Year long monthly name writing and self portraits for August- July. For this activity students can draw a self portrait of themselves and write their name on the line. These are a simple way to document students growth throughout the school year. Teachers can keep these for the year to show parents and students a progression of their abilities as the year progresses. You may also like: September Writing Prompts October Writing Prompts November Writing Prompts
" International Dot Day ", a global celebration of creativity, courage and collaboration, began when teacher Terry Shay introduced his cl...
Free printable shapes worksheets for teaching kids the basic shapes. Lots of fun activities to download for FREE!
The Fall Preschool Unit is packed full of hands on math & literacy activities as well as no prep worksheets for easy lesson planning.
Do you want to get started with project based learning, but you’re not sure how? Maybe project based learning sounds too complicated, in-depth, and overwhelming to you? That’s how I felt when I first delved into PBL. But now I know there is nothing to be afraid of! In this post, I will give a quick explanation of project-based learning and then give you some tips and ideas to begin to implement it in your own classroom. What is Project Based Learning? Project based learning, simply stated, is an authentic learning experience
First Week Watercolor Portraits 7 comments Back to School, Bulletin Boards, Self Portraits, Tutorials Every year, my second graders paint a watercolor self-portrait. It is truly my most favorite first week activity of all time. After sharing this picture of this year's portraits on Facebook, a sweet reader asked if I had a blog post about them. Well, it dawned on me that while I have shared my annual self-portraits many times, I've never really shared them exclusively in a post. So, here goes! Every year, I have my students paint a self-portrait during the first week of school (an idea I learned while student teaching many moons ago). I hang these portraits in the room, for the entire year. They really brighten up our space and they are such a joy to look at (this is a picture of my students' portraits from last year). I am not an art teacher and I believe that kids should be encouraged to take risks, so when I task my students with painting their portraits, I pretty much let them "have at it." Don't worry, it isn't a total free for all. I do model the process and I also share examples from years past, like the ones shown below. I just make it very clear that I don't expect their paintings to look like an actual photograph. ;) I always begin by pointing out how much of their body/self they will be painting. I tell them to think about the pictures they see in their yearbooks and how those pictures only show people's heads and shoulders. I explain that they will include only their head and shoulders in their paintings. I then show them examples from previous years (sometimes students move and they get left behind, so I have a few on hand). Once the students understand what it is that they will be including in their portrait, I model the drawing process on the board. I discuss how large the head should be in relation to the paper and show them what this looks like. From there, I show them how I draw a neck and shoulders, hair, and facial features. I apologize that I don't have a photo of this, but essentially, I model and narrate the process, one step at a time. And, then...it's the students' turn. I give each student a piece of white card stock (8x10 inches) to work with. Card stock is brighter and thicker than construction paper, and it just seems to hold the paint better, in my opinion. Then, they start their drawing. Sometimes, I have them draw the outline of their pictures with a black crayon (see below). When I do this, there is NO pencil involved. This helps them to really slow down and visualize before they draw because they know that they can't erase. However, this year, I let them draw with pencil first and then they traced over their pencil lines with a Sharpie. Why did I do that? I have no idea, it was just what I decided to do when I was prepping the materials, but the end result was still fab! Once the students draw the outline of their portrait, they get to paint! Using watercolor is a tricky thing for many second graders. They have a hard time always gauging how much water to use, so a discussion about this (and a little modeling) ahead of time is a good idea. Tip: No matter how much explaining and modeling you do, you'll still have a student or two that uses too much water. Let them use a tissue to blot their paper if you notice this happening. I lay the portraits to dry on the floor, in an out of the way spot. They dry within minutes here in the desert. Once they are dry, I flatten them by stacking heavy teacher manuals on them overnight. I could iron them, but my iron and I do not get along. At all. The next morning, I hang them up and admire the sight before me...all year long. :) At the end of the year, it's always fun to repeat this process. You will be amazed at how much growth your students show. Here are a few examples from last year. Amazing, right? We always get lots of compliments on our portrait display, and the kids are always very proud of them. They love seeing if their parents can guess which one is theirs, and it's fun to see how many parents get it right! At the end of the school year, I send the portraits home as a keepsake. Many parents have commented how much they love them, and they are the perfect size for framing! First week self-portraits are a great way to encourage students to take risks, have fun, and learn to use materials. Beyond that, the students take great pride in their creations and enjoy them just as much as I do, and we have something truly magnificent (that they created!) to look at all year long. :) Share It:
A NO PREP art/language activity teachers can use any time. All you need is paper!
Spending the first week of school teaching classroom expectations and procedures is essential for a successful year. Glue is a tricky school supply for many little learners and there definitely needs to be instruction dedicated to teaching learners how to use this tool.Glue BottlesWhen learners are not taught how to use their glue correctly things
This adorable scribble art project is a perfect way to ease into the year and practice early skills while creating fun, bright works of art.
This is - hands down - my most favorite writing project that I've ever done with my firsties. They did such an amazing job and I am so proud of how far they have come this year. We read "The Best Part of Me" by Wendy Ewald and then created our own bubble maps to organize our thoughts. I
Do you teach a Community Helpers Preschool or Kindergarten Unit? You will LOVE this fun set of pretend play learning centers and no prep worksheets.
Amazing things can happen with just one dot.
FREE printable Symmetry drawing activity for preschool and kindergarten kids. A fun art and math activity in one! Kids will complete the symmetrical pictures by drawing the other half.
Hello Friends!! Happy Memorial Day weekend, the official start to the summer season here at the Jersey shore!!As excited as I am, we still have about three and half weeks left in this school year
Pierwszy dzień w szkole spędza sen z powiek nie tylko uczniom. Nauczyciele po pierwsze opłakują ;) powrót do pracy, a po drugie bardzo często zastanawiają się, czym wypełnić pierwsze zajęcia. Przyg…
Amazing things can happen with just one dot.
FREE printable Paper Hats that kids can color and wear when learning about community helpers, occupations, or when doing dramatic and pretend play. Great for preschool and kindergarten!
Teaching behavior expectations in kindergarten is important, especially in the first few weeks of school. This often sets the stage for your class for the entire year. For students to fully understand what is expected of them, it is important that teachers address and teach these expectation. I usually spend a lot of time during the first weeks of school teaching student expectations and classroom behaviors. We complete sorts of good choices and bad choices in the classroom and discuss what makes them good and bad choices. We complete these sorts whole group and students also complete individual behavior reflection sheets. These work great during the first few weeks of school or when students may need a review. These include different levels of difficulty beginning with students simply deciding if an actions is a good or bad choice, to a student sort of good and bad choices (this is a freebie at the end of the blog post) to finally illustrating or writing good or bad choices. Also we color an emergent reader reviewing some of the classroom expectations. These can also just be used as little coloring pages when a classroom expectation is introduced. In your classroom, you may want to challenge your students to focus on a certain expectation for a week. Included are posters that would work great for this: These provide a visual and focus for students when expectations are being taught. You can make it a game and provide an incentive if students can meet this expectation a certain amount of times in a week. Once these expectations are taught it is important to keep students accountable to their actions. I have been using a visual think sheet in my classroom that is perfect for this. It is very appropriate for your early learners in pre-k or kindergarten or special ed because it includes pictures for students to show what they did. Students simply color in the choice they made and a better choice they can make. These are great reflections for students, communication for parents and documentation if necessary. You may also want to post these cool down methods where students can reflect on strategies to cool down, instead of getting upset. You can find this entire Behavior Think Sheets and Activities in my TPT store and the Free Good and Bad Choices Student Sort here:
Paint, draw, sculpt, and learn about famous artists and their art.
Need some fun Fall art project ideas that are beautiful and keep the kids busy? Our creative collection of amazing leaf art projects for kids is for all ages and makes a beautiful gift or keepsake.
These classroom art activities inspired by artist Romero Britto are a great art project to help students join the Happy Art Movement.
How to plan collaborative project-based learning activities in the math classroom. Check out these engaging PBL ideas for 3rd grade students!
With 180 lessons in our online catalog, you can explore Earth and space with us all year long. We show you how with this handy NASA-JPL school year calendar.
This fun sunglasses craft is perfect for the end of the school year or the beginning of the year! The sunglasses template paired with all of these wri
Back to School Night can be the first time you meet many of the parents in your class. It is important that you communicate all of the information the parents will need to help their child have a successful school year. Here are my top tips for planning an informative and stress free Back to School Night: Have a Sign In SheetHave parents sign in on a sheet as the enter the room. This will allow you to keep track of which student's parents were able to attend. Be sure to send home copies of the
A fun, processed based Fibonacci art project for kids. Great for S.T.E.A.M. learning at home or at school.
45 free online classes you can take (and finish) by the end of this year
You've got photos everywhere - in boxes, on devices. You probably even inherited photos. It's all so overwhelming. Here's the no-fail way to get started on that big elephant of a collection.
Name posters are an easy art project for the first day of school and also double as classroom decor!
springtime, math, freebie
11 free, printable Dot Sticker Art Activities for Kids. Kids place dot stickers on pictures according to a key to make awesome dot art.
A fun and creative elementary school art lesson plan for K-4th grade. This lesson plans is perfect for celebrating International Dot Day. Art teachers and educators can teach students creativity, courage & collaboration with Kandinsky inspired artwork.
Add elements of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell to your preschool centers to integrate science and play while students explore their senses.
There are so many ways to approach self-portraits with children: observation, inspired by a particular artist, symbols of interests and activities, the list goes on. This time, I wanted to create an engaging, multi media
Whether you’re part of a big church or a small church, here are some great church outreach ideas to inspire you and energize your planning for the year.
