The return of the lego self portraits. You've probably seen these/my face floating around Pinterest (or at least I'm told by my fellow colleagues that my face is plastered on Pinterest). The original project I did last year brought some major traffic to my blog. I think part of the reason, along with the fact that legos are just awesome, was that shortly after I posted the project The Lego Movie came out and Lego Mania was upon us. This is probably one of my all time favorite lessons. We cover a lot of information and it is fun, the kids love it and all find some sort of success! The majority of this lesson is done with crayon, a few students did choose to use marker on the background. To see a more detailed description of the lesson go here. I'm amazed as to how much I can see the resemblances in some of the portraits and I can pick out which lego belongs to each student.
Happy Fall! I don’t know about you, but for me, at this time in the year, the back to school rush of adrenaline has worn off. Students have settled into their classes, behaviors start to escalate and as an art teacher, you’re just plain worn out. But after classes are done for the day, you have to attend to all of the cleaning, organizing, school duties, meetings lesson planning & prepping for the next day. . Art teachers are really AMAZING. The amount of work you do on a daily basis is unreal a
Analyzing character traits is a key fiction reading skill that is needed for successful comprehension. In most cases, authors do not just come out and tell readers the traits that a character possesses. By teaching
Inside you'll find an easy step-by-step how to draw a Minecraft Self Portrait & Minecraft Coloring Page. Stop by and grab yours for free.
In this Aquarium Perspective Lesson, Middle School students will dive right into learning about the principle of perspective while designing an aquarium.
Kids will be WOWED with this hands-on, fall science experiment where they will explore Why do Leaves Change Color for kids! Fun Leaf Activity!
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…
The connection between social studies and art includes different cultures while using art to explore history in new ways. Read more!
Follow this step-by-step lesson plan to teach your students how
FUN Solar System Projects for kids of all ages with creative crafts, activities, and experiments to bring the planets and stars to life.
Help students break the reading ‘code’ with these games for teaching themes in upper elementary.
Lesson idea from Art. Paper. Scissors. Glue! 3rd graders started a conversation about what textile arts are by reading the book "Tar Beach" by author and artist Faith Ringgold. We talked about how the book and its illustrations were actually inspired by a story quilt that Ringgold created (the original work is pictured in the back of the book I had). The story in the book brought up the themes of both inequality (which works well since February is Black History Month) and imagination. The book's main character 3rd grader Cassie Louise Lightfoot discovers she has the ability to fly and in doing so, finds a sense of power and ownership over whatever she flies. She flies over the George Washington Bridge (a structure her father helped to build), an ice cream factory, and the Union Building (a building which housed an organization her father was not allowed to join because of his skin color). After reading and discussing the themes in the book, I asked my 3rd graders "Where would you go if you could fly (real or imaginary) and why?" This question was the inspiration for our very own patches on our 3rd grade story quilt. Students created their own "story patches" by creating a border using squares of 1.5"x1.5" decorative paper along the edge of a 12" x 12" piece of white drawing paper. Students then attached a strip of grey paper to the bottom of their picture squares and wrote about where they would go and why. Then in the remaining space, they used colored pencils to illustrate their ideas. I got a huge range of responses from Candyland (naturally to eat a ton of candy), to Columbia (to visit friends and family), to the Twin Towers in New York City (which prompted an entirely difference conversation). Students really enjoyed working on this project (which took between 4-5 class periods -- including one day for sketching ideas). I really love the finished product - and even more so when they are all hung together to make a giant story quilt! :)
Analyzing character traits is a key fiction reading skill that is needed for successful comprehension. In most cases, authors do not just come out and tell readers the traits that a character possesses. By teaching
There's a lot of ground to cover when you teach creative narrative writing. Here are 5 creative narrative mini-lessons you should be sure to use!
Learn what is under your skin with a fun life-size human body project for kids. Download FREE skeletal system bones and organ printables!
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 […]
Regarde mes vacances, les enfants se dessinent et dans les lunettes, ils y dessinent leurs vacances.
Geometric Art
Teach kids to use guide words, word forms, find definitions and more with dictionary detective! Print FREE dictionary skills worksheets.
Looking for Constitution Day activities for your elementary classroom? These lesson ideas, read aloud and projects will engage your students
Today, 4th grade starting working on their self portraits, inspired by the art of Tad Carpenter, and the fabulous art teacher Katie Allain. You can check out their art on their Instagram accounts, if you click on their names. He's the artist who designed the cover for the book, Wonder! Here's how we created ours! Materials: Sax 90lb paper Sax liquid watercolors Sharpie markers Pencils hair examples Day 1: Talk about the book and movie, Wonder. I plan on playing the audio book, and listening to it while they work. I demonstrated how to draw a simple outline of a face and a simple hairline, like the artist did. I then demonstrated how to trace/color with a Sharpie, and paint with liquid watercolors. I also put up different hair styles on the screen. I think individual copies at their tables would work better, btw :) Here's my fist 4th grade class, working on theirs today!
Looking for new and fun ideas to help teach making inferences? I've got 5 engaging mini-lesson ideas for you to try in your elementary classroom!
In my three years of teaching I'm yet to have a sick day (now that I've written that I will probably be bound to my bed with some sort of ailment tomorrow or next week during Spring Break). Sure, I've had subs, but conveniently for me I've always been able to plan out lessons in advance. As all teachers know--SUB PLANS WILL BE THE DEATH OF YOU. When I start to write them I always ask myself, "Do I really have to be gone, this is just too much work!" And then I have to think about "will my sub actually be an 'art' person?" Not knowing this I don't always want to continue on with our projects because you know...I don't want them to be destroyed! Ye of little faith, I suppose. Anywho, I try to simplify it as best I can for the sanity of the sub and myself. This lesson here was awesome. I was doing mono printing with 4th and 5th graders and no way was I about to continue that with a sub (my head hurts just thinking about it). The only resource they used was this handout to draw, otherwise the rest was up to them. My favorite resource to inspire sub lessons is Art for Kids Hub. The "how to" drawing instructions ROCK, plus the videos are pretty cool too. We all know how I feel about erasers and the drawing how to's don't even require erasing lines! What are some of your go to resources when planning for a sub?
3 examples of classroom management strategies to help you regain control of your classroom through effective behavior management.
Take your word work reading center to the next level with these low prep and engaging word work centers! Plus, learn how to organize and run the word work center!
Free reading comprehension passages for grades 2 - 3
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 […]
Looking for a fun way to introduce the writing process to your students? What about using playdough? Come grab a fun & hands on lesson for your classroom!
Here's why Sparketh has the best online art lessons for kids, and how to use them for homeschool drawing and painting.
How to use and set up the Growth Mindset Escape Room where students apply skills, solve puzzles, and have fun.
Follow the links below for lessons, event kits, and activities to share with the children in your life. Happy Shelebrating!
In Art class, third graders learned about the artist Edvar Munch (pronounced Monk) and his famous painting The Scream. Students learned why he named his artwork The Scream and who the person screaming is. Third graders created themselves in The Scream painting using watercolors and oil pastels!
When I started at my new school last year, I came into a new reading program. I was used to doing almost all of my reading instruction WHOLE CLASS, but my school uses a guided reading model all the way up to 5th grade. I definitely had to rethink my reading block! I had done centers in the past, but wanted a really clear way to maximize the time and make the transitions clear for the students. Here's how I do my guided reading block! ROTATIONS We have Guided Reading/Centers Monday-Thursday from about 1:10-2:00 and I rotate through four groups. This means each center is 12 minutes long, with about 30 seconds for a transition. 12 minutes can fly by, so the students have to work on getting those transitions DOWN. I found a FANTASTIC resource by my friend Kristen of Chalk & Apples, and it has made centers SO easy. There are tons of different icons that can be easily swapped out on different days or weeks. I change mine up all the time! In a typical week, I do guided reading with leveled passages on Monday and Wednesday, and we do literature circles on Tuesdays and Thursdays. GROUPS My students are grouped according to DRA levels, because that is what my school uses. You might use AR, Lexile, or another measure. I have four groups: Low, Low-Mid, High-Mid, and High. Each group has a number, but I assign the number randomly so it doesn't match up to skill level in any way. I have 24 students in my class this year, so there will be 6 kids in each group. If you have a larger class, you can still make it work by having your higher groups work on their own while you work with a lower group and just check in! GUIDED READING I LOVE this close reading resource from Fifth in the Middle. I bought the entire bundle so I have TONS of options. Each reading comes in four reading levels, but they are on the same topic and look the same so students don't notice. There is also a paired text that I try to use for morning work toward the end of the week. There are several pages of activities for each passage, and I often have the students start these at the table with me after we've read the passage out loud. When it is their turn for guided reading, the students come to me at our back table with a pencil and a highlighter. I give them their sheets for that day and discuss what we will be looking for while we read (unfamiliar words usually) and we begin reading. I like to make sure each child reads, so however I have to break it up to make that happen. After reading through, I ask them to scan through again to find specific information. This changes week to week, so one time it might be looking for transition phrases, and another it might be looking for dates to create a timeline. Then, we talk about what everyone found and work on putting together the information on the worksheet. I, of course, provide a lot more scaffolding and support to my lower readers, while my high readers are able to do the activity on their own. LIT CIRCLES On the days that we have literature circles, the students still come to the back table with me, but this time they bring their lit circle book (which varies) and their lit circle binder. In their binder, they keep all of their jobs and their reading schedule. I have used about a GAZILLION resources for lit circles (including online blogs), but this one from Pocketful of Primary is my absolute FAVORITE: It is SOO easy to adapt to groups of different sizes and I found it very user-friendly for both the kiddos and for myself! I organize the jobs using a hanging file I found on Amazon. You can find it here: THE OTHER CENTERS So what do the kiddos do during their other blocks of time? Here's some options I cycle through: STAPLES: Partner Reading Each student has a partner from their reading group that they meet up with for this activity. I typically use "I Survived" books or similar short chapter books. I stock up through Scholastic! I have 6 shared books for the entire class, and I place a sheet inside the front cover so the students can write their names and where they ended each day they read. I always have new books ready to go for the students who finish. I do this strictly for fluency, so I don't do quizzes or worksheets. Silent Reading (KBAR) In my class, we call silent reading KBAR- Kick Back and Read. When we do a whole class KBAR, I sometimes take it outside. Spelling (Spelling City) I typically use Spelling City for centers, but sometimes do a worksheet instead. Vocabulary (Quizlet)Quizlet is AMAZING. I love using this for vocabulary! The students really enjoy it as well. Keyboarding (KWT) This is a tough one since monitoring the students' finger placement is so important. I don't do this OFTEN as a center, but throw it in now and again. Writing If we are working on a longer project (such as the state report), I have the students use this chunk of time for that. Otherwise, I sometimes provide a prompt or allow them to free write. Here's one of the resources I use: NoRedInk If you've never used this site, CHECK IT OUT! It's one of the best ways to get some extra grammar practice into your day! Be aware that the initial set up takes a bit of time because the students have to select a bunch of their favorites from different categories: books, tv shows, movies. What's neat is the site uses their preferences and their name + their friends' names when building the practice sentences. The kids get a kick out of it! Task Cards (small group) Students work with their reading group and record their answers on individual answer sheets. I have a huge selection of task cards that I keep in one of these bad boys from Michael's: Cursive (Can Do) I love that my school teaches cursive, but in fifth grade, we don't have a lot of specific time for it. To keep the kid's practicing, I assign pages from our cursive book during centers. Reading Comprehension (Reading Plus) We use Reading Plus, but there are many online reading comprehension sites. Use whatever your district provides or what works for your class! Games I will occasionally throw in a review game for the kids to play with their small group. The key is they have to be short and not too loud! Comment below if you have other questions or want to add some advice on running smooth ELA centers with Guided Reading!
⚓Make learning about the Titanic for Kids fun and easy with a printable reader. Children will read, color and learn titanic facts for kids.
Learning about Japan for kids with these CUTE and FREE Japan Coloring Pages including - Mt Fiji, sushi, bonsai, cherry blossom, kimono, and more!
This Monster in My Closet art lesson has been one of my students' absolute favorites over the years! A perfect lesson for drawing creativity out of even the most hesitant young artists. With a focus on line, shape, and texture your students will be engaged the entire time they are creating!
Use this free printable book report sandwich idea to recall what you read. Print in black / white or color and use with elementary age kids.
