APRIL FUN

April Fun

No Fooling
Do you know how April Fool's Day started? Long ago, some places celebrated the new year on April the first. Later the calendar was changed to the new year on January the first. Some people did not realize that January the first was the start of the new year. The people who celebrated on the old date were called April Fools. As you know, today we celebrate the day by playing pranks on people. I just thought you would like to know.
Art ~ Spring Scenes
Materials
small containers - I used empty milk cartons
liquid starch
sand
tempera paint in spring colors
water
large wooden spoon
paper
crayons
Directions
In your small containers, mix together the sand, liquid starch, and water. You want an even consistency that will spread easily.
You may want to use one cup each of water and starch and two cups of sand. Divide the mixture among several small containers. Add some poster or tempera paint to each container. Have the children draw a spring picture with their crayons. Some suggestions are kites flying, birds, pretty flowers and so forth. Now have the children paint over their crayon design with the sand mixture.
Buggy Bugs
You may want to remind the children that insects have six legs and three main body parts. You do not need to tell them that this art project reinforces some science.
Materials
pipe cleaners
clay
toothpicks
Directions
Each child will need a ball of clay. If you use long pipe cleaners, cut them in half. Give each child six short pipe cleaners. Have the children roll their clay into three body parts. They will use the toothpicks to hold the body parts together. Have the children bend the pipe cleaners to look like legs. Have them place three on one side of their insect and three on the other side. Save the insects for a creative writing activity.
Math
April the first is Census Day. Compare a census to a poll. Explain to students that a census is a poll that is taken every ten years. It helps the government know how many people are in a section of the city, county, or country. Have the children take a class or family poll. Here are a few suggestions: take a poll of all the different pets that the students own, take a poll of favorite vegetables, colors, birthdays in each of the months.
January February March April May
4 1 3 9 2

Math Journal
Upper Elementary
1.MaryBeth saw 13 ladybugs. Each ladybug had 5 spots. How many ladybug spots did MaryBeth see in all?
2. Izzy saw 3 butterflies on each of her 11 flowers. How many butterflies did Izzy see?
3. Katie found 12 insects. As you know, an insect has 6 legs. How many insect legs did Katie have?
Lower Elementary
1. Kristin caught 12 lightning bugs on Friday and 9 on Saturday. How many lightning bugs did Kristin have?
2. Kyira found a bird nest with 3 eggs in it. Another nest had 2 eggs. The next nest had 3 eggs in it. How many eggs did she find?


3. Haley saw 4 caterpillars on one twig. She saw 7 caterpillars on another twig. How many caterpillars did she see in all?

Language Arts
Hans Christian Andersen was born on April 2, 1805 in Denmark. He is best known for his fairy tales. Some of his fairy tales are "The Emperor's New Clothes" and "The Ugly Duckling." Have students discuss what makes a good fairy tale. Discuss the plot, the characters, and was there a moral meaning. Have students pick their favorite fairy tale. Allow them the opportunity of writing a new ending to the fairy tale. Make a class fairy tale book. Older students may want to share their fairy tale with younger students. When my third graders did this project, they shared their new fairy tales with the kindergarten class. I am not sure which class enjoyed it the most.

International Children's Book Day is April 2.
Materials
Each child's favorite book
Poster board or large construction paper
Markers and crayons
Directions
Have your students make an advertisement of their favorite book. Instruct them to make the advertisement so appealing that everyone will want to read their book. They may want to draw their favorite scene, their favorite character, the funniest part, the scariest part, etc.
Feeling like a bug
Directions
Have your students look at the following sayings. Allow them to illustrate the saying as it sounds. Then discuss with them the real meaning of the saying.
1. Snug as a bug in the rug (comfortable). 2. Butterflies in my stomach (nervous). 3. Busy as a bee. (busy hard worker) 4. A butterfly patch (adhesive bandage placed on a wound). 5. Mad as a hornet. (very angry) 6. A bee in your bonnet. (a real attitude) 7. Ants in your pants (jittery, can not sit still)
It's All In A Name
Directions
This activity could go under science or language arts. Have your students look at the following insect names. Permit them the opportunity to illustrate what they think the insect would look like, based on its name. Next, you will provide encyclopedias for your students. Have them look up each insect. Compare and contrast the difference in their drawing and the actual picture of the insect.
robber fly, walking stick, tiger moth, gypsy moth, monarch butterfly, cabbage butterfly, carpenter beetle, yellow jacket, and carpet beetle.

Daily Language
Have your children copy the following sentences. Then allow them to take a red crayon and circle the mistakes. Next, they will write the sentence in the correct form.
1. a insect got six legs
2. a bee stinged cassie
3. can you catch a fly
4. a spider ain't no insect
5. noah catched too bugs
Creative Writing
1. Write a story about the bug you made. Some of the things that you might want to mention is: what does it eat, what does it do for fun, where does it sleep.
2. Pretend that you are a beautiful caterpillar. Write a story about your winter in a cocoon.
3. Remember the movie about the scientist shrinking his kids. Pretend that one day you were small enough to ride on an ant's back.
4. You are a bee. You just stung your first person. How do you feel?
5. Pretend that you have just discover a new insect. What will you name it? Why?
Science
Insects
Materials
Encyclopedias
paper
Directions
Write the following titles on a separate sheet of paper. Harmful Insects, Helpful Insects. Have your students find five harmful insects and five helpful insects. Next, they will write why that insect is consider helpful or harmful. For example, if they chose a honeybee, they could tell about it producing honey. On the other hand, they could choose a moth and write about them eating clothes and other materials.
Bug Parts
Materials
grasshopper
straight pins
marker
cardboard
Directions
Using straight pins, attach your grasshopper to your sheet of cardboard. Now you will label the antennae, head, thorax, and the abdomen.

March Fun

March Fun
Bible lesson for this month is on Easter and Lent.
Spring is coming

Art ~

Is March coming in like a lion and out like a lamb?

Materials
Black construction paper
Glue
Wiggly Eyes
Cotton balls or polyfil
Scrap materials
Directions
Have children trace their hand. This will be the body of their lamb. Now they will cut their black lamb out. The thumb of their hand is the lamb's head. Have them glue a wiggly eye on this part. Cover the rest of the body with cotton balls. Remind them to leave the legs (their fingers) uncovered. Take the scraps of material and add a colorful springtime bow to the lambs.

Math
When I think of Easter candy for some reason, I think of jellybeans.
Materials Bag of jelly beans ~ several
Poster Board
Colored markers
Directions
Provide students with a large supply of jellybeans. Have them separate the jellybeans into groups according to color. Have the children count the number of jellybeans for each color. Then as a group, make a line graph, a bar graph, a pictograph, and a pie chart. This exercise is great practice for sorting and graphing.
Math Journal

Upper elementary
1. The Easter Bunny has 27 eggs to deliver to 3 friends. If each friend receives the same number of eggs, how many eggs will they receive?
2. Your friend has 6 rabbits. Each rabbit has 4 babies. How many baby rabbits are there?
3. You are planting a garden. You have 8 rows in your garden. You have 48 seeds to plant. Plant your seeds evenly. How many will you put in each row?
Lower elementary
1. Steven and Marybeth went on an Easter egg hunt. Steven found 5 eggs and Marybeth found 4 eggs. How many eggs did they find in all?
2. Katie has 13 jellybeans. She gave 8 to Kristin. How many jellybeans does Katie have left?
3. The girls have 3 red eggs, 7 blue eggs, and 5 pink eggs. How many eggs do they have in all?

Language Arts
Scrambled Eggs
Materials
Ten colorful plastic eggs
Basket
Easter grass
Directions
On small pieces of paper, program the "inside" of the eggs by writing scrambled spelling words, sentences to properly punctuate, definitions, abbreviations etc. In the basket, place the directions. For example, if we were going to do abbreviations, you would write ST. on one strip, RD. on another, RN on another. Your directions would be to open each egg. Write the word for each abbreviation. This activity has numerous opportunities for you to program. You may want to place this in the geography center. Write the state capitals and have the children write the state. Use it for spelling words, math problems, there are many uses.

Alphabetical Eggs
Materials
10 colorful paper eggs
Basket or other container to hold this game
Directions
Use your spelling words or the words provided for this game. The children will place the eggs in alphabetical order. Here are some springtime words. Spring, rain, robin, eggs, flowers, March, April, chicks, hatch, and nests.

Daily Language
Have your children copy the following sentences. Then allow them to take a red crayon and circle the mistakes. Next, they will write the sentence in the correct form.
1. i got too chocolate eggs
2. the wind blue my kite away
3. her gonna get a knew bonnet
4. the easter bunny are going to come

Reading
Materials
Construction paper basket
Colorful paper eggs
Directions
Make a construction paper Easter basket for each student. After the student reads a book, have them pick a colorful egg. They will write the title on the front and their favorite part of the book on the back. You may want to display these on a bulletin board on in the hallway.

Center Activities
Materials
Several Cleaned empty milk carton
Construction paper
Pipe cleaners
Stickers
Glue
Easter grass
Construction paper eggs
Directions
Using half pint milk cartons make several baskets. Cut the top off the milk carton. Make sure the carton in clean and dry. Cover the bottom of the carton with construction paper. Use a pipe cleaner for the handle. Decorate the basket with stickers. If you decide to put these baskets in the math center, you may want to make 10 baskets. Label each basket with a number from one to ten. On the eggs program math exercises where the answers are from one to ten. For example, on one egg you could have 2 x 5 =. For your younger darlings, you could have 3 + 4 =. The children would sort the eggs into the correct basket. You could also use this for language arts. On your baskets, you could place constant blends such as ch, tr, sh, wh, etc. On the eggs, you would have pictures of things that start with those beginning sounds. The children would look at the pictures and place the egg in the correct basket.

Creative Writing
Using your five senses
Materials
5 pieces of paper per student
2 sheets of construction paper
Crayons or markers
Directions
Have your children write seeing on one page, smelling on another, tasting on another, hearing on another, and feeling on the last. The children will write or draw things that their senses tell them it is spring. Using the construction paper, make this into a book. An example page may look like the following:
Hearing
Birds singing
SeeingBirds building a nest

Letter to the Easter Bunny

This is an excellent opportunity to review the five parts of a personal letter. Have your little darlings write a letter to the Easter Bunny.

Science
Planting Time
Materials
Eggshell
Dirt
Grass seed
Journal
Directions
For this exercise, you will need to boil an egg. Carefully cut away a small circle at the top of the egg. The circle needs to be big enough to clean the inside of the egg. Wash the inside of the egg. Mix your grass seed and dirt together. Carefully place this inside the egg. Make sure you keep this watered. As the grass starts to grow, the roots will push through the egg. This will demonstrate the weathering process. As you continue to water your grass, the water will seep through the cracks. The water may carry some of the dirt with it. This will demonstrate erosion. Have your students write their observations in their journal.
Happy planting.

Easter Fun & Lent Fun

What is Easter?
Children need to know what Easter really is. As adults, we are obligated to demonstrate the meaning of Easter to our children. Looking in the dictionary, I found several meanings for the word Easter. Here are a few: the word Easter is actually derived from Old English and means "spring festival". For the Christian, it is the heavenly jubilation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This celebration is an ancient Christian holiday that is the prominent triumph of the church year. For all the Faithful, it is an observance of new life and deliverance and redemption through Jesus Christ.
WHY IS EASTER MEANINGFUL?
The heart of the Christian philosophy is the remembrance of Christ's resurrection and the promise of his everlasting presence. Easter is a time for remembering. As Christians, we must bear in mind the last days of Jesus here on earth. We remember His acts of love for us. We remember His suffering, anguish, and agony that was all for us. We recall His Crucifixion for us. Above all else, we remember His triumph over death. In celebrating Easter, we are also experiencing faith, hope and restoration or renewal. We have reason to celebrate triumph over transgression. So let us make Easter as blessed as we can, while teaching our children the true meaning.
Palm Sunday Activities
Palm Sunday is the beginning of Jesus' last week. Isn't it exciting that Palm Sunday transpires in spring, when new life is taking place all around us? There is a new beginning all around us with new baby animals, new buds on trees, and new flowers blooming everywhere. The children will read Mark chapter eleven, verses seven through nine. This passage gives an account of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the first day of the week. There was a large gathering of people that spread palm leaves on the road. This was a means of honoring Him. Palm leaves were symbolic of victory. We can celebrate victory in the resurrection of Jesus.

SCIENCE
Have the children investigate the various types of palms. There are the coconut palms, the date palms, and the royal palms. Have the children list the different uses of the coconuts and dates. The date palm was the most important in Biblical times. The entire date palm was used.
GEOGRAPHY
Many children believe that events in the Bible happened in locations that no longer exist. We need to convince our children that these places do indeed still exist. Provide your students with a world map. Point out Jerusalem, Bethphage, and Bethany to them. Permit them to draw a map of Jerusalem. In what part of the world is Jerusalem located? What country is Jerusalem a part of? What language do they speak? It is possible for this to be a mini - unit in itself.

For Maundy Thursday, we will be reading, John chapter thirteen, and verses one through thirty. This passage explains the Last Supper that was experienced by Jesus and his twelve disciples. He blessed bread and wine and gave it to them, telling them that it His body and blood. After reading the suggested scriptures, have your students answer the following questions:
A. What night was mentioned in this reading?
B. Name the people that Jesus was with.
C. Jesus' disciples became upset. Why?

CREATIVE WRITING - Older Children
Have the children pretend that they are newspaper reporters. They have just been notified of Pontius Pilate's decision. It is their assignment to interview Piliate about his decision. They are to ask him questions. They are to write Pilate's responses. Suggested questions: why did you make the decision that you did? Do you feel that you were pressured into killing The King of the Jews? The children use their imagination to answer Pilate's questions.
JESUS IN THE TOMB - COOKING
SUNDAY: Jesus promised that He would rise from the dead on the third day.
He rose on the third day.
Supplies: Crescent rolls, marshmallows, cinnamon, margarine
Directions: Take one marshmallow and dip it in melted butter or margarine. Then roll the marshmallow in cinnamon. Have the children place the marshmallow in the center of the triangle of dough. Have them fold the dough around the marshmallow, so that the Marshmallow is "buried" in its tomb. Bake the crescent roll according to the directions on the package. Have the children take the role of the guards at Jesus’ tomb. Have them stand guard at the oven. Take the roll out of the tomb (oven) and let it cool. The marshmallow will be gone; just as Jesus’ body was gone!
Jesus' friends brought sweet smelling spices to His tomb. To enable our children to understand this we will use potpourri eggs.
SWEET SMELLING EGGS
SUPPLIES: One Styrofoam or plastic egg, glue, potpourri, bow, egg carton
DIRECTIONS: Cover the top of your egg with glue. Do not let any of the egg show. Sprinkle potpourri over the glue, covering all the glue. Keep doing this until the egg is completely covered. Set the egg in the egg carton to dry. When it is dry, you can top it with a pretty bow.
EASTER TRADITIONS
DYING EASTER EGGS -
There has long been a debate over whether Christians should participate in the dying of Easter eggs. There are ways to make this a teaching and learning experience for our children. Legends from early centuries state that eggs were dyed red with tears of Mary. There is no Biblical evidence of this, but we could dye eggs red to symbolize Jesus' blood.
EGGS can also remind us of the beginning of spring and the start of new life.
COLORS have been symbolic in many writings. As you dye your eggs, talk about the symbolism of each of the colors.
YELLOW - SUNSHINE - THE RADIANCE OF JESUS
RED - THE BLOOD OF JESUS
PURPLE - ROYALTY
GREEN - NATURE - LIFE
BLACK - OUR SINS
WHITE - LIGHT - PURITY – JOY
EASTER SANDWICHES -
Matthew chapter 26 verse 26 reads: "While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: "Take and eat; this is my body.” In John chapter six and verse six, we read: Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry”,
Let's make a sandwich with your favorite filling. The crust will symbolize GOD THE FATHER. It is the outer protection for the rest of the bread. The white bread symbolizes JESUS, because He is white and pure without sin. Now the filling, whether it is peanut butter and jelly or chicken salad, it will symbolize the HOLY SPIRIT. Like the peanut butter and jelly fills the sandwich, the Holy Spirit fills us. Use Easter cookie cutters to cut your sandwich into an interesting shape. GIVE THANKS AND EAT AND ENJOY!
ART
Make a billboard that proclaims that Jesus is risen. Use marker, crayons, and a large poster board to proclaim the good news. You may want to let your children display this in an important area of the house.
COLORS have been symbolic in many writings. This activity is appropriate for your younger to middle elementary child. Have them make COLORS OF EASTER BOOK. Provide them with one sheet of each of the following colors: white, red, green, purple, black, and yellow. On each sheet have your child write something that the color reminds them of about Easter.
For example, on white, they may write the word Jesus or they may write pure. Red, they may draw a cross with blood, or they may just write blood. Let this be what they children see in these colors. Allow them to make a cover. Staple all the pages together. Encourage your child to share this with other people.
JESUS LIVES IN ME. Have your children lay down on freezer paper. Trace their body onto the paper. Have your children color their bodies. Across their chest, have them write - JESUS LIVES IN ME.
Use the puzzle at the top of this blog to find these words. Print one for each family member. Cross- donkey- Easter- egg- forgiven- God- Hosanna- Jesus- palm praises -risen- sins -Sunday- tomb
Presented for the glory of God. God bless each and everyone.

Free lesson plan each month

Starting this month, I am going to supply a lesson plan at least once a month for parents, grandparents and teachers of elementary students. I miss teaching and this is my way of giving back. These will be thematic units. Please pass the word and I would love for you to leave a comment.

February Free lesson plan

February Fun

Art - Valentine Animals

What would Valentines Day be without making hearts? Let's use this occasion to share what's in our hearts. Communities are very willing to share at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but what about now? Have your students make Valentines for shut-ins at nursing homes and local hospitals. Your students may want to add a story to their card. Story starters will be included in this lesson plan.

Materials
Red, pink, and white construction paper
Wiggly eyes
Pom-poms
Yarn
Glue
Scraps of material, lace, and construction paper
Clothespins
Pipe cleaners
Directions
Provide patterns for different sizes of hearts. Have students take a large heart and fold it in half. First, we will make a "love" mouse. The folded edge is the bottom of your animal. The pointed end of the heart is your mouse's nose. Take little hearts for the ears. Use wiggly eyes and add yarn for a tail. For older students, you may want them to write a verse inside the heart, before they fold it in half. Now, we will make a butterfly. For this, we need another large heart. On the backside of the heart, glue a clothespin. On the front, glue lace or yarn down the middle. Make your butterfly beautiful by decorating with little hearts. Take a pipe cleaner and cut it in half. Twist the pipe cleaner so it is spiral shaped. Glue the two halves on your butterfly for its antenna. Your students can use their imagination to make cats, dogs, and birds.

Math
I just love red-hot candy. Provide a jar of red-hot hearts for your students. Okay, you can use the conversational hearts, but it won't be as tasty. (Just my opinion.) Have your students estimate how many pieces of candy are in the jar. Here are a couple of suggestions. Allow the class to chart all the estimates. Have your students work in pairs. They can add the two estimates together or subtract the two estimates. The final activity is to have the children find the difference between their estimate and the final count.
Upper Elementary

1. Have your students investigate the total number of teeth in their family. There are two ways to approach this. They can multiply the number of people by the number of permanent teeth a person is suppose to have. They may choose to have each person count their teeth and add the total.
2. A child's heart beats about 90 times a minute. How many times does it beat in an hour? Part 2: An adult's heart beats about 70 times a minute. How many times does it beat per hour?
3. Have your student take their pulse. Have them take the pulse of a friend. Add the two.
4. Have your students check their resting pulse. Have them write it down. Have the students jog in place for five minutes. Have them check their pulse now. What is the difference?
Lower Elementary
1. Marybeth lost 2 teeth in November 3 teeth in December, and 1 tooth in January. How many teeth has Marybeth lost?
2. Katie made 33 Valentines. She gave 19 to her friends. She saved the rest for family members. How many cards does she have left?
3. The mailperson bought Marybeth 13 cards on Monday. On Tuesday, the mailperson bought her 19 cards. How many cards did Marybeth have in all?


Science
Dental Health


SMILE, February is dental health month. It is also National Heart Smart month. You may want to combine the two and do a fun unit on the body. This next activity concentrates on dental health.
Materials
Hard-boiled egg
Clear vinegar
Wide mouth jar
Large spoon
Red mouth made from construction paper
(Optional) model of a tooth or diagram of a tooth
Directions
Before class, pour the clear vinegar in your jar. Tape or glue the mouth to the outside of your jar. You may want to take a permanent marker and draw a tooth on your egg. If you have a model or diagram, show your students the enamel of a tooth. Have them lightly tap the outside of their own tooth. Call attention to how hard the outside of their tooth is. Now take the hard-boiled egg and tell the children that it represents their tooth. Tap on the outside of the egg. Notice how hard it is. Just like the enamel of our tooth. The hard shell protects the egg and the enamel protects our tooth. Proceed to explain that we cannot see plaque or germs in our mouth. Place the egg in the jar. Continue to explain that when we eat, we leave food particles on our teeth. The food we can see. Even if we drink something, the juices and food create bacteria, germs, and acid in our mouth. We cannot see what is really going on in our mouth. The bacteria and germs are having a party in our mouth. They are attacking the enamel on our teeth. (If a couple of minutes have passed, take the egg out of the vinegar.) Remember how hard the shell or enamel was on our tooth? Take your thumb and slowly push into the tooth (egg). Your thumb made a cavity in your tooth. You may want to repeat this. (There should be a small hole in the shell with some discoloration in the egg.) Explain to the children that the acid, germs, and bacteria in their mouth can cause a cavity if we don't brush our teeth. Our "tooth" sure looks yucky now.
Creative Writing
1. The tooth fairy is advertising for an assistant. You must write her a letter to tell her why you should have the job.
2. Valentines Day is finally here. You cannot wait to see how many cards you received. You run all the way to the mailbox. You reach your hand way in and pull out a....

3. It is Ground Hog Day. You have been assigned the job of covering the story about whether the ground hog will see his shadow. You wait and wait for the ground hog to show his face. Finally, something appears from the hole. It's a....

Language Arts - Antonyms Broken Hearts or Broken Teeth

Materials
10 hearts or 20 teeth made out of construction paper
clear contact paper or laminate
marker
large red or white envelope
Directions
Laminate your hearts or teeth. If you do not have access to a laminator, cover with clear contact paper. Do this before you write on the cutouts. Cut your hearts or teeth in half. Write each word on a different heart or tooth.
in - tall - happy - cold - fast - over - heavy - last - up - sour
On the other half of the hearts or teeth, write the following words:
out - short - sad - hot - slow - under - light - first - down - sweet
Now have your students match the correct teeth or hearts. You may want to do this with number recognition. For example on one heart you would write 3 on the matching heart you could place ...The possibilities are endless.

Daily Language
Give your students two of the following sentences. Tell your students that they are to find your mistakes. First, they will copy the sentence on their paper. Have them use their red crayon to circle your mistakes. Their next mission is to correct the mistakes.
1. the ground hog sawed his shadow
2. you gonna eat all that valentine candy
3. i eight two much candy
4. i gots a cavity in my tooth
5. her going to give me a valentine card