What are we doing to help them?  Are we giving them scaffolded attempts at being creative and expressing their artistic ability?  For the last few weeks I’ve been teaching an after school class that is linking literacy and art.  Each week we have read a story by a favorite child author and then created artwork inspired by the book.  It’s been so interesting to see how some children can jump right into creating, while others need extra support to get started.

Today I’d love to share a simple, easy to make craft inspired by [“The Dot” by Peter H. Reynolds].  The original idea for this project came from the blog [Drip, Drip, Splatter Splash].

For this craftivity I used watercolor paints, white construction paper in the shape of a square, a large dot tracer, and black construction paper to mount the finished paintings on.After reading “The Dot” and discussing the message of the story – to simply try even when we don’t feel artistic or feel we can’t draw/paint/etc – we set out to paint!  The kids started by tracing a large dot onto the white construction paper.  They then had the choice to paint inside the dot, paint the area around the dot, or both.

I’m so happy that I chose this lesson for our first class together.  I think starting with the message that everyone can be an artist and all it takes is trying is powerful for setting the kids up for success.  As the kids got started painting there were no tears, no I can’ts, no frustration – just fun!

I think they came out absolutely adorable!  Who knew that beautiful artwork could start with a  single dot?

How do you encourage children to try in your class?

The [Buck Institute for Education] lists 8 key components to consider during the design process of a PBL unit.  For the Solar System PBL unit that I am sharing today I did not fully plan the unit before diving in with my students.  I’ve since learned that it is best practice -and things go much smoother- if you have the unit completely planned out prior to beginning it.  This allows you sit back and enjoy the ride with your kiddos. 

While a PBL topic can be centered in any subject area (math, science, ELA, etc.), it really is integrated into all subject areas.  Our solar system project was clearly centered in science, but integrated across our curriculum.  Here’s a look at how the unit was integrated into other areas beyond science.  Check back later this week to see what the unit looked like during our actual science block.

The planning for the unit began by taking a look at the previous solar system unit of years past, as well as the [NGSS].  After digging through all of this and researching solar system PBL units online, I settled on this challenging question:

The challenging question in PBL guides learning and all activities, lessons, and learning experiences link back to helping to answer the challenging question.  A good rule of thumb is that the challenging question should not be “Google-able” meaning you can’t simply search for the answer on Google.  The goal for this unit and challenging question was to keep the focus of the unit on things we can see in the sky from Earth (the sun, moon, stars, constellations).  

With the challenging question decided on I started planning our learning experiences.  If you take a look at the planning forms available on the [BIE website] you’ll notice a space for an “Entry Event.”  The entry event is a highly-engaging experience to kick off a PBL unit.  At the networking event I attended several examples were given of entry events, but they can range from a guest speaker, Skype session with an expert, field trip, or even a simple read aloud.  The important thing is to hook your students into the unit and get them excited.

For our solar system unit I found a great entry event that allowed the students to go on a virtual recreation of the Apollo 11 mission.  This was originally planned as a learning experience rather than the entry event, but our guest speaker fell through.  Flexibility people!

The Apollo 11 recreation was designed by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, and the coolest thing about it is that you can view real pictures from the mission, listen to actual transmission between the astronauts and NASA, and you get to move through it at your own pace.  We split the mission up into several days.  But let me tell you, by the time we were finished with our entry event every single kid in my class was ready to learn more!

If you’re interested in the virtual Apollo 11 mission, you can find it [here].

Once our unit was up and running I used trade books, QR codes, and apps to let the kids conduct their own research.  This helped satisfy the student voice and choice aspect of PBL.  During our lessons on the sun and the moon I created QR codes that led to a variety of media (pictures, videos, websites) and let the children choose what they wanted to research.

Because a PBL unit extends throughout content areas, we used some Writer’s Workshop time to craft letters to astronauts.  The kids were so excited to learn about both of our astronauts and then write letters to them.  While we did not receive letters back in my classroom, a teammate did receive an autographed picture back.  There wasn’t a kid in Kindergarten who wasn’t over the moon!

You can find information about how to write to an astronaut on the NASA website [here].

Two other cross-curricular activities (math) during the unit were creating spacecraft from 2D shapes and taste-testing astronaut food then graphing our favorite.

We are fortunate to have a shared space between all 4 Kindergarten classrooms that houses a Makerspace.  We’ve been trying out the Makerspace idea during Free Choice time.  

During our solar system unit the children planned their own spacecraft with the requirements of an energy source, communication device, container, and science instruments.  The rest was up to them.  After designing the spacecraft on paper, the students built their spacecraft using all sorts of recycled materials.  This was a great learning experience for the children to see that plans on paper don’t always pan out, and that it is a good practice to return to plans to see if there are parts missing.

That’s pretty close to a wrap on learning experiences related to our solar system unit that didn’t happen during the science block.  Truly integrating the unit into all content areas led to a much deeper understanding of the sun, moon, and stars than I could have ever hoped for.

During this unit I created a non-fiction unit that provides more information about the sun, stars, and the moon.  This unit is full of leveled readers, close reads, magazine pages, and more!  While this unit isn’t a PBL unit itself, it is a resource that is perfect for learning during a PBL unit.  Check it out by clicking [here] or clicking the picture below.

I hope that this post has been helpful for you and has maybe even inspired you to venture into the land of PBL yourself!  Don’t forget to check back later this week to see what this unit looked like during our science block.

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes is always a beginning-of-the-year favorite—and for good reason. This was actually the very first lesson I ever taught as a brand-new teacher, and it’s still a staple in my classroom.

Here’s how we made the lesson come to life:

• As we read, students took turns crumpling up a large butcher-paper heart.

• Then, they tried to smooth it out again.

The powerful visual shows how words can hurt, and even when we try to fix them, the marks remain. This year I added a short kindness poem to the heart (thank you, [First Grade Parade] for the idea!). It made such a meaningful keepsake for our classroom wall.

Teacher Tip: Keep the heart hanging up for a few weeks and refer back to it during those tricky early-year moments when students are still learning how to speak kindly to one another.

 This year I added a little poem to the heart after we were finished.  I got the idea for the poem from the wonderful [First Grade Parade].

Exploring the School with Pete the Cat

No first day is complete without a tour of the school! Even though most of my students already know the building, a new grade level means new spaces—and it’s always helpful to revisit expectations.

To make our tour extra fun, we used a Pete the Cat scavenger hunt:

1. We started by watching Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes. (The singing in the video is too good to pass up!)

2. Next, the students noticed a note with a blue paw print in our meeting area.

3. That kicked off our scavenger hunt, where Pete led us around the school.

You can grab an editable copy of our Pete the Cat scavenger hunt by clicking the image below. Customize it to fit your own school tour!

Finally, we wrapped up the day with Swimmy by Leo Lionni.

After the read-aloud, students created their own fish—no templates, just creativity! This gave me a quick, informal assessment of fine motor skills like drawing, cutting, and gluing.

Then came the best part: as a class, we combined our fish to create one giant fish, just like in the story.

At first, everyone placed their fish randomly. But when we realized the big fish wasn’t taking shape, one of my students suggested using a pointer so each child could propose where their fish should go and then vote as a class. My teacher heart melted watching that leadership and collaboration unfold!

Teacher Tip: Keep your “Swimmy fish” displayed during the first few weeks of school as a daily reminder that you are stronger when you work together.

 

I was fortunate enough to be asked to teach at our early childhood summer camp.  The hours are great and it’s been a TON of fun (and heck, the pay doesn’t hurt either)!  When I got the e-mail asking, I jumped at the opportunity to meet some of the kiddos that I’ll have next year and get acclimated to my new school.

Today I thought I’d share some of the fun art activities that we’ve completed over the past 2 weeks.  Some activities tie to specific pieces of children’s literature, some tie directly to specific artists, while others are just plain FUN!   And yes, I know these were completed during a summer camp – but I’m a firm believer that teachers should build art into instruction (once a week during specials for most children is simply not enough to cultivate an appreciation and understanding for art).  These ideas could also be fun for your own children over summer break. 

First up was our introduction to pointillism and Georges Seurat.

We looked at some art books from the library that featured work from Georges Seurat then watched a quick video clip about him.  Let me introduce you to Art with Mati and Dada!  These videos are short, about 7 minutes, and make learning about artists accessible to even the youngest kiddos!

After learning about pointillism, it was time for the kiddos to try their hands at this style of art!  We used q-tips and tempura paint to create our own masterpieces.  I think they came out absolutely adorable.  This one just stole my heart!

Next on our plans for exploring art was to create bowls using paper maché mix.  I wanted to try something a little more exciting for the kiddos than paper, so we used yarn!

I found a gluten-free paper maché mix at Michael’s (this was important as I did have a couple kiddos with gluten allergies).  I wrapped plastic wrap around plastic bowls from Dollar Tree and taped it down to make it easier to get the yarn bowls off later.  The kiddos spent time dipping yarn of their choice into the paper maché mixture and wrapping it around the bottom and sides of bowls.  I recommend using yarn that is 100% cotton because it absorbs the paper maché mixture better than synthetic yarns.  It took about 2 days to completely dry, but they turned out so awesome!

With all of our focus on art, the kiddos were hungry to learn about a new artist.  They were also just plain hungry!  We needed edible art!

Jackson Pollock is known for his drip style of painting.  I thought it would be fun to have the kiddos try their hand at drip painting using icing and popcorn!  To make the icing, use powdered sugar and add water until you get a smooth consistency (a little more on the liquid side makes the drip painting easier).  We used 4 cups of powdered sugar and probably 1/2 cup of water and that was more than enough for 20 kiddos!

Of course there is another fantastic Art with Mati and Dada video for Jackson Pollock.

An unexpected work of art appeared as we worked on drip painting our popcorn.  I had previously laid butcher paper on the table to aid in clean-up, and as the kiddos moved between the icing cups and popcorn the butcher paper was dripped on.  It ended up looking pretty cool, and the kiddos were so excited when they realized what had happened!

Continuing with our food-art theme from the previous day, we learned about Wayne Thiebaud.

Wayne Thiebaud is an artist most commonly known for paintings of common objects, including food!  We looked through an art book to see some examples of Wayne’s work.  Then, we got our hands dirty with puffy paint!

To make puffy paint, mix equal parts white glue and shaving cream.  I let the kiddos add drops of food coloring to create whatever color they’d like.  This was a nice departure from your typical “painting” by adding in some texture and a 3-D aspect.  FYI these took a couple of days to completely dry.

Moving on with texture, we discussed how some art may be smooth, bumpy, rough, etc.

The kiddos created art on sandpaper using crayons.  When they were done, we used an iron to transfer the picture to a piece of a paper.  I think the kids were pretty amazed with the picture transferring, and only the crayon on the raised surfaces of the sandpaper transfers so it makes almost a pointillism style copy.

To wrap up our fun 2 weeks of art, the kids made picture frames out of popsicle sticks.  I know, not the most creative thing in the world – but it was something new for them and you can’t go wrong with a classic!

To make these, use 8 popsicle sticks and white glue.  I had a variety of decorations for the kids to add – stickers, beads, pom poms, markers, etc.

Before I printed the pictures I added each kid’s name and Fun Camp 2015.  Who knew that you could still have pictures printed at Walgreens??  I haven’t printed pictures in years!

These are a super cute gift for the kiddos to take home to their parents.

I hope these ideas will helpful for you during the school year, or even over the summer with your own kiddos!

It’s been an interesting ride, for sure!

Why not celebrate the last day with a 5 for Friday linky party?!  Today I’m linking up with [DoodleBugs] to share five random things from the past week.

 We’ve been having a blast popping the balloons to reveal a surprise for each day.  Today is bubble day – shhhh, don’t tell!

You can read more about this end of year countdown [here].

We wrapped up our unit on Eric Carle this week.

After reading A House for Hermit Crab, we had to make our own hermit crabs!

This craft is super simple and requires NO printing!

The kiddos traced their hands on red construction paper (this is the hermit crabs’ head/body).

Then we glued a small paper plate on (this is the hermit crabs’ shell).

We used a black crayon to add eyes, antennae, and a swirl on the shell.

Then the kiddos got to go to town with the watercolors to add details!

BTW say a little prayer that our butterflies come out of their cocoons today!!!  We reviewed butterfly life cycles with The Very Hungry Caterpillar, then got a chance to watch our own caterpillars grow – but these little ones need to hurry up so my kiddos can see them before summer break!

The kiddos learned, laughed, and made memories.

I learned, laughed, and made memories.

Fortunately I documented many things that we did during our “AR” Pirate Week, and I’m sharing them with you today!

The whole inspiration for this week was the “ar” digraph, or r-controlled vowel.  I’d seen some other teachers post about pirates when teaching this r-controlled vowel.  Well… I ran with it!

We did all things pirate in reading.  We used treasure (plastic gold coins) to review addition and subtraction concepts.  We learned about the ocean and shells during science.  We reviewed maps during social studies (pirate themed, of course)!

Here’s a look at the start of our week.  I like to vary the use of my can/have/are charts.  Sometimes I use one to get a picture of what students have learned mid-way through the week, or at the end of the week.  For our pirate week I decided to use it as an assessment of their background knowledge.  As you can see, some of those things are not necessarily true – but it’s what the kiddos thought at the start of our unit.

Throughout the week we read several fiction and non-fiction books about pirates.  This helped to clear up a lot of misconceptions.  Here’s a list of my top 10 pirate books:

To introduce the ar digraph I can’t think of anything better than a Harry Kindergarten song!  This one is AWESOME!

We also created a hands-on ar words anchor chart together after the kiddos had been introduced to the ar digraph.

I
love getting the kiddos involved in creating the anchor chart beyond
them stating their ideas and recording it myself.  Plus, they get so tickled
to use sticky notes!  Each student wrote at least one ar word on a sticky note to add to our anchor chart.

After some practice with “ar” words, the kiddos went on an “AR” Word
Hunt.  I made these cute little signs pretty quickly one afternoon using
the school’s die-cut machine.  The kiddos went around and recorded
words that either did or did not have the ar digraph.

We did another “AR” Word Hunt, but this time the words were spread
throughout the Kindergarten hallway.  Such a small change in scenery can
be a game changer for engagement!  The kiddos loved searching for words
with their pirate hats and eye patches!  The hats, recording sheets,
and ar cards came from another teacher’s product [here].

You can grab your own eye patches for super cheap by clicking the following link, Pack Of 24 Felt Eye Patches – Pirate Eyepatches – Party Favors – Costume .

We ventured into using QR codes with the iPads this week during Daily 5.  During Listen to Reading the kiddos watched a read aloud of “How I Became a Pirate” by Melinda Long.

I can now say that I love using QR codes in the classroom, and so do the kiddos!  You can grab your own copy of the QR code (links to SafeShare) by clicking [here].

During science we focused on oceans (landforms, animals, etc.).  We started off with some hands-on exploration of seashells.

Shhhh…. Don’t tell anyone, but I gave my kiddos the full science block of our first day studying oceans to just explore the seashells with a hand lens and their senses.  I knew the majority of my kiddos didn’t have any experience with seashells, and I wanted to give them the opportunity to form some background to attach new learning to.

The next few days we spent discussing how seashells are made and sorting them.  I let my kiddos decide how they want to sort them (in small groups).  As long as the group can explain how they sorted them, I’m a happy camper!

The group on the top chose to sort their shells by size (small, medium, large).  The group on the bottom sorted their shells by shape.

This little guy was listening for the ocean.  So cute!

To wrap up our fun pirate-themed week, we made a yummy snack!  We made blue jell-o together to resemble ocean water.  Then, we dropped a Swedish fish candy in.

The kiddos loved getting to help make our snack to end the week.  I loved secretly building in review of math skills we learned during the year. 

I secretly made these super-cute orange boats to go on top of the jell-o.

I added them to the jell-o cups while the kiddos were at specials.  They were beyond excited to see and eat their finished product in the afternoon.

Happy Friday, y’all!

First off, today through Wednesday is STAAR testing (our state accountability exam).  During this lovely period of time K-2 gets to pretend that we don’t exist – I kid, I kid.  Well, sort of.  We really do have to nix the outdoor recess, stay super quiet in the halls, have grouped specials… the list goes on.  Needless to say the kiddos start to get a bit antsy after being cooped up so long.  (Hence the zoo reference part 1)

Luckily we will be visiting the Dallas Zoo for our Spring field trip next week so we are learning all things zoo animals leading up to it!  This is helping to keep us a little more motivated to learn.  (Hence the zoo reference part 2 – see, I kept my word!)

For today’s Monday Motivation post I want to share a new resource that I created to accompany our zoo unit.  I love this pack for the ease of bridging literacy, science, and social studies!

The plan is to focus on one animal per day during the literacy block and then again during the science block (double whammy!).  As we complete each page of our journal I am collecting them so that we can compile them later on.  I chose to print the writing page and labeling (science) page for each animal front and back to keep it simple.

Today we started off learning about elephants with a fantastic story called “Elephant’s Story” by Harriet Blackford.  Can I just say that the kiddos were enthralled listening as the elephant grew up.  This is such a great book for introducing just enough factual information, while following an engaging story line.

After we finished “Elephant’s Story” we created a class Can/Have/Are chart.  I love how much the kiddos had already picked up on from just our first exposure to elephants.

I think Can/Have/Are charts are so awesome for getting a ton of information into one space AND are super helpful for struggling writers because they can easily pull pieces from them to write sentences if needed.

You can also see two of the other books we used throughout today (one for a quick Read Aloud filler, the other for our non-fiction science lesson).

After verbalizing our knowledge about elephants, it was time to write!  I am just so proud of how far my little writers have come this year.

I love how matter-of-factly this friend let’s her reader know that elephants do not eat peanuts, LOL!

Here’s a look at a friend hard at work labeling the parts of an elephant.

If your class is visiting the zoo this Spring, I hope this will inspire you to get your kiddos brains soaking up knowledge about the animals that they will be seeing at the zoo!  Click the picture below to snag your freebie by downloading the product preview!

So I did a little bit of Kindergarten math this morning and found that there are only 40 39 (we can go ahead and scratch today off) school days left until summer break!  I’m so looking forward to some sun and relaxation.  Until then, however, it’s time to make the most of the little bit of time that I have left with the kiddos!

For Monday Motivation this week I wanted to share an Earth Day inspired craft that is perfect for reusing mismatched paper, old magazines, newspapers, etc.

It just so happened that last week our theme was the ocean.  Needless to say, we read “The Rainbow Fish” by Marcus Pfister.  If you don’t own a copy of this book, there is an awesome version from the Screen Actor’s Guild [here].  But I highly recommend keeping a hard copy on hand because of the shiny scales – the kiddos go crazy!

Long story short, we did some text-related activities with the story during our literacy block.  Then, we circled back to it during Science to talk about Earth Day!  We talked about what could happen to our oceans if we don’t take care of them.  We also talked about reusing items to make new items (IE: magazine strips into art :)!!)

This Earth Day activity is super simple and great for illustrating how we can re-purpose items to reuse them.  You will need:

• Animal of your choice printed on card stock (a fish is great if tying into “The Rainbow Fish”)
• Magazines cut into strips (be sure to get ride of any pages that may not be appropriate for school)
• Glue
• Scissors
• Glitter

To top off our art we had to add a single glittery scale!  This brought it all back to the read aloud from earlier, and you can’t go wrong with glitter!

Happy Monday, y’all!