5-Day English Camp

Discover English: Explorers

Explore the world's ecosystems through English, art, music, and movement — powered by Kate Messner's beloved Over and Under series, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal.

🕒 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM 📚 5 Books, 5 Ecosystems 🎨 English · Craft · Music · Games
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Daily Schedule — 4-Group Rotation

Kids split into 4 groups. Each group rotates through all 4 subjects every day.

Time Activity Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4
9:00 – 9:30 Opening All together — Auditorium
9:30 – 10:15 Rotation 1 📝 English 🎨 Craft 🎵 Music 🎮 Games
10:15 – 11:00 Rotation 2 🎮 Games 📝 English 🎨 Craft 🎵 Music
11:00 – 12:00 Break Wash hands, park, snack & free play
12:00 – 12:45 Rotation 3 🎵 Music 🎮 Games 📝 English 🎨 Craft
12:45 – 1:30 Rotation 4 🎨 Craft 🎵 Music 🎮 Games 📝 English
1:30 – 2:00 Closing All together — Auditorium
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Day 1

The Pond

📖 Over and Under the Pond — Freshwater pond: still water, hidden life beneath the surface

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Opening

30 min · Auditorium · 9:00 – 9:30
  • Warm-Up Games & Videos — Fun activities and short videos to get energy up and set the mood
  • Daily Skit — Teachers perform a skit introducing today’s ecosystem: The Pond
  • Camp Rules & Norms — Review expectations and group agreements
  • Meet the Teachers & Split into Groups — Introduce rotation teachers, kids head to their first rotation
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English

45 min · Classroom A
Prepositions of place, sensory adjectives, simple present tense
Vocabulary: dragonfly, tadpole, lily pad, catfish, heron, turtle, cattail, crayfish, surface, muddy bottom
  • Explorer Passports — Create passport journals for the week, write explorer name, decorate cover
  • Over/Under Sorting Game — Picture cards of pond creatures. Sort: OVER or UNDER? Full sentences required
  • Reading Comprehension — Guided questions from the book using new vocabulary
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Craft

45 min · Classroom B
  • Pond creature drawing — Draw creatures that are over and under the pond with varying difficulty levels for a range of ages. Color with paints, cut out, and put up on an ecosystem board in the class. 4 groups: 1. turtle, 2. frog, 3. catfish, 4. heron
  • Explorer Passport Decoration — Design personal explorer badge, ecosystem stamps
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Games

45 min · Park
  • Pond Themed Game — Game ideas
  • Lily Pad Leap — Jump between floor spots. Say a vocabulary word + sentence to stay on your pad
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Music

45 min · Auditorium
  • Pond Sounds — Listen to pond audio (frogs, water, insects). Learn sound words in English: splash, croak, buzz, drip
  • Pond Song — Learn a simple song about nature/water. Clap rhythms to vocabulary words (syllable work). Call and repeat works great
📓 Journal Prompt
“If I were a creature in the pond, I would live [over/under] because...”
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Closing

30 min · Auditorium · 1:30 – 2:00
  • Regroup & Share — Groups come back together to share highlights from the day
  • Recap & Preview — Review today’s ecosystem and tease tomorrow’s adventure
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Day 2

The Snow

📖 Over and Under the Snow — Winter forest: the secret world beneath the snowpack

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Opening

30 min · Auditorium · 9:00 – 9:30
  • Warm-Up Games & Videos — Fun activities and short videos to get energy up and set the mood
  • Daily Skit — Teachers perform a skit introducing today’s ecosystem: The Snow
  • Camp Rules & Norms — Review expectations and group agreements
  • Meet the Teachers & Split into Groups — Introduce rotation teachers, kids head to their first rotation
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English

45 min · Classroom A
Contrasting descriptions, past tense storytelling, comparative adjectives
Vocabulary: snowflake, tunnel, fox, mouse, owl, vole, ski tracks, burrow, frozen, insulated
  • Story Chain — Round-robin: "Over the snow, I saw a ___. Under the snow, a ___ was ___-ing."
  • Comparison Cards — Draw two cards, write 3 comparatives: "The owl is bigger than the mouse."
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Craft

45 min · Classroom B
  • Drawing — Draw creatures that are over and under the snow with varying difficulty levels for a range of ages. Color with colored pencils, cut out, and put up on an ecosystem board in the class. 4 groups: 1. mouse, 2. owl, 3. fox, 4. squirrel
  • Snowflake Design — Paper snowflakes with vocabulary words written on each point
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Games

45 min · Park
  • Snow Themed Game — Game idea
  • Fox and Mouse Tag — Foxes run OVER, mice crawl UNDER obstacles. Practice animal movement verbs
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Music

45 min · Auditorium
  • Winter Soundscape — Layer sounds: wind (whoosh), crunching snow (crunch), owl (hoo). Build a class "winter symphony"
  • Rhythm Freeze — Move to winter music. Freeze when it stops.
📓 Journal Prompt
“The secret world under the snow is... I was surprised that...”
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Closing

30 min · Auditorium · 1:30 – 2:00
  • Regroup & Share — Groups come back together to share highlights from the day
  • Recap & Preview — Review today’s ecosystem and tease tomorrow’s adventure
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Day 3

The Canyon

📖 Over and Under the Canyon — Desert canyon: layers of rock, geological time, desert life

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Opening

30 min · Auditorium · 9:00 – 9:30
  • Warm-Up Games & Videos — Fun activities and short videos to get energy up and set the mood
  • Daily Skit — Teachers perform a skit introducing today’s ecosystem: The Canyon
  • Camp Rules & Norms — Review expectations and group agreements
  • Meet the Teachers & Split into Groups — Introduce rotation teachers, kids head to their first rotation
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English

45 min · Classroom A
Sequencing words (first, then, next, finally), descriptive writing, question formation
Vocabulary: hawk, lizard, mesa, rattlesnake, cliff, fossil, sunlight, shadow, vast, hidden
  • Explorer Interview — Pair work: canyon explorer + reporter. Practice question/answer exchanges
  • Sequencing the Layers — Put canyon layers in order using sequencing words. Write descriptions of each
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Craft

45 min · Classroom B
  • Canyon creature drawing — Draw creatures that are over and under the canyon with varying difficulty levels for a range of ages. Color with crayons, cut out, and put up on an ecosystem board in the class. 4 groups: 1. snake, 2. lizard, 3. hawk, 4. spider
  • Fossil Rubbings — Textured rubbings with crayons (leaves, coins, textures). Label as "fossils" with descriptions
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Games

45 min · Park
  • Desert Game — Game idea
  • Canyon Obstacle Course — Climb OVER benches, crawl UNDER ropes. Narrate in English as you go
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Music

45 min · Auditorium
  • Canyon Echo Game — Teacher calls a word/phrase, students echo it back with expression. Practice pronunciation
  • Rock Rhythms — Use rocks/sticks as percussion. Create rhythms for vocabulary words. Perform "Canyon Beats"
📓 Journal Prompt
“The canyon is like a book because each layer tells...”
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Closing

30 min · Auditorium · 1:30 – 2:00
  • Regroup & Share — Groups come back together to share highlights from the day
  • Recap & Preview — Review today’s ecosystem and tease tomorrow’s adventure
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Day 4

The Ocean

📖 Over and Under the Waves — Ocean: surface waves to deep sea

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Opening

30 min · Auditorium · 9:00 – 9:30
  • Warm-Up Games & Videos — Fun activities and short videos to get energy up and set the mood
  • Daily Skit — Teachers perform a skit introducing today’s ecosystem: The Ocean
  • Camp Rules & Norms — Review expectations and group agreements
  • Meet the Teachers & Split into Groups — Introduce rotation teachers, kids head to their first rotation
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English

45 min · Classroom A
Depth vocabulary, action verbs for movement, exclamatory sentences
Vocabulary: seagull, coral reef, sailboat, octopus, horizon, whale, wave, jellyfish, breeze, current
  • Ocean Zones — Learn depth zones (sunlight, twilight, midnight, abyss). Place creatures at correct depth, write sentences
  • Postcard from the Deep — Write AS an ocean creature: "Dear Friend, down here under the waves, I can see..."
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Craft

45 min · Classroom B
  • Ocean Creature Drawing — Draw creatures that are over and under the waves with varying difficulty levels for a range of ages. Color with watercolors, cut out, and put up on an ecosystem board in the class. 4 groups: 1. jellyfish, 2. shark, 3. otter, 4. seagull
  • Jellyfish Craft — Hanging jellyfish from paper plates + streamers. Write a fact on each streamer
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Games

45 min · Park
  • Ocean Movement — Teacher calls verbs: "Swim! Float! Dive! Glide!" Kids act them out. Freeze on "Jellyfish!"
  • Waves Game — Human wave: jump "over the wave" and duck "under the wave." Call out actions in English
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Music

45 min · Auditorium
  • Ocean Sounds Orchestra — Body percussion wave sounds (rubbing hands = surf, clapping = waves crashing). Layer into a soundscape
  • Sea Shanty — Learn a simple sea/sailing song. Add movement. Connect to ocean vocabulary
📓 Journal Prompt
“The deepest part of the ocean is... I wonder if...”
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Closing

30 min · Auditorium · 1:30 – 2:00
  • Regroup & Share — Groups come back together to share highlights from the day
  • Recap & Preview — Review today’s ecosystem and tease tomorrow’s adventure
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Day 5

The Rainforest

📖 Over and Under the Rainforest — Tropical rainforest: canopy layers, biodiversity, sounds

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Opening

30 min · Auditorium · 9:00 – 9:30
  • Warm-Up Games & Videos — Fun activities and short videos to get energy up and set the mood
  • Daily Skit — Teachers perform a skit introducing today’s ecosystem: The Rainforest
  • Camp Rules & Norms — Review expectations and group agreements
  • Meet the Teachers & Split into Groups — Introduce rotation teachers, kids head to their first rotation
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English

45 min · Classroom A
Onomatopoeia, superlatives, persuasive language
Vocabulary: toucan, jaguar, canopy, fungi, monkey, leafcutter ant, sunlight, tree roots, emergent layer, forest floor
  • Superlative Awards — "The Most ___ Animal in the Rainforest." Each student argues their creature deserves the award
  • Persuasive Speech — "We should protect the rainforest because..." Practice giving reasons in English
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Craft

45 min · Classroom B
  • Rainforest Creature Drawing — Draw creatures that are over and under the rainforest with varying difficulty levels for a range of ages. Color with markers, cut out, and put up on an ecosystem board in the class. 4 groups: 1. toucan, 2. treefrog, 3. snake, 4. monkey
  • Explorer Certificate Design — Design their own "Certified English Explorer" certificate for graduation
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Games

45 min · Park
  • Final Exploration Game — Game idea
  • Rainforest Relay — Animal movement race: swing like a monkey, creep like a jaguar, march like ants. English commentary required
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Music

45 min · Auditorium
  • Rainforest Soundscape — Listen to rainforest audio. Write every sound in English. Create a "sound poem" and perform it
  • Week Finale Song — Combine all 5 days of sound words into one performance piece. Each group represents one ecosystem
📓 Journal Prompt
“This week I explored 5 worlds. The most amazing thing I learned was...”
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Closing — Explorer Graduation

30 min · Auditorium · 1:30 – 2:00
  • Regroup & Share — Groups come back together to share highlights from the week
  • Explorer Graduation — Review all 5 ecosystems. Stamp final passport page. Each explorer shares one discovery
  • Award Certificates — “Certified English Explorer” certificates for all campers

Explorer Passport & Running Themes

These elements thread through every day, building cumulative skills and a sense of adventure.

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Explorer Passport

Stamped each day with an ecosystem badge. Collects vocabulary, drawings, and memories all week long.

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Over & Under

Every day contrasts the visible and the hidden — a thinking tool that works across language and science.

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Daily Journal

Daily writing entries build confidence in English expression and create a personal keepsake of the week.

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Vocabulary Wall

Each day's new words join a growing class wall display — a visible record of everything learned.

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The Big Question

“What's hidden that we can't see?” — a question that unites science, language, and curiosity all week.

Materials Needed

Everything you need to run the camp, prepared in advance.

Venues

Four dedicated spaces, each designed for a different type of learning.

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Auditorium
Full-group picture slideshow, music sessions, opening/closing ceremonies
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Classroom A
English class: reading, writing, grammar, speaking
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Classroom B
Craft studio: crafts, visual projects, creative work
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Park
Games, outdoor games, physical challenges