Whether on a traditional or year-long school schedule, summer is coming to a close for all of us. (Sniff!) But you can be assured that when the students enter your classrooms, summer won't be the last thing on their minds! Their summer fun can be remembered and used to the teacher's advantage in the math classroom.
One way to address it is with a surveying and graphing activity. We are all familiar with the traditional essay, "What I did over my summer vacation," but the survey puts a new, fun twist on that, as well as allowing your students to reconnect with each other over some common activities.
Another way to work with summer memories is to consider what went in to planning them - and parents may very well appreciate your approach here. With a lesson that reminds students about their summer fun as well as the costs involved, you'll teach students an important lesson about budgeting, estimation, and even multiplication.