Individual Sponge Activities
If students finish an assignment early, and they have no make-up work to do, there are many activities they can choose to do! Each of the activities will have a point value associated with it (2, 3, or 4 points, depending on the difficulty). When a student gets 10 points, he or she will have the opportunity to choose a prize from my treasure chest. If they don't see anything they'd like, they can save their points to earn bigger rewards! Prizes will range from things like erasers and pencils to fun toothbrushes and hair ties to a deck of cards and bouncy balls. There will be even bigger prizes like gift cards for free ice cream and free movie tickets, should a student choose to save up points for those rewards.
A sampling of the activities available for points is below, and it includes a Sudoku, word search, crossword puzzle, Kenken, Mad Libs, and Letter Scrambles. An explanation of why I chose each of those activities is included at the bottom of this page.
A sampling of the activities available for points is below, and it includes a Sudoku, word search, crossword puzzle, Kenken, Mad Libs, and Letter Scrambles. An explanation of why I chose each of those activities is included at the bottom of this page.
Letter Scramble
For this activity, I will have one word printed out on a sheet of paper. The student will be responsible for arranging the letters in the word in as many different ways as possible to form new words. The more words they form, the more points they receive! An example of this activity is below:
Root Word: Princess
Ice Sin(s) Pin(s) Rinse(s) Ripe Sir Sip(s) Spine(s) |
Math Activities
- Sudoku - These fun puzzles help to develop problem-solving strategies in students.
- Kenken - Designed to make people smarter, Kenkens are challenging puzzles that also use basic operations.
English and Science/Social Studies Activities
- CrossWord - These will be specifically geared to the units in science and social studies that we are studying as a class, and will help students review the material we have been working on.
- Word Search - These will also be specifically tailored to the material we have been learning in science or social studies (including vocab words from each), and will help students to become more familiar with the words we have been using.
- Mad Libs - These are designed to help students become familiar with the parts of speech.
- Letter Scramble - This activity gets students thinking outside of the box to create their own English words, and it encourages critical thinking and pattern building.
The individual sponge activities were taken from:
(Clicking on the activity name will take you to the webpage on which it was found.)
Crossword: Crossword Puzzle #3: On The Trail. (n.d.). Eclipse Crossword. Retrieved October 14, 2012, from http://www.naba.org/chapters/nabasl/kidscross3.htm
Kenken: Shankland, S. (n.d.). My latest puzzle love: KenKen. CNET News. Retrieved October 14, 2012, from http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-10130094-235.html
Letter Scramble: observed in a classroom
Mad Libs: Fall Mad Libs for Kids. (n.d.). Teacher Resources Classroom Jr. Retrieved October 14, 2012, from http://www.classroomjr.com/fall-mad-libs-for-kids/fall-mad-libs-apples/
Sudoku: Timmerman, C. (n.d.). Easy as Pie Puzzles 71-80. Netplaces. Retrieved October 14, 2012, from http://www.netplaces.com/giant-sudoku-book/easy-as-pie-puzzles/easy-as-pie-puzzles-71-80.htm
Word Search: Free Printable Word Search Puzzles Pages For Kids. (n.d.). Tootsville. Retrieved October 14, 2012, from http://www.tootsville.com/web/fun-activities-for-kids/props-word-search-for-kids.html
Kenken: Shankland, S. (n.d.). My latest puzzle love: KenKen. CNET News. Retrieved October 14, 2012, from http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-10130094-235.html
Letter Scramble: observed in a classroom
Mad Libs: Fall Mad Libs for Kids. (n.d.). Teacher Resources Classroom Jr. Retrieved October 14, 2012, from http://www.classroomjr.com/fall-mad-libs-for-kids/fall-mad-libs-apples/
Sudoku: Timmerman, C. (n.d.). Easy as Pie Puzzles 71-80. Netplaces. Retrieved October 14, 2012, from http://www.netplaces.com/giant-sudoku-book/easy-as-pie-puzzles/easy-as-pie-puzzles-71-80.htm
Word Search: Free Printable Word Search Puzzles Pages For Kids. (n.d.). Tootsville. Retrieved October 14, 2012, from http://www.tootsville.com/web/fun-activities-for-kids/props-word-search-for-kids.html