DINOSAUR DELIGHTS

Taken from Copycat Press.  http://stores.ebay.com/Copycat-Store
Pick and choose what you would like to do.  I enjoyed using the rubs in a center with my students.  I also liked the poetry and the drawing.  You can use geometric shapes for the drawing project.  See a similar project with geometric shapes - http://okscribbler.blogspot.com/2010/02/geonimal-jungle.html

GRANDPARENT DAY

I love genealogy, so I always did this project.  We wrote a letter to our grandparents, enclosing the questions (copied front and back).  Each grandparent needs their own questions.  There is also a worksheet that tells the price of items then and now.  The students found that very interesting.
I had a 1 in. binder that I divided with the student names.  The cover was labeled Marvelous Memories.  When the letters came back from the grandparents, I would let the students share with the class and then add it to our Grandparent Binder.
We also filled out worksheets about our grandparents.  I think you could send these to grandparents or keep in the student Journal/Memory Book.
In addition to the letters, I sent home the grandparent tree.  I asked the parents to fill it out, as needed, due to the space limitations.  These family trees went into our "Family Tree" Class Booklet.  The students enjoyed both these books all year.  At the end of the year, I made sure to add these precious papers to their Journal/Memory Books.

GP letter put inside of cover.

Cover for letter to GP.

I AM A __________ PERSON WHO...

Great project for Catholic School's Week - January.  Students can copy off of a form or you can make the document editable on the computer (see below) and students can type their responses.  You might add some art work to go with this writing or have it framed in black construction paper.  It looks very striking in the hallway.  These can be posted on your website, made into a class book, and finally put in the Journal/Memory Books.  (Of course the title could be I am a child who or I am a student who...)

  

I AM A CATHOLIC PERSON WHO…

likes ___     

hates  ___    

can  ___    

cannot ___     

would never  ___    

would rather  ___    

loves to   ___   

wants to learn  ___    

used to be afraid of   ___   

would be better off if   ___   

is really good at   ___   

gets really angry when   ___   

bugs other people when   ___   

has the good habit of   ___   

has the bad habit of  ___     

wishes I could change the way I  ___    

wishes I could change the way people ___     

will someday ___     

by: ___  

http://tltgroup.wordpress.com/low-threshold-applications/25-creating-editable-forms-in-microsoft-word/
Teachers often need to provide documents for students to respond to a structured set of questions.  This technology provides a way to create a document for your students where it may be important to maintain some consistent format, or where there is a need for a structured response.  In a typical assignment, an instructor may distribute in paper or electronic format, a list of required questions to answer, but when 30 students freely compose their responses, you end up with 30 different kinds of documents to read.

Some advantages of this type of technology

• No special software beyond Word required
• The information returned is consistently formatted
• The amount of text returned can be limited
• The document can have portions locked from changes by the student
• Students can save the document to their hard drive and go back at any time to finish theirr work. (PDF forms read in Acrobat Reader do not save content)
• Students can save a copy of their document and/or e-mail it to an instructor
• 
  

Steps

1. Create an approximate layout of the document, leaving room for the answer spaces. You can use formatting borders (Format -> Borders and Shading…) to put boxes around these areas.
2. Display the Forms Toolbar (View -> Toolbars -> Forms)
   
3. Move the mouse to the location where an answerbox should be. Click the ab| icon on the Forms Tool palette to add a text form field (a place for someone to type text).
4. When you have added all of the desired form fields, lock the document by going to Tools -gt; Protect Document… In the dialog box, click the radio button for Forms.
   Then enter a password and click OK. You will have to re-enter the password as a confirmation:
   
5. Save the document. Keep the original in a safe place (in case you need to make changes) and make a copy of the document to try as a user might see it. Students can tab from field to field, print, email, and save the modified version of the document.

Then when students are done filling in the blanks, save to their name.

Teacher can then go unprotect and print OR

Print off the student copy without saving and let them use it as a sloppy copy to write a final draft.

This is a FORMATTED EDITABLE FORM for student use.  

AUTHOR STUDY - LITERACY

There are many ways to learn about authors - the web is full of lots of great ideas.
Here are a few of the projects I did with my students over the years:
1.  Set up AUTHOR OF THE MONTH Area in the classroom with a poster depicting the author's books, various books the author wrote, and an audio tape of the author telling about their experiences.  

2.  At the end of each month students would draw a picture showing their favorite book they read that month by the author.

Questions to guide the experience:
What type of books does this author write?
Who are the characters? Are the main characters the same or different in the books that you found/read?
Is the setting similar in all or some of the books? If so, why do you think the author chose this particular setting?
Are there particular messages that the author wants to voice?
Are the characters similar? Compare and contrast the main characters in 2 of the books (short stories).
If you put this author’s books in chronological order by copyright date, does a pattern emerge?  If so, how might you characterize this author’s writing development or sequence?
Use an encyclopedia to look up information about the author, or see if there is a biography (or auto biography) for this author. What in the author’s life might have influenced his or her writing? What was happening historically in the author’s home country at the time of his/her major works?
Did the author publish works in more than one genre?
What do the author’s books tell you about the author’s culture?

HOME ENERGY SURVEY

Let the class see how much energy is being used at certain times of the day and by what appliances.  Com-pile into a class book.  At the end of the year put the survey in the Journal/Memory Books.  Great activity for EARTH DAY.

OUTDOOR QUOTIENT OF YOUR COMMUNITY

 By answering a few simple questions you can decide what kind of quality outdoor resources your community has.  Great for EARTH DAY. Makes a fun Class Book to put in the Book Corner.  At the end of the year remember to put the child's test in the Journal/Memory Book.

IF I WERE THE TEACHER...

Do you want to know what your students are thinking should be taught in the classroom?  This writing assignment is an eye opener!  Pros/Cons of brainstorming:  students have material to use while writing....students might limit their responses to the options listed on the board.   Makes a cute Class Book.   This can also be put on the website if you wish to share with others.   Will be a nice addition to the Journal/Memory Book at the end of the year.

ALL ABOUT ME

I can't think of an easier writing assignment.  The guidelines are at the top of the page in question format. The students just need to answer the questions using complete sentences.  The questions also lend themselves to make it easier to capitalize and punctuate.  Tell the students that for each answer, they need to start with a capital letter and end with punctuation.  I encouraged the students to add a bit more: grade they were in, hobby, pets, sports, favorite subject...  We did a little brainstorm session before we began writing, so the extra ideas were on  the board, to help them.  A nice ending sentence could be:  One other thing I think you should know about me is _______________________.  I always had my students start a writing project with a Sloppy Copy.  Have the students bring their first effort to the teacher to be checked for spelling, capitalization, punctuation, idea...  On the Final Copy the students should be very aware of neat writing.  This project makes a great Class Book.  Remember to put in the Journal/Memory Book at the end of the year.

COMING TO AMERICA - OUR ANCESTORS

When November rolls around and you are talking about Pilgrims, pull this worksheet out for the students to fill out at home.  Have them draw a detailed picture of their ancestors coming to America and color it neatly.  While students are working, you can read the following book:

Coming To America: The Story Of Immigration by Betsy Maestro and Susannah Ryan

This makes a great Class Book for your Reading Corner.  Remember to put it in the Journal/Memory Book at the end of the year.  You might also post these on your website for parents to enjoy.

BOOOOTIFUL STORIES

Start October off with some spooky writing.  Begin by brainstorming ideas of what could happen one scary night.  List the ideas on the board.  Some ideas could be spooky characters, scary places, horrific sounds... Students write a sloppy copy on lined paper and have it checked by the teacher.  They copy onto the writing page after fixing errors.  Color neatly when completed.  A nice touch during the actual writing time is a spooky sound audio tape playing softly in the background.  Before you put into a class book, you might put some on your website for parents to read.

BEGINNING OF THE YEAR - GET TO KNOW YOU PAPERS

This is a compilation of papers(Interest Inventories) that I used to get to know my students as well as for them to get to know themselves and their peers.  They can either go in the Journal/Memory Books or in Class Books after you peruse them.