More Fun Summer Ideas

Here is yet another list of things to do this summer.  I hope all of you are having a marvelous summer vacation.  I miss you already!  Let me know if you do any of the following activities.  I think I might do a few myself with my nieces and nephews.

Great ideas for things to do this summer.  Summer Bucket List

Ideas from readwritethink.org

Play a math game with UNO cards called Flip Ten

Watch the Summer Olympics and do some of the Summer Olympic printables.  Also, check out some great links about London.

Step away from the TV or computer screen and do some of these fun activities.

Play Flag Tag on Flag Day or the 4th of July!

I am bored activities.

How about creating your own Lawn Twister game and getting the neighborhood kids to play.

Here is a website that shows you how to draw different animals, people, and cartoon characters.

Got some sidewalk chalk?  Here is a link to 30 things you can do with sidewalk chalk.

A list of 80 free or inexpensive activities to do this summer.

Here is another list of summer activities-75 things to do with kids.

Camp Mom has 20 activities to do with kids to make summer awesome!

Summer Is Coming

Did you know:  All students experience learning losses when they do not engage in educational activities during the summer.
-On average, students lose approximately 2.6 months of grade level equivalency in mathematical computation skills during the summer months.
-Low-income children and youth experience greater summer learning losses than their higher income peers.
-Students may not have the same structured meal schedule and sometimes access to nutritious meals during the summer.
-Studies show that out-of-school time is a dangerous time for unsupervised children and youth.
Important Facts:

• Only approximately 10 percent of students nationwide participate in summer school or attend schools with non-traditional calendars.
• A majority of students (56 percent) want to be involved in a summer program that “helps kids keep up with schoolwork or prepare for the next grade”.
• Research shows that teachers typically spend between 4-6 weeks re-teaching material that students have forgotten over the summer.
• At least 11 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 12 care for themselves over the summer months (unsupervised). Facts provided by:  Ron Fairchild, Executive Director of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Summer Learning

With summer vacation on the near horizon, I thought it would be great to list some things to do during the long three months off of school.  Then I decided, why should I create the list?  Why not have my students create the list.  So here is what they came up with:
1.  Read a book
2.  Go to summer school
3.  Do math problems
4.  Work on writing
5.  Count money or other things
6.  Play math games
7.  Go to the library
8.  Practice spelling
9.  Go to Dr. Kingsley's website
10.  Practice multiplication
11. Do science experiments
12.  Do Nebraska Pars Persuit
13.  Count change
14.  Play with a dictionary
15.  Practice cursive writing
16.  Learn Spanish
17.  Learn about China
18.  Play school with my brothers and/or sisters or kids in the neighborhood
19.  Do flash cards
20. Play cards
21.  Practice telling time
22.  Count money saved using coupons
23.  Make and take reading tests
24. Play carrotsticks.com
25.  Play Hoodamath.com
26.  Write stories on Storybird.com
27.  Join the reading club at the library
28.  Do art/craft projects at home
29.  Set a goal and do my best to achieve it.
30.  Counting people at the pool
31.  Counting how many days until a special event
32.  Practice addition, subtraction, and division

Here are some handy websites with other great ideas for learning over the summer break.
How to Keep Your Kids Learning Over the Summer
Mom Congress Challenge-Learning Through the Summer
Five Fun Ways to Keep Your Child Learning This Summer
7 Ways to Keep Kids Busy Over the Summer
Recommended Reading for 6-9 Year Olds
Get Ready For Summer: What Teachers Recommend
How to Beat Bordedom Over the Summer
10 Ways to Keep Children Learning During Summer Break
Schools administrators offer ideas to keep kids learning over the summer
The Secret to Helping Students Improve Reading During the Summer Break
Summer Brain Drain: Encouraging kids to keep learning during the summer holidays
Boost Your Child’s Learning Over the Summer With These Ideas
Stop Summer Sliding

Our Week in Review

Thank you to all of the moms who attended the Mother's Day Fashion Show on Thursday.  It was so much fun to shower you with gifts and parade your children in their fun fashions.  I hope you have a marvelous Mother's Day!

The class really enjoyed their Pajama Day on Friday.  They worked really hard to earn all of the parts to Mr. Potato Head.  They are working on a new goal-No Work, Just Fun, and Chewing Gum.  Hopefully, they will earn all of Mr. Potato Head's parts once again.

We took several Essential Objective Assessments this week.  Please take a look at Power School to find out how your  child did on their assessments.

We are working on our Summative Math Test.  There are 45 questions, so we are doing about 9 a day.  When the test is completed, the grade will be added to the grade book and the Essential Objectives sheet will be sent home.  The Reading rubric will be sent home with the report card.

Next week we will be taking the end of the quarter spelling assessments.  The spelling record sheet wil also be sent home with the report card.

We took part 1 of the weather unit science test.  We will take part 2 on Tuesday.

Monday is the day for returning all library books.  Our last library class in on Thursday next week.

My Graduation

This free slideshow personalized with Smilebox

Best Buddies

Make your own photo slideshow

On a Personal Note

I had a the pleasure of attending the 50th Annual Omaha Bowling Hall of Fame Banquet on Saturday night.  It was a very special occasion for my family.  My mom, Breta Jackson was inducted this year.  Making the evening even more special was the fact that she is the fourth member of our family to be inducted.  My father, Denny Jackson and my grandparents, Fred and Maggie Jackson were previous inductees.  I believe we are the only family with four members in the Hall of Fame.  I truly enjoyed the evening, being surrounded by all of my family, my parents, my siblings and their spouses, my nieces and nephews, and of course my wonderful husband and children.  We were all there to cheer my mom on!  She did a great job with her speech.  She is not comfortable speaking in front of a large crowd even though she greeted every customer who entered the family business, Midwest Bowling and Billiard Supply for years.  Another highlight of the night was getting to tour the Memory Lane Bowling Museum at Southroads Mall.  Having grown up in my family's bowling pro shop and in almost every bowling center in town, Memory Lane was a true trip of memories for me.  My dad gave me a tour and showed me all of the family contributions that were made to the museum.  It was a lot of fun to hear the stories behind the items and feel the rush of childhood memories come flooding back.  If you have the time, stop by the Southroads and take a tour of Memory Lane. 

Dr. Kingsley and her parents, Denny and Breta Jackson

The Best Laid Plans

Mrs. Harms and I had planned on having the first and third grade students complete a QR Code Scavenger Hunt using the district Ipods for our buddy session this week. When we tested our QR codes and sites, we felt they were just too small to use on the Ipod screens. Not wanting to waste our time with the high demand Ipods, we found an app entitled Math Bingo. We felt the third grade students could help the first grade students practice their addition facts using the app.

Our classes met in the gym. The lesson was discussed, directions were given, and we modeled the behavior expectations. Then the kids were paired up, and the Ipods were distributed. It was so much fun to see the excitement and enthusiasm from each child. The Ipods began to sing with affirmation of correct answers. Third grade students used their math strategies to help the first graders compute sums. To me, that was so affirming to see. Students working cooperatively, helping each other learn.

After about 15 minutes, student pairs were challenged to go to the next level. Squeals of delight were heard across the gym and buddies accomplished more and more addition problems. Some buddies even had the time to attempt the subtraction level.

The last few minutes were spent letting the first and third grade pairs explore the apps on the Ipods. We over heard so many kids exclaiming, "This is so much fun!" Did they realize they had just spent 25 minutes practicing math facts? Mrs. Harms and I stood there wishing we both had class sets of Ipods so we could experience more of this excitement for learning.