Stay Tuned Here! Nancy's pulling together more new stuff for this section soon!!

I am always looking for activity ideas to share with other teachers. If you have something that worked well for you, please send it to me! Here are a few activities that teachers have shared with me.

This is from Ms. Brogan's class in Pella, Iowa. The students read Harriet And George's Christmas Treat. Then she had the students come up with their own recipes for fruit cake. The students really came up with all sorts of interesting ingredients and ways of cooking it all up!! Then they drew a picture of their fruit cake.

Another cute idea based on Harriet And George's Christmas Treat comes from Mrs. Pingel's 5th graders in Pella, Iowa. The students were asked to come up with all different uses for fruit cake and here are three of their funny ideas:
1. Use it as a booster seat
2. Use it as a hammer.
3. Use it in the sport of curling instead of a stone!

Mrs. Glendening's first graders in Pella did a great job writing about my characters. After reading several of my books, each student was asked to pick a character to write about, beginning with the line: "The most important thing about __________ is..."
Here is an example from a sudent named Kelse.
The most important thing about Henry is he is in kindergarten.
First he is excited to go.
When he gets to school he is scared.
He plays.
He builds blocks with a friend.
He meets a new friend.
But the most important thing about Henry is he is in kindergarten!
I think this is a great activity because it really shows that the child understands the story and the character.

A school in Fraser, Michigan had a super fun reading challenge. They made a giant Snowden on a wall in the gym with small white circles (snowballs). Every time a student read a book they wrote their name and the book title on a snowball. Eventually, all the snowballs made a giant Snowden. The final project was huge and showed how many books they read!

From Northstar Elementary in Kodiak, Alaska, a class rewrote my book How To Lose All Your Friends into How To Be A Friend. Following the same structure of my book, they wrote... "always share" and "treat each other with respect", etc. Then, they photographed themselves acting out the words, like sharing and showing respect. The finished product was so cute and meaningful.

Many thanks to all for your great ideas - More to come!!

Mail your activity ideas to me at:
Nancy's Neighborhood
P.O. Box 390358
Minneapolis, MN 55439-0358
Or e-mail me at: info@nancycarlson.com