Students will enjoy getting up and moving for this educational activity. Blow up an inexpensive beach ball. Using a permanent marker, write important reading vocabulary terms all over the ball. Ask students to gather in a circle, either outdoors or inside the classroom. Explain to students that they should toss the ball underhanded to someone across the circle. When the person catches the ball, he should announce the term located closest to his right thumb. The student should then proceed to explain that term. This game can be played with various subjects.
This activity encourages students to use various math skills while competing against their classmates in a fun game. Remove the face cards out of a deck of cards. Divide the class into two teams. Pick one student from each side to walk to the front of the room. Hand the two students a card and instruct the players to hold the card against their foreheads without looking at the front. Explain to students that the card should be visible to everyone else. Instruct the two students to turn and face the class on the count of three. The team members sitting down will announce the product of the two cards. On another count of three, ask the students in front to turn to face each other. The first player to correctly guess the card on her head based on the opponent's card wins a point for her team.
Give students a new appreciation for geographical terms. Distribute various types of candy that students can use to create a geographical map of their state or country. For example, students could use licorice to form the rivers, marshmallows to make mountains and blue sprinkles to show where other bodies of water would be. Pass out a piece of cardstock and a marker to each student. Tell students that they should begin by drawing an outline of their state or country, modeling the process as needed. Explain that students should also draw the bordering states or outlines of any geographical feature that forms the border. Finally, allow students to place their food on the map. Allow students to enjoy some of the leftovers when they have completed their maps.
Students enjoy having the chance to be in the spotlight. Allow students to write scripts and act out plays when studying important historical events. Encourage students to be creative and make costumes. After students have had plenty of time to rehearse, ask them to share the play with the rest of the class. Students have so much fun with this activity that they forget they are learning.