The Olympics Are Coming!

If you've been following my blog for a while, you know I'm a huge fan of the Olympics!  I used an Olympic theme at the end of the school year as a culminating activity.  I wrote this post and this post.  The first post was my initial thought process about the whole idea. and the second post was a description of how the first day went.  Although it was hectic and exhausting, I'm not sure who had

more fun, myself of the children!  It was indeed, a spectacular way to end the school year!

As I see the ads for the upcoming Olympics in London, I've been thinking that this would also be a great way to start the year.  There's something about a little competition that builds team spirit and helps kids get to know and accept each other.

Last spring I made an Academic Olympic Freebie.

I've taken that freebie and developed it into a beginning of the year Academic Olympic Team Building Unit.  I've included lots of ideas and suggestions, and lots of activity sheets as well!  You can find my new resource here.

I honestly think the best part of the Academic Olympics were the rituals:  Opening Ceremony, Closing Ceremony, and the Medal Ceremonies.   If you want to do it right, you might need something like this! (You can find flags and CD at Amazon.com, just click the image!)   Enjoy!