The beginning of a new school year is exciting but can also be a little bit nerve-racking for children and teachers alike! The first days need to fulfil several objectives including allowing everybody to settle in, to begin to re-connect/make new connections and to be filled with enthusiasm for the year ahead. Whole school or class projects are a great way to start the year with a bang, so here are 16 ideas to inspire and make everybody feel part of the team.
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4th grade started by created a line with a black marker. They outlined the line with 3-4 colors, making it the focal point of their artwork. They added 10 lines off of the coorful line creating dif…
By Presto Plans A few years ago I became a part-time student and enrolled in a master's course called Writing Instruction. The professor took a unique approach by having us, a group of English teachers, write our own poetry and fiction. It was an eye-opener. I realized that somewhere between high school and my first teaching job, I forgot the lonely and uneasy feeling of staring at a blank page, not knowing where to begin. When the professor allowed us to work with another teacher on the next writing piece, there was a sense of comfort in that I had someone to discuss, collaborate, and share ideas with. Collaborative writing not only broke down my reserve and hesitation, but also allowed me to foster a relationship of trust and partnership with my co-author. I wanted to bring this experience into my own classroom, so I made a point to allow more opportunities for students to write creatively with a partner or a group. Try 5 of my favorite engaging, low-prep collaborative writing activities that you can use in your class tomorrow. Snowball writing is an activity that your middle and high school students will always remember. It can be used with almost any writing genre and is highly-engaging for even your most reluctant writers. I use this method for narrative, poetry, descriptive, and essay writing. I even use it as an introductory icebreaker activity during back-to-school or a semester change! How It Works: - One student starts the writing process for a timed period decided by the teacher. - When time is up, the teacher tells students to crumple up their work into a “snowball” and throw it somewhere else in the room. Get ready to see lots of confused faces J. - Students retrieve one of the snowballs, smooth out the paper, and continue the writing process! (Tip: have students use a pen to make the writing easier to read for the next student) This process is repeated as needed. When all parts are completed, the paper goes back to the original writer who creates a final copy. If you want to know more about how I use this for narrative writing, read this detailed blog post that gives the step-by-step process in more detail. Have your students write a descriptive paragraph using vivid imagery with an activity called Shared Sensory Writing. How it works: - Put students into groups of three and give them an object to describe. - As a group, they decide which of the 3 senses they will focus on (sight, taste, smell, touch, hearing). Each person is assigned a sense, and they write a short paragraph describing the object based only on the sense they receive. - The group combines elements from each of the paragraphs to create a final descriptive piece. Download this activity for FREE by clicking here: Shared Sensory Writing One of the challenging parts of creative fictional writing is developing the story elements that will form the plot. Use the graffiti fiction brainstorming technique as a way for students to work together to spark fictional writing. How It Works: - Set up 4 chart-paper stations around the room with the following titles: Conflicts, Character Traits, Settings, and Themes. Break the class up into 4 groups and have each group go to one of the stations. - The group members work together to “graffiti” the page with potential conflicts, character traits, settings, and themes that could emerge in a fictional story. I fill in a couple of my own examples to get them started. - Have each group spend 3-4 minutes filling the chart paper up with their ideas. Then, have them all circulate to the next station to repeat the process. - When they are done, have each student select one character trait, conflict, setting, and theme from the graffitied pages to develop a unique narrative. You can choose to have them write independently or with a partner. Tapestry poetry was developed by Avril Meallem (of Israel) and Shernaz Wadia (of India). The two women started writing tapestry poetry collaboratively via email. The form consists of two authors writing a 9-line poem based on the same title, and then working together to meld it into one seamless finished product. How It Works: - Put your students into pairs (or let them choose a partner). - Have one of the students select a title for the poem. This student who selects the title is the only one who has the option of using it in the poem (to avoid repetition). - Both students write a 9-line poem. - When they are done, the pair works together to interlace the poem into one. All 18 lines must be included. Students are permitted to make grammatical changes (singular to plural, verb tenses etc.), and adjustments to adjectives and adverbs, but the majority of the poems should remain the same. Download this activity for FREE by clicking here: Tapestry Poetry Sketch and scribble writing is meant to be used with descriptive/narrative writing and will particularly appeal to those artistic students in your classroom. How It Works: - Have students form a group of three. Give each of the students a picture as a writing prompt. The picture prompts below are the ones I use. The images should allow them to use a narrative voice to describe a scene. They should keep the prompt hidden from the other members of the group. - Once the time is up, each student passes the writing to another student in the group who will read it and draw the scene based on the description (no words allowed). - When the drawings are done, they are given to the final student who must write a paragraph based on the drawing. In the end, have students compare and contrast the drawings to the original picture writing prompt as well as the two pieces of writing. Want even more ideas for collaborative writing? Check out these activities from some of the other Secondary English Coffee Shop bloggers! Tandem Writing from The SuperHERO Teacher Group Writing Challenges from Room 213 Two Truths and a Lie from Secondary Sara Round Robin Writing from Nouvelle ELA Have other ideas for collaborative writing? Click the comment button at the top of the post to join the conversation! SaveSave SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave
“Chromatic Cascade” by Jen Stark, Los Angeles Jen Stark herself! Parking Garage Mural by Jen Stark, Los Angeles Jen Stark is a Los Angeles based artist known for h…
Teamwork and collaboration! These are important parts of raising a 21st-century learner in the classroom, yet many students do not entirely understand what this it. I stress the importance of teamwork and collaboration throughout the year, but I take time in the beginning of the year to help students truly understand what it means. Throwing […]
“Chromatic Cascade” by Jen Stark, Los Angeles Jen Stark herself! Parking Garage Mural by Jen Stark, Los Angeles Jen Stark is a Los Angeles based artist known for h…
Kids can make something pretty incredible when they pool their talents.
Autumn Multiplication Squares 3rd Grade | 4th Grade | Homeschool Are you looking for a great multiplication fact review activity for your students? When solving these autumn multiplication squares, students apply the associative property to figure out the missing factors when given a product. There ...
Use STEM engineering activities in elementary school as a fun, engaging, and meaningful way to tackle the Next Generation Science Standards.
Simple paper bag lung project for kids helps explain how do lungs work for kids with an easy human body project for kids of all ages.
Need a fun, simple, and effective way to teach students to classify quadrilaterals? This collaborative activity is perfect for 4th grade!
Love this math station I spotted in 5th grade recently. Students use playing cards to find range, median, and mode. Fun and simple activity!
Analyzing writing curriculums, planning writing workshop and teaching writing lessons can be overwhelming. You might think, how am I going to fit everything in and produce successful writers? Where do I start? What skills do they need? This post will share the 7 BASIC WRITING LESSONS that every teacher should teach! With this basic knowledge, students will be able to perform other writing assignments more effectively. The following skills are not only effective in upper elementary, they are often needed at the middle school level for review or the primary level for differentiation. So yes, every teacher should teach them! If you start with these 7 fundamental skills, it will set the expectations for your writing lessons and assignments throughout the year! Frequently Asked Questions What are the basic skills and what order should I teach them? Sentence Structure 1. Complete Sentences Lesson for complete sentences 2. Fragments Lesson for fragments 3. Run-ons Lesson for run-ons Paragraph Writing 4. Topic Sentences Lesson for topic sentences 5. Relevant Details Lesson for relevant details 6. Transition Words Lesson for transition words 7. Closing Sentences Lesson for closing sentences How much time should I dedicate to teaching these fundamental skills? I recommend one day for each skill. If you spend a whole writing block for each skill, students will benefit from the practice. How do I teach each skill? First: Start with an anchor chart explaining the skill. (See each lesson link above for effective anchor charts.) Second: Provide examples. Students can share examples too! Next: Students should take notes. I love using Interactive Writing Notebooks to take notes. Research supports the use of interactive notebooks through studies on multiple intelligences, the brain and note taking. Here are a few videos to Set Up Interactive Writing Notebooks. Click photo for the Upper Elementary Version. A Primary Version is also available. Then: Identify the skill. Provide practice sheets and task cards for students to practice identifying the skill in sentences and paragraphs. Last: Apply the skill. Students should have the opportunity to write their own sentence or paragraph to apply the particular skill. What if I can't fit the lesson in one writing block? If you can't extend the days to complete them, there are other ways to get the whole lesson in. You can put practice sheets or task cards in a center, or you can have students apply the skill for homework or morning work the next day. What if my students, some of my students, or absent students can't do interactive notebooks? Make a small anchor chart to put in their notebooks with the same information! If you don't have a printable poster, take a picture of the anchor chart you used in class and print them off! I hope you found this post helpful and your students become successful writers this year! Connect With Me! TPT Store Facebook Pinterest My Blog
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I have used the reading workshop model for about 8 years now. It has changed a lot over the years! One thing that has stayed the same is the ‘Respond to Text’ station. This is a time where students get to write about their reading. The station stays the same all year, but the activities in the station change. Below is a list of activities you can add to your ‘Respond to Text’ station at the beginning of the year. 1. Bookmark Book Report At the beginning of the year, some students struggle to finish chapter books. I find that this bookmark book report helps them stay engaged in their reading. The students keep track of the pages they read, and complete activities as they read their book. There is a fiction and nonfiction version available for download. 2. Text Structures Tri-fold Students can use this trifold to ‘hunt’ for different text structures. Just put a basket of nonfiction books at the station and you are set! It’s a great way to get them reading nonfiction books. 3. Choice Board Students get to choose what activities they’d like to complete. This is great because it can be used for the story of the week (if you follow a basal) or the chapter book they are currently reading. You can have the students glue this page inside their reading notebook, or have them staple their responses to this sheet and turn in. Download the Printables: Click here to download the bookmark book report. Click here to download the text structures trifold and choice board. Add editing tasks to your reading workshop block! Math Resources: 1st Grade Tri-Folds 2nd Grade Tri-Folds 3rd Grade Tri-Folds 4th Grade Tri-Folds 5th Grade Tri-Folds Thanks for reading! I hope you will find these printable helpful :) Visit my blog @ Learning With Mrs S. Visit my TPT Store Follow me on Pinterest! Follow me on Instagram! Follow me on Facebook :)
Are you looking for a fun way to reinforce teaching similes to students? Making simile monsters is always a huge hit! Students will create a fictitious monster and use similes to describe the 5 senses about their monsters. To hook students, I love to read the text Quick as a Cricket by Audrey Wood (affiliate […]
Before finalizing your purchase, please review our color and size charts. Since each shirt is custom-made to your specifications, we can only accommodate returns or exchanges for order-related issues. 🌟📐 We collaborate with various shirt brands, and different colors may come from different brands, as detailed in our color charts. Solid colors are made of 100% cotton, while heather colors are a comfy cotton/poly blend (with a few exceptions). 😊👕 We use DTF (Direct to Film) printing, which ensures vibrant colors and durable designs. 🎨✨ Please note that toddler sizes in Gildan tend to run small, so we recommend sizing up. ✨👶 Our sweatshirts and hoodies are crafted from Gildan heavy cotton. For a baggier look, we suggest sizing up. 🧥✨ Shipping times depend on your selected shipping method at checkout. If you need your order quickly, opt for expedited shipping for faster delivery. 🚀📦 Care Instructions: Wash inside out on a gentle cycle and lay flat to dry. 💦 Wash with similar colors to keep them vibrant. 🎨 Use non-chlorine bleach only. 🚫 Tumble dry on low heat to preserve fabric quality. 🍃 Avoid ironing directly over decorations. ⚠️ Do not dry clean. ❌🧼 If you’d like to make any changes to the listing or have specific requests, please let us know before placing your order.
STEM challenges are the best way to begin building classroom community and teamwork at the beginning of the year. They are also a great way to introduce problem-solving skills and get students thinking creatively and outside the box. The best part is students LOVE them, and they don't eve
Final images of the collaborative “LIVE” mural during the Virginia Children’s Book Festival 2017 at Longwood University along with the original sketch. It was an honor to Art Direct this mura…
Hey there! We are here for our Friday link ups!! How did our week look...weeeeeeell.... 1) Stacia watched my class while I went to an SST this week and she did the gallon man with them since we are learning about capacity. I had a sub, but, I didn't want to just leave busy work, so Stacia volunteered to take my kiddos and teach them about capacity! Yay! I love the big G for capacity because it's so visual. The gallon man (or woman) was cute, too, though! 2) Stacia also did a lesson this week involving writing and social studies. We like to play songs that go with our social studies curriculum, and yes they are fun, but she wanted them to realize that the songs were about what we are learning. She had them brainstorm everything they knew about the three branches of the government. Then she played one of the Schoolhouse Rock songs and they could add to their list as it played. They realized that they had learned a lot, but they also realized how much knowledge they could get just listening to the songs. Then she had one of her students take down the notes that they shared on the board. 3) We used protractors this week to measure angles in geometry. Our math coach shared with me a trick on using coffee stirrers and pipe cleaners to help them measure. The students absolutely loved this! They stick the pipe cleaner in the pin hole and then the stirrer in over the pipe cleaner and they can create angles. We made our own angles first by using a dry erase marker on their desks. Then we used them to actually measure on our paper. It was nice because the stirrer was long enough to actually measure the angle even though the line wasn't long enough on the paper! 4) We have something called Vocabulary Day each year. Every student in the building participates. They get a word (or choose a word) that is on-grade-level-vocab. I teach 4th and Stacia and I split up all of the Language Arts terms we could think of. Then we let our students pick from that list. Our teammates did the same for math, science, and social studies. Students create some form of representation for the word with the definition and then we parade around the school. This year we had over 400 guests come to watch. Unfortunately, it was raining so we had to do it inside, which was very chaotic, but we usually do it outside on the track. We always do it the Friday before Spring Break, so I'm sure you can imagine the mood in our school today!!! 5) Our freebie!! I created my very first "clipart" (ok, it's really just paper, but I was excited about it). Then I added our border onto it. So, you have a "cover page" for TpT products or a poster background. I made a poster so you can see it in action! Just click here to get your freebie!! Thanks, Kacey and Amanda, for letting us link up!! Amanda PS- Our Mentor Text Linky will go live tomorrow morning but you can link up any day!
Behold the magic of the elementary art classroom. This blog is intended as a venue for parents and students to check out what is going on in the art room at Thomas Elementary. Also, possibly more importantly, it is a place for other educators to find free art lesson plans and share ideas. Art, art education, art classroom, bottle cap, mural, elementary art blog, painting, ceramics, fun, awesome, interesting.
Now you can harness your voice in stylish, thought-provoking fashion, with a vintage inspired protest t-shirt that makes a clever, creative call to action for common sense gun reform. Developed in collaboration with Manuel (as pictured in the product slide show) & Patricia Oliver, who lost their son in the Parkland Shooting, this activist infused tee delivers a powerful message for a crucial cause. Donned by Parkland students during their March For Our Lives surrounding NRA Headquarters in Fairfax, VA on August 4th, 2018, this cool graphic t-shirt is as poignant as it is authentic. Check out this news segment for deeper insight on how Solid Threads came to connect with the Olivers and create this t-shirt. As part of our SOLIDARITEE™ initiative, 20% of sales from this powerful design will be donated to Change the Ref, the organization founded by Manuel & Patricia Oliver, which uses urban art and creative, nonviolent confrontation to expose the disastrous effects of the mass shooting pandemic, and elicit tangible change towards gun-law reform. Thank you for helping to empower and sustain the voice of this young generation of survivors and victims. Here is another news segment about this shirt and its significance.
Mrs. Mount painting a tiny hand. Our 4th grade Dale Chihuly inspired oversized flowers. Some students and their family members taking photos. Finger knit weaving 3rd grade Fall Trees. Th students learned a little bit about perspective by adding trees in the foreground, middle ground and background. 3rd grade tiered cakes inspired by artist Wayne Thiebaud. "All about ME" word collages. This was a mixed media project using recycled dictionary pages, magazines, yarn, texture sheets and foil. Our P.E. teacher, Mr. Quarando painting a student's face. Ms. Knight painting a student's face. These are some cool mustaches! 4th grade copper name plates Matthew peeking through our SCREAM mural, inspired by Edvard Munch! Show me your best SCREAM face! Mrs. Mount painting away. Special guest, Mrs. Winiasz face painting at the art show! Our Principal, Mrs. Schwartz painting a student's hand :). Some parents checking out our awesome finger knit weaving.
In an era of high stakes testing, art is sometimes the first thing to go but we as teachers need to find ways to continue providing art experiences for our students. Not only is art just plain fun, and let's face it, kids do need fun, but it's much more than that. Art is beneficial in so many ways! Find out ways to incorporate art in this post by The Teacher Next Door.
This is the exact question we are attempting to answer right now in C107! We have set up our potatoes (cut about 1/4 off and soaking in plain water for a couple weeks) and have begun to observe, infer and predict about the growth we expect. Each student is keeping track of their information on one of these recording sheets. We will check back in a few days and again at the 2 week mark. We are anxiously awaiting the results! In the mean time, it makes a pretty cool display in the classroom! If you're a teacher who'd like to try this experiment with your kiddos, you can download the lab sheet for FREE in my TpT store!
Earlier this year, my co-worker Jayne found the idea to make a collaborative school-wide paper mural based on the artwork of Thank YouX. The idea for a student mural originally came from Jenell Novello and you can see the lesson plan write-up on Artsonia. She also so generously provided the lesson plan and templates on Google docs. Thank You X got his name by accident. In 2009 Andy Warhol’s spray painted portrait was spotted on a city street in L.A.. … Read more... →
Have you tried using Collaborative Posters in the Classroom? Collaborative posters are a fantastic way to build a culture of teamwork and unity in your
So, yesterday I showed you how I got my angle studies kicked off with my students–how I solidified understanding of “right angle”. We had lots left to accomplish–so I’ll try to share some of the different lessons and activities we did over the next days! Tip 1: If you can get your hands on thin […]
This year, I decided to teach this skill over a few days at the beginning of the year. I've never taught it like this before. I usually wait until I move into nonfiction and argument writing and then I mention the difference in the three, but I never teach it as its own lesson. However, this year I thought maybe knowing how to do each of these early on would help as we start working on answering open-ended questions. I was inspired by this post over at The Creative Apple. I loved her anchor chart, which I believe she borrowed from this blog. Wanting to have an interactive page for our ISNs, I turned the anchor chart into this interactive folding page! {You can get it FREE right HERE!} They looked like this in our notebooks: Which open and look like this: Next, I had the kids read some short articles (I used some old Time for Kids magazines) and answer some simple, "right there" questions using either a quote, summary, or paraphrase to support their thinking. I am hoping that teaching this strategy early on will pay off. Often, I have students (usually my struggling learners) who will copy an entire paragraph from a text because they think they are supporting their answer. Typically, they don't use transitions and their answers come out disjointed and confusing and LONG! Do you teach this skill as its own lesson? How's it work for you? Happy Teaching!!
Well, hello there. This big toothy grin is brought to you by our mini-monochromatic self-portrait project! Our first project of the new school year is a collaborative one. Each of my four hundred-ish students will be making a 3" square selfie to contribute to a large mural. Y'all might have seen the rainbow portrait mural that was all the rage on Pinterest a couple years ago (in case you missed, it's the same process as what I'm sharing here. When complete, the portraits are hung in Roy G. Biv order which makes for a beautiful display). The last time I did a project like this (back in 2012), we hung the pieces to create a large world map. This go-round I have something different in mind which I hope to have ready to share with y'all real soon. In the meantime, let's chat monochromatic self-portraits! I have my older students, third and fourth grade, for an hour. After watching the start of the video below, I allowed the students the choice of either participating in the guided drawing in the video or working on their own. My classes were pretty evenly split between those who preferred guided vs. independent. Some kids would draw along for a while until they felt comfortable then migrate to their chosen table (more on that in a sec) while others would decide they'd like a little guidance and join the kids on the floor. Creating this video was great in that I could add vocabulary pop-ups when needed. I also think that the intro would work great with a variety of self-portrait projects. Feel free to show it in your art room, that's why I'm sharing it here! You can find many more videos like this on my YouTube channel. I add more videos weekly so if you subscribe, you can stay tuned. My third graders (seen above) were able to bust these bad boys out in no time. I had only one rule when coloring: only use colored pencils on the face. I learned from experience that the dark markers will often cover too much of the face and the kids lose their beautiful details. So, who did they know which colors to use? I color coded the tables! I told the kids that the table cloth signified which color was available on the table. Inside those plastic bins were markers and colored pencils of only one color. I also had mirrors and "idea sheets" (with a variety of faces and facial features) drawn on them. So on the first days of art, the kids sat where they liked, no assigned seats. This gave me a chance to see who would migrate together and who would not be able to sit with their buddy (more talkie than workie means new seatie for sweetie). AH!! First grade! Their selfies made me smile! For the wee ones, we did a guided drawing activity. We spent one day learning about self-portraits and drawing them together. I love this activity because it's such a great assessment of student skill level at the start of the year. It also is gonna make a super sweet mural that I can pop up on the walls right away. And, who doesn't love a selfie? Especially when they are this cute. Love to hear what y'all are doing for these first weeks back to school!
