Equip your child for success with these awesome educational resources! You'll have everything you need to help your preschooler explore the alphabet and beyond. Take advantage of these free printables.
Ok so…I know I haven’t posted much of anything lately. That’s because I’ve been working on a Pacing Guide to use this school year. I wanted to make it editable…
I must say, it's hard to avoid the Yayoi Kusama dot pumpkin around the fall time. Searching for pumpkin-inspired art project ideas inevitably reveals this contemporary Japanese artist's dimensional, plump and somewhat psychodelic pumpkins. It's been done, again and again, but I felt it was now my turn... despite the hype. Kusama pumpkins White board instructions and guides, with teacher samples I love the graphic quality, and I particularly love the challenge of drawing contours without lines, by using only dots of various thickness. My kids classes (8-14 year olds) have varying degrees of experience with pen techniques since we did a few projects last year and in the last weeks involving stippling, hatching, and adding texture with pen. This no-lines drawing is not too far off, but definitely in a new direction, and I saw it as an extension of our previous illustration and pen work. Win win. Medium choice: I wanted the results to be super neat and crisp, like Kusama's own work. I knew painting dots with brushes would not give us that crisp quality, and I felt similarly about painting or drawing in the background pattern. So I opted for drawing in the dots with permanent black markers in various thickness, on colored paper. Pumpkins would be cut out and pasted on a background which was painted with a foam roller and stencil with black acrylic paint over top a vibrantly colored paper. With this approach we get the bright color of the pumpkins and the background, the neatly controlled lines of dots with the makers (that's the objective, after all), and the clean patterned background with the stencils. Process Day 1 1. Drawing pumpkins Student had visuals of Kusama's pumpkins as well as photos and illustrations of pumpkins to observe the variety of their form and shape. Simple step-by-step pumpkin drawing guides were also at their desk, so they could see how to break down and simply the drawing steps. I also demonstrated how to draw a pumpkin on the white board, and showed them several different options for shapes. Pumpkins are most easily drawn starting with the central 'section shape', them the section shape to the left and the right, and so on. The stem is drawn slightly tucked down into the top, so is doesn't look like it's sitting on the top contour edge, but rather growing out the pumpkin. Students were encourage to try a few different shapes - tilted, plump, oblong and even with wavy sections.... like Kusama's. We practiced a few rounds of pumpkins on scratch paper. Then we chose our colored paper, and began drawing our favorite version in pencil. 2. Dots Each pumpkin section must be filled with dots in a crisp, systematic fashion. Our dots must create the illusion of form. We analyzed Kusama's work and noted how she uses a row of larger dots at the center of her central section, with increasingly smaller rows of dots on both sides. This gives our section a 3-D shape. The tricky part is addressing the next sections to the left and the right. We noted that Kusama uses large semi-circle, or half-dots, along the outer edge of the first section (where we drew our section line with pencil). From there, the lines of dots get increasingly smaller again toward the other edge. This is repeated for each section. The darker intensity of the large half-dots serves the purpose of creating a strong visual line which separates the sections (thereby replacing our 'line' with 'dots'). *Super important for an effective gradient of dot sizes is using differently sized markers. We used permanent markers with hefty fat tips, medium tips (or a sharpie with a good point) and fine liners in various tops. 3. Stem We observed that Kusama did her stem in the same manner, but in the inverse. So dots are white, and the negative space is black. To achieve this effect, we simply drew open circles with our black pen, and colored the space around our white circles. Pencil lines were erased and pumpkins were cut out. We managed all this in a 90 minutes class. Drawing dots Drawing dots Day 1 results Day 1 results Day 2 Background: Student chose a colored paper that complemented or contrasted with their pumpkin color. Then they chose the stencil of their choice. My stencils are from Marabu. We chose stencils that contrast the dot pattern, so those with a different angular of liner quality. We did not, for examaple, use the stencils with hearts, small stars, circles, etc. because they are visually too similar to our dots. We used black acrylic paint and foam rollers to stencil on our colored paper. In many cases, our stencils were not as large as our paper, so we had to carefully reposition the stencil, lining up the stencil with the printed edge, and rolling again to fill the page. Pumpkins were finally pasted on the printed background, for a visually exciting result. My students were quite wowed by their vibrant, dimensional results, and proud of their hard work and dedication to neatness and precision. Hard work pays off. Ages 8-14 Ages 8-10
Learn which strategies to use with students who are engaging in escape or task avoidance behaviors in special education classes.
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Use this Kindness Cookies Kind or Unkind Sort to help students determine what is kind and what is not during this sel center activity.
Are you looking for a fun and interactive activity to use in your classroom? Plants Against Humanity is a hilarious and educational twist on the classic party game, now tailored exclusively for students learning about plants! This educational game can be used as an introduction or reinforcement activity as well as a team bonding exercise. Included: Teacher Notes Plants Against Humanity Directions 60 Prompt Cards 90 Answer Cards Example Prompts: The real reason plants wilt is_____________. The most unusual plant I've ever grown is ___________. Example Answers: Aphid Infestation Pruning Shears Organic Fertilizer Soil pH Testing Like this resource! Check out some others! FFA Mock CDE Rotation Stations Ag Against Humanity: Cards Game for Students Pig Ear Notching Activity Reproductive Parts of a Plant
Downloadable Chord Chart for beginner guitar players to use a reference sheet when practicing and learning their first open chords! Now, you don’t have to learn all of these chords at once. Instead, use this page as a resource that you come back to each time when you need to add a new chord to your vocabulary. Have fun with these chords and try to get them under your fingers by playing songs that include them! Digital Download Featuring 21 Open Chords.
Students will love learning about a new animal as they create an informational report using this helpful guide!
FREE Doc McStuffins Worksheets
Geometry can be a lot of fun OR it can be really confusing. This post shares 10 ways to review attributes of geometric shapes to make it fun!
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Printable Halloween masks for kids including a black cat, a vampire, Frankenstein, Jack-O-Lantern, and a sugar skull. Two versions: one ready to use, and one to color in.
Pattern block mats are about so much more than just teaching shapes in preschool. Using pattern block mats introduces kids to geometry.
Unlock the magic of DIY sensory bottles at Especially Education. Discover step-by-step guides and ideas to create your own captivating sensory bottle experiences.
Learn how to homeschool preschool with simple hands-on activities, fun activity books, and the most manageable open-and-go curriculum on the market!
Welcome to the Free Resource Library for Montessori, early childhood and lower elementary teachers, parents and educators! I am thrilled to provide you with a curated selection of free printables. […]
Grab this set of free exercise flashcards and help improve your student’s focus, strength, and flexibility with gross motor movements.
Visual boundaries are a vital part of classroom setup. Let me show you how I utilize these visual boundaries in classroom!
Positive Learning Environment / PE Reward System: I started this reward system thinking I would implement it for a year. It has now been 6 years! The student athletes love it and don't let me forget to do it at the end of class. This system could be used in a regular education classroom too. The big...
Get six easy but creative lesson plan overview printables for teaching the Bible to kids. Sign up for the FREE Armor of God email series now!
Get your teacher life organized with 200 free Google Keep headers! This note-taking system will revolutionize the way you teach.
Welcome to the Free Resource Library for Montessori, early childhood and lower elementary teachers, parents and educators! I am thrilled to provide you with a curated selection of free printables. […]
Looking for a Fun Apple Craft? Try this Marble Painting for Preschoolers - it's fast and easy! Grab the Free Printable Apple Template Now!
These Montessori math resources & printables will help you teach math with Dr. Montessori’s approach through observation and experimentation.
This resource includes 20 different EDITABLE exit slips you can use as formative assessments and reading checks in any content area. I used similar exit slips as a reading teacher, but as a literacy coach, I realized that teachers across the curriculum could use a similar tool--especially as increased reading demands are knocking at our doors. In addition to the exit slips themselves (two on each page), I've included a general explanation/introduction, seven pages of instructions and tips on how to use each of the slips, a chart identifying which CCSS could be met by each technique, and a page of labels so you can make your own little basket with dividers for easy access in your classroom (see thumbnail). My goal with this product was to develop something that the teachers in my school can use in any class--history, science, careers, health, web design--to have their students demonstrate understanding of texts or lessons. In my instructions, I have offered suggestions on how to frame each exit slip for both reading and as a general formative assessment in the form of a true exit slip. I've also provided tips and suggestions gleaned from 20 years of teaching and using these techniques. Many of them are based on reading strategies I learned from my professional reading and attendance at conferences. Update: December 2016 I've created easy-to-use digital versions of these exit slips (and added a few more to the collection). Check out my Digital Exit Slips: a collection of 30 Google Slides to use in your 1:1 classroom!
Looking for a fun and educational craft? Try this paper plate animal cell activity! Learn about the functions of animal cells while creating a masterpiece.
As special education teachers, we are constantly needing to assess students. Sometimes, we are assessing new students for move-ins or evaluations, while other times, we are assessing before an annual case conference. Either way, you need something that is quick, easy, and effective. Letters & Sounds For our younger learners, we might need to know […]
To learn why crossing the midline is key for everything from emotional regulation, fine and gross motor skills, reading and writing, and better behavior, click through to read this post now or pin for later! #brainintegration #crossingthemidline #braingym #emotionalregulation #childdevelopment#learntoread
Your home doesn't have to be a battleground. You can turn around your teen's disrespectful behavior by following these tips.
So you’ve taught your students to write sentences. Now what? In the beginning of my career, we worked HARD on writing sentences. When it came time to take the next step into writing paragraphs, I found this was even harder for my students. We were able to write 2-3 sentences about a topic or picture, ... Read More about How to Scaffold Paragraph Writing for Special Education
You can print out these music theory guides for free!
