We’re nearly there! June is a month that lunch breaks get slightly longer as we keep the children outside for a few more minutes because it’s good for them. Nothing to do with the fact that a bit of sun won’t do the tan any harm! 😂 However, inside the classroom there’s still work to be done in between the Sports Days and school trips (remember those pre-COVID?) Here are some ideas to keep your class engaged as we move to the end of the school year.
June 5th is World Environment Day and June 8th is World Ocean’s Day. It goes without saying that there’s anything much more important that environmental awareness. Our sellers agree and you’ll find tonnes of products based on the environment.
June 12th would have been Anne Frank’s birthday. If you haven’t studied the Second World War with your class, a good starting point is Anne Frank’s Diary. As harrowing a story it is, it’s really important that we learn from the past so we don’t end up repeating the same evils that were done.
June 15th is known as Fly a Kite Day in the US in celebration of Benjamin Franklin’s famous kite experiment. The name of the day almost writes the lesson plan itself in terms of what you might be able to do with your class – gather up some paper and string, put your feet on the ground and you’re a bird in flight…. 🎶 (OK, we’ll stop channelling our inner Mary Poppins)Â
Fathers’ Day is on June 16th and it’s a great way to celebrate the fathers in children’s lives. With more and more diverse families in our classrooms, it’s a topic that should be explored sensitively. One of our favourite products on Mash, that does this really well, is from Ciara’s Classroom. (I think this is the 3rd time we’ve highlighted this product in less than a month!)
June 21st is World Handshake Day and in light of COVID19, we’ll have to leave that for this year at least and come up with something else – maybe World Salute Day or World Non-touching Fist Pump Day? Instead, you might give Yoga a go as it’s also World Yoga Day. You can read our post about yoga here.
June 24th is World Fairy Day so dust off those festival wings! However, this year you might want to celebrate Eric Carle’s birthday on June 25th as he has just passed away in the last few weeks. Eric Carle is most famous for his book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and it’s a standard in all primary schools with thousands of lesson plans and resources based on the book. Eric Carle’s book has given inspiration to many a minibeast hunt as well as hundreds and hundreds of maths and literacy lessons.
And finally, if you’re in school for the last few days of term, June 27th is the day the melody for the Happy Birthday Song was written. Why not end the year with the children writing a goodbye to their class in the same tune? Have a lovely last month of term, everyone!