Get ready to spring into learning with these exciting teaching ideas for April! As the days become longer and the weather warms up, there’s no better time to infuse your classroom with a fresh burst of energy.
For the month of April, we’ll explore a variety of engaging activities designed to captivate your students’ interests while reinforcing key concepts across multiple subject areas. You’ll find various ideas to engage minds and spark curiosity, from celebrating Earth Day to National Poetry Month to reading and math activities.
Book Clubs
Keep reading fresh by organizing book clubs where students can read and discuss books of their choice. Assign small groups a book to read and provide discussion questions to guide their conversations. Book clubs promote reading comprehension, collaboration, and critical thinking skills while encouraging students to share their thoughts and perspectives.
Also, they don’t have to be time-consuming for the teacher! Assign students roles and provide students with a one-page reading menu to help prepare them for their upcoming book club meeting.
Celebrate National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, making it the perfect time to celebrate the beauty of language and the power of words. Engage your students in literary activities that promote a love for reading and writing.
Create a designated space in your classroom as a poetry corner where students can explore and enjoy a variety of poems. Provide a collection of classic and contemporary poetry books and encourage students to read them during free time.
You can find additional activities to celebrate National Poetry Month in the 12 Ways to Celebrate Poetry Month post.
Review Math Skills by Putting Math in Motion
Hopscotch
Take math lessons outside by incorporating physical activities that reinforce numerical concepts. For example, set up a hopscotch grid and assign fractions to each square. When students land on a fraction, they provide an equivalent fraction for the one they landed on.
Other skills to practice:
- Factors: Write a one–digit number in each square; students provide a number that it is a factor for.
- Multiples: Write a one-digit number in each square; students provide a multiple of that number.
- Prime/composite numbers: Provide students with a range of numbers. For example, in one square, write 1-10; in another, 11-20, etc. Students decide if they want to name a prime or composite number and must justify why it is prime or composite.
- Rounding: Write a rounded number, such as 5,000 in each square. Students must provide a number that, when rounded to the nearest 10, 100, or 1,000, is 5,000.
While playing hopscotch, you could have students keep track of which squares are landed on and then create a line plot with the data afterward. Then, students can use that data to find the mean, median, mode, and range.
Egg-cellent Math
Incorporate plastic eggs into your math lessons for a fun and interactive learning experience. Fill the eggs with math problems or equations and have students solve them.
My Math Fix-It Strips are a perfect no-prep resource for using with plastic eggs! Simply cut the strips, fold them, and place them in the eggs.
Color by Code
Provide students with review activities, such as color-by-code activities, to add a splash of color to math. Not only are they reviewing their math skills, but they also get to incorporate the enjoyment of coloring!
These interactive activities for math makes learning fun and memorable!
Weather Watchers
April is a great time to study weather patterns and meteorology. Encourage your students to become weather reporters by setting up a weather station in your classroom. They can measure temperature, humidity, and wind speed daily and then analyze the data to identify patterns and make predictions. This activity enhances their scientific understanding and improves critical thinking and data analysis skills.
If you want to add background knowledge or learning, I love incorporating books by Gail Gibbons!
Earth Day Activities
April is the perfect time to celebrate Earth Day and raise awareness about environmental issues. By incorporating Earth Day activities into your classroom, you can empower your students to become environmentally conscious and responsible citizens. Here are some ideas to get you started:
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Teach your students the importance of reducing waste and conserving resources by organizing a classroom recycling campaign. Provide bins for paper, plastic, and glass, and encourage students to track the amount of waste they recycle. You can also invite a local recycling expert to speak to the class and answer any questions they may have.
Plant a Tree: Organize a tree planting event at your school or in the community to teach students about the importance of trees in our ecosystem. This can also incorporate the celebration of Arbor Day which is the last Friday in April. Contact your local Conservation Department to ask if they have programs that donate trees.
You can find additional activities to celebrate Earth Day in this post: Earth Day Activities and Read Alouds.
Classroom Games
Simon Says
‘Simon Says’ is a fun way to review various skills and can easily be played outside! Call out commands like “Simon says, act out a verb!” or “Simon says, spell ‘restaurant’ backward!” It keeps them active and entertained and reinforces the skills they need to review. Remember the golden rule for ‘Simon Says’: You must first say “Simon says” for students to act on a command. If you don’t, and the students do it anyway, they’re out!
The key to effective test prep at the elementary level is to keep it interactive and enjoyable. Games like these can help kids review for their tests in a low-stress environment and even enjoy the process. Test prep games are not just educational; they are essential in making children comfortable with the test format and content—ensuring they can perform to the best of their abilities on the test day.
Let’s Play Baseball
Transform your classroom into a baseball lover’s dream! Students are highly engaged and won’t even realize they are participating in test prep!
April Bulletin Board
Blooming With Knowledge: Pennant Peekers
Spring is a time for growth, and what better way to celebrate it than by promoting students’ learning? Create a garden-themed bulletin board that displays each student’s work. Pennant Peekers are perfect for showcasing students’ work for grammar, math, or reading!
As spring brings new beginnings and a sense of growth, embrace the opportunity to infuse your upper elementary classroom with exciting teaching ideas for April. Let your classroom be a place of exploration, discovery, and growth. Spring into learning and watch your students blossom into lifelong learners.
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Pennant Peekers for Bulletin Board Display
