7th
The Moon
Words of the Day:
Rille
Eclipse
Perigee
Satellite
Anniversary of the Moon Landing is July 20th!
Make Moon Rocks
Watch YouTube videos about the moon
Astronaut Ice Cream
Book - If You Decide to Go to the Moon by Faith McNulty
Moon Crater Gross Motor activity – use white toothpaste on black poster board. Do this outside. Have kids take turns throwing a wiffle ball at the moon and see how craters are made. Try to talk about asteroids and how they burn up in the earth’s atmosphere most of the time, but the moon hasn’t GOT a protective atmosphere.
July 10th – 14th
Mask Making Week
Words of the Day:
Armature
Sculpture
Balance
Contrast
Modeling
Paper Mache Masks all week
Monday: Brainstorm what sort of mask child wants it to be. Funny, Scary, Superhero, Sports Star etc. Blow up balloons and begin covering them with layers of paper strips dipped in flour paste. Let dry over night. (Use pile of book order forms – might need to start ripping the strips well ahead of time)
Tuesday: Adding more layers of paper and flour paste. Let dry overnight.
Wednesday: If the masks are dry enough, students pop their balloon and teachers help them cut out the holes for eyes. More paper and flour strips around the new holes. (Smaller strips for this) Let dry overnight.
Thursday: Painting our masks and adding any construction paper add-ons
Friday: Finishing touches for our masks.
July 17th – 21st
Mad Scientist Week
Words of the Day:
Abstract
Data
Variable
Procedure
Conclusion
Monday: Build our own Science Tub – a place to keep scientific discoveries and keepsakes. This uses the cans we used to dry our masks on last week.
Tuesday: Gigantic Bubbles – 6 cups of water, 1/2 cup of Dawn, 1/2 cup of cornstarch, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, and 1 tablespoon of glycerin
Wednesday: Baking Soda Volcano
Thursday: Film Canister Rockets – Uses 35mm film canisters and Alka-Seltzer – We will make rockets to go on top of them to make the experiment look even cooler.
Friday: Sun Dial Clock on paper plate with a pencil – the students draw the numbers on the clock in the proper places and then we attach a pencil to the middle and take outside in the sun to show how they work.
July 24th – 28th
Mystery/Detective Week
Words of the Day:
Inference
Sleuth
Evidence
Hunch
Deduction
Daily: Mystery Mail – An unsigned letter (just saying hi and asking how they are or something) from someone they know (another teacher or someone close to a teacher) that includes some “clues” as to who they are. Things like receipts or candy wrappers, pictures, or other items that clue us in by making inferences. Can do one daily. First day, put it up where they all see sealed envelope with (?) and wonder about it- but keep them in suspense.
Fingerprints game – Use tape and talcum powder to try to lift some fingerprints from items around the room—maybe get a fingerprinting kit
Mystery Story Mad Lib – With the whole class
Alli’s choice J
July 31st – Aug 4th
Dinosaur Week
Words of the Day:
– back by popular demand
Monday: Dinosaur “fossil” making –with play-doh or air dry clay
Tuesday: Dino-Diorama- Have 2-3 groups design their own diorama for some of our dinosaurs
Wednesday: Dinosaur Dig – in the sand box – with spoons
Thursday: Dinosaur Teeth – plaster of paris and wet sand creation
Friday: Dinosaur songs on YouTube
August 7th – 11th
Pirate Week
Words of the Day:
Ahoy
Hornswaggle
Avast
Head
Monkey
See sheet for piratey definitions for these
Monday: Separate Class into “ships” assign them ship names and set up their rum bottles for collecting their doubloons - Doubloons awarded for doing good deeds, behaving properly, volunteerism, etc.
Walk the Plank blindfolded and spun for higher difficulty
Tuesday: Make treasure maps – In groups (ships)
Wednesday: Message in a bottle activity and game (individual) – They write what they would put on their note if they were marooned. Then when we are done, we take turns reading aloud what we wrote.
Thursday: Treasure Hunt
Friday: Cannon Ball Toss – in pairs (probably from same “ships”) toss a water filled black balloon back and forth and see how many times they can do it before it breaks – someone is getting wet. OUTSIDE GAME