More Colors

Have I mentioned I LOVE these paint swatches? Here is another project that is more sturdy then the last one I made. This time I laminated the "crayons" before I attached them. For the base I bought a cheep metal file holder from Walmart ($2) and I hot glued the crayons onto it. I then glued the rest of the crayons to clothes pins. It was fast and simple. I am also going to make clothes pins with the color words on then to add a challenge for some of the kiddos who are past just matching the colors. Happy hot glueing :)

beginnings and ends

Every story needs a good beginning and endings. To help to teach this point I decided to use pb & j to help illustrate. To start the week I started our large group time by attempting to make a pb&j without using the bread. The kids thought it was funny and it really got them hooked. For the next few days we talked about what makes good bread to a story (beginnings and endings) and that every story needs good bread to hold it together. We also talked about how the bread needed to be good (creative) and not moldy. We decided as a class that starting or ending a story, that was not about a princess or a dragon, with the words "in the beginning" "Once upon a time" "happily ever after" or "the end" was like using moldy bread to make the sandwich. We then made this poster together to remind us of how to start and end stories.

Color Match

When I walked into Menards and gazed my eyes on paint chips that looked like crayons the ideas started flowing. Here is the first thing that I created with the paint chips. I took a small gift box (I got a pack of this size gift boxes for $0.70 at Walmart on clearance) and I rubber cemented the inside flaps together so the box can not fold. I then glued on one of each color paint chips to the box. Next I glued the rest of the paint chips to clothes pins. I then have the children say the name of the color and match it to its other color and pin it on.

Details

Sometimes simple stories like "I got a new cat." are ok, however like many things, a sentence like that is a place to start and grow from. To help my kiddos in 2nd grade grow I did an activity with them about how to add details using Mr. Potato Head.
I have a large amount of Potato Head part that I have acquired over the years (black Friday, Disney World, and rummage sales).  The more pieces you have the more interesting this will be however a small amount of parts will work.
I divided the class into 4 groups and I gave each group a bucket of parts and one plastic body. I them gave them 3 minutes to create an interesting potato out of the parts they had. Once the three minutes was up I had one person from each group bring up their potato and set it on a table in-front of the class.  I then had the entire class join us around the table. I then had a member from each group explain to me what their potato head looked like. Once each group had gone I pulled out my potato head. He only had eyes and shoes on. I described him to the class. We then had a class discussion about why their potatoes were so much more interesting then mine was. We talked about how sometimes we write stories that do not have very much details and how they are not very interesting. The children then had the option to go work on adding details to the current piece they were working on or to write a story about the potato their group made.
After school that day I took pictures of the potato heads and wrote two different stories. The one on the bottom was about my potato and was a very simple story. The other story was about one of the potatoes. I then made this poster and put in up near the writing area in the classroom. Many children look bacvk at the poster as a reminder about details.

Supply Chart

"What do I need" or "what do I do" seem to be some of the most common phrases in some classrooms. To help prevent this I made a chart that has pictures of the supplies a child will need to complete their work. At the bottom of the chart it says where the work needs to go when it is done and what the child can do when they are done. This could be adapted with words instead of pictures.

Each binder ring has different stars with different supplies. If you only needed one supply for a specific assignment you can flip over the binder ring so it is a blank star.

I like to use tools like this because it helps children who do not learn best by just being told. Many children benefit from seeing what they need. It also serves as a tool for the children to be able to help themselves if they forgot what they need.

This is also something that could be set before the start of a content area so the children know what to get out before the start of the lesson so when they are sent for independent work time they already have out what they need.

I have 20 pre-made stars with the pictures of school supplies in them for free at TpT. There are also two pages of blank stars to add in pictures of supplies used in your classroom.

Supply Chart

patterns

Here is a pattern activity I made for this winter. It is free on TpT

Winter Patterns

Getting Started

This is something that I have thought about doing for a while and I currently have a little bit of a break in work so I figured now was as good of time as any to start. I will use this blog to post helpful teaching things that I have made and found. I will also be posting information about Sensory Processing Disorder.