Tuesday Newsday

Thank you for helping make the start of the 2026 SD74 Summer Adventures program such a success! Students and staff have already jumped into engaging lessons, enriching experiences, and meaningful learning opportunities. We look forward to building on this strong start throughout the remaining weeks of the program.

Please see the updates below from our SD74 Summer Adventures teachers for a glimpse into the learning, creativity, and excitement that have filled our classrooms so far.

Sincerely,

Dr. Dominick Lupo

SD74 Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction

Courses are listed alphabetically.

Active Fun Zone!

Our Active Fun Zone campers have been staying active and having a blast! During the first week, we focused on basketball fundamentals, including dribbling, proper shooting form, and different types of passes. Campers enjoyed stations, relay races, basketball-themed tag games, and Knock Out while building confidence and practicing teamwork. We also enjoyed the beautiful weather and cooled off with popsicles. Each week, we'll introduce a new sport while continuing to play many of the campers' favorite games. We look forward to another week of fun, teamwork, and staying active!

All-Star Games

Our All-Star Games campers have been having a great time as they build their basketball skills! During the first week, we focused on basketball fundamentals, including dribbling while protecting the ball, proper shooting form, and different types of passes. We practiced our skills at stations, in relay races, and in basketball-themed tag games and shooting games like Knock Out. Along the way, we worked on teamwork, communication, and encouraging one another. We also took advantage of the beautiful weather and cooled off with popsicles. Each week, we'll introduce a new sport while continuing to play many of the campers' favorite games. We can't wait for another fun week together!

Beginner Readers Reading & Writing – Fun & Games!

Students have been working on grade-level phonics, sight words, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing skills through various games and activities. They are having a great time playing skills games!

Board Game Buddies

Students have been busy learning and playing numerous games of both chance and strategy. We started with such familiar games as left-right-center, Uno, Memory, and Connect Four. Then, we quickly progressed to learning Achi, Otrio, Qwirkle, Quarto, Othello, Battleship, Sorry, Mancala, Nine Men’s Morris, Rumikub, and Clue before switching gears to learn and play the cooperative game of Forbidden Island. In this game, players must work together to collect island treasures and escape before the island sinks! We also took time to learn about various types of games and strategies in preparation for students to create their own board games, with our class time to be divided between playing and creating. Students may work in pairs, small groups, or individually on this project.

Casting Call – Acting/Drama/Improv

The budding thespians are learning, practicing, and having fun with the basics of drama and improv acting. They’ve been honing their acting skills through role-playing exercises, games, and performances. These actors are currently practicing their voiceless acting skills in preparation for our lesson on Mimes. Next, they’ll be working on memorizing and performing monologues and duologues in front of their class audience. In this class, drama and timely wit are strongly encouraged and are usually always on full display.

Choose-Your-Own-Adventures Fun Book Club!

Students chose their books to create their own reading path based on their interests. They read and discussed their book choice with their group. Students also participated in a read-aloud to reinforce important reading comprehension skills and vocabulary. They participated in a variety of “warm-up” activities to practice essential reading and spelling skills.

English Learner (EL) Classes

Students come to class and work on activities that promote reading, listening, writing, and speaking in English. This past week, we started reading our chapter books. Session A is reading Mercy Watson to the Rescue. Session B is reading The Bad Guys. Session C is reading The One and Only Ivan. Students have been practicing using a dictionary and defining unfamiliar words. We are working to create our own personal dictionaries that we can use as resources anytime!

Gym Jam (Grades 4-6)

Students have been very active and engaged while participating in a variety of exciting large group games. They have especially enjoyed learning and playing different variations of tag, including Line Tag, Band-Aid Tag, and Sharks and Minnows. Another favorite has been Knock the Pin Down, which was a big hit with the class. We have also continued to enjoy one of our classic favorites, Frogger. Overall, students are having a great time staying active, building teamwork skills, and participating in fun physical activities.

Just Dance!

Students have learned some dance basics, played some dance games, and listened to great music. The students have been creative and enthusiastic in class, even going outside to run the track to build up their endurance. We have also started to learn the dance for a final performance!

Legendary Creatures

During week one, the students had a lot of fun learning about the world’s most famous cryptids. We focused on the Kraken, which originates in Scandinavian folklore; the Loch Ness Monster, a supposed lake-dwelling beast in Scotland; and Bigfoot, a North American legend. After reading about each one, students created a related craft and did a stellar job of cutting, gluing, and coloring! During week two, we turned our attention to other mythological creatures, including the Sphinx and the Phoenix, dividing our time between reading and crafting to broaden students’ understanding of mythology, culture, and history, while also practicing their fine motor skills.

Math Explorers

In Math Explorers, our young mathematicians practiced addition and subtraction through games, puzzles, and hands-on challenges. They worked in teams and independently to solve problems and strengthen number sense.

Math Games & Crafts

Students explore a new math concept each week through engaging games, creative crafts, and hands-on activities. We've been learning all about patterns, and this week we focused on shapes as we built, created, and discovered them in fun and interactive ways.

Math Marvels

Our Math Marvels explored numbers in creative ways! They practiced skip counting, built on their addition and subtraction skills, and began identifying basic shapes through fun geometry games. Their confidence is growing each day and next week will bring new math adventures!

Movie-Making Magic – Video Production & Post Production

The young filmmakers studied the basics of camera angles and editing techniques and how to use them to add depth to a narrative film. They’re also learning to use the iMovie app to both film and edit their future projects. Equipped with their new aesthetic and technical knowledge, the young movie-makers will break into small crews and get to work telling stories through this powerful medium. Their creative collaborations will continue to produce entertaining and informative content as they step deeper into the world of making movies for audiences.

Mystery Detectives

In our first weeks, we have started building essential investigative skills every detective needs. We began by understanding what forensic science is and how we see it in our lives. To challenge our brains, we completed logic puzzles and mystery case studies that help us identify clues and patterns and draw conclusions based on limited information. Using these skills, we analyzed our own fingerprints with techniques involving ink and powder dusting. This week, we will use our observation skills and our five senses to see how different search techniques can lead us to more clues. We will continue to strengthen our detective skills, both as a team and individually, through new weekly labs!

Passport to Art

We kicked off the first week by exploring Japanese art, culture, and history through several readings with photos and art samples before trying our own hands at origami. We made cats, dogs, fish, and swans! Next, we created traditional Koinobori kites, which are flown by parents on Children’s Day in Japan to ensure their children grow up strong, healthy, and successful! Students also spent a day making handheld fans with cherry blossom designs, which may come in handy in the heat this summer. Finally, the students used tempera paint to create scrolls similar to sumi-e ink drawings. In the second week, we spent some time on ancient civilizations, creating a Roman mosaic and Greek Coin while learning some history along the way. Student passports are being stamped as we go, so stay tuned!

Physical Education – Fun & Games!

Our Fun and Games campers have had an awesome first week full of smiles, movement, and fun! We learned basketball basics like dribbling, shooting, and passing while playing exciting games, fun stations, relay races, and basketball tag. We also practiced being great teammates by cheering each other on, sharing, and working together. The beautiful weather made it even more fun, and everyone loved cooling off with popsicles! Each week, we'll explore a different sport while continuing to play lots of favorite games. We can't wait for more summer fun!

Play with Your Food!

During the first weeks of class, we learned about all the tools we will be working with in the kitchen. We then made smoothies with popping boba, copycat açaí bowls, edible summer beach houses, safari hummus platters, apple donuts, and stuffed strawberries with fruit kabobs.

Poetry Playground

Students are exploring different types of poetry and learning about common rhyme schemes. They are using creative prompts and poetic techniques to write original poems. Throughout the class, students are expressing their ideas, building confidence as writers, and discovering their unique voices through poetry.

Reading & Writing – Fun & Games!

Students are building their literacy skills through engaging stories and creative writing projects. This week, they created their own comics, using their imaginations to develop characters and tell exciting stories. Next week, they'll design their own animals and write detailed descriptions to bring their unique creations to life!

Reading Explorers

Our Reading Explorers dove into stories about sunny days and ocean adventures! Students listened to engaging read-alouds, practiced retelling key details, and even began exploring their own storytelling through drawing and writing. Next week, we’ll blast off into space-themed tales!

Reading Rally Adventures with Favorite Storybook Friends!

Students are exploring a variety of books covering different topics and important literary skills. Students discuss comprehension, predictions, vocabulary meanings, and inferences. Students participate in extension activities to reinforce reading and story comprehension skills.

Reading Ramp-Up – Reading & Writing – Fun & Games!

Students have been working on grade-level phonics, sight words, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing skills through various games and activities. They are also having a great time playing skills games!

Respect, Confidence, & Community

Students are learning how healthy friendships, respect, and confidence help create a positive community. They are participating in engaging activities that encourage teamwork, communication, and problem-solving while practicing respect in different settings. Each lesson helps students build confidence in themselves and support those around them.

Science Galore!

Science is a blast! Students have played with Oobleck and looked at the Dr. Seuss book to see what happened to Oobleck in the kingdom of Didd. We have also started testing different slime recipes and recording which ones worked best.

Sports & Games (Grades 1-3, 6-8)

Session B: Students have been enjoying our class while developing important teamwork and communication skills through a variety of activities. Some of their favorite games have included kickball, capture the flag, soccer, and many other exciting team-based games. Students in grades 1-3 are doing an excellent job building communication, cooperation, and sportsmanship skills as they work together toward common goals and support their teammates. It has been wonderful to see their confidence and teamwork continue to grow through play and physical activity.

Session C: Students in grades 6-8 have been actively participating while strengthening their teamwork, communication, and leadership skills. They have enjoyed competing in activities such as kickball, basketball, and soccer, as well as other team-based games that encourage strategy, cooperation, and sportsmanship. Students have done a great job working together, communicating effectively with teammates, and demonstrating positive attitudes during competition. I look forward to introducing even more engaging games and activities as the summer continues.

Whodunit Reading & Writing Club

These first few weeks, students have been exercising their observational and logic skills by reading and solving short mysteries as a class, searching the room for clues, solving logic puzzles, playing a who, what, where question game, and learning about the elements of mystery writing while outlining and beginning to craft their very own mysteries. We also took one class to enjoy the game of Clue, both to have fun and to get those creative ideas flowing!

Word Wizards

Word Wizards focused on building handwriting fluency and strengthening their understanding of story elements. Students read and summarized short stories about summer and sharks, while also practicing sentence writing with a focus on neatness and punctuation. More magical reading awaits next week!