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May 3, 2017 · Leave a Comment

12 Days Until Summer Countdown

Countdown to Summer

It’s hard to believe that the summer break is just right around the corner for many of us!  It’s been a wonderful year of learning and growing, and the best way to end it is with celebrations and lots of fun!

I’ve scoured the blogsphere and brainstormed some fun ideas to help you countdown to the last days of school with your students!  I call it the 12 Days Until Summer Countdown! 🙂

(Click to the above image to download a copy of my 12 Days Until Summer Countdown Chain.)

Day 12- Make a pop-up card for staff members in your school.  Secretaries, janitors, and paraprofessionals, and cafeteria workers work tirelessly all year to help schools run smoothly and effectively.  Show your love and appreciation by showering them pop-up cards with a personalized note that your students will love to create!
If you would like directions on how to make this card, please click to this link.

Day 11- Paint a picture of a classmate.  Partner students up and have them draw and paint/color a portrait of each other.  Have students attach their partner’s portrait with a sweet letter to review parts of a letter and some fun writing skills!

 


Day 10- Draw a summer mural with chalk together as class.  Brainstorm of an symbol or picture that represents your class this year.  This would be the perfect time to review what symbols are and some that students have already learned about especially in Social Studies.  Afterwards, decide as a class who will draw which part and then create it with chalk outside.

Day 9- Make fruit popsicles.  Review as a class what procedural text is and how to make fruit popsicles.  Students will create it in small groups and pour the juice in ice trays with little popsicle sticks inside them.  Leave them in the freezer (hopefully in the big freezer in your school’s cafeteria) until the afternoon to enjoy!

Day 8- Celebrate summer birthdays! Students who are born in late June, July, and early August often feel left out since they are not in school for their birthday. Celebrate them early as a class!  Students can create a timeline of all the birthdays in the class and then celebrate the summer birthdays.  If your school allows, maybe have those students bring in a small snack or cupcakes to celebrate with the class!
Day 7- Spelling with dry-erase markers on student desks!  Who doesn’t love writing with colorful dry-erase markers on their desks?!  It’s fun and super easy review of spelling and sight words learned this year.
Day 6- Create a flower using tissue paper.  Go over parts of a flower and a flower’s adaptations as a class.  Afterwards, students can create their favorite flower with tissue paper.

 
Day 5- Make an aquarium for tropical fish.  Discuss as a class animal habitats and how ocean animals rely on the ocean as their home.  Cut out the center section of a paper plate then line it with wax paper.  On a different paper plate, glue cut-out pieces of seaweed, coral, and tropical fish from construction paper. Glue the two plates together and tah-dah!!!

Day 4- Create a plan for a lemonade stand.  Review your lessons on economics and have students work with a partner to create a plan on how to run a lemonade stand this summer.  What is their budget?  What supplies do they need and how much will they cost?  How much will they sell it for? When, where, and how long will they sell their lemonade?  What other materials will they need?

Day 3- Create a firefly catcher.  Fireflies are so unique as one of their adaptations is being able to glow at night. Kids also love watching fireflies in the summer evenings and nights, but it’s so hard to catch them and see them up close!  Have students design and create a firefly catcher that will not harm the bugs but allow students to watch them up close and release them easily.
Day 2- Make an outdoor game that demonstrates rolling, spinning, and sliding.  Provide students with different equipment such as balls, scooter boards, and any other equipment that you can borrow from your P.E teacher and have students create a game that will incorporate the three types of movements.

Day 1- Celebrate each individual student!  Print a picture of each student and glue it to the middle of a piece of bright-colored paper.  Students will take turns writing down what they like/will miss about each other.  Afterwards, students will be able to take their picture home for a keepsake!

Click to the images below to download my Summer Countdown letter to parents and a blank, editable copy for yourself!  To edit, copy the image into a Powerpoint slide or a comparable program then insert text boxes.

Special thanks to PrettyGraphix, KG Fonts, Keeping Life Creative Clip Art, A Perfect Blend, and Chirp Graphics.
Below are some more ideas on how to celebrate and countdown until the end of the year!  Click to the images for more details!

Related posts:

May Classroom Ideas
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Hello There!

My name is Ha. I am a Primary STEM teacher from Texas, a passionate educator of little ones, a teacher-author of interactive educational resources, a lover of Makerspace and STEM, a mother to two, a wife to my high school sweetheart and a forever learner. Welcome to my site!

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Ha ~ Happy Days in First Grade
Where are all of my Rainbow Bright teachers at?!!! Where are all of my Rainbow Bright teachers at?!!! 🌈🎉

Grab this Meet the Teacher slideshow now on Google Slides including the printable on SALE now for 24 hours! 🥰 Link in bio! https://bit.ly/3OMdCfx
🚨FLASH SALE for 24 hours!!! 🚨 Get a head st 🚨FLASH SALE for 24 hours!!! 🚨

Get a head start by snagging up this EDITABLE Farmhouse Slideshow for your Meet-the-Teacher Night and Back to School!!! 🥳

It has all the slides you need to introduce yourself to your students and it’s EDITABLE!!!! Buy now, edit later!🪴 

Snag it up now while it’s on SALE!!!Link in bio! https://bit.ly/3uqvW5T
Are you planning on doing a photo op for your stud Are you planning on doing a photo op for your students on Meet-the-Teacher Night?! 🌟

📣If so, here’s a fun and easy hack! 📣

Turn your anchor chart rack to a cute and easy photo op for your students using a glue stick and streamers! 🍎🎉

Pair with these FREE Speech Bubble Props for PreK-5th Grade! Link in bio! https://bit.ly/3jNdpMl
May we always carry the ideals of what make Americ May we always carry the ideals of what make America loving, kind, generous, and inclusive with us wherever we go and pass it onto our future generations. 🇺🇸

For a more perfect union, we will continue to put in the work, stay informed, and vote for the future that ALL of our children deserve. ❤️🤍💙
I believe in a loving and generous America- the Am I believe in a loving and generous America- the America that opened her arms and provided refuge to my family and allowed us to start anew and build our own American dreams.

I believe in the freedom that is the cornerstone of our democracy and the belief that we are all born FREE to make our own choices, walk our own path, and choose our own destiny wherever it may lead us.

I believe we are better when we are together, UNITED, and accepting of all Americans. 

I believe in these ideals that built our great country and the belief that ALL are welcome.

May all of our students always feel this way in our classroom and and in our schools. 

These activities can be found in the link in bio as part of the Back to School Activities currently on SALE. https://bit.ly/2TfR0w5
This activity right here is one of my favorite act This activity right here is one of my favorite activities for the beginning of the year! 🌟

I make a BIG speech bubble out of black butcher paper and cut out yellow circles for Emojis. ☺️😀😍🥳🤩😟😫

As one of the things on our class Scavenger Hunt during Meet-the-Teacher Night, the kids are asked to take one of the yellow circles and draw the face of an emoji that best describes how they feel about being a first grader. 

This activity is so simple and fun but gives me such information on how the kids are all feeling even before the first day of school!

Using this simple tool, I am able to address any anxiety or stress that they may have during our FIRST Morning Meeting! It’s so powerful to know even before school begins what I need to do to help ease them into first grade! 💕 

We also use the data collected for a graphing activity and then discuss what we can do to help make everyone feel happy and better. 

I love this activity and will definitely be doing this again this year! Swipe to see the before picture.

For the more Back-to-School activities, you can click to the link in bio to grab them on SALE for a limited time! https://bit.ly/2TfR0w5
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