A last minute request for something clever for our school's booth at a job fair resulted in a terrific Top Ten List of Reasons to work at our school. After explaining, trying to explain, about Letterman's Top Ten I put a class of fourth grade students in groups to think of reasons, and a title for the list, a teacher would like working at our school. Some students got it; some didn't, but in groups it didn't matter. I picked the best reasons and one of the titles, just as they wrote them, and we put them in order:

Top Ten Reasons YOU Want to be a Teacher at OUR School

10. Most of us are cooperative kids.

 9. Teachers work at nice big desks.

8. We have good security.

7. The cafeteria food is good food for cafeteria food.

6. You can walk to the movie theater for a field trip.

5. The secretaries are kind and loving.

4. People bring little snacks for teachers only.

3. We have only one rule.(*)

2. It's an old school, but a good school.

1. We'd like to see some new faces around here.

(Our one rule is: Respect self, others, property.)

I did a similar activity with eighth grade students, but they had to choose a teacher. Everyone had to do someone different, so some students had teachers they didn't know and had to investigate.

Assignment: Make a Top Ten list of Why Students Think (Teacher's Name) is Such a (adjective) Teacher (Principal, or whatever title is most appropriate).

They had to make a poster displaying the list, AND they had to draw the teacher.

All the posters were displayed, and all the teachers were good sports about whatever was on the posters. Eighth graders understand the Top Ten concept and managed to be funny without being mean. I had final approval of all reasons--I let them start by writing whatever they wanted --well, not entirely--to get the worst out of their systems, and then we used the reasons that wouldn't get anyone in trouble.

This activity drew the most attention of all the work displayed the entire year. Teachers checked everyday to see if "their" picture was up and wanted them when we took them down.

 Read the poem  "Honey, I  Love" by Eloise Greenfield to the class. In several stanzas Greenfield tells about various things she loves. The poem is funny and somewhat sentimental--the children love it.

I introduce the frame they are to follow and explain that they will only write about one thing they love. This brings immediate sighs of relief as they have watched me turn several pages while reading the poem.

I select a topic and model the writing process of completing the frame. Each line elaborates on the selected topic as I give specific reasons for what I love.

We do a rough draft that I edit before they return the next week.

Honey, I Love Chocolate

Honey, I love chocolate.

I love a whole lot of things about chocolate.

Like

It tastes so delicious.

'Cause it's sugary sweet and creamy smooth when it melts in your mouth.

I like milk chocolate and dark chocolate.

But, Honey, let me tell you that I LOVE chocolate with nuts like M & Ms with almonds.

I love chocolate in pies and cakes, chocolate chips in cookies, and hot chocolate.

Honey, let me tell you that I DON'T love chocolate when I eat so much I feel queasy.

I do not love chocolate when if gets soft and mushy and all over your nose and chin as you lick it off the paper.

But I love,

I love a whole lot of things,

And, Honey, I love you too.

The few lines at the end: they can use "like" instead of "love," or they can leave them off.

Illustrations are added to the white space in and around the poem. Any materials could be used for this activity, but the most successful results come with using lined sheets  and Sharpies for copying the final draft and illustrating, then markers/crayons/colored pencils for coloring.

 Have students write Character Poems. Each  student chooses a  character from a book and writes a poem about him/her. Then the character is illustrated using any of a variety of techniques to show details.

Suggested stems:

Remember me?

Have you read. . .?

Have you heard about me?

Example:

Remember me? Max

I got sent to my room where

I sailed away to the land of the Wild Things

and they made me King

until I got hungry.

This can be done with characters from history:

Remember me? Vincent, Vincent Van Gogh.

I painted my room.

I painted it a couple of times, several times.

I painted Starry Night.

Some said "genius." Some said "lunatic."

Did you know I cut off part of my ear?

Simple activity for assessing understanding of reading/facts about a person.

  Everyone has a favorite item of clothing, usually something really comfortable. Let students choose a favorite T-shirt or sweatshirt to cut out and illustrate. These are simple shapes to cut from a piece of folded paper and a good time to revisit symmetry. (Other articles of clothing may be used, but I only demonstrate the two I mentioned, and they have to figure out the rest, or I would spend the whole class cutting.) Next have them write a story about a day in the life of the clothing. This activity has the students thinking about writing in a different way. They write about something they did, but from the point of view of the clothing.

  Read If I Hopped Like a Frog by  David Schwartz which compares physical attributes and abilitites of animals to humans. Ratios and proportions are illustrated for understanding. Facts, questions, and activities are in the back of the book. This is the kind of factual information the kids love; you will too.

Have each student select an animal whose attributes would make the student's life easier. Let them draw a picture of themselves exercising their new ability and write a sentence: If I could soar like an eagle, I would get from home to school in one minute.

I have seen several variations of this poem, but this one is best for practicing specific nouns and vivid verbs. Ask students to think of places and things at these places that make noise. Write suggestions on the board. Have students decide on a focus for their own poem and make a list of noisy things, then add verbs that describe the noises. Revise the list and make sure the verbs are vivid and descriptive, and the nouns are specific.

Looks like this--can be longer:

Read "How Do I Love Thee" by Elizabeth Barrett Browing, Sonnet 43. After reading the sonnet, assure the students that it makes no more sense to you than it does to them. Just have fun with it, like "The Tyger." Students will select a topic (teachers are great writing topics) to honor with a poem. This will be a loose interpretation of the sonnet expressing attitudes, favorable or unfavorable, about the person(s) (could be a general catergory: snobs), thing or place selected. Do caution that all is in fun and not to write anything about anyone that would be hurtful. Fifth grade students can do a good job with this. Illustrate.

How do I love my teacher?

Let me count the ways.

I love her for the hilarious (cough) jokes she tells.

I love the weekend homework she gives in case we are bored

 and have nothing to do.

I love to hear her say "Pop Test."

And I will love her even more

 when she is teaching someone else.

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