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I received so many wonderful ideas for what to do with difficult 5-6th graders for the last 2 months of schools. I will break it up into a few parts so as not to overwhelm LM_NET. Original post: I have just finished a major research project with my 5-6th graders in both of my schools. I now need some fun ideas to keep the kids interested through May & June. Some of them are a tough bunch. I see the kids once a week for 40 minutes, most do not check out books. I've looked on the archives, but really didn't find anything. I will probably end the year with Jeopardy. They like games, but since they have used the Internet, encyclopedias, etc. for this project, I would prefer not to repeat that, same for notetaking. I've tried reading to them, but most of them get fidgety quickly. Anything to really catch them for the last 6-7 weeks of school would be appreciated. I only have 6 computers in each library. Thank you for your help. Wendy Lavenda-Carroll Library Media Specialist Ridgefield Park, NJ Grant Elementary School (T&Th) K-6 Lincoln Elementary School (M-W-F) K-6 wcarroll@rpps.net ------------------------------------ IDEAS: Oh boy do I hear you. Last year I tried something different. I went online and looked up problem solving ideas, thinkgrams, following directions. I used following directions. It is always something they need to learn. They were amazed and enjoyed the 'games' as they called them. Hope this helps. What about splitting them into groups of 5. Give each group a folk tale (3 little pigs, little red riding hood) and have the create a script, and then act it out. Kids love it and they are reading, writing, and understanding lit. If interested, I have a rubric for this. Try Reader's Theater!~ My new reader's theater book has at least four RT's that will work well for that age group: Old Cricket, Jingle Dancer, Mudball, and Violet's Music. Also, in addition to the RT's, there are standards based curriculum activities for each book that will keep them engaged for many weeks! What's more, I know they are gonna LOVE it :~ Let them get into making some hats or props, if you like, and engage them further. I did research with my 5th grade students on southern states. The sheet had only 6 questions and students had to find the answers using Almanacs and 50states.com. Students then created PowerPoint presentations using their information. We had a title slide, 6 information slides, and a bibliography slide. After the students were done, they walked around and viewed the other state presentations and tried to memorize the information for each state. I then split students into 4 teams and let them compete in a Jeopardy game with Quiz Bowl buzzers I borrowed from the AIG teacher. The students loved it and have repeatedly asked when we can do it again. I would be willing to email you the info sheet and the Jeopardy game (as attachments) if you would like them. ************************************************ ~ Thanks to all who responded to my request for paper/pencil activities. Several people requested a HIT, so here it is. I've done some editing to save space. I am going to read them The Night Before Christmas. I am thinking of rereading it...giving them a blank paper and having them fill in their own words when I say it. (Sort of like a mad libs)....of course there will be rules...like no inappropriate words, etc. I think it will be fun and it will keep them under control...then we'll go over it and have a good laugh. ------ I did an activity last week with that age and they really enjoyed it, stayed in their seats, etc. I had a worksheet discussing newspapers as another source of nonfiction information in the library (of course I don't have that with me, I'm at home, our last day was Fri.) and a sample newspaper column with some questions. We did that together in class and then moved to the enrichment activity. I handed each student an old newspaper. They were to find a short informative article that they could read and understand, approximately 5 paragraphs (not a cartoon, not an advertisement, not just a picture with a caption -- yes, I had to be that explicit with the instructions). I had students grouped at tables. Each table had ONE pair of scissors and ONE tape dispenser to share (out of necessity because I didn't have enough to go around, but it of course also takes them MORE TIME to do the activity and they have to cooperate and share). They were to cut out the article, tape it onto a plain white piece of paper and write three questions about the article on the front of the page, then write the answers on the back of the page. It was very interesting to see what kinds of articles some of them chose and the types of questions they formed. One student chose an article about an execution in Texas which facilitated a short discussion on the death penalty! Some students asked yes/no, true/false questions. Others delved deeper in asking questions about their articles. Later, we are going to exchange papers and see if another person reading the article can understand the questions and answer them. I think you get the picture. Anyway, it really, really, really went over well. The kids had fun with it, even though they got a little loud, and they're really looking forward to the second half of the exercise. Most of them want to do it again, too, and we probably will for refinement purposes. I also plan on doing it with other classes. ------------- some fun things that I have done are: 1. Tana Hoban's book Just Look....have them make a just look book using old magazines to cut. 2. Matha blah blah by Meddaugh...have them try to make as many words as possible out of just the 1st half of the alphabet, and then just the second. give a bookmark or candy cane or ??? for the person that can make the longest word, etc. 3. Shel Silverstien's poem..."a frog , a stick"....etc from Falling up. As you read the poem, put each item on the overhead and project their siloutte (sp?). Then cover them up, turn the over head off, and ask the kids to try and remember as many things as possible. have them work in groups, and certainly don't tell them ahead of time that this is what you're going to do! ------- here is an activity I have done that takes up time. Perhaps even too much time, but you can decide. Let them make a Seek and Find puzzle with holiday words that they can then trade to their friends and solve. You will need to provide them with a page that has a grid at the top and lines for, say 20, words at the bottom. My grids are often 10 x 10, but that takes some time to fill out and solve. Maybe try cutting it to 8 x 8 perhaps? Each child writes a predetermined number of words on the lines at the bottom, then begins to place the words in the empty grid. Decide ahead of time if you will allow them to write words backwards and diagonally. When finished with that they fill in any empty grid spaces with random letters. Then they are ready to trade with a friend to try to solve the puzzle. If they run out of class time, they can take home the unsolved puzzle to do over break if so inclined. --------- How about Library Lingo? I have made my own bingo cards using library terms. I also do Newbery Bingo and Caldecott Bingo with my older students. You can buy these but you could also make them. I hold up the actual book so they have a visual recognition as I call out the titles. We play for valuable prizes such as stickers and bookmarks. ------ Several people mentioned using Puzzlemaker at Discovery.com to create puzzles using holiday words or library-related terms ----- Several people recommended the puzzles and activities at www.kidsdomain.com. ----- How about having them write a letter to Santa in a rebus format! ------- I've played Tic Tac Toe with my 4th and 5th grade students. Once I filled in the squares with Dewey Numbers -- basic 100, 200, 300 etc. Then I held up books and they had to decide what Dewey category they would fit in. Last week I did something similar with genres. I held up a book and they had to decide if it was fantasy, realistic fiction, biography, etc. When they got three in a row they had to yell, "HO, HO, HO!" ----- They are not too old to be read aloud to - for example a chapter from the little house books on Christmas or the unthinkable - a humerous Christmas story like HOw Santa Got His Job or if they are very bright - even the Gift of the Magi Talking about how people spent Christmas and contrast with today is an activity that children enjoy . They are surprised about how recent thet overdone Christmas celebrations. - Silver packages by Cynthia Rylant is another good read not too old. ----- Wendy Lavenda-Carroll Library Media Specialist Ridgefield Park, NJ Grant Elementary School (T&Th) K-6 Lincoln Elementary School (M-W-F) K-6 wcarroll@rpps.net -------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book. 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