ET Upper Elementary Resource Pack
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

Welcome to our sample Member Resource Pack!
We hope you enjoy the resources, and of course, we do hope you will also explore all of our Resource Packs!


1. DAILY WAKEUP! ACTIVITY

CHALK PAINTING FUNDRAISER:
Before the cold weather sets in, have your students plan a chalk painting fundraising festival. You could choose to do it at your school -- after classes on a Friday, perhaps, or at a local venue, with sidewalk space and treats donated by a local business. Have each square marked off for a specific dimension, and sell those squares for the day of the festival to sponsors for your school's needs (e.g. field trip, WhiteBoard, computer lab, supplies, etc.). Bigger squares or more prominent locations could sell for more than the regular squares, but do provide some small squares for younger crowds as well. Ask your local paper to advertise the event, have your students and parents make phone calls to local businesses to sponsor a square (the businesses can hire an artist or a student to "paint" their squares), and make it a real community event. Students will get excited planning this event each morning, making lists, checking them off, checking in to see who they've contacted and how many sponsors they've got, etc. It should become an annual fundraiser!

2. DAILY INSPIRATION

"The most beautiful thing in the world is, precisely, the conjunction of learning and inspiration."

- Wanda Landowska

DAILY QUOTE JOURNAL WORKSHEET:
Use our quote of the day to get your students thinking... We'll always find something inspiring, and you can use the accompanying worksheets for an accessible, daily student writing exercise.

CLASSROOM QUOTE POSTER:
You can change out your classroom posters weekly (or even daily) with our quotable posters series. Today's printable poster features a quote by Wanda Landowska.

3. ON THIS DAY

SEPTEMBER 2ND, 1901 . . .
"Speak softly and carry a big stick," said then Vice President Theodore Roosevelt, in reference to the Monroe Doctrine. Ask your students to research the actual origins and complete phrase of this quote. Also ask them to explain the Monroe Doctrine (and/or research it if they are unfamiliar with it), and then posit how Roosevelt's use of the quote related to the doctrine.

IDIOM WEB TREK
[ANSWER KEY]
Students will have heard most of these idioms or sayings at some point in their lives, though some will be more familiar with them than others. They will use a selected web site and guided questions to further understand the context and etymologies of each of the idioms selected. Extension activities and an answer key are provided.

4. INTERNET ACTIVITIES

SIDEWALK SQUARES:
In this online and interactive creative game, students will use various patterns and make choices to create their own squares. They will first select a background, then add words by choosing from adjectives, adverbs, nouns, verbs, as well as a miscellaneous category. They can also select from line art and color art, resize objects, move them around, and delete them. The word art has some great font and color assortments to play with. The squares are added to the "sidewalk", and students can look at numerous completed squares to appreciate the artwork and get inspired.

JOHNNY APPLESEED WEB TREK:
[LINK2]
In this autumn Web Trek for grades 3-6, students will read about the life, career, and times of John Chapman, then answer the guided comprehension questions. Use the 2nd link above to access the URL directly for the internet resource. A vocabulary worksheet and an answer key are attached.

ONLINE GRADE BOOK:
While registration is required for this online tool, the Engrade gradebook is available free to teachers, along with progress reports and assignment calendars to communicate with students and parents. A demo is available.

RANDOM NAME PICKER:
It's time to pick someone to hand out papers, lead the line, help you out... "Who you gonna call?" This online Random Name Picker makes it easy and fair -- and did we say fun? Try it out!

COUNTDOWN TO OPEN HOUSE NIGHT:
Your countdown has probably begun, as Open House Night usually occurs sometime during the month of September. Be prepared and then relax, and take some tips here to help you plan in advance with a countdown for your strategies, as much as three weeks before the event.

SCHOOL NOTES:
Teachers can create up to 10 school notes pages and post homework assignments and other communications online here for parents and students to access.

WINNING IDEAS FOR BACK-TO-SCHOOL NIGHT:
Teachers have submitted some great tips here to help you set up an amazing back-to-school night with your classes. You can enter the contest and submit your own winning tips as well.

WHO'S WHO IN YOUR CHILD'S SCHOOL:
Download the document available here to fill out a staff directory for parents to take home at Back-to-School Night. Chances are you will save yourself time, directing questions to the appropriate personnel instead of trying to handle them all yourself.

6. PRINTABLES & HANDOUTS

MAKE UP HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS:
This printable full-page note helps keep students on track with missing class work. It also offers you an easy method of filling in the missing assignments -- as well as keeping a record of them -- along with a due date for each assignment.

GRADE 5 AUTUMN MATH WORKSHEETS:
If you need some easy-to-print-off worksheets to send home for homework or even to test students' skill levels as they return to school, you'll find these printable math worksheets useful. Each is designed with an appealing autumn motif.

7. WEEKLY FOCUS

AN EXAMINATION OF THE WEATHER:
[LINK2] [LINK3]
Can humans control the weather, or even predict it? Why or why not? You will be leading into this lesson plan with a discussion on weather and its study, and then students will turn to newspapers to research weather forecasts. As an extension to this weather intro, you can have your students track the predicted weather, including temperatures, for five days, comparing what actual weather turned out to be as well. Try Weather Underground and Accuweather for online meteorology sources, at the 2nd and 3rd links above. (As always, ensure appropriate current content and links before allowing unmonitored student internet access.)

WEATHER STATIONS OF THE FUTURE:
Let's face it, weather forecasting can be somewhat unpredictable, to say the least. It's hard to plan ahead for a picnic at the beach, let alone determine when a hurricane might hit landfall, or which direction a tornado will travel. Here's where your students come in. They will determine what aspects of weather forecasting and prediction they would like to change, and then create a futuristic weather station, one with much better results than we get today. Assignments include researching modern methods, modeling invented equipment, building a station diorama, and presenting group projects to the class.

HAIKU LEAVES:
Fall provides the perfect setting for penning some haikus -- and getting your class off to some beautiful writing efforts as well. These haikus are written up on leaves your students will create and paint, and altogether the project makes for a perfect Back-to-School Night display.

8. EXPLORE

APPLES: A CURRICULUM GUIDE FOR GRADES 4-6:
Upper elementary students will learn about all the different varieties of apples, including Fuji and McIntosh, graph their varieties, learn nutrition facts, pick up some key vocabulary, learn the history of apples, and then work on activities and independent projects. Math activities, detailed life cycles, art activities, and writing exercises are all included in this curriculum guide.

APPLE WRITING AND SCIENCE:
Introduce your students to the scientific method early in the school year with these science examinations, all using an apple. Students will use microscopes, make observations, record data, and make analyses based on their findings.

APPLE HISTORY:
WIth this apple-based unit for upper elementary classes, students will learn about the mythology behind apples, then create historical timelines, research fairy tales involving apples, create their own original tales, and examine the differences between fact and fiction. Extension activities for student projects are included.

9. LITERACY

EIGHT LETTERS IN SEARCH OF A WORD:
Students are given a set of eight letters, and they will earn points by using as many of the letters each time as they can, building several sets of words.

CREATE A STORY:
PBS for Kids offers this online story creator, where students will have to enter adverbs, action verbs, adjectives, etc. to fill in the missing parts and create a funny story.

10. MATHS

APPLE MATH:
Find several activities here to use apples and explore them with matching exercises. You'll be cutting up apples to create fractions, looking at symmetry, creating word problems, estimating, writing math problems, finding circumference, and making graphs -- all with the aid of the simple apple!

11. EDUCATION IN THE NEWS

SCHOOLS ON FRONT LINE OF FLU FIGHT:
There's much talk of another flu epidemic this fall. The swine flu, or, more properly, H1N1, is the potential culprit. Schools could be a possible hotbed for spreading the virus, so the CDC is looking at mass immunizations of school children. School campuses may even be used as sites for vaccinations for the general public, though it hasn't yet been decided which segments of the American population will receive top priority for obtaining the vaccines. Whatever the outcome, look for an enormous immunization program the size and scope of the 1960s polio vaccination program. You may want to discuss the issue with older students: who should get the vaccines? Why aren't there enough for everyone? How do we decide which segments of our population deserve the vaccine over others?

12. SUBSCRIPTION & CONTACT INFORMATION

This Resource Pack is offered only to our members on a subscriber basis. We always appreciate your recommendations to your colleagues.

Our Resource Pack choices include:
MON: Early Education,
TUE: Primary 1-3,
WED: Upper Elementary 3-6,
THU: Middle-High School 6-12,
FRI: Art, Holidays, & Events

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