Author: TCR Staff

Classroom Activities, Lesson Plans, Teacher Resources, Teaching Tips

10 Fun Facts about the Olympic Games & Free Lesson

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Fun Facts about the Olympic Games

The Olympics has a rich history in ancient Greece and is a fun and interesting topic to discuss in the classroom. This momentous occasion can create learning opportunities about history, culture, sports, healthy competition, and personal achievement. Here are some fun facts to share with your students:

  1. The first Olympic Games were held in Olympia, Greece and the first recorded date of the games was in 776 B.C.
  2. The Olympic Games in Greece were held in honor of Zeus, because the Greeks believed that the gods were pleased with mortals’ application of hard work and personal achievement.
  3. In A.D. 394, a Roman emperor believed that the Olympics had no place in the Christian world and banned the Olympics for 1500 years.
  4. In 1904, the first American Olympics were held in St. Louis at the World’s Fair.
  5. In 1924, the first Winter Olympic Games were held in Chamonix, France.
  6. Baron Pierre de Coubertin (a French educator) is considered the father of modern Olympics. In 1896, he revived the Olympics and announced that it should be a way to bring countries together for world peace and to help abolish racial discrimination.
  7. In 1952, American figure skater Dick Button performed the first-ever triple rotation jump at the Winter Olympics; he won the men’s singles figure skating event.
  8. In 1956, the Olympic Summer Games were actually held in November in Melbourne, Australia, since that was the summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
  9. Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track at a single Olympics.
  10. The five rings in the Olympic flag stand for five continents: the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.

 

Need an Olympic lesson plan to tie these fun facts to?

Great Olympic Games classroom decorations

 

*Facts from the following books:

TCR3719 Greece, Pages 81-82
TCR575 Ancient Greece, Pages 89-90
TCR2027 The Fifties, Page 65
TCR2028 The Sixties, Page 65 & 96
TCR2024 The Twenties, Page 72 & 96

 

 

Teacher Resources

Christmas Craft for Kids: Hand Print Wreath

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Hand Print Wreath

Have you added Christmas decorations to your classroom yet? Get your students in the holiday spirit with this simple Hand Print Wreath!

Materials

  • Green construction paper
  • Red construction paper
  • Paper plate
  • Pencil
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Yarn or ribbon

Let’s Do It!!

Wreath

Hand Print Wreath

  1. Cut a circle from the center of the paper plate so it looks like an “O”.
  2. Have the students place their hand on the green construction paper and trace the outline of their hand.
  3. Cut out the hand print. Use this as a template to trace and cut more hand prints. You will need to cut approximately 16-18 hand prints.
  4. Glue the hand print around the paper plate with fingers pointing away from the center.
  5. Glue the rest of the hand prints to the paper plate until it makes a full wreath.

Berries

 Hand Print Wreath

  1. To make the berries, take the red construction paper and trace small half inch red circles. You will need approximately 10-15 red berries.
  2. Cut out the red berries.
  3. Glue the red berries onto the green paper hand prints.
  4. Carefully poke a hole at the top of the wreath and hang it with a piece of yarn or ribbon.
  5. Use the rest of the red construction paper to trace and cut out a bow. Glue on to the wreath (optional).

 

Recommended for Grades 1-5

Teacher Resources

Thanksgiving Craft for Kids: Pilgrim Hat Place Cards

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Thanksgiving Hats FinishedHere is a fun and simple Thanksgiving craft idea that only requires a few supplies. Kids will have so much fun making them in class or you can print the directions for them to make at home.

Materials:Materials

  • Styrofoam cups, one for each place card
  • Black paint
  • Paintbrush
  • Black, yellow, and white construction paper
  • Pencil
  • Colored pens or markers (optional)
  • Scissor
  • Glue
  • Craft Knife

Let’s Do It!!

Painting Hats

 

1. Use black paint to cover the outside of the cups, including the bottom. Allow the paint to dry.

2. For each cup, draw a circle on the black construction paper that is larger than the top of the cup.

3. Glue the circles onto the open end of cups. Turn the cups over so they are resting on the black circles.

 

 

 

 

collage 24. For each cup, cut a square belt buckle shape from the yellow construction paper. Glue the buckle just above the black circle.

5. Place the hats so that the buckles are facing you. Use the Craft Knife to carefully make a slit from side to side across the top of each hat. Write a name on white construction paper strips and place them in the top of the pilgrim hats.

Tip: You can use this activity for Saint Patrick’s Day, just paint the hats green!

 

 

Teacher Resources

What’s the Best? Post Your Reviews!

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Happy New Year! In our new catalog, you’ll find several new, innovative products for teaching. We hope you’ll give them a try and then help us settle some friendly disputes going on in our editorial department.

The editors who developed Interactive Game Wizard are sure that product is the best of the bunch. After all, they say, teachers can use it to create interactive lessons on everything from consonant sounds to life cycles!

Other editors are convinced that teachers will be even more appreciative of the help provided in books on “new” topics. They are voting for Internet Literacy and Using Graphic Novels in the Classroom.

The editor who really would prefer to be the next great American novelist is convinced that the Using a Writer’s Notebook books are the best resources ever developed to foster a love of writing.

Editors who have close ties to classroom teachers assure us that Differentiated Lessons and Assessments for both Science and Social Studies are going to be the new favorites of teachers.

It looks like we’re going to need your help to settle this. Would you please post your reviews of these new products here? Besides settling things among our editors, you’ll also help your fellow teachers decide which products will be most helpful to them!

Thanks in advance for your help!
T.C. Bear

Note: If you haven’t received our catalog in the mail yet, you can find these new products in our virtual catalog.