How to Train Your Dragon, by Cressida Crowell, is always a lot of fun to talk about with 5th graders.  The story is laugh-out-loud funny, it is peppered with silly illustrations, it has a lot of appeal factors for both boys and girls, and most students have seen the movie (which is quite different from the book) and can compare the two to see which version they prefer.  Plus, y’know, Vikings!

Activity: Handprint Dragon

I found this craft idea on Activity Village and it turned into a fun hands-on art project for all of my students.  Using the template from the website, some colored paper and scissions, and the student’s handprints, we worked together to create a giant colorful dragon (a toothless one, of course, to honor the book!).

Snack: Viking Helmet Cupcakes

These babies are SO simple and fun.  Make chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting (use your favorite recipe or a mix—whichever is your forte!) and put two Bugles on top of each to create horns.  Instant Viking helmets.  Unexpectedly, my students were more excited about the Bugles than the chocolate and they cleaned out my whole bag!

When I was working through grad school to get my library science degree, I sometimes had to use social media like YouTube videos and blog posts in my assignments.  Though I’m usually good at citing sources, I found that even with my handy APA guide I often found it a difficult and laborious process to properly cite social media sources.

Luckily for current students, there is a great guide to help them with their citations.  TeachBytes has created an awesome and easy to use infographic that explains how to cite social media resources in MLA and APA style.  How handy is this?

Take her to the Library Hotel in New York City.

Each floor represents a different section of the Dewey Decimal System, and I’m heading there right now with my sweetheart for our anniversary trip!  Pictures to come later, of course.

When science fair season hits, Science Buddies is one of my favorite resources to help students get through the process.  Science Buddies is a public charity organization dedicated to helping students of all ages and abilities gain scientific knowledge.

To accomplish that goal, they have created a really great site that provides students with science project ideas (narrowed down by subject, cost of materials, difficulty, and time needed to complete), guides to the scientific method and project design and implementation, information about careers in the sciences, and an Ask an Expert section for kids to get help from somebody in the field.

Lynn Reid Banks’s classic book The Indian in the Cupboard was a big favorite of mine when I was a kid, and I was excited to share it with my students.  They loved the premise, and I was happy to see that it has held up pretty well over the years.

Activity: Create Your Own Cupboard

Using Microsoft Publisher and some good old-fashioned scissors and glue sticks, I created paper cabinets for each of my students and tasked them with using art supplies to illustrate what kinds of things they would bring to life if they owned a magical cupboard like Omri does in the book.  We ended up with some toy soldiers and dragons, as well as some more unexpected items like a dollar bill (student: “I just want to see a dollar dance, okay?”) and a spoon (student: “That way I’ll never have to feed myself again!”).

Snack: Monkey Bread

This is such a fun snack to eat with a group!  For those not in the know, monkey bread is a tasty pull-apart cinnamon bread.  It’s very easy to make (see the simple Pillsbury recipe here), and you can usually find it in the frozen food aisle of the grocery store.  Either way, you’ve got an interactive dessert that kids will paw all over, and that’s half the fun!