June 02, 2017

Summer Story Activities with Dollar $tore Finds!

A trip to a local dollar store is always an adventure for teachers as we keep an eye out for items to use in our classrooms. Today, I netted a package of 75 plastic multi-colored counting chips, an inch and a half in diameter. With summer approaching, I also found a child’s small sand pail.

Back at my desk, I took out my set of MindWing’s Icon STAMPede Rubber Stamp Set and stamped out a complete episode, one stamp per chip. I put the chips in the pail and will use them as a closing activity next week with my small group of students.

Disks and Sand Pail picture

Some ideas…

Each child could randomly pull a chip from the pail and review the story part using the small group reading selection for that day.
One child could take all the chips out and put them in order.
If you are working on the beginning, middle, and end of the story, the children can sort them accordingly.
You could use just the particular chips for the parts of the story you are working on and have those in the pail to review with students.

Pair the activity with any number of books about a trip to the beach… Spot Goes to the Beach by Eric Hill and Clifford and the Big Storm by Norman Bridwell come to mind. As summer gets closer, this is a quick, enjoyable way to review the SGM^® icons!

Sheila Zagula

Author

Sheila Zagula works with MindWing Concepts in product development, drawing on her expertise and talents as well as many years of implementing the Story Grammar Marker® and related materials. Her teaching career spans thirty-eight years, most recently as literacy coach in the Westfield Massachusetts Public School System. Sheila has experience as an early childhood educator, a teacher of children with special needs, and a collaborative instructor within an inclusion framework serving children in grades K-5.