7 September Ideas for Teachers: Johnny Appleseed, Talk Like a Pirate & More!

So...Most teachers are back to school and maybe even nearing a Fall break! Where did the days go? I know around these parts, teachers have had their Back to School Nights and are pretty much ready to dig a little deeper; whether it be 6 weeks of modeling and practicing expected behaviors for daily routines or digging deep into teaching, introducing homework or whatever your district is expecting you to do!

Well...I thought I might just give you a few ideas for September that are tried and true by the enthusiasm of my past students or that i have researched and found especially for YOU!! (being retired, I have tons of time to search and find!)  Who am I kidding?...I have less time now than I did when I was teaching full time!  But that is a story for another time!😍

So...some September Ideas that are NOT Back to School Ideas...

🍎 Let's start with a few ideas for Johnny Appleseed!  

Let's face it Fall would not be fall without talking about those red delicious apples and Johnny Appleseed. Johnny Appleseed Day is usually celebrated on September 26th or March 11th, but I always celebrated with my classit in September. I mean that's when all the local farms advertise "Pick your own apples!"

One fun idea is to do Apple Prints.

Now this sample is showing and apple print T-shirt, which would be loads of fun BUT....plain old apple prints on white paper are just as good and maybe better if you have a class full of 6 year olds or younger!

🍎  Here is another comprehensive Johnny Appleseed Resource that includes some tasty delights:

Have fun tasting apples and apple treats, reading a math themed book about Johnny Appleseed and MORE...OH and your kiddos will be making a Johnny Appleseed paper bag puppet, too! Johnny Appleseed Apple Activities, Craft, Math and Literacy.  celebrate Johnny Appleseed and apples every September 26th with an apple tasting, and apple food tasting event, enhancing sensory learning while embedding important education elements and dive into the world of Johnny Appleseed with this innovative and integrated craft, math, and literacy activity mini unit. It includes a treasure trove of educational ideas and activities all around and apples and Johnny Appleseed.

From reading comprehension to fun math addition and graphing tasks, this resource is designed to stimulate young minds while making learning fun.

🍎  My colleagues and I always LOVED to Dress up for the occasion even if it wasn't Halloween.

This fun costume would be great to wear while teaching all about apples!  Now this is something I LOVED about teaching! I might add the kids loved it too!

🍎  Did you Know September 19th is Talk Like a Pirate Day?

Let's bring out the inner pirate in all of your kiddos with some Pirate Jargon and more with these ideas: 

This Talk Like a Pirate resource includes Writing activities, a fun PIRATE CRAFT and Pirate Jargon.

It is always fun to have a story that your kiddos can relate to when celebrating "Talk like a Pirate Day". If you need a few ideas for books to read aloud on this special day, here you go...  My fave is How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long

Oh and we absolutely need a costume to add a little "Shiver me Timbers" to our read aloud and Shared reading!  

🍎  Elephants Never Forget..so...Let's not Forget the Elephants. 

September 22nd is National Elephant Appreciation Day! 

I have resource that was especially created for this day!

If it is too late to celebrate it in next week or so...just celebrate it any time.  

Many children find elephants extremely interesting and this packet will definitely spark an interest and love for Elephants!

Even if you simply read a few books about Elephants, have the kiddos write some facts they have learned about this mighty animal and make this easy Elephant craft that is included in the Elephant resource above, they will be sure to have a bit of fun and definitely appreciate elephants!   Okay if you want to dress like an elephant you can!                  

🍎  And Now for our last September special day to celebrate...drum roll please.......September 24th is Punctuation DAY!

How much fun would it be to write your morning message with different types of ending punctuation to spice it up a bit? Or...maybe write the alphabet using periods, questions Marks, exclamation marks at different spot throughout your alphabet chart!  So it might look like this:

ABC! DEFGH? IJKL. M. N. OP? QRST! UV? WX. Y? Z!

OR REALLY ANYWHERE YOU CHOOSE TO PUT YOUR PUNCTUATION!

Here are a few Punctuation resources that might be fun to use and reuse to celebrate Punctuation Day.
You might also want to read a book or two about punctuation.  Here is one of my favorites:

Why not try some Punctuation Phrase Fluency Bowling? Each sight word phrase is attached to a plastic bowling pin and whichever pins are knocked down, have to be read showing the correct inflection according to the end marks on each of the phrases.  This is a sample of Spring Themed Sight Word Phrases, but there are also "Frozen Phrases" that can be used as well!  Spring Fluency Phrases for Bowling

So there you have it some fun ideas to celebrate some special days in September. If you found these after the dates, simply save these ideas for next year.

There are always unusual fun Days to celebrate each month other than the most common days that everyone already knows about!  So check back each month for some "FUN"tastic" Ideas!

BUT if you need all the ideas in one place and simply want to write about them with your firsties or second graders, Check this out!

GET READY FOR SOME OCTOBER IDEAS!!