Thanksgiving isn’t just about the turkey—it’s also about savoring the leftovers! At EMC² Learning, we’re serving up a hearty helping of our favorite seasonal activities to keep your students engaged and your lesson plans fresh all fall long. Whether you’re looking to sprinkle some pumpkin spice into your curriculum or add a playful twist to your post-holiday classroom, these student-centered resources are the perfect recipe for success. With a dash of creativity and a whole lot of flexibility, these activities will help you turn up the engagement without piling more prep onto your plate.
Ready to dig in? Check out these “lesson plan leftovers” that are sure to leave your students hungry for more!
Teachers often talk about the difference between “Centers” (a loose collection of related activities that students can visit as they wish) and “Stations” (a fixed collection of activities that you want to make sure that every student completes). Station 2 Station shows you how to turn the latter into a total game changer, and the The Fall Star Scramble helps your students gather up all sorts of disparate approaches to learning like a colorful bounty of autumn leaves.
Do you wanna’ build a… scarecrow? Whether you’re a pumpkin spice girl or an American football guy, this resource is full of reasons to “fall” in love with a gamified upgrade on the traditional centers pedagogy. Scramble Centers gives teachers a lot to be thankful for!
Looking to add some collaborative chaos to your STEM team building repertoire? This action-packed STEM activity challenges student engineers to design their very own working catapults using only a handful of common office supplies. And once the build is complete, it’s time to send marshmallows flying!
Celebrate the fall and the start of the winter holiday season with a stacking competition full of mini pumpkins and mega fun! No side dishes or after-dinner mints required: simply bust open a bag of sugary snacks and start stacking. Your entire class will be thankful!
Picture a class escape room… in reverse! Student teams working through a series of modular challenges in an effort to crack the code on your course content. This fully-editable collection of QR Break In activities helps teachers turn any old-school-centers activity into a high energy romp through your course content — all wrapped inside of a cozy autumn theme.
In Pick-a-Pie Pandemonium, your students will be scrambling through your course content and practicing close reading in a chase to find the sweetest pie filling of your choice. But each pie is worth a top secret value! So the only question is: which crust can you trust?
Mix things up for your next lesson plan with a friendly bit of student-centered storytelling and peer review! Story Dice Switcheroo challenges learners in any content area to find creative ways to account for a random assortment of virtual story dice of your choosing. And in the Autumn variant of this infinitely adaptable pedagogy, pumpkin spice and everything nice makes this resource the season’s must-have activity. How many connections can your students make between your course content and the coziest time of the year? Throw on your Uggs and get ready to roll.
Cider season is upon us! And there’s no better time to cozy up with a peer review activity that can really help your students discover the warmth that comes from learning from one another. Sadly, far too many peer review days often result in cases where “the rich get richer” while struggling students find themselves on the outside of quality feedback looking in. This collection provides a clever bit of gamification to help this staple of student-centered classroom run more smoothly for all parties involved. Give a click to “fall” in love with the Autumn’s Bounty Badge Battle in your class!
The Thanksgiving feast of your dreams is in peril! In the Fall Feast variant of our beloved Traps & Treasures activity, key ingredients and cherished family traditions have been scattered across the bustling holiday landscape — and your students will have to recover them from far-flung locales ranging from the kitchen to the backyard football field and even the heart of the parade route. Can you save Turkey Day before our goose is cooked?!