4th of July Art Project

I have really dropped the ball on this blog! Each weekend I consider writing a post and always find something else to do. I haven't posted since September! 

But I have something new to talk about.....I am teaching ESY (AKA summer school). It has been pretty fun, my class has a variety of disabilities and therefore, a variety of skill levels. It makes life interesting.

This week we focused on the 4th of July. We did a fun and easy art project.

The materials you will need:

Paints- red, white and blue
Toilet Paper rolls (one for each color of paint)
Scissors
Glue
Glitter
Paper plates 
Black or dark blue construction paper

First, cut the toilet paper rolls.

Depending on your students' skills, draw a line to indicate how far to cut. It is always a good idea to have a model.

Spread out the fringe so it will lay flat.

Next, pour the paint in a paper plate in a circular motion leaving the center empty, this is where the center of the TP roll will be located. It won't need paint.

Now,  make firework prints!

We made a red, white and blue print for each picture. The kids also discovered that it helped to push down the fringe or they didn't get as much of the print. For those who are very sensitive to getting their fingers messy, a wet wipe/paper towel helps them to continue doing the project while they wipe off their fingers every few seconds. OR, I just thought of this: give them Q-tips to use to smooth them down.
Last, add glue for the swirls and sprinkle with glitter. The glitter pens also work great!

My class and grandchildren enjoyed this project. It was quick, easy and most importantly....FUN!

I found this great idea from Heidi at Happiness is Homemade.

Our district is using Google Education. I included this slide on our presentation for the day. I love using Google slides, it is a daily visual lesson plan. It helps keep me on track and students are tuned into the visuals.

Hope you enjoy this,

Happy 4th of July!

Paula

Source: Emoji Me from itunes store.

Edited with PicMonkey.

Linking with Doodle Bugs...Week 1 of Summer School

 

Link up here!

I'm a couple of weeks behind on sharing our ESY activities, and want to present them in order, here is what went on
the first week ....

1. Our Reading

 

• The Deep Blue Sea (colors, predictable text)
• Under the Waves (nonfiction)
• Over in the Ocean (rhyme)
• The Octopus Song

2.Art project

 

 

Deep Blue Sea

Great project! It takes two days.

First: paint the entire paper blue, don't leave any white. (well some friends have trouble with this)

 

Second: glue and sprinkle sand. Apply sea animals.

3.Science experiment

Salt Water

 

We did an oldie but goodie experiment.(I forgot to take pictures)

 

Materials:

2 clear glasses/cups of water

3 raw eggs

salt

 

1. Display the 2 glasses of plain water.

"Are these the same or different?"

 

2. Show the eggs.

"These are not cooked."

Demonstrate by cracking open 1 egg into a separate container.

 

3. Gently place one egg in each glass.

" What happened?"

See if someone comes up with "they both sank."

 

4. Take the eggs out. Add a good amount of salt to one glass.

"How are the glasses of water different?"

 

5. Place eggs back into the glasses.

"What happened?"

"What do we know about salt water now?"

 

I love this experiment! It encourages lots of language and has the "WOW" factor.

 

 

 4. The Beach (Sensory Play)

 

Fishing!

 

 

 

Mud!

 

 

A couple of boys took my Ms. Frizzle quote seriously!

 

 

They had a grand time. But then.....we adults put the lid on the tub and left it for 4 days...when we returned....

Mold!

So that tub of sand has been retired.

I'm looking for more ideas to replace it

and keep the fun going.

 

5. Station Activity

 

 

Adapted book. Match pictures as we read the book.

 

Happy 4th of July!

 

 

 

Paula

 

Rainbow Fish Story and Art Project

Another week has come and gone, it is time to link with Doodle Bugs Teaching!

I would like to thank Doodle Bugs for this opportunity to share my thoughts with more fellow teachers.

This week we are camping by the sea. We read the book, Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister.

Even though most of the students have heard this book before, they were excited to hear it again.

Next, I presented the accompanying art project.....

Having visuals to represent the steps of the project is very helpful, some children don't enjoy art projects and it gives them an idea when it will be finished. However, EVERYONE loves the glitter part of the project !

Students color the head, fins and tail of the fish.

They glue on the multi color scales (construction paper) and one silver foil scale.

Last, the fun part!

Of course I didn't get pictures of it. I used some cardboard trays (recycled from our lunch program) to contain the glitter. I  had two kids at a time...there is no need to tempt fate!

They put glue on the tail and fins of the fish, and sprinkled on the glitter.

I love how creative kids are, their fish are very unique!

Our bulletin board isn't complete yet, there were a few absent on Thursday. 

Happy 4th of July!

Paula

Five for Friday or maybe Sunday!....October 18, 2013

Here I am at last...linking up with Doodle Bugs!

1. Twenty-Six Pirates  with a paper bag pirate puppet! Just try saying that 5 times! Which I did because one of my little guys lost his puppet while we walked around the school. The wonderful puppet was in a bag, but my guy is so BOUNCY, a lot like Tigger, that the pirate jumped right out! Soooo...we walked around asking various people "Have you seen a paper bag pirate puppet?"  We never found it, I'm hoping it turns up. In the meantime, I gave him my demo model. I hadn't taken a picture, so my daughter colored another for me and put it together, it is much nicer then my first one!

The pirate template is from Teacher Created Materials, I got a copy from another teacher, then covered the letter that was on the him (I think he was Pete the Pirate). We read the book, Twenty-Six Pirates by Dave Horowitz,  and we noted how each pirate name's beginning letter was somewhere on their person...on their shirt, hat or on a necklace. Their names always rhyme with the next line, for example..."Pirate Arty. First to the party!" I instructed the students to choose a letter and name their pirate. They loved this activity! 


2. Behavior Program adjustment!  Things were just not going well with my current clip system, moving the clip made everyone more volatile! I took a long, hard look at my behavior system...the token cards were working (see my September 27 post), BUT they were bulky and I had to carry three (yes, yes, I tried having them carry their own...). The clip system wasn't going anywhere, they really like getting a sticker on a chart daily when they stayed green. When the chart is full, treasure box time! So I retired the green,yellow, red light poster. I explored Teacher Pay Teachers and found a replacement for the token cards...punch cards! I chose a FREE design from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kristi-Deroche . There are A LOT of punch cards to choose from on that site, however, Kristi's has paw prints which goes with our school mascot and there are 10 prints.  Thank you Kristi!  I kept the sticker charts, if they fill one punch card, they get a sticker and play time. Tally marks are used when I get a point, The points transform into "reflective minutes" or timeout, take your pick. I put the punch cards on a lanyard around my neck, carry a hole puncher and a dry erase marker.

3. A new rug! 

4. I tweaked the math area a bit....

5. Preparing for Halloween! I hummed that Garfield Halloween Special tune..."what will I be, there's so many sides of me..."while I went through our boxes. My daughter and friend carved pumpkins, I'm not sure they will keep 10 more days..we shall see.

I am wearing down, working 9 weeks now without a lunch or prep time! I do eat with the first graders, so I'm not starving, but I get cranky before the day is over and I don't like to do that. My teacher assistants and I look at our schedules constantly, but there is just not an opening for me to hand kids to someone else and walk away for a little bit. This week, I'm going to talk to my supervisor about it, I hate to be a whiner and don't want that label. There is also a concern that no one will sub for me because they don't get a lunch!

Next week, I go to MANDT training! 

Paula

It looked like Spilt Milk....book and art lesson

There is nothing better then taking a good book and matching an art activity to it! This was an easy and quick lesson, the kids liked the book and were creative with the art project.

I read the predictable book, It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw.

 

 

I have this great art book.

 

 

 

Materials:

blue paper

scissors

glue sticks

powder

cotton balls

Imagination!

 

Ideally, we would go outside and lay on the ground and find shapes in the clouds. Our weather wasn't cooperating. It didn't matter, the kids took off with this project!

 

1.Ask students to think of a shape they would like for a cloud. Some of them picked one from the book and that was okay, most of them thought of something completely different.

2. Draw their chosen shape and cut it out.

3. Cover the paper cloud with glue using a glue stick.

4. Using a cotton ball, dip it in powder, dot it all over the cloud until it looks just right.

 

(The turtle is mine)

 

The cotton stuck just a little to the glue to give it a fluffy cloud look! I brought baby powder and the entire classroom smelled so good!

 

I wrote up the statement: "Sometimes it looked like a _______. But it wasn't! It was a cloud."

They each told me what their cloud was.

 

Overall, this was a very successful lesson. The students didn't hesitate or complain, the book seemed to help them understand exactly what their cloud could be.

 

Paula



 

 



Binoculars Art Project

This is a quick and fun art project, every kid loves binoculars and the price is right on these!

Materials:

• empty toilet paper rolls (2 for each student)
• stapler
• duct tape (it comes in many colors and patterns!)
• yarn or string
• stickers
• hole puncher

Prepare in advance:

• Staple toilet paper rolls together.
• Make dots where the holes for the string/yarn should be.
• Cut string or yarn a length that will go over their heads. Tape one end so it is easier to thread through the holes.
• Make a demo model to show off

Procedure:
1. Give each student a pair of stapled TP rolls.
2. Instruct them to hole punch the dots for the string. Give each a hole puncher. Depending on your hole puncher and the student's hand strength, you may need to help them.
3. String through the holes. Tie together.
4. Give each student a piece of duct tape that will wrap completely around the pair of TP rolls.
5. Apply stickers.

Suggested Activities:

• Indoors or outdoors, take a walk around and take turns announcing "I see a ____". Great expressive language practice!
• Call out something such as "I see the letter E". Everyone looks through their binoculars and repeats it as they find it. Skills: shapes, letter names, letter sounds (I see the letter that says /b/), numbers, high frequency words, classroom vocabulary......
• Call out "I spy with my little eye something (color word)". Take turns with students.

Campfire Art Project

 

We did this art project the first week of summer school, it is simple and fun to do! I found it on pinterest through Fumbling through parenthood  There are some great ideas if you want to check them out!

 

We went on a hike the first day and picked up all kinds of neat stuff--moss, leaves, flowers, rocks, sticks, twigs.

 

Materials needed:

twigs

liquid glue

tissue paper or construction paper

scissors

 

1. Break up the twigs if needed.

2. Squeeze lots of glue in the spot for the logs. I drew an oval shape to indicate where the glue needed to stay within.

3. Place the twigs.

4. Cut or tear paper in orange, red and yellow color.

5. Randomly place and glue paper.

6. Let dry overnight.

 

This is one art project where the kids can use lots of glue! This project is also very adaptable for all scissor skills. If they are just beginning and are snipping, give them narrow strips to do just that. If they cannot handle scissors at all, they can tear the paper into small pieces. One of my students made a pattern with his flames all on his own!

 

They are very proud of this project! It has been hanging in the hall the last couple of weeks and the parents ooo and aah over it.

 

Paula