It's Spring! So it's time for a fun Spring learning idea. I created a printable set of Fraction Flowers that includes fractions through 1/10. This can now be purchased in my shop. Fraction Flowers are a

The origins of this art lesson came from a pin that I found on Pinterest connecting to the blog B Art Z - Elementary Art. I have been SO excited to blog about my new and improved cup weaving lesson! So last year I attempted to do cup weaving with my some of my students.. and while I loved the results.. the process was infuriating! For some reason I thought it was a great idea to weave with plastic cups - which made sharp jagged edges when cut by children. When that didn't go smoothly I thought myself sooooo clever to switch to styrofoam cups - which ended up making spokes (warp strips) that snapped off when pulled on to much. FINALLY I figured it out - PAPER CUPS!! These work PERFECTLY!! It is easy for the kids to cut the strips themselves AND they are surprisingly very durable. **Get them in bulk here! The first thing I had my kids do was write their name on the bottom of their cup with a sharpie. Then they placed their upside-down cup onto a template I created and made a tick mark on the rim of the cup everywhere where they saw a triangle poking out - this gave them evenly spaced points to cut from. When cutting out the spokes/warp strips, it is extremely important to remember to cut out an odd number of strips so that when you are weaving your AB pattern, the pattern alternates each consecutive time around. I found that with the 9oz cups my kids were using, 9 strips turned out to be the perfect number. Once the strips were cut, students double-knotted a piece of yarn to one of the strips, then began weaving! This particular class worked for 5 days straight on this (they really are a wonderful group).. and I had a few students who even completed 3 very well done cups in this amount of time (a couple even got pulled for our county art show)! :)

Learn how to make a kaleidoscope in this fun STEM/science activity and craft for kids. It’s such a fun way to explore light, reflections, and symmetry! Follow our Science for Kids Pinterest board! *This post was originally published 2/2/16 and has since been updated. Last week I made these super fun kaleidoscopes with my …

The idea for this lesson came from an image I saw on Pinterest.. but after doing some investigative work - seems to have originated from the blog Art. Paper. Scissors. Glue and before that from the 1991 book written by Sara Beggs, "The No Nonsense Guide to Teaching Art." For this lesson we began by taking about what symmetry is and the difference between linear symmetry (1 line of symmetry) and radial symmetry (more than 1 line of symmetry). Then we talked about what a sculpture is (a piece of artwork you can see from all sides - it is 3-dimensional) and what a relief "sculpture" is (a piece of artwork that has depth on the surface but is not meant to be seen from all sides). Once students understood the principles behind radial symmetry and sculpture we began creating our very own radial paper relief sculptures! Students started by folding a piece of 12"x12" black construction paper diagonally both ways and vertical and horizontally (to create an 'X' crease and a '+' crease). Making these creases makes creating a radial design SO much easier because it gives you guidelines to work with. Once their papers had been folded and their names written, we sat them aside. Before having students begin folding their colored paper (each piece was cut to 3" x 3") to fill the inside of their design, I demonstrated 4 folds to them to get them started. *Students were allowed to deviate from these folds if they wanted to. To download the handout below, click on the arrow button in the top right corner (this will open it in a new window). You can download from there. My kids absolutely LOVED this project! They are already super into origami, so this project was like heaven to them! :) You might also be interested in checking out my Paper Poinsettia Sculpture lesson which uses the same basic concepts. Also available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

Objective: Students will be able to create alliterations based on the poem “Bleezer’s Ice Cream” By Jack Prelutsky. Vocabulary: Alliteration Time: Approximately 1 hour and 30 minu…

This Chinese Vase Art Lesson is a simple, fast and effective lesson. Using white paper, fold in half and draw half a vase.

Students of all ages can make a Cardinal when all they have to do is wrap cardboard. Perfect for introducing young ones to crafts with yarn.

Tunnel books are fun and unique! We made ours using a postcard for a prompt and wrote a haiku to go with it. I've made these with grade 4 and up, but younger students could enjoy this activity in "centers", with the help of parent volunteers, or by having the various parts prepped for them ahead of time. There are lots of different directions you could take this project. We added a pocket on the back for holding a written story that we added later. See a few of our student examples below!For a convenient step-by-step pdf of this lesson, visit my TPT Store

I stumbled across this idea on Pinterest and thought it would be perfect for my third and fourth graders! I often hear complaints from students that although others "allow" them to play games at recess, they often do not "include" them in the game. For example, in football they are on the team but the ball is never passed to them. I used this as a springboard for discussion on what teamwork really looks like. The Cup Stack is a great activity to facilitate teamwork. Some groups are able to complete the task very quickly while other groups must keep trying and trying to complete the task successfully. It's hard not to give up when things get frustrating, and this is a valuable lesson for children to learn in a safe environment. All you need is cups, rubberbands, and string. I decided to put my students into groups of 6, so I tied 6 equally spaced strings (about 1-2 feet long) around a single rubberband. Each group was given this device and 6 cups. The challenge is for the group to build a pyramid out of the paper cups (3 on the bottom, 2 in the middle, 1 on the top - can be adjusted for more cups). Group members cannot touch the cups with their hands or any other part of their bodies, even if a cup falls over or on the floor. Each person holds onto one of the strings that are attached to the rubber band and they use this device to pick up the cups and place them on top of each other (by pulling the rubber band apart and then bringing it back together over the cups). Some groups took 2 minutes to accomplish their goal, some 10 minutes, and some never successfully built their tower. I had groups that finished early watch the remaining groups to add a little "pressure." Afterwards we debriefed with the following discussion questions: Was anyone frustrated at all during the activity? If so how was it handled? What did you learn about yourself or others? Why was teamwork so important for this activity? What is so hard about teamwork? What did you do today to contribute to the teamwork on your team? What are some skills needed to be good at teamwork? Are you every in a situation where you must use teamwork? Is this always easy for you? Why or why not? How can we use what we learned through this experience in situations outside the game? Check out Teamwork: Cup Stack Take 2!

Welcome the warm weather season with our best summer décor ideas. Everything from table setting and furnishing inspiration to mesmerizing lighting touches will enhance your space before hosting guests for barbecues, pool days, and more summer activities.

I'm not sure there exists a more fun and easy science experiment for young kids than a homemade volcano. All you really need for a volcano science activity is baking soda, vinegar, an empty container and maybe some food coloring and your kids will be begging for more. My kids LOVE homemade volcanoes and we've made our fair share over the last few years. This time I decided it would be interesting if we could make the project a little more educational by creating a cutaway view of an erupting volcano. Does your child know the difference between lava and

Super simple craft for a DIY Paper Spinner, keeping the kids entertained this summer as part of the Make and Takes summer series Get Out and Play!

Help your primary grade students explore, learn, and write about landforms. See our hands-on landforms activities plus our culminating writing project!

The origins of this art lesson came from a pin that I found on Pinterest connecting to the blog B Art Z - Elementary Art. I have been SO excited to blog about my new and improved cup weaving lesson! So last year I attempted to do cup weaving with my some of my students.. and while I loved the results.. the process was infuriating! For some reason I thought it was a great idea to weave with plastic cups - which made sharp jagged edges when cut by children. When that didn't go smoothly I thought myself sooooo clever to switch to styrofoam cups - which ended up making spokes (warp strips) that snapped off when pulled on to much. FINALLY I figured it out - PAPER CUPS!! These work PERFECTLY!! It is easy for the kids to cut the strips themselves AND they are surprisingly very durable. **Get them in bulk here! The first thing I had my kids do was write their name on the bottom of their cup with a sharpie. Then they placed their upside-down cup onto a template I created and made a tick mark on the rim of the cup everywhere where they saw a triangle poking out - this gave them evenly spaced points to cut from. When cutting out the spokes/warp strips, it is extremely important to remember to cut out an odd number of strips so that when you are weaving your AB pattern, the pattern alternates each consecutive time around. I found that with the 9oz cups my kids were using, 9 strips turned out to be the perfect number. Once the strips were cut, students double-knotted a piece of yarn to one of the strips, then began weaving! This particular class worked for 5 days straight on this (they really are a wonderful group).. and I had a few students who even completed 3 very well done cups in this amount of time (a couple even got pulled for our county art show)! :)

This fire breathing dragon made from a toilet paper roll is an easy kids craft that uses simple craft supplies. When you blow into the end of the tube the tissue paper looks like flames coming out of the dragon's mouth! Fire Breathing Dragon Craft Add this activity to your crafty bucket list, because it's SO MUCH FUN! And it's ridiculously simple to make. Kids, toddlers and preschoolers will love to see the dragon blowing fire! The photos make me smile, just looking at them. Watch the Video Tutorial Here: (Or scroll down for the step-by-step photo tutorial and printable

These are a nice 3-D addition to our intro on gesture drawing... ... each one is made from a sheet of aluminum foil, about 12" long. ...

Explore Kaja K's 2395 photos on Flickr!

My 4th graders loved this lesson, and it was a great brain break during testing weeks. Finished weavings can be worn as bracelets, used as bookmarks, or any other creative thing you choose. I followed the steps given in this website - http://www.designdazzle.com/2014/06/straw-weaving-bracelets/ - it comes with great photo steps which I projected on my whiteboard to guide the process. I made my straws and yarn slightly larger - 6 and 12" - because my kids were a little older than the ones in the directions. The kids learned the vocabulary from my weaving handout, available on Teachers pay Teachers here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mrs-Knights-Smartest-Artists The directions on the back of the handout are for cardboard loom weaving, which I do with my 5th graders, but the intro, vocab, and history are the same. Thanks so much to our business partner Chik-fil-A for the donation of straws! Their straws have a large diameter, which is helpful. This project took three to four 45 minute sessions.

Schaduwtekenen. Maak een figuur van aluminiumfolie, zet 'm voor een lamp en…

Easy Origami Stars - these paper stars are surprisingly easy to get the hang of and look wonderful. All you need is a square piece of paper...

We continue to get lots of positive feedback on our installation at the Bellevue Arts Museum. This is our wall of 500, made by students at Alcott, Dickinson, Rosa Parks, Explorer, and Redmond High School, along with friends and family too. This smaller piece of 64 weavings are the some of the ones I made... And these are some of the HUNDREDS made by visitors to the museum. Visitors are invited to make one and add it to the installation, but most artists wanted to take their treasures home with them. This wall now has over 300, so it's getting to be almost as large as our installation of 500 on the adjacent wall. The Weaving Project is on display until December 1st, FEBRUARY 2nd!!!! so you still have time to make a CD weaving to add to the piece. It's been gratifying to hear from people around the world who are making CD weavings! It enlarges the idea of community that I hoped the project would express. Thank you to those of you who have taken time to let me know- I've heard from or seen the work of students, teachers, and individuals in Israel, Colombia, Australia, and many states in the United States. Wouldn't it be awesome to see them all together? We are looking for another display opportunity once the show closes at BAM, so let me know if you have any ideas. Make it a Wonderful Day!

The origins of this art lesson came from a pin that I found on Pinterest connecting to the blog B Art Z - Elementary Art. I have been SO excited to blog about my new and improved cup weaving lesson! So last year I attempted to do cup weaving with my some of my students.. and while I loved the results.. the process was infuriating! For some reason I thought it was a great idea to weave with plastic cups - which made sharp jagged edges when cut by children. When that didn't go smoothly I thought myself sooooo clever to switch to styrofoam cups - which ended up making spokes (warp strips) that snapped off when pulled on to much. FINALLY I figured it out - PAPER CUPS!! These work PERFECTLY!! It is easy for the kids to cut the strips themselves AND they are surprisingly very durable. **Get them in bulk here! The first thing I had my kids do was write their name on the bottom of their cup with a sharpie. Then they placed their upside-down cup onto a template I created and made a tick mark on the rim of the cup everywhere where they saw a triangle poking out - this gave them evenly spaced points to cut from. When cutting out the spokes/warp strips, it is extremely important to remember to cut out an odd number of strips so that when you are weaving your AB pattern, the pattern alternates each consecutive time around. I found that with the 9oz cups my kids were using, 9 strips turned out to be the perfect number. Once the strips were cut, students double-knotted a piece of yarn to one of the strips, then began weaving! This particular class worked for 5 days straight on this (they really are a wonderful group).. and I had a few students who even completed 3 very well done cups in this amount of time (a couple even got pulled for our county art show)! :)

Book reports don't need to be painfully boring. In fact, they can be a ton of fun! Here are 10 creative book report ideas to use in your classroom.

Learn how do hands work with this fun, hands-on human body project for kids. In this working model children will learn about muscles!

Compare and contrast singular possessives and plural possessives with this anchor chart.

The Great Pumpkin Contest has some very creative pumpkins on display. If you haven't been to Bradley this week to see all the pumpkins, no worries!! I will be posting pictures on next weeks blog. Pictures will include group pumpkin pictures and individual pumpkin winner pictures (pictures of just the pumpkins, not students). We have 50+ pumpkins on display! It is going to be very hard to select the winners! 1st graders have been learning about the past, present, and future in their homeroom classes... so I decided to have students draw what they wanted to be when they get older (future self portrait). Each first grader drew his or herself in the future doing their "dream job". We have teachers, art teachers, dancers, singers, stay at home moms, police officers, fire fighters, McDonald workers, Dollar Store employees, princesses, scientist,... the list goes on! A Flower Shop Worker... A Dancer and Cox Farm Employee Fish Market, Singer, and Art Teacher (My favorite) 2nd graders are learning a new art techniques this week called "Masking". Stay tuned for more details and pictures of this project that should be completed early next week. 3rd graders finished their 1 point perspective art this week. Students created some very creative aquariums with some very interesting creatures. This lesson took us about 4 weeks - lots of hard work went into these amazing art pieces! 4th graders completed their Vincent Van Gogh inspired sunflowers this week. We viewed and discussed 3 of Van Gogh's Sunflower paintings and added a fun twist to this project by making it pop-up art. The checkered background makes the flowers "pop" even more. 5th graders did an amazing job on their Amedeo Modigliani inspired self portraits. Modigliani is know for his elongated face (people) paintings. 5th graders had fun making their faces and necks look elongated. Students first sketched their self portraits and then colored them using oil pastels. These have a awesome cartoon appearance!

Figuring out the first art project of the year with my kids is always a daunting task for me. This is why I was so excited when I found this pin of suncatchers on Pinterest (links back to the blog Make, Do, Play). I really wanted to do something that my students would have fun with and could easily be started late if new students joined my class throughout the week (I see mine for an entire week.. then rotate to the next class). My students absolutely LOVE origami and even though I'm not particularly skilled at it, the folds in this project were very simple.. so it was a easy choice! I started this project by reviewing both linear and radial symmetry with my students. We talked about the difference between the two.. then sorted a number of images based on their type of symmetry. Once I was sure my students had it down, I moved on to demonstrating two folds that they could use for the project. I folded two different examples on my document camera, while my 5th graders followed along on scrap paper. After showing them the two folds, they decided which one of the two radial suncatcher designs they wanted to create... then picked out their colors. I originally intended for this to be a color wheel lesson.. but you need to have 8 different colored papers for these designs and not 6 like a standard color wheel has. So instead they had free reign on their color choices (either way they were getting some color mixing lesson). **The paper we used was a semi-transparent colored origami paper . It think these really turned out beautifully and they were very simple to make! On Friday I hung them up in the cafeteria windows.. they look stunning in the morning light! :)

Whenever cool weather gets here, we always take time to do something special. It could be simple poetry reading or a craft or two

The idea for this lesson came from an image I saw on Pinterest.. but after doing some investigative work - seems to have originated from the blog Art. Paper. Scissors. Glue and before that from the 1991 book written by Sara Beggs, "The No Nonsense Guide to Teaching Art." For this lesson we began by taking about what symmetry is and the difference between linear symmetry (1 line of symmetry) and radial symmetry (more than 1 line of symmetry). Then we talked about what a sculpture is (a piece of artwork you can see from all sides - it is 3-dimensional) and what a relief "sculpture" is (a piece of artwork that has depth on the surface but is not meant to be seen from all sides). Once students understood the principles behind radial symmetry and sculpture we began creating our very own radial paper relief sculptures! Students started by folding a piece of 12"x12" black construction paper diagonally both ways and vertical and horizontally (to create an 'X' crease and a '+' crease). Making these creases makes creating a radial design SO much easier because it gives you guidelines to work with. Once their papers had been folded and their names written, we sat them aside. Before having students begin folding their colored paper (each piece was cut to 3" x 3") to fill the inside of their design, I demonstrated 4 folds to them to get them started. *Students were allowed to deviate from these folds if they wanted to. To download the handout below, click on the arrow button in the top right corner (this will open it in a new window). You can download from there. My kids absolutely LOVED this project! They are already super into origami, so this project was like heaven to them! :) You might also be interested in checking out my Paper Poinsettia Sculpture lesson which uses the same basic concepts. Also available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

Click to see how one teacher uses 1 book to launch writing workshop with a detailed breakdown of each day and a free download.

These small, square books “explode” into a series of square and triangular pages when you open them. Each student constructed their own book with decorative papers, cardboard, ribbon, and construct…

My 6th graders werefinishing up their still life projects and I had to be gone for a Relay for Life commitment. So that meant I had to have a sub during a super important step. I knew they sub but I was still NERVOUS. Mrs. Hahn at Mini Matisse to the rescue. I was writing out my lessons when her blog post "I'm in LOVE with notans" came through my reader. I just knew it would solve my problems... The kids would still get to do a fun project but I don't have to worry about them "messing" up an important step on their still-life drawings. Thank you Mrs. Hahn for the idea and Mrs. Couch for teaching a great lesson... I love how they turned out. The students were given the task of using one 6x6 piece of red paper and one 9x12 piece of white paper. They had to cut out hearts, reversing the paper in and out (like you do with notans) BUT their goal was to create a graphic image and not a "valentiney looking" image. I think they did a great job!

These 4th grade anchor charts reinforce concepts for reading, science, math, behavior management, environmentalism, and more!

Kids are going to love exploring geography with these fun, DIY Continent...

This Writing from Lists: MEGA Bundle contains TWELVE of my best-selling unit plans that provide a sure-fire way to get your students’ pencils flying! Creating lists and then writing from those lists is a tried-and-true inspiration technique that writers have used for ages. I’ve found no better way to get my students (even the most reluctant!) excited about and engaged in their writing! This product is perfect for whole class lessons, small group instruction, writing centers, writer’s notebook, sub plans, formative/summative assessment, and more! The possibilities for using this product are endless! Thanks so much for shopping and happy writing! ***************************************************************************** Having difficulty with a file? Visit the FAQs section, submit a help ticket, or ask a question on the Q&A tab before leaving feedback. Be the first to know about discounts, freebies and new resources! • Click the green star to get email notifications about new resources & sales. • Join my newsletter. Get TPT credit to use on future purchases: • Go to your My Purchases page (log in first). Click on the Provide Feedback button to leave a rating and a short comment. You’ll earn TPT credits, which you can redeem on future purchases! Come find me! Blog ❤️ Facebook ❤️ Instagram ❤️ Pinterest ***************************************************************************** Please note, I am required to put the number of pages contained in all 12 of the resources that are combined to make this bundle. However, you will notice that many of the pages are the same in each unit found throughout the bundle. For example, the rubric and Read-Around-Groups anchor chart are the same in each of the individual units. Thank you for your understanding!

Make a paper pinwheel in just minutes with this free printable template! Just print, cut, and fold (or use the free SVG file in your Cricut!)

Students can travel across the globe without leaving the classroom. Check out these fun geography lessons for any grade and curriculum.

Musings of a Third Grade Teacher

The origins of this art lesson came from a pin that I found on Pinterest connecting to the blog B Art Z - Elementary Art. I have been SO excited to blog about my new and improved cup weaving lesson! So last year I attempted to do cup weaving with my some of my students.. and while I loved the results.. the process was infuriating! For some reason I thought it was a great idea to weave with plastic cups - which made sharp jagged edges when cut by children. When that didn't go smoothly I thought myself sooooo clever to switch to styrofoam cups - which ended up making spokes (warp strips) that snapped off when pulled on to much. FINALLY I figured it out - PAPER CUPS!! These work PERFECTLY!! It is easy for the kids to cut the strips themselves AND they are surprisingly very durable. **Get them in bulk here! The first thing I had my kids do was write their name on the bottom of their cup with a sharpie. Then they placed their upside-down cup onto a template I created and made a tick mark on the rim of the cup everywhere where they saw a triangle poking out - this gave them evenly spaced points to cut from. When cutting out the spokes/warp strips, it is extremely important to remember to cut out an odd number of strips so that when you are weaving your AB pattern, the pattern alternates each consecutive time around. I found that with the 9oz cups my kids were using, 9 strips turned out to be the perfect number. Once the strips were cut, students double-knotted a piece of yarn to one of the strips, then began weaving! This particular class worked for 5 days straight on this (they really are a wonderful group).. and I had a few students who even completed 3 very well done cups in this amount of time (a couple even got pulled for our county art show)! :)

This blog post features a contraction anchor chart. Plus, two free concentration games are provided... one contraction game for lower elementary and one for upper elementary!

Make a simple guitar and set up fun and easy sound science experiments for kids. How do sounds sound different in different rooms.

Ok...WOW! It has been quite some time since I have written anything. I have a lot to catch up on and I think I will start with more recent ...