What I Did This Summer

 

This summer, I gave my students homework.  One of the joys of teaching at a small school with multiage classes is that when school starts (in two weeks for me), I will know if my students did their homework.  Here is the homework I gave my students:

1.) An Online Book Report on any book they read this summer. 

2.) A poster and a blog post based on our Summer Scavenger Hunt.

3.) Practicing Math facts using internet games.

 

The favorite summer homework of my students is usually the Summer Scavenger Hunt, because it encourages them to visit lots of fun places.  In addition, they get to make a poster and a blog post to share their summer with their friends.  It also doesn’t hurt that I offer a No Homework for a Week Pass to whichever students have gone to the most places on the list! 

 

This summer, my sons and I tried to hit a bunch of places on the list too.  I will be sharing these places with my students as well.  We made it to 20 our of 35.  Here are the places we went to:

1.) Library – South Cobb Library, Mableton, GA, USA

2.) Museum – Portland Children’s Museum, Portland, OR, USA

3.) Ocean – San Francisco Bay, San Francisco, CA, USA

4.) Farm – Goat Dairy Farm, Marin County, CA, USA

5.) Another State – We visited over 20 states.

6.) Another Country – We visited the USA and Canada.  (We live in Morocco.)

7.) Concert – Free concert in Mount Tabor Park, Mount Tabor, OR, USA

8.) Mountain – Rocky Mountains, Wyoming, USA; Needles Mountain, South Dakota, USA

9.) Aquarium – Bay Aquarium, San Francisco, CA, USA

10.) Historic House – Angel Island Immigration Center and Army Base – San Francisco, CA, USA

11.) Boat – Paddle Boating, San Francisco Bay, CA, USA; Ferry Boats – Angel Island, San Francisco Bay, USA and 1,000 Islands, New York, USA

12.) Airplane – 3 planes back and forth between USA and Morocco

13.) Nature Preserve – Yellowstone National Park, WY, USA

14.) Movie – Free Movie in the Park – Jack the Giant Slayer – Portland, OR, USA

15.) State Park – Grand Canyon National Park, AZ, USA; Mount Rushmore National Park, SD, USA; Yellowstone National Park, WY, USA; Mount Tabor, OR, USA

 

16.) Educational Websites – time spent on www.raz-kids.com and www.storybird.com

17.) River – Missouri River, Mississippi River and Tennessee River

18.) Lake – Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, AZ, USA

 

19.)  Desert – Grants, New Mexico, USA

20.) Historic Home – Boldt Catle, 1,000 Islands, NY, USA

A few other places we visited, which didn’t fit into any of the “categories” are:

Niagara Falls – Buffalo, NY, USA

Mount Rushmore – South Dakota, USA

The Golden Gate Bridge – San Francisco, CA, USA

 

Notre Dame Basilicia – Montreal, Canada

 

I know that a lot of people downloaded my Summer Scavenger Hunt at the end of the school year.  If you did, I’d love to hear about how it went in your classroom, please leave us a comment.  If you didn’t, feel free to grab it from Google Docs for FREE, and have your students check off the things they did during the summer.  It would be a great way to get to know your kids and share what they have been up to.

Are you a homeschooling parent?  Why not download the list and do it during the school year?  The items on the list are definitely available year round!

Where did YOU go this summer?