Guess Who?! - Teeth

photos via cc: mouth 1 - Dana Beveridge, mouth 2 - Chris Penny, mouth 3 - Izik

This fun idea comes from Fall into First! Take photos (or have students take photos) of students' toothless mouths (showing their teeth). Next, ask kids to estimate the total number of teeth that have been lost in the class (sum of all their teeth lost). Have students go around the room and tally how many teeth each of their peers has lost. Have them count all of their tally marks and figure out the total. Whose prediction was the closet? Then, as a class, create a graph of how many teeth each child is missing. Hang the photos up, as well as the graph. Students try to guess who's mouth is whose based on their knowledge of how many teeth each of their peers has lost, as well as their keen observation skills.

Science experiment - Brush your teeth! - Part 1 and Part 2

______ In the World

Over the weekend, have one student take home the "class buddy." He takes several photographs of the class buddy, him, and his family doing something together. You could be at a playground, having dinner, at the zoo, or the grocery store. Next, the student writes about his adventures with buddy, explaining the photos. Then, he shares his photos and adventures with the class. All the students get a turn. The class buddy circulates throughout the school year. Name your buddy and take good care of him! Tell kids to play nice.

photos via
soap plant
apkhub
kukana-flickr
monika runs
mtv

Plant Photo Diary

photo via rubber road adventures

As a class, create a plant photo diary, documenting the growth of a vegetable. Have each child plant a seed (green beans, corn, or peas work best) in a plastic cup, wrapped with a wet paper towel. As the plant grows, take a photo of it. Have the kids draw a picture of the changes occurring in their science notebook, labeling the parts. Underneath their drawing, have them write a reflection of what they see, describing the changes in the plant. Visit Rubber Road Adventures to find out how to make a paper bag book!

Story Interaction

Kids love role play. Encourage them to act out the parts of main characters in books. Not only will they have fun, but this activity will also help with reading comprehension. Snap photos of the kids. Then, have them draw/paint backgrounds and settings from a book. Then, paste their photo within the art they've made. 

Ladder to the moon via Artsonia 

Grouchy bug via Finally in First

Climbing the stalk via No Time for Flash Cards

Geometry Scavenger Hunt

Get kids to take abstract photographs and excited about photography by going on a Geometric Scavenger Hunt! Give kids a camera and have them look for shapes. Tell older kids to look for parallel and intersecting lines, as well as right angles. Mary from Guided-Math, had her third graders look for things around their school building hallways. The kids recorded what they took a picture of. Then, she printed out the photos and displayed them in the hall! What an awesomely cool teacher!

photo via guided-math

Camera Mail

photo credit: toad haven

Document the voyage of postal mail! Over at Toad Haven, they sent out a package, "asking every postal worker who touched it to take a picture of the mail's journey across country." The package was sent from California to Virginia and back home again. This is a great activity for kids to learn about community helpers, as well as geography. Here is a tips page to help get you started!

Lego Learning Games

1. Walnut Hills Homeschool created a story book with lego scenes kids create. Kids makeup a story line and build a scene for each page in their book. Not only are they the authors, they are the illustrators too! Their lego creations are the illustrations for their book.

2. Graph legos - Happy to be Homeschooling my Children.

3. Lego Addition: Make math fun by having kids add legos! - Sixkents

4. Have kids construct sentences and words with legos. They get to write and build at the same time! - Chalk Talk and Happy to be Homeschooling my Children

5. Make patterns with legos: AB, ABB, and ABC! - Keen on Kindergarten