Crisp fall leaves, pumpkins galore, hayrides, apple picking … I love it all! Fall is my favorite season for so many reasons. But, one of my favorite reasons is the growth I start to see in my students around this time. It’s a great time to extend academic skills through some November learning activities.
They are becoming more independent and really grasping some of the concepts and skills we have been working on in class.
This also means, as teachers, we are on the lookout for new and exciting activities to keep students motivated and learning. Here are 20 November activities for primary students that are sure to keep that momentum going in your classroom.
November Activity 1. Letter Work
Students have been learning letters and how to read color words! This is the perfect month to start putting these skills together. My students love to talk with their friends about the letters they recognize in each part of their Color by Letter activities.
When working in a group, this learning activity is a great opportunity to demonstrate teamwork, as they help each other read each color word. I always hear personal connections being made as they are coloring this scarecrow picture. Words like, “The pumpkin has the letter G on it. Guess what? I have a “G” in my name!”
Allowing students to work on activities with a partner, or in a group, allows for open discussion and additional learning and connections.
2. Sight Word Games
Sight words are in full swing in November! However, some students can start to become overwhelmed as we continue to add more sight words to our daily activities. I love to use small group time to focus on the words that students have been struggling with. We play games and review the words.
Color words are words that students are mastering this month in Kindergarten, so they love to use this fun Spin a Word (Color Words) game for practice and review. This is a perfect November learning activity to add to a center.
3. Color by Sight Word
Providing students with multiple opportunities to see and connect with target sight words is important. Coloring by Sight Words is an activity that works well with partners. Having students work in a group or with a partner, allows them to talk to each other about the words and make connections. Encourage questions like, “How many letters do you see in each word? Do any words have the same number of letters? Do you see any of these words around the room?”
November Activity 4. Roll and Read
In Kindergarten, students have been learning the letter sounds during the first few months of school, and now they are ready to put these together! We love to get up and move with some fun CVC songs as we are learning this skill. A class favorite is the CVC word songs by Harry Kindergarten Music. For first grade, a CVC roll and read is a great review for students!
Large foam dice are fun to use when playing CVC Roll and Reads with your students. Let students take turns coming to the front of the room and rolling the dice across the floor. Then, they read the CVC word to the class, while each student traces the word on their own paper.
These particular November activities for primary students also work well in small groups. Using CVC Roll and Reads in a teacher-directed small or whole group allows you to ensure that students are reading the word correctly. It is also great as an option for students to play at home with parents to encourage family involvement.
5. Label the Food
Fall is a fun time to talk about family traditions and activities. Students love to share their favorite foods they eat with families during this time of year. We make a circle on the carpet and play the sharing game. This is a simple game where we pass a stuffed turkey or any stuffed animal around the circle. When you have the turkey, you get to share your favorite food.
Students share their favorite family feast food, then pass the turkey to a friend. Students share by speaking in complete sentences and continue working on speaking and listening skills by asking questions at the end.
A Label the Food activity is the perfect follow-up learning to this fun sharing game.
November Activity 6. Fall Recipes
After talking about all of these delicious foods, students can complete a Fall Recipe Activity. First, students would complete the Recipe for a Friend activity in class. Students work on this activity in small groups, which allows them to share and build upon each other’s ideas.
I love to hear how the ideas grow and develop through the conversations they have with each other. After completing this activity in class, I send home a family involvement activity. Students are asked to talk to their families and decide on a favorite family recipe.
These recipes are brought back into class, shared, and discussed. Then, copy the recipes and create a Classroom Family Cookbook for each student to take home! Such a fun keepsake for students.
7. Label the Turkey
November is the time for turkey crafts galore in our classroom! Students love to make turkeys. There are so many different ones to choose from, or there is always the traditional hand turkey too. Students have so much fun with these. Before making a turkey craft, I make sure to complete a Label the Turkey activity together and talk about the different parts of a turkey. Finally, students love to finish up their turkey fun with the Turkey Dance Freeze!
8. Listen and Color
So, we’ve been in school for a couple of months, but I’ve noticed students are still struggling with following directions. Often, they just need extra practice with this skill. Using Listen and Color is perfect! To keep it themed, a Scarecrow Listen and Color introduces some fall vocabulary, focuses on various concept words, and has students listening carefully to follow each direction.
Students work hard completing this November activity, so afterward, we like to get up and move with a fun game of Simon Says. Adding listening activities to your daily routine gives students extra practice with this skill which can be challenging for many. If you want to also have daily reinforcement on listening comprehension an entire school year of Listen and Color activities may be an easy way for you to do that.
November Activity 9. Fall Find and Count
A fall scavenger hunt is a class favorite! I find pictures or small objects to represent fall items and place them around the room for a class scavenger hunt in early November. Students have so much fun searching for these items throughout the room. We come back together as a class with all the fall treasures. Students put them in a pile on the carpet.
Then, we work together to sort the items and count them too! There are so many amazing math skills in action during our fall scavenger hunt! A Fall Find and Count is a perfect follow-up to our group scavenger hunt. I like to place this in a center or use it for group work the day after our scavenger hunt.
10. Counting Fall Treats
Yum! All the fall treats! There are so many fun fall treats to make this time of year. Pumpkin muffins, donuts, the list goes on! I love making homemade applesauce with my students in the fall. It’s super easy to make in a crockpot in the classroom. Students have so much fun trying their creation and it’s perfect for pulling in math and science skills. I know the prep for cooking in the classroom can be a lot though! It might have you worn out. So, Counting Fall Treats is a simple no prep November activity for primary students after making your favorite fall recipe.
November Activity 11. Addition and Subtraction
No prep addition and subtraction activities are a great way to assess students, or they can be sent home for extra practice. There are so many November-themed math activities out there. I always like to include a Basic Fact Fluency worksheet, which can really be used in whatever way works best for your students and what they need.
12. Skip Counting
My students love to skip count! Get students up and moving with a fun Jack Hartman counting song. Exercise and Count by 5’s is a class favorite of ours. Creating a class number line is also an engaging movement activity. Randomly give students number cards from 5 – 100. Then, have them work together to put themselves in the correct order. When they complete the number line, snap a picture so you can show them how great their human number line looks!
Students can practice counting by 5’s in a small group or center with a Count by 5’s Cut and Glue. This learning activity can also work great for an assessment after the lesson. Not to mention it’s strengthening those fine motor skills as well.
13. Fall Nature Hunt
Outside is the best place to be on a beautiful fall day! Pass out the clipboards, give students their Fall Nature Hunt, and head on out. This is one of my favorite fall learning activities because students are learning through discovery. Use this time to build and teach speaking and listening skills, vocabulary, and science facts all in one learning activity.
November Activity 14. Community Helpers Match
November is a great month to talk about gratitude. We are always grateful for our community helpers. An engaging way to start a community helpers lesson is to encourage students to make personal connections. Have them think about a time when a community helper helped them and share these stories with the class. It’s wonderful to hear all the stories of gratitude. Follow up your discussion by completing a Community Helpers Match.
15. Vowel Game
Vowel sounds can be tricky for students, so playing a game is always a fun learning activity to practice these sounds! My students love playing a Vowel Game as a whole group. Students take turns coming to the front of the classroom and spinning the paper clip. As students become familiar with the spinner games, they are perfect to add to centers for small group practice. Playing different spinner games throughout the year gives your students a consistent way to practice a variety of skills!
16. CVC Word Search
My students are always engaged when working on a word search together! A CVC word search works well for a small group activity because I can listen to the students read each word. After finding a word, each student in the group says a sentence using the word. We count the words in each sentence and then ask a question about the sentence. Using the word search to build not only CVC word skills but also speaking and listening skills, is a double win for this November learning activity.
November Activity 17. Surveys and Graphs
The weather is getting colder, and inside recess is just around the corner. All the more reason to get your students up and moving around the classroom. Taking surveys is a wonderful way to encourage speaking and listening skills, cooperative learning, and independence. It is always helpful to review survey expectations before getting started with these November activities for primary students. Then, pass out the clipboards and surveys and let students start surveying!
18. Key Ideas and Details
It’s time for turkey fun this November! A short read-aloud is an effective way to get students learning and talking about turkeys. I love the conversation a read-aloud encourages among students. This November learning activity is a great way to practice key ideas and details this month. Follow up your Key Ideas and Details Activity with some fun fiction turkey read-aloud stories. Here are a few of my favorites.
19. Noun Search and Find
The discussion and excitement that surrounds this activity are amazing! The students are all abuzz as they work together to search and find the nouns in this November activity. I love hearing the connections being made to all of the fall pictures and watching them work together to find more nouns. The teamwork that happens during this activity is so wonderful to see. This is definitely one worth putting in a center or using during a small group activity.
November Activity 20. It’s Turkey Time!
We’ll say it again! November is the time for all the turkeys! Students will love telling time using these adorable turkey clocks. This is perfect for a review or assessment in November.
If you are looking for a quick and easy solution for November no prep printables, then November Monthly Packets are perfect this time for you. Here are a few of the reasons teachers are loving them!
- Group and Partner Work – The November learning activities work well for both group and partner activities. Allowing students to work together encourages teamwork and a growth mindset. This allows students to learn and grow from discussion and collaboration, which increases their academic success.
- Differentiate Based on Your Students’ Needs – With ETTC’s Premium Membership, you have access to Kindergarten, First Grade, and Second Grade November activities. The November printables include a wide variety of skills so that you are able to select the level that is appropriate for your students.
- Whole Group, Small Group, Centers, or Homework – The November Monthly Packets have it all! Incorporate the various activities throughout the day for any learning environment you need.
These November activities for primary students truly are so versatile that they can be used in whatever way works for you and your students. Be sure to check out all of the November Packets and choose the one that works best for your classroom.
If you are “falling” in love with our November Activities, and want more, we have it for you! You can keep the fun and learning going all year with our Year Long Monthly Bundles.
Written By: Sarah Cason
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