QUESTION: Elementary Year End Activity Ideas?

[Phyllis Ain]

'Tis the season for all good things to come to an end.  I apologize to all of you for sending a request via message format, but am looking for exciting and creative year end activities and projects that have been particularly successful with third graders.  I am being called in to substitute in a class for the remainder of the quarter and would welcome ideas.  Thanks

[Kim Davis]

HI Phyllis,

Two of my favorite activites are an economics project where we turn the classroom into a "factory" with advertising, accounting, engineering, etc. It falls in line with our third grade curriculum. We build items to sell at the school store, pencil toppers, erasers (eraser clay). The kids love it! My parents that help me love it too!  It brings the terms human resources, marketing, advertising, consumers, scarcity, supply and demand to life.

Also, have the kids write skits and perform for the lower grades. Fables are alot of fun for 3rd graders to write and you can video them as well so they can "watch" each others.

good luck!

Kim

[Phyllis Ain]

I love the idea of an economics project, particularly because the social studies benchmarks for this grade level are so abstract. Parent involvement at our school is really low and this might serve as an impetus to bring some in.  We do not have a school store.  We do have hungry kids, though, and I like to bake.  I did something like the fable idea when I taught 4th grade years ago.  Thanks for the ideas.

[Kelly Farrow]

Our third graders enjoy being filmed, so any projects they can present on film or filmed readers' theater would likely be very high-interest. Comics lessons and/or the use of software like ComicLife (or free web sites like makebeliefscomix and Professor Garfield's comics creator) will also hook them!

[Phyllis Ain]

Thanks!  Thinking of creating comics and working on readers' theater scripts.  We have a book fair scheduled sometime before the end of the year where students create and publish student work.  This might fit well.  Again, thanks for the suggestion and the makebelifscomix site.

[Cindy Switzler]

One project I love for third graders at the end of the year is to have the students create their own games to teach a concept. I give specific feedback on the quality of the game I expect, but am very free regarding the format. I use a manila folder as the board template. Skills taught have ranged from map skills, multiplication/division, dictionary guide words, telling & elapsed time, geometry, etc. They make their game board, write clear objectives, make their own spinners or special dice, and write the rules. Ultimately we play the games and provide positive feedback.