I'm Thankful for Activities Like

Fall Activity

This wall of creatures becomes a game board. Everyone writes a diamante poem describing their creature (a fun way to review of parts of speech). These poems are then compiled into our class “I Spy A Leaf Creature” book. The students flip through the poems and try to guess which creature matches each poem. They can check the accuracy of their guess by peeking at the number on the back of each poem which correlates one of the leaf creature numbers.

I think of this activity as a trifecta of fall learning fun – art, poetry and a fun classroom reading game.

Thanksgiving Activity

My students get in the Thanksgiving spirt by taking time to reflect on the things, people and moments in their lives they are thankful for. Most third graders have a tendency to think immediately of material goods as what they are most thankful for (video games, sports gear, tickets to an event or trip) so I guide them through an activity that helps them think beyond what can be bought with money.

I am always impressed by the sweet notes that are produced by this writing project and get many warm emails and notes from parents about how grateful they are to receive such an unexpected Thanksgiving gift.

You can grab my Letters of Thanks Thanksgiving Writing Project and Craftivity over at my TPT store. Enjoy!

Conference Activity

In preparation for parent-teacher conferences, my students reflect on their progress thus far in the year. Each student completes a Personal Reflection which guides them through a reflection about their work habits, behavior, and learning preferences. At this point in the year, the report card is fairly basic compared to the more detailed open-ended reflection they complete for spring conferences when they are a little older.
These report cards are a great reference as students update their school goals for the new calendar year.