tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82899530414744004272024-02-19T00:08:23.627-08:00The Adventure of TeachingThe successes, failures, plans, and ideas of a fellow Grade 2 teacher.Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-30415829431391242212013-09-23T13:14:00.003-07:002013-09-23T13:14:50.346-07:00Summer Scoops Bulletin BoardYes, I realize I have been slacking on my blog posts. While laziness has definitely played a part in this, I have also felt minimal motivation. I began this blog mostly for myself - something for me to enjoy, hoping that others will gain inspiration from my enjoyment. I don't want it to become simply work. Today, I feel like that motivation has slightly returned! :)<br />
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About two weeks ago I put up a bulletin board to display my students' writings about their summers. The bulletin board was my welcome board at the beginning of the year, which I turned into the students' summer reflections. You can see both below!<br />
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You may notice I have a mere 7 students this year in my class :). <br />
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I had the students write their reflections on ice cream scoops. This idea worked well as the students wanted to write more so that they could fill more scoops! What a great motivation to keep them writing! :) While it might be a little late to do this project in your classroom now, it could be a great one for the end of the year! Leave a comment if you would like the template for the scoops!<br />
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<br />Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-55997964147098310762013-09-04T15:34:00.002-07:002013-09-04T15:35:18.669-07:00September Read Alouds The weather is getting cooler, I no longer have time for cooking 'exciting' meals, and I wake up with the sun once again - Ah, yes, it is September already! I have a wonderful new set of Grade 2's, eager to learn...(well, mostly) and a freshly decorated classroom ready for full use! While I kind of disappeared for a while in August, I am back ready more than ever to blog! :) By the end of this week I hope to have pictures up of my Safari Themed classroom. While it may be too late to post these pictures for any of those who were itching for helpful ideas, you never know what you could add to your classroom in later weeks :).<br />
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As for today, I want to blog about the children's books that I have decided to use in my classroom for the beginning of this school year. I found it difficult to know which books to chose, but after much research I think the ones I chose are working well. While the first day book may no longer apply to you, the others will still work well for the month of September.</div>
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<u><span style="color: red;">First Day</span></u></div>
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<b>Back to School Rules by Laurie Friedman</b></div>
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This book is an excellent choice for the first day of school as it is a fun hook to talking about the classroom and school rules with the students. Talking about rules can be 'a real drag' on the first day of school, so I am always looking for ways to spice it up a bit. It was a fun way to start the talk and thinking about ways for a good student to act!</div>
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<u><span style="color: red;">First Week</span></u></div>
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<b>How I Spent My Summer Vacation by Mark Teague</b></div>
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I like to make a point of talking about the summer vacation with my students the first week (As I am sure many of you do) As my students are writing journal entries about their summer vacations, I plan on reading this book to the class before the students share their journal entries with the class. If nothing else, it is simply a great book for a laugh, and to get the students' imaginations rolling.</div>
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<b>My Mouth is a Volcano by Julia Cook</b></div>
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I have some wonderful, imaginative, and excitable talkers in my class this year. This book is a great way to help students understand the importance of not speaking out when you are not supposed to. As an activity to go with it, I found a great idea at <a href="http://thankgoditsfirstgrade.blogspot.ca/2012/07/my-mouth-is-volcano_1677.html">Thank God It's First Grade </a>. </div>
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<u><span style="color: red;">Beyond First Week</span></u></div>
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<b>Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill</b></div>
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Recess is a time where bullying and mistreating others can happen easier than in the classroom. To remind students the importance of treating each other with respect, this book is a great one to read. It is not only good to to read at the beginning of school year, but any time it seems that there is some bullying during recess time. Post-reading I would chose to do a type of group activity as opposed to a writing assignment, as I feel this would be most effective for such a book. There are some great ideas found <a href="http://www.witsprogram.ca/schools/books/the-recess-queen.php?source=book-lists">here</a> for discussion and group activities.</div>
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<b>You Are Special by Max Lucado</b></div>
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This is another book that is great to read both at the beginning of the year and if your class struggles with bullying or self-confidence. This book can also be found on Youtube: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15QuHygLwFU">You Are Special by Max Lucado</a></div>
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Hope these helped you with some ideas and here's to a smooth, sailing year ahead! ;)</div>
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Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-4314709712862038162013-07-24T06:55:00.000-07:002013-07-24T06:55:38.444-07:00Organized BindersThere are a ton of different ways to organize a teaching binder - many found on Pinterest :). Instead of focusing on only one binder, I decided to use 3 different binders this year. Last year, I felt very unorganized and all over the place with my binder so I'm hoping this will help. Personally, I hate lugging around a massive binder with everything in it, which is my other reason for splitting up my information and notes. <br />
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This is how I decided to split it up:<br />
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Obviously, my teaching binder is my main, every day binder. These are the sections I used in each binder:</div>
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<u><i>Teaching Binder</i></u></div>
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1. <b>Important Info</b> - Where I place all the extra important information I need for the day or week.</div>
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2. <b>Schedules</b> - Where I place daily schedules, including AEA, and schedule changes.</div>
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3. <b>Day Plans</b> - The obvious</div>
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4. <b>Monthly Plans</b> - This is something new I am adding this year in order to help me see an overall view of the month ahead.</div>
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5. <b>Class Lists</b> - This is used for daily reminders, field trips, etc. (This is not used for marking - see below at the student binder)</div>
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6. <b>Long Range Plans</b></div>
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7. <b>Meeting Info</b></div>
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<i><u>Student Binder</u></i></div>
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1. <b>Class Lists</b> - This will be used for marking and assessment. I believe having this in my student binder will help me, as it will be the binder I will take along with me when marking and will also have students' information in it. A clip board will be added to the front of this binder so I always have that to take with me as well.</div>
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2. <b>Parent Teacher Interviews</b> - Any information I need for these.</div>
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3. <b>Student Info</b> - I will have a section for each student in my class to keep anecdotal notes, report cards, etc.</div>
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<i><u>Idea Binder</u></i></div>
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As stated in my <a href="http://adventureofteaching.blogspot.ca/2013/07/summer-to-do.html">Summer To Do</a> post, I made an idea binder. However I decided to add more sections then I had originally stated:</div>
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1. <b>Overall Notes</b> - General idea notes for the class</div>
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2. <b>Management</b> - Any ideas to improve classroom management</div>
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3. <b>Language Arts</b></div>
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4. <b>Mathematics</b></div>
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... And possibly to add other subjects I teach as well.</div>
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Hopefully this will make everyday chaos, into a bit more organized chaos :)</div>
<br />Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-81403549818968533232013-07-16T09:15:00.001-07:002013-07-16T12:05:56.892-07:00Organized Read Aloud BooksI finally took the time today to put a dent into my Summer To Do list. (Found <a href="http://adventureofteaching.blogspot.ca/2013/07/summer-to-do.html">here</a>.) Seeing as the weather is stifling and I already have a painfully, itchy burn from laying on the beach too long this past weekend, it's the perfect day to stay in my AC filled apartment.<br />
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I worked on organizing my read aloud books today. I can already sense how much easier this organizing will make my teaching this coming year. I heard somewhere the following quote:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b> "Organization makes a good teacher into a great teacher"</b></span><br />
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That is my motivation for this long process of organizing :)<br />
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I went from a small basket of squished books to a filing box big enough for my books and many more:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQNl0Erdn-c6I8da9qW5F7WOnrit99SL0y4b07Bd1YrQJkmrfSJ36lMcR2sOMCalVVPMS003b9GkQJOilRePLIroY9qfvSZASfBHfNqCBuQMpbkdZcgMQQ90yfq63G0784PZCQHEVioo/s1600/DSCN1498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQNl0Erdn-c6I8da9qW5F7WOnrit99SL0y4b07Bd1YrQJkmrfSJ36lMcR2sOMCalVVPMS003b9GkQJOilRePLIroY9qfvSZASfBHfNqCBuQMpbkdZcgMQQ90yfq63G0784PZCQHEVioo/s320/DSCN1498.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Below is the end result of my organized children's books:<br />
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As you can see, I organized my books into months and then topics. All I used to do so, was a filing box (found at Walmart), dividers, cardstock paper, and clear tape. I covered my labels with tape as my at home lamination :)<br />
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I only ended up having 3 topics apart from my months. These are Culture, Math, and Science. (They are not alphabetical in the picture, but I have organized them alphabetically.)<br />
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While some books don't really fall into a specific time of year or those certain topics, I put them in the month that I plan on using them in. As I get more books, I am sure I will need to add more specific topics. However for now, this works perfectly for what I need. <br />
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I am now working on lesson plans and activities for each book. I will put a copy of each plan in each book, and I will also make a binder of the plans. Stay tuned for lesson plan ideas for read alouds!<br />
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Thanks for stopping by! :)<br />
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<br />Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-65210583652681820752013-07-05T09:10:00.001-07:002013-07-05T09:12:11.973-07:00Blog Hop!<div align="center">
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So, I joined Bloglovin', and as you can see, I now have an easy way for you to follow my blog! Woohoo! :) Please do consider following my blog! I love to connect with other teachers, and I think this would be a great way to meet you all! I simply love to share my ideas, will hopefully somehow inspire some of you, and also would love to learn from you with comments you write me! :)</div>
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I recently discovered a Blog Hop when reading <a href="http://www.theperksofteachingprimary.blogspot.ca/">The Perks of Teaching Primary</a>. This blog hop is found through the following blogs: </div>
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<a href="http://www.ateacherwithoutaclass.com/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="http://i1069.photobucket.com/albums/u462/ateacherwithoutaclass/ateacher.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.ateacherwithoutaclass.com/">A Teacher Without a Class</a></div>
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<a href="http://teachingisagift.blogspot.ca/" title="Teaching is a Gift"><img alt="Teaching is a Gift" src="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee496/ellenleyne/SidneyButton.png" style="border: none;" /></a></div>
<a href="http://teachingisagift.blogspot.ca/">Teaching is a Gift</a><br />
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Click on the link below to join the Blog Hop yourself! </div>
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Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-80010233916254422882013-07-04T13:22:00.001-07:002013-07-04T15:49:18.366-07:00Bloglovin'Ps. Be sure to follow me on <a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/">Bloglovin'</a>! :)<br />
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<span style="color: white;"><a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/9729759/?claim=6wv6fjetr2e">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a></span>Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-60524119753332762882013-07-04T09:50:00.000-07:002013-07-04T09:54:44.006-07:00Language Arts OrganizationToday is becoming an extremely productive day. I guess that's what happens when my car is out of commission and it's pouring outside. While I have not finished tackling one of my 'Summer To Dos' I decided to revamp my Language Arts binder today. It is pretty simple and I thought I would share it with you to give some ideas in the sections of organizing it. While these sections completely relate to what I teach for Language Arts, if you adjust them to your own program, they could work just as well! Do keep in mind that these are only the worksheets and such used in the programs, whereas textbooks/workbooks are not included.<br />
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Before I begin, I must warn you that my pictures are not spectacular. Along with my non-functional car, I have a non-functional camera and therefore was forced to use my phone. It does the trick though, and will give you the perfect idea as to how to create your own organized Language Arts binder. Since this is pretty self-explanatory, this will mostly be a picture blogpost :)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil-ppdQv0QEJnNkqOyDGklPXjrVDCqXusfQUPX8KDeu130MTDc-M44rtfPqgpHvhFaT4YdoAMkP9dij5UoTKO1cREShDGh6tfuPRVRO2kx0asTd8h3_nQ8HoNHeHtf5oi7M_1ZUEh1qSw/s1600/Language+Arts+Binder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil-ppdQv0QEJnNkqOyDGklPXjrVDCqXusfQUPX8KDeu130MTDc-M44rtfPqgpHvhFaT4YdoAMkP9dij5UoTKO1cREShDGh6tfuPRVRO2kx0asTd8h3_nQ8HoNHeHtf5oi7M_1ZUEh1qSw/s320/Language+Arts+Binder.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzoDxf82c2BJm_ZpZqy2s6GTW31_qPU2TjUr7E8DQ_ltRj-Sr299bMg3PLF3DtpeAuCG4ur1n0GgZ5JqGUnBw7h-WoeuXouKYScmY6O44ogzNQIZB3szEVehZJVrY8l89rKKbYnnQKqA8/s1600/20130704_115203+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzoDxf82c2BJm_ZpZqy2s6GTW31_qPU2TjUr7E8DQ_ltRj-Sr299bMg3PLF3DtpeAuCG4ur1n0GgZ5JqGUnBw7h-WoeuXouKYScmY6O44ogzNQIZB3szEVehZJVrY8l89rKKbYnnQKqA8/s320/20130704_115203+(2).jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<i>( For public speaking competitions or reading records where students try to read enough pages to win a prize)</i></div>
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I especially like the Holidays section, as I always find I am wondering where my Thanksgiving or Christmas sheets and activities are. Eventually, I would like to make a binder specific to Holiday activities. </div>
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Throughout the year, I also chose to make notes on specific worksheets or activities I used. These notes were just made on post-it notes (as seen below) and simply stated what worked and what didn't work, what could be improved, and what to keep in mind. I plan on updating this and to keep adding to it!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEFJHXZwHjGSeLABKQCx0gZsNAxx-S54LwnzrzTzYQsTefZjKsIJQiNWr8OmlPG0aWchMGYjuEUkVw-5S2XmclBM6N62Oop2PHq4C-4g8y6r9Tq5nlTA_qbE6XV03_DM61wxqVoDD1f0I/s1600/20130704_123901+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEFJHXZwHjGSeLABKQCx0gZsNAxx-S54LwnzrzTzYQsTefZjKsIJQiNWr8OmlPG0aWchMGYjuEUkVw-5S2XmclBM6N62Oop2PHq4C-4g8y6r9Tq5nlTA_qbE6XV03_DM61wxqVoDD1f0I/s320/20130704_123901+(2).jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Ge_q6Vf5RZCq2JIK4jDyziOQt0eWvT3OpOMbKkM7DPoAD93uYutY6_ASPYhabRAIgv1n1YiIvx6bP3uhjCFmIjwEmfIQA1-n5gKyap8_GIqTHlX3eOG-gGxNBMlDp6uOFF2qJqKUj3g/s1600/20130704_123916+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Ge_q6Vf5RZCq2JIK4jDyziOQt0eWvT3OpOMbKkM7DPoAD93uYutY6_ASPYhabRAIgv1n1YiIvx6bP3uhjCFmIjwEmfIQA1-n5gKyap8_GIqTHlX3eOG-gGxNBMlDp6uOFF2qJqKUj3g/s320/20130704_123916+(2).jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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<i style="text-align: center;"> These simple stickys are great, quick reminders!!</i><br />
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Happy Organizing!! :)<br />
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Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-15383726085352527522013-07-02T07:45:00.003-07:002013-07-03T06:47:06.849-07:00Summer To DoAh summer... how I love thee. <br />
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While many fellow teachers of mine choose to have a summer job, go on extravagant trips, or take an AQ course, I chose to stay at home and simply relax. For some reason...this isn't working out for me as well as I planned. It's only been the second week of summer, and already I feel swamped with unpacking/cleaning our new apartment, sorting through mounds of teaching materials from the year (picture below), and catching up on appointments that were missed throughout the busy school year. Suddenly, I realized, I only have four more weeks until I go on my personal 'extravagant' trip (to BC!). And then, guess what! It is basically time to go back to work.. ah, the summer is short. Low and behold, I still have a Summer To Do List for teaching for these next four weeks. Just some things I hope to get done before I begin a new year of teaching. While these items are not detrimental for starting a new year of teaching, they are simply helpful ideas for organization. Perhaps this will help me keep on track a little bit more this year...and perhaps it could help you too!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKk-OkNy6T8vUTMN6zEbASTSFT-hQF2CMRAY-mYR_VgYfJKo3ndW8p6uRoZHVpy1FKV0Dp3nJLRFS021yIFqO7rw0dCXL5KkHyAUYY-hoju-zPj7DTtz41C78y3zmu4-LfL4Ve6hvDC6c/s1600/20130702_101312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKk-OkNy6T8vUTMN6zEbASTSFT-hQF2CMRAY-mYR_VgYfJKo3ndW8p6uRoZHVpy1FKV0Dp3nJLRFS021yIFqO7rw0dCXL5KkHyAUYY-hoju-zPj7DTtz41C78y3zmu4-LfL4Ve6hvDC6c/s320/20130702_101312.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>This weeks project</i></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;"><u>Summer To-Do List:</u></span></h3>
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<b><u>1. Pre-planned Supply Lessons</u></b><br />
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All throughout the year it was my plan to make supply lessons. While I am thankful to say I had no days where I had to call in the morning sick, If I had, I would have been scrambling and stressing trying to come up with a supply plan. It is just not worth that extra stress. This summer, I plan on making these supply lessons for at least 3 days of classes. While, of course they will have to be adjusted according to the time of year and what the students are currently learning, some good basic plans will still save so much time!<br />
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<b><u>2. A basket of children's books ready to read with lesson plans/activities.</u></b><br />
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Whether it be for creative writing, journal entries, a tie to a math or science lesson, or a start to an art project - books are your best friend (Especially in Grade 2!) I already have a basket of books, separated into seasons and topics (Wait for future blog post to see how this was done!), which was very helpful for me throughout the year, to quickly pick up a book when I had the time to read one to the students. The pre-made lessons/activities to go with it, would just be so much more helpful! I plan on starting this soon, and will blog my ideas throughout. Below is a picture of my current basket of books, which I also hope to fix up quite a bit! (As you can see, the basket is a little small... :)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPXZUElfKRQJYZPLekomDiqPCJn4sMd-GDhLinpthwRg7ZsqdxTxkOHDnEZym3BPBH-4XzqyUGxg7_6Z41cHgU88h_ghMumZOxrqyx4lVr7ngoPd_U5OYsQLQCGuCt-oqeJ3Og4WAvS9E/s1600/20130702_101347.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPXZUElfKRQJYZPLekomDiqPCJn4sMd-GDhLinpthwRg7ZsqdxTxkOHDnEZym3BPBH-4XzqyUGxg7_6Z41cHgU88h_ghMumZOxrqyx4lVr7ngoPd_U5OYsQLQCGuCt-oqeJ3Og4WAvS9E/s320/20130702_101347.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Basket of books (Could use some updating...:)</i></div>
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<b><u>3. Planned Bulletin Boards ideas</u></b><br />
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Most times, I've considered pinning an idea on Pinterest to be a planned bulletin board idea. However, I want to take some time this summer to take those ideas (with my own creative spins) and actually get them ready to simply place on the bulletin board for when the time is right. Bulletin boards can be an added stress during a busy time of report cards or grading. I would love for that stress to be diminished, just a little. <br />
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<b><u>4. Organized Binder of Ideas</u></b><br />
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Not much to add here. I hope to make an organized binder for Language Arts and Math. While of course, the curriculum binders are already set, there are many times when some extra activities are needed for further learning. This binder will be great to have throughout the year to also add any new ideas I come up with.<br />
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These four things will definitely keep my next four weeks busy. I plan to blog about each of them as I work through them. This is my first step into getting over my procrastination. Wish me luck, and maybe even join me! :)<br />
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Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-72586206084355153442013-06-19T16:01:00.004-07:002013-06-20T04:47:15.870-07:00Marbles Management Break Down<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><b>(Before reading this post, you may want to look back on a past post from January: <a href="http://adventureofteaching.blogspot.ca/2013/01/classroom-management-with-marbles.html">Classroom Management with Marbles</a> )</b></i><br />
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A while ago I posted about how I began to use marbles in my classroom for management reasons and how at the beginning I believed it to be an easy strategy to keep up with and to be motivating for my students. Today, I want to re-cap on how it went for the rest of the year. While it is a great management strategy, I don't believe I used it in the right way. However, I do believe there are ways to use it efficiently. I truly believe I had a great start with it, yet as things got busy it went down hill.<br />
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The following is what I did wrong:<br />
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1. <b><i>I was inconsistent.</i> </b>Sometimes I chose to give the students marbles when they had a really good morning or afternoon, other times I would forget. Sometimes I gave marbles when I saw a student doing a kind act to another, whereas most times, I forgot. <br />
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2. <b><i>My goals were set too high.</i> </b> I often found reasons to take away marbles rather than add marbles and when I did add marbles it was too little. While the students were close to filling the jar, it never actually got full. This was partly due to me forgetting it as well.<br />
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What I learned? Well, while the importance of consistency can be so obvious, it is harder to accomplish than one would think. So this is some advice I give to anyone thinking of starting this management strategy:<br />
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1. <b><u>Only use the marble jar for one reason. </u></b> Whether it be for when the students cooperate in class and show hard work, or whether you use it for acts of kindness. Do not set your goals so high to use it for numerous reasons, or it will become forgotten, and inconsistent. <br />
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2. <b><u>Set goals in the morning for the marble jar, letting the students know the goal. </u></b>For example, you could tell students that if they show hard, quiet work all the way until recess they will get a big marble, or 5 marbles in their marble jar. Or, if you are doing it for acts of kindness, you could tell students that if you see 5 special acts of kindness during the day, you will add 5 marbles to the jar. This way, you are reminding yourself to add marbles, and you are reminding your students about the marble jar. <br />
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3. <b><u>Make the goals achievable</u></b> so that the students WILL get that promised class party or treat if they fill the jar. If they fill the jar once and get their prize, they may be even more keen to do it again.<br />
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Trial and error... the best way to <u>eventually</u> run the perfect classroom :)<br />
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<br />Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-39898112447695212762013-06-08T09:45:00.002-07:002013-06-08T09:45:24.664-07:0010 Musts to Have in Your Classroom.My lack of blogging has been due largely to moving and loosing my camera cord. Therefore, leaving me with no pictures to post. To try to explain art projects or bulletin boards without pictures would simply be pointless. So, while I have a blog post today, I have no pictures and therefore must blog about something different than my 'great' lessons ;). <br />
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I want to talk about the things you absolutely need to have in the classroom at all times. Okay, maybe not NEED, but will definitely help take away some stress in a day of teaching :). Whether it be for emergency lessons, quick management strategies, a simple fill in, or just to make a teacher's job a tiny bit easier.<br />
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Over my past year of teaching I have realized the importance of keeping certain things in my classroom at all times - I failed to do this most of the time and learned greatly from it. There were numerous times when I needed something and didn't have it. I'm going to skip the obvious ones (ie. tape, stapler, hole puncher, pens, etc.) because I am pretty sure we all know those. I want to tell you about the ones that are not always thought of right away, yet can really make your days go that much smoother. While some may seem obvious to you, as a new teacher, they weren't to me at the beginning of the year. <br />
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<b><span style="color: #990000;">1. Jelly Beans. </span></b></h3>
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<i>Jelly beans are KEY. Whether it be for a math lesson, a review game, a reward, or just a regular Fun Friday afternoon, jelly beans are a must.</i><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">2. Dice. </span></h3>
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<i> Primarily for Math...no need to explain much here. (If you need some ideas for math games with dice, comment and I will blog them!) Cards could also be added to this!</i><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">3. Labels. </span></h3>
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<i>At the beginning of the year, fellow teachers told me the importance of making labels - labels for each student's name (big and small), labels for each subject/book, and labels for your name. While I saw the importance of making these for the students books and duotangs, I did not see these as important for much else so I ended up stuffing them some where quick when I was finished labelling the books at the beginning of the year. Well little did I know how often they would become useful throughout the year. Whether it was for the students' snacks on field trips, new notebooks when students' finished theirs, costumes for the school play, labelling projects, etc. etc., I needed htem all year long. The amount of annoyance it is to run out of labels is underestimated. Next year, I plan on making double the amount I did this year so I am sure not to run out. </i><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">4. Bandages.</span></h3>
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<i>This might be an obvious one. Honestly, for some reason I just never had them in my classroom this year. When students have a tiny hang nail or cut that they 'desperately' need a bandage for, it would just be so much easier to be able to give them one rather than having to send them to the office and wasting all that precious work time. </i><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">5. A box of random toys, prizes, etc. </span></h3>
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<i>This could help with many of the same ways that the jelly beans could. My school has a prize bin in the office for any reason a teacher chooses to send them there. However, I think it is so nice to be able to have such a box in your own classroom as well. I definitely have used the prize bin in the office, but I also would .like to seriously start one in my own classroom for more management plans. (Perhaps to be blogged about in the future...)</i><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">6. Birthday gifts.</span></h3>
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<i>This year for every student's birthday I gave a birthday pin and a sheet of stickers. I also printed off a sign that said 'Happy Birthday _____!' and hung it up in front of the classroom for the day. I chose to buy all of the gifts ahead of time, which worked really well for those days that I remembered it was a student's birthday 5 minutes before class started... guilty. However, I chose to leave the sign printing until the last minute... every time - well how much easier it would have been had I printed them all at the beginning of the year and simply pulled them out the day of?! </i><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">7. Empty jars.</span></h3>
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<i>Empty jars are needed more than one would think. While I used them mainly for science experiments, they were also useful for things like my marble jar (found <a href="http://adventureofteaching.blogspot.ca/2012/11/classroom-management-with-marbles.html">here</a>), picking names for an activity and storing items. I am sure you could find many more uses for them as well.</i><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">8. Students' names on magnets.</span></h3>
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<i>I started this at the beginning of the year and it was helpful for numerous reasons. I simply wrote the student's names on colourful cardstock, cut it out and glued a magnet strip to it. I used it for two main reasons. First of all, every day the students had to hand in their agendas. Once they handed in their agenda they had to put their name on the chalk board to show me that it was handed in. If their name wasn't on the chalkboard, I knew I didn't have their agenda yet. Secondly, I used it occasionally for students who were misbehaving or who needed to stay in for recess to finish work. Rather than writing their names on the board I could just put their magnet up to remind them. While this isn't necessarily a must, it definitely makes your life that much easier.</i><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">9. Stickers, stickers, stickers!</span></h3>
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<i>Do not underestimate the importance of stickers.</i><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #990000;">10. EXTRAS... of everything!!</span></h3>
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<i>Whether it be duotangs, pencils, erasers, notebooks, paper... Always have more than enough. This year I failed on this with pencils and duotangs. Two very key things in order to make your student's work go smoothly. </i><br />
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These are just my top 10 things - while there are definitely plenty more. If you have any more to add, please do comment!!<br />
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Summer is two weeks away for me. In this spirit, stay tuned for a blog post about <u>Summer To Do</u>'s as you spend a bit of time preparing for the next year! :) <br />
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<br />Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-26565128482031224242013-05-20T17:57:00.003-07:002013-05-20T17:58:09.240-07:00Drawing to Music<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Since my last post was about music in the classroom (found <a href="http://adventureofteaching.blogspot.ca/2013/05/music-in-classroom.html">here</a>) I figured it was appropriate to blog about a music art activity that I did with the Grade 4's that ended up working quite well! </div>
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I began by having students fold big pieces of scrap paper into about 6 sections. I then played many different types of music (only Karaoke versions so that no lyrics were heard) and had students draw lines to the music. It was their choice what to draw, but they had to be line drawings. When we were finished, I went around to each student and together we picked the favourite, which they then made into a colourful oil pastel drawing. Students were only allowed to use 3 colours in their pastel drawings. </div>
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Here are some examples as to how they turned out:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXGqI5wWXQ9jX9wyFFZ3PbC30q3qrl-9w-jzOsbQ1BrzNJw8QwZ_kgpiMIZgtzExlWGoLl2KjSBtxfHFjSVzJCgyRMZtbPRdYEouE3OHY0D8gTbdjMfnraHlWerLJJEGBj9tpcIQIf15s/s1600/Drawing+to+Music+-+Grade+4+(7).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXGqI5wWXQ9jX9wyFFZ3PbC30q3qrl-9w-jzOsbQ1BrzNJw8QwZ_kgpiMIZgtzExlWGoLl2KjSBtxfHFjSVzJCgyRMZtbPRdYEouE3OHY0D8gTbdjMfnraHlWerLJJEGBj9tpcIQIf15s/s320/Drawing+to+Music+-+Grade+4+(7).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Classical</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsKo-70vHdZRj2s2n_lTc4JYpD50cqZY0W_xESCywfOocx9GjZoYCNkk7-exoXr-Q49LVHD4JPsSa9V1TqIALSr7dQ2xu16FduubDFup0RgaH8aAMxbAyUxrnLUv8EdtXkbf9Sj2RknjQ/s1600/Drawing+to+Music+-+Grade+4+(8).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsKo-70vHdZRj2s2n_lTc4JYpD50cqZY0W_xESCywfOocx9GjZoYCNkk7-exoXr-Q49LVHD4JPsSa9V1TqIALSr7dQ2xu16FduubDFup0RgaH8aAMxbAyUxrnLUv8EdtXkbf9Sj2RknjQ/s320/Drawing+to+Music+-+Grade+4+(8).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Electric Rock</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfN_W_Cle5nr_UXW3KJBC64TOKAbr7pyFxE-krnqpiB1GjHH1psm92e0uzDiYgQhd1dbKoVKBoHEHt1Q_I87D3UReK4qn08yu-6DJfdJEs_Y4ATEieGes20nq81VluGZ_bw4WuOZlB6To/s1600/Drawing+to+Music+-+Grade+4+(9).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfN_W_Cle5nr_UXW3KJBC64TOKAbr7pyFxE-krnqpiB1GjHH1psm92e0uzDiYgQhd1dbKoVKBoHEHt1Q_I87D3UReK4qn08yu-6DJfdJEs_Y4ATEieGes20nq81VluGZ_bw4WuOZlB6To/s320/Drawing+to+Music+-+Grade+4+(9).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Electric Rock</i></div>
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This project was much like the Grade 4's Expressions with Line drawings (found <a href="http://adventureofteaching.blogspot.ca/2012/12/recent-art-projects.html">here</a>). I found they really enjoyed both projects. They also turn out to be wonderfully colourful art pieces! </div>
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As for the last few weeks of art classes I plan on doing some fun end of the year projects. I have specifically some great ideas from <a href="http://rhsartmash.blogspot.ca/2012/06/quick-easy-year-end-activity-4.html">Art Mash</a> blog. I'm excited to use some of these ideas!</div>
Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-49738201836940024942013-05-17T06:55:00.001-07:002013-05-17T08:05:53.506-07:00Music in the ClassroomAs the year slowly comes to an end... I am starting to think about three main things:<br />
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<b>1. The ideas and plans I did that worked really well this past year. </b><br />
<b>2. Those 'awesome ideas I had' that definitely did not work.</b><br />
<b>3. All the ideas and plans I have for the future...some time.... </b><br />
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I decided I want to blog about all three of these things. I already have blogged about what I liked that worked, however blogging about failed attempts and future ideas are not so common. After all, it is always easier to talk and write about 'accomplishments' than failures and ideas that might not follow through. However, I've realized by leaving those two out, a lot is missed out on. <i>The best way to learn is through failed attempts and hopeful wishes!</i><br />
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So, I will start with writing about both a failed attempt and an idea for next year: <b><u>Using music in the classroom</u>. </b><br />
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I did use music with my Grade 2's while doing quiet work or working on an art project this past year. I also played music during my art classes quite regularly. However, I had no real plan with it. With my Grade 2's I usually played Christian worship music (since I work at a Christian school). This worked well - as they would many times sing along and really enjoy it! With my art students, I picked very random music to play. Often I played Newsboys, Adele, Keane, some Mumford and Sons, Enya, and some Walk Off the Earth. Many times the students would ask for requests (as I was playing from <a href="http://www.grooveshark.com/">Grooveshark</a> on my laptop) and at the beginning, being the naive teacher I was (and still am), I played whatever they asked as long as there was no swearing and I knew what the song was about. Soon enough, I came to realize that this does not work well for classroom management. One class, I accidentally played Mumford and Sons and forgot to take out the one song with swearing - lets just say students heard, and it wasn't the most spectacular teaching moment in my life - <i>taught me a lesson of the importance of reviewing everything before playing it in class</i>. Coming to the end of the year I soon got tired of trying to pick the right music and many classes I just wouldn't play it anymore. Or I would say absolutely no requests and simply stick with Christian worship music. The problem with this, is that I had started off on the wrong foot with the music in my classroom and so students weren't so happy.<br />
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Next year, <i>I want to have a plan for music in the classroom.</i> I want to know what I am going to play before I even set foot into the classroom. (Seems obvious, but while planning all lessons I never took the time to do this.) So, recently I decided to search for ideas. I found this website: <a href="http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/classroom_solutions/2011/01/music-to-manage-your-classroom">Music to Manage Your Classroom</a>, which has inspired me in many ways. This teacher uses music for classroom management. What a brilliant idea! He plays a certain song when a transition is needed, certain music for when students enter the classroom and to end the day, music to introduce a new lesson, and music to set the tone. Even his transition times are timed with the song playing. This idea blows my mind! Students will be able to hear a song and know what to do or know what is happening. No longer would I as a teacher have to remind students, count from 10 to have students sitting in their seats, or urge students to hurry up. I simply play a song, and students are aware. Oh how I wish I had seen this idea at the beginning of this year! The teacher also gives great ideas for what songs to use in each situation. After hearing about this idea it seems so obvious to me. <u>Music is all around us all the time, why not use it for purpose in the classroom!</u><br />
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Since I have a SMARTboard in my classroom, easily enough this can be used. Next year, I may not have a SMARTboard, but as long as you have a laptop and some speakers, you are set. <br />
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I cannot wait to use this idea next year! Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-64772230750504854082013-05-17T05:58:00.003-07:002013-05-17T05:58:36.900-07:00Paper Mache Men<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
One thing (of many) I like about teaching art is that it is a really free subject to do fun and different projects. I don't have a specific curriculum for art at my school, so I am free to teach the students projects that I think they would really enjoy. I found the following project through Pinterest, on <a href="http://www.blog-k-12.com/2013/03/tin-foil-art-sculptures.html">Blog K-12</a>. It was the perfect project to teach my Grade 4 students how to use paper mache, practice their fine motor skills, and just something different than the regular drawings, paintings, etc. I also love working with paper mache - every kid loves getting a bit messy sometimes! :)</div>
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We started with making the shape of a man out of tinfoil. We then covered these with paper mache strips. And lastly, after letting it dry we painted them. This project took two classes - one for the tinfoil and paper mache, and one for painting. Here are some pictures to show the process and results!</div>
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<u>1. Covering tinfoil with paper mache:</u></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuxF6jWwx_IF_PZqa_msutRaMNXt-c_7ODzzGg7QqdbRuB7EdB4xlJGVCi7XvH0xa78fVCpSEZXHp-eFeIizqPsa60cMgM4nL08DlBfTudabkSvfLDA9aK5OmvR0zlr_OFDQpaKOYsh8M/s1600/Paper+Mache+Mannequin+-+Grade+4+(10).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuxF6jWwx_IF_PZqa_msutRaMNXt-c_7ODzzGg7QqdbRuB7EdB4xlJGVCi7XvH0xa78fVCpSEZXHp-eFeIizqPsa60cMgM4nL08DlBfTudabkSvfLDA9aK5OmvR0zlr_OFDQpaKOYsh8M/s320/Paper+Mache+Mannequin+-+Grade+4+(10).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitSO9kFGy_nEjeAatmhpoUHswrYmV99UjATziAmpAy6KrPCh786vDHauyI3YTTZ-o20shguYf7TqVxokuCUaDm41yOX8UFh_JdXuWgwDqzh5Iabsrwfw5tCoXkX1bgdX4IcijCtwjRng8/s1600/Paper+Mache+Mannequin+-+Grade+4+(8).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitSO9kFGy_nEjeAatmhpoUHswrYmV99UjATziAmpAy6KrPCh786vDHauyI3YTTZ-o20shguYf7TqVxokuCUaDm41yOX8UFh_JdXuWgwDqzh5Iabsrwfw5tCoXkX1bgdX4IcijCtwjRng8/s200/Paper+Mache+Mannequin+-+Grade+4+(8).JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5HmyUfqhCXqnQNgYZJbXhfQwYRwleCkqBqOB148mWdl1BLUgisDArSMypQWaeWISvqRl9DT8SmAdYVDXVywa-82uNXuch7TV4QlsCeI9V2rAinqRH2uL_8gccX4GJ_cYehXTaFrC7Ur8/s1600/Paper+Mache+Mannequin+-+Grade+4+(5).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5HmyUfqhCXqnQNgYZJbXhfQwYRwleCkqBqOB148mWdl1BLUgisDArSMypQWaeWISvqRl9DT8SmAdYVDXVywa-82uNXuch7TV4QlsCeI9V2rAinqRH2uL_8gccX4GJ_cYehXTaFrC7Ur8/s200/Paper+Mache+Mannequin+-+Grade+4+(5).JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
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<u>2. Painting over our paper mache men:</u></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2zpRQ_tECMmuszUFyxadXSp3DsaQeYsqwclWoKC34N9iT352OkNTz0uosS3U9woGzZdHaV4T7T3tAh4ceykSTckVXrjTh73TvAQXfNXSXyRGNQu6gSBIdQ6HEkiBEzKArFWG9Dk9EFA0/s1600/Paper+Mache+Men+-+Grade+4+2+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2zpRQ_tECMmuszUFyxadXSp3DsaQeYsqwclWoKC34N9iT352OkNTz0uosS3U9woGzZdHaV4T7T3tAh4ceykSTckVXrjTh73TvAQXfNXSXyRGNQu6gSBIdQ6HEkiBEzKArFWG9Dk9EFA0/s200/Paper+Mache+Men+-+Grade+4+2+(2).JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl8aQNjR6v7yA0SGFpTMciIood0UAGCk7lhO_MXKphKYZ6smqkVsGllzL2MaZ55Ad2B4MoinkYkxo7SqfzaetdxN3tZh2Cl_QNoseOSBYPvfpprInJ-2q8TN3jAJtpT3uDCq9SyvwtxXg/s1600/Paper+Mache+Men+-+Grade+4+2+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl8aQNjR6v7yA0SGFpTMciIood0UAGCk7lhO_MXKphKYZ6smqkVsGllzL2MaZ55Ad2B4MoinkYkxo7SqfzaetdxN3tZh2Cl_QNoseOSBYPvfpprInJ-2q8TN3jAJtpT3uDCq9SyvwtxXg/s200/Paper+Mache+Men+-+Grade+4+2+(1).JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
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<br />Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-81076250734279557412013-05-07T13:28:00.000-07:002013-05-08T04:54:47.336-07:00Stress AdviceLast week good friends of mine got hitched and I was so blessed to be apart of the wedding as a bridesmaid. It was the absolute perfect day! (The weather thankfully as gorgeous as it was!) They got married at a Yacht Club...the ceremony right on the water, and the reception in a gorgeous hall. The wedding was in Ottawa, so hubby and I chose to take a few extra days off work and explore/vacation! I took three days off work, thinking it'd be no problem. I've only taken one day off so far this year, and figured planning the sub plans wouldn't be too big of a deal. Well...I was a tad mistaken. First of all, making supply plans is WAY more work than anyone who is not a teacher would think. Second of all, coming back to try to figure out everything that was accomplished with the supply teacher is a headache in of itself. And third of all, trying to catch up with marking WHILE report cards are due is so busy it's really just insane. Bad timing? I think so. Man is it tough coming back after "vacationing"! Don't get me wrong, I love to teach. But boy do I love weddings more. Future wedding planner career.. perhaps.. :) I also do not enjoy this crazy busy schedule. It's been a busy year, but this by far is the worst it's been. A fellow teacher of mine told me to just let some things go... well I am letting go reports cards getting in on time, marking getting finished before next class, and my lessons being fully planned. Winging it is key at this moment.<br />
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So while I don't have a an art project, an interesting science lesson, or a writing idea to post today (Though I do assure you I have many pictures ready to post), I just have some small advice.<br />
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I thought since I am stressing with all this right now, I'd take a break, and blog a little bit with some advice for fellow overwhelmed teachers...or those who are just overwhelmed in general. It's my first year - so I probably don't have near as much advice as someone who has been at this for 10.. but..it's a start! You might also be thinking - why not stop blogging and get to work - well, my issue is that when I am as stressed as I am, I have an even harder time not procrastinating.<br />
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1. <u>Make lists.</u> And cross numbers off when done. If you don't do this already, it is definitely worth a try. The accomplishment I feel after crossing off something on my list is just an incredibly great feeling. Even if it's as small as 'photocopy science sheets'. Along with this...don't be discouraged when you don't get something done perfectly, or done on time. *Life goes on..<br />
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2. <u>Try a new environment.</u> After this blog, I plan on going to a coffee shop to write some report cards. This forces myself so get something done - rather than being distracted with cleaning at home, or doing pointless things at the school.<br />
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3. <u>Always have a back up lesson</u> for times like these. When I am this stressed there are times when I will just completely forget to plan a period. Having these back up plans ready to go gives me some leeway for such times. <br />
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4. <u>Take the breaks you need. </u>Whether it is a coffee date with a friend, a movie, reading a book, or going for a walk - do not give those up. Whatever it is that energizes you and keeps you looking forward to something, it is just as important as finishing up that marking, or finishing the plan for that lesson. You have to help yourself before you can help others right?<br />
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5. <u>Take a DAY for yourself.</u> Crazy, I know. How can you possibly do that if you are SO busy!? Well, it is possible. It's all about prioritizing, which I know is tough. But having that one day for yourself, may give you that release you need to come back the next day with full force. I try my best not to work on the weekends at all. This is hard at times (especially now), but it really helps me to have those days to focus on the other things that matter to me, other than teaching. If everything I possibly do is about teaching, I think I would go crazy and eventually start to not have enjoyment for it anymore. <br />
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6. <u>VENT.</u> We all need to do this at times - don't hold it in!! It's just not worth it. The importance of letting it all out is underestimated.<br />
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7.<u> Find an outlet</u>...something else to put your focus on to get through your stress. I am still learning the importance of this and even trying to find out what exactly mine is. I lean towards cooking, sometimes drawing, or writing (which is why I am writing this blog post.)<br />
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8. <u>Drink LOTS of water.</u> This honestly has helped me so much more than I would have thought. It perks me up and gives me just a little more energy that I need. Hate drinking water? Here is a blog post with some great advice for drinking water that might help you: <a href="http://teatimewithbri.blogspot.ca/2013/04/how-to-drink-more-water.html">Tea Time with Bri</a> I put fruit in my water (otherwise I wouldn't drink it near as much) and this also helps me drink less coffee. (Which really just gives me an hour boost, and then I am back to feeling low again.)<br />
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So this is not rocket science, and I am sure many of you can think of more ways to help while being overwhelmed, but these ideas may get you thinking what you can do for yourself, so that you can continue to do the best possible job set before you. One last piece of advice that has really kept me going during this entire year...<br />
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<b>** Remind yourself that it is GOD who gave you this job, this calling in your life at this moment. Your work is being done for HIM, no one else. It is all about doing the best you can for God's glory. Therefore, bring your stresses to God, take it one day at a time, and do it all for His name.</b>Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-48872752257046854662013-04-23T14:47:00.000-07:002013-04-23T14:47:04.973-07:00Colour SchemesIn both Grade 5 and Grade 6 I have recently decided to work on colour schemes. In Grade 5 I only focused on complimentary colours and monochramatic colours. For their project, I simply had them choose one of the schemes, and make an abstract shape drawing. This project took most students two, 1-hour periods to finish. I highly recommend this project for two reasons: 1) A great bulletin board display!, 2) No prep and even a great filler if you need a quick art project!.<br />
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Here are the results:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5sS1s6y_zbXVYd_24zztnYdaxhERlNiy1F7zFHLxgPYFcCMpStOR5Rog1tifb0hqn58YYNUVBzL5hyphenhyphenZ3jiKPbX_DEX1ahJvXUkZFnfwgjnT76HzHjZ5u66IbF9n0wCTfGf8h8TW4Y1Kk/s1600/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+5+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5sS1s6y_zbXVYd_24zztnYdaxhERlNiy1F7zFHLxgPYFcCMpStOR5Rog1tifb0hqn58YYNUVBzL5hyphenhyphenZ3jiKPbX_DEX1ahJvXUkZFnfwgjnT76HzHjZ5u66IbF9n0wCTfGf8h8TW4Y1Kk/s320/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+5+(1).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Complimentary Colours - Blue and Orange</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHULfa_KlUbWnk4vPRfZAnla1BjO7xCyl04XNzAYBqvUJApze24Kk1qNhb9GNN6IfyBBhfXcOh4kpMJ0htl-DBfIFYCZAIG0KFT0T83TOgn5gRwMADalslUGUfbBAzs1c8DlOJcu6Y6tM/s1600/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+5+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHULfa_KlUbWnk4vPRfZAnla1BjO7xCyl04XNzAYBqvUJApze24Kk1qNhb9GNN6IfyBBhfXcOh4kpMJ0htl-DBfIFYCZAIG0KFT0T83TOgn5gRwMADalslUGUfbBAzs1c8DlOJcu6Y6tM/s320/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+5+(2).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Complimentary Colours - Purple and Yellow</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguwygsgJKWbMD93RfLmrNF6HXjxDmpQPhc5QN4pYQZMtDHk3FfIic2mPfKKv2P-Ebu7zTCM4jr_g6_21oDrRBBLvBbIguVTaCv9Q4zms1p75qc1IRKOWemTfGVFSGXv6v12vYTv0gLfOc/s1600/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+5+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguwygsgJKWbMD93RfLmrNF6HXjxDmpQPhc5QN4pYQZMtDHk3FfIic2mPfKKv2P-Ebu7zTCM4jr_g6_21oDrRBBLvBbIguVTaCv9Q4zms1p75qc1IRKOWemTfGVFSGXv6v12vYTv0gLfOc/s320/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+5+(3).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Complimentary Colours - Green and Red</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjASzmZp4Q7fx-9TS99gIWyef3OucJhBMwszNwHZkoeOEkrXaGNLheQ-w7JcVYNBsHOqCkUTO-olFxOmSHpjv_wa0Y0L_0uJzulXZkxP8z6nHUo6qUSGrDyIn6QveXJ2LS34z7q31cTcZY/s1600/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+5+(4).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjASzmZp4Q7fx-9TS99gIWyef3OucJhBMwszNwHZkoeOEkrXaGNLheQ-w7JcVYNBsHOqCkUTO-olFxOmSHpjv_wa0Y0L_0uJzulXZkxP8z6nHUo6qUSGrDyIn6QveXJ2LS34z7q31cTcZY/s320/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+5+(4).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Monochromatic - Orange</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1I-8T1rdtFvcIpISRQGvP-yOrG__lBkkAzE5bSkoK7Rj5Zeezk6gbKj7bufiUyC7-7DdOfGPMWHijOiOAnphZIQ-XPuuv9ndNdpPdZ4g1m00GIYYD5_wNfIn_OApMANCqeJnfmdJqWzM/s1600/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+5+(5).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1I-8T1rdtFvcIpISRQGvP-yOrG__lBkkAzE5bSkoK7Rj5Zeezk6gbKj7bufiUyC7-7DdOfGPMWHijOiOAnphZIQ-XPuuv9ndNdpPdZ4g1m00GIYYD5_wNfIn_OApMANCqeJnfmdJqWzM/s320/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+5+(5).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Monochromatic - Blue</i></div>
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For the Grade 6's I made the study of colour schemes a much bigger project. The reason for this, is simply because Grade 6's focus for art this year is colour, whereas, Grade 5's focus is shape. </div>
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The Grade 6's learned about the following colour schemes: monochromatic, complimentary, tertiary (only secondary colours or only primary colours), and analogous (closest shades/tints of colour on colour wheel) colours. I began with having the students draw any picture they wanted on a big piece of paper, making sure they knew that there had to be detail in all areas of the paper. They then had to fold the paper into quadrants. Each quadrant was going to be a different colour scheme. I went through each quadrant slowly with the students so that they would truly understand the different colour schemes. This was the first of two projects worked on for exploring colour schemes.</div>
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Here are some results:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvhCUlHhm7mjBek_M2DPeKAHJdIHjyyqYo9I-OO6tBdjXN5KeyUpNJuyqxwRruB2H5qIs5yJLq_aJKEVLpLpjeTRdrgnM1Nl00rJ4TNDDn-atNpQrtkI6Yj3mQj2b1mnvThtMWPgBGKy8/s1600/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+6+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvhCUlHhm7mjBek_M2DPeKAHJdIHjyyqYo9I-OO6tBdjXN5KeyUpNJuyqxwRruB2H5qIs5yJLq_aJKEVLpLpjeTRdrgnM1Nl00rJ4TNDDn-atNpQrtkI6Yj3mQj2b1mnvThtMWPgBGKy8/s320/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+6+(1).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0QJdFJ11WtC1h5uv89eQ7MJaFR-x9djgFgYCm8YnK72IN2AUz2_JJE88Sgr5P6DGHrDGjNRpNvYYIj940ySnLwSm0CXVN5ybGQ7WUDgvmYlaF5KbXXEc9U8O7sjX4uziZbUO5n5nGmmk/s1600/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+6+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0QJdFJ11WtC1h5uv89eQ7MJaFR-x9djgFgYCm8YnK72IN2AUz2_JJE88Sgr5P6DGHrDGjNRpNvYYIj940ySnLwSm0CXVN5ybGQ7WUDgvmYlaF5KbXXEc9U8O7sjX4uziZbUO5n5nGmmk/s320/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+6+(2).JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHoys1KNyKAfxZjWi25chcQAcE9RlAFRMcazdLgdj-7Adasl6clKtmkOcL9KRnLyzZ8mJaPNeXtj51B0HXz78_W1sbTtEMdpq8q848XmUn4WBjrWcErQ8-vsFUsv5PVoU2jPiVmg3peug/s1600/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+6+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHoys1KNyKAfxZjWi25chcQAcE9RlAFRMcazdLgdj-7Adasl6clKtmkOcL9KRnLyzZ8mJaPNeXtj51B0HXz78_W1sbTtEMdpq8q848XmUn4WBjrWcErQ8-vsFUsv5PVoU2jPiVmg3peug/s320/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+6+(3).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX3bNWANztHjSOoLY0Dl_nuSthpALfAcLbW2wduz_dsDr2IXSVb-8BPX5y4hvz89MWTxMEf3Flcb4hYtSPiNHSx_wtz19Ps3yvn81Qj_lTVydvAjD98tGN-PvlBv8CpzKP-IG8JhjIeuY/s1600/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+6+(4).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX3bNWANztHjSOoLY0Dl_nuSthpALfAcLbW2wduz_dsDr2IXSVb-8BPX5y4hvz89MWTxMEf3Flcb4hYtSPiNHSx_wtz19Ps3yvn81Qj_lTVydvAjD98tGN-PvlBv8CpzKP-IG8JhjIeuY/s320/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+6+(4).JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Sg3Hu96InG7XFpY6lS268REEJlXLXQI9gIlkebRTBlNHrTJUhjH4ItHpwuNlJL3DkuTPv-UgAOD5-c4s9PQy-5i8r3hW52rV-HMNmVHmQqJ1R62NHsWIhenmqUdjr8jl9GcNINYFBwM/s1600/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+6+(5).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Sg3Hu96InG7XFpY6lS268REEJlXLXQI9gIlkebRTBlNHrTJUhjH4ItHpwuNlJL3DkuTPv-UgAOD5-c4s9PQy-5i8r3hW52rV-HMNmVHmQqJ1R62NHsWIhenmqUdjr8jl9GcNINYFBwM/s320/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+6+(5).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Their second project was to take one of the four colour schemes and make an abstract watercolour painting with shapes, using that colour scheme only.<br />
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Here are some of those results:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVvwlGwAEuUpSZZVUQfOKwqj4Y_FaIyWncXAva5_eGBJZW7ginvOE3YyWVh_6sNMBMv9oHZ7SKoVNbIWj-gG6xW7Ipe3Jkd0v9KZhT_QLQBp-4wg7imaNRgio18gFbEW0K-j9E_FS3uuY/s1600/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+6+(8).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVvwlGwAEuUpSZZVUQfOKwqj4Y_FaIyWncXAva5_eGBJZW7ginvOE3YyWVh_6sNMBMv9oHZ7SKoVNbIWj-gG6xW7Ipe3Jkd0v9KZhT_QLQBp-4wg7imaNRgio18gFbEW0K-j9E_FS3uuY/s320/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+6+(8).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Analogous </i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHRSdpmHKZLVvkQrB4yuodKOi1mE5DSHf2RStPlHDI7zP1GMHSrLusdAiGHEYn-pkigFI3_KX-IAa5mdlAj5NTX99VhMROI09FKo1qUeFO7ZQHNT49dC8Y4bYpuq3T3imfBuU2yha-mZI/s1600/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+6+(9).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHRSdpmHKZLVvkQrB4yuodKOi1mE5DSHf2RStPlHDI7zP1GMHSrLusdAiGHEYn-pkigFI3_KX-IAa5mdlAj5NTX99VhMROI09FKo1qUeFO7ZQHNT49dC8Y4bYpuq3T3imfBuU2yha-mZI/s320/Colour+Schemes+-+Grade+6+(9).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Monochromatic</i></div>
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My favourite project of the three are definitely the watercolour paintings! It was a great project to help students grow in their skills of mixing and blending colours with watercolour paints. I am excited to brighten the art room with these paintings! </div>
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Feel free to use any ideas, but please do leave a comment if you do!</div>
<br />Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-2329600827663430042013-04-21T14:07:00.002-07:002013-04-21T14:07:40.981-07:00ConstellationsSpace and planets is turning out to be my favourite Science unit so far. For some reason, it seems that kids just have such an excitement to learn about the Solar System. Last week we studied constellations. To end off the week I had the students pick one of their favourite constellations for a small project. I decided to buy a writing template and constellation information on <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/">TPT</a> (Not something I do often - usually only when I plan a lesson last minute and are really in need for some ideas for help!). Here's the link: <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Crazy-About-Constellations">Crazy About Constellations</a>. In the booklet, the idea was to make the constellations from golden stars on black paper. I decided to add a little extra fun step with have the students drawing the stars with yellow and white crayons and then painting over them with black watercolour.<div>
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Here were some of the results:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoKbcdVv1yqwvJbsOCzBsl6KdNnzdXkGCUzEQ9vKlsOXGUQyd58eb-7hw-4JM5kqmEAtOGWVyIoxIVOFCsy0EWjGOv_8t7xvjK4UNAsyXhvjYWx5rHbeB0SV4cloYrOYLIDPFXJTNA-ZI/s1600/Constellation+Project+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoKbcdVv1yqwvJbsOCzBsl6KdNnzdXkGCUzEQ9vKlsOXGUQyd58eb-7hw-4JM5kqmEAtOGWVyIoxIVOFCsy0EWjGOv_8t7xvjK4UNAsyXhvjYWx5rHbeB0SV4cloYrOYLIDPFXJTNA-ZI/s320/Constellation+Project+(3).JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAQ9ZY-vga9mmaGIcDlGVRMqRbNZPl-Z67aVp4b6WOOyArgK9ieECK9E3Wu68HO-OTSnwE_zIiRwyRedbFJHLvznGj9A0_3woYQpGw20i3Qo4_N53Fj5TtDSvBDIohzrpFEWXlKeewAgI/s1600/Constellation+Project+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAQ9ZY-vga9mmaGIcDlGVRMqRbNZPl-Z67aVp4b6WOOyArgK9ieECK9E3Wu68HO-OTSnwE_zIiRwyRedbFJHLvznGj9A0_3woYQpGw20i3Qo4_N53Fj5TtDSvBDIohzrpFEWXlKeewAgI/s320/Constellation+Project+(2).JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggKWwIzBzvVj42JcNVXzFhW8x3JiJAB0MFcuxuA040sBsGl0kOmN4SUY-6lnqnrAfDxclF16dcRxD7y3Av-c3pUHsw00gV9N-gEq2E7LvVhzd-y7LErtqWivPUteV4wFR7zGNQN1QZaiU/s1600/Constellation+Project+(4).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggKWwIzBzvVj42JcNVXzFhW8x3JiJAB0MFcuxuA040sBsGl0kOmN4SUY-6lnqnrAfDxclF16dcRxD7y3Av-c3pUHsw00gV9N-gEq2E7LvVhzd-y7LErtqWivPUteV4wFR7zGNQN1QZaiU/s320/Constellation+Project+(4).JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0I2cOk-zxwWLeNBLFrbp9saYKkqDlFpiB2XwOVEtmRVZDe_oglOMnEkv6Ptp67VD13fE29eG7P8gqOpHetGD2FHHRwOSOhh47jjEw5Rys_CUL0EJKjwKZSaQHzbiorXXxtZpObfROaDM/s1600/Constellation+Project+(5).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0I2cOk-zxwWLeNBLFrbp9saYKkqDlFpiB2XwOVEtmRVZDe_oglOMnEkv6Ptp67VD13fE29eG7P8gqOpHetGD2FHHRwOSOhh47jjEw5Rys_CUL0EJKjwKZSaQHzbiorXXxtZpObfROaDM/s320/Constellation+Project+(5).JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHPWvAGy1sNwQYE31PLY7NQIRNoQdvzhhbOs7nWI9MBySF6litGINkYHcyppgG5u9hYYWvjqdqELgCeVPj18XKbMQEckwWk9uyQ2Q8KXY5OIMehZj4TUhwp__p58K0OJnr1NxM0Fkbng/s1600/Constellation+Project+(6).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHPWvAGy1sNwQYE31PLY7NQIRNoQdvzhhbOs7nWI9MBySF6litGINkYHcyppgG5u9hYYWvjqdqELgCeVPj18XKbMQEckwWk9uyQ2Q8KXY5OIMehZj4TUhwp__p58K0OJnr1NxM0Fkbng/s320/Constellation+Project+(6).JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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A perfect display for the hallway and a great way to end off a crazy week!</div>
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Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-8934125312978012732013-04-09T17:10:00.002-07:002013-04-09T17:10:13.813-07:00We've Got the Whole World...Earth Day is coming up in a couple weeks and I decided to get a head start on a bulletin board. I got this wonderful idea from <a href="http://thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.ca/search/label/Earth%20Day">The First Grade Parade Blog</a>. (Amazing blog, I must add!)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm70_YYgbzPJN43ydAYUm6pBgcGnf2Yo17X_lmysA2OR3bDecpntDUd6M0nywvyhEMyLoAc5iWPtePnakKTYot1yy1IM50VhK6o_p1Y-00aiLZJzrOxcoohGM3x84DXq0MiSDSQT2CQxs/s1600/Earth+Day+BBoard+-+April+2013+(9).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm70_YYgbzPJN43ydAYUm6pBgcGnf2Yo17X_lmysA2OR3bDecpntDUd6M0nywvyhEMyLoAc5iWPtePnakKTYot1yy1IM50VhK6o_p1Y-00aiLZJzrOxcoohGM3x84DXq0MiSDSQT2CQxs/s400/Earth+Day+BBoard+-+April+2013+(9).JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWI3cBpSfX8MDzsyekpFici-idSimbODDkOTMLLjh4x2k7mCT3EcNeGQHQNZiHAY3mTNwFmJNBksEVnHkUV3raThU5wCD6sxEaQ6PLAUg07GsDrURn2vvO3WJQoqDfyNkfZFX7mmbhWy4/s1600/Earth+Day+BBoard+-+April+2013+(4).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWI3cBpSfX8MDzsyekpFici-idSimbODDkOTMLLjh4x2k7mCT3EcNeGQHQNZiHAY3mTNwFmJNBksEVnHkUV3raThU5wCD6sxEaQ6PLAUg07GsDrURn2vvO3WJQoqDfyNkfZFX7mmbhWy4/s320/Earth+Day+BBoard+-+April+2013+(4).JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCBTFF8UQZTt97HA781UBWAzmGqylVL8hyphenhyphen86sWQ-8NxS_jfQjCU0bKo8cpEuLrjrU-mF7Ym6L_fDYu8Gi8_dudHOIkeZLJZd6NrEXjhlP_UKT7iI-heATpL2u898Q4Hmrg4YHIW51-gq4/s1600/Earth+Day+BBoard+-+April+2013+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCBTFF8UQZTt97HA781UBWAzmGqylVL8hyphenhyphen86sWQ-8NxS_jfQjCU0bKo8cpEuLrjrU-mF7Ym6L_fDYu8Gi8_dudHOIkeZLJZd6NrEXjhlP_UKT7iI-heATpL2u898Q4Hmrg4YHIW51-gq4/s320/Earth+Day+BBoard+-+April+2013+(3).JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I simply got a painted hand print of each of my students' for the 'world', and printed off some of the words and used others letters for some. I then added a few sentences of things that we can do to help our earth. I am now providing students pieces of paper to write down their own ideas to add. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyBn0FPYDtQF06y7Lr4g6Q2fk9tP5PuesXmwyin-BpybsNWhau1_TUSPIR37itXuNmaGAcV0Wum5CaW0DIbwLv9f18F8n3v-GnizdKuFbn_-BLeBSk0CDvPKdMsXx2WUhu87zQExiTIbE/s1600/Earth+Day+BBoard+-+April+2013+(11).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyBn0FPYDtQF06y7Lr4g6Q2fk9tP5PuesXmwyin-BpybsNWhau1_TUSPIR37itXuNmaGAcV0Wum5CaW0DIbwLv9f18F8n3v-GnizdKuFbn_-BLeBSk0CDvPKdMsXx2WUhu87zQExiTIbE/s200/Earth+Day+BBoard+-+April+2013+(11).JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht5a9bow8h2N_x6AA8knruQMUfwhElyYp_bQTfneNfb1sPadCjxK1cnue3hpzlcwljIfZUnfNKhQ9_oiubvBbdwHdgn4BnmdOqjasj-qhIKyfVuvbsrxUFVD6Y3imZHduI6ckS4neHSQw/s1600/Earth+Day+BBoard+-+April+2013+(6).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht5a9bow8h2N_x6AA8knruQMUfwhElyYp_bQTfneNfb1sPadCjxK1cnue3hpzlcwljIfZUnfNKhQ9_oiubvBbdwHdgn4BnmdOqjasj-qhIKyfVuvbsrxUFVD6Y3imZHduI6ckS4neHSQw/s200/Earth+Day+BBoard+-+April+2013+(6).JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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If you still need a quick, easy bulletin board before Earth Day, I would highly recommend something like this! <br />
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<br />Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-26835740911395385662013-04-06T17:09:00.000-07:002013-04-06T17:09:19.503-07:00Dinosaurs Quite a while ago, I talked about how my Grade 6 art class was making dinosaurs (Found <a href="http://adventureofteaching.blogspot.ca/2013/02/advertisements-and-perspective.html">here</a>). Finally, I will post about how they were made and how they turned out. While it took a while, it was an art project that I would definitely recommend. The students loved being able to make a type of 'sculpture' and being given the chance to be completely creative. I would really recommend this project for any grade, however I do think it works best for smaller classes as there are many materials needed. I even had students from Grades 4, 5, and 7 asking me if they could do that project too. So, now I am left with the problem of trying to fit in a similar type of project for the other grades :).<br />
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Here are the materials and the step-by-step instructions as to how we made them:</div>
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<u>Materials:</u></div>
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- Paper bag (1 per student)</div>
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- Scrap paper or magazines</div>
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- Masking Tape</div>
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- Tin Foil (3 sheets per student)</div>
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- Plasticine</div>
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- Tempera paint</div>
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- Toilet paper rolls (2 per student)</div>
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- Other odds and ends</div>
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<u>Instructions:</u></div>
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1. First, the students were given one paper bag each, along with many scrap pieces of paper and magazines. The students were then told to crumple up the scrap paper and stuff their paper bags with it.</div>
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2. When the paper bags were stuffed, the students were given three sheets of tin foil. I had the students roll the tin foil pieces together into a thin snake like shape. This was to be the neck and tail of their dinosaur.</div>
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3. Masking tape was then given for the students to tape their tinfoil to the paper bag. I had the students tape the end of the paper to the tin foil as well. <i>(I wish I had a picture of this, but unfortunately I do not.)</i></div>
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4. Next, the students were given plasticine of the colour of their choice. They were told to cover their tin foil with the plasticine.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5EGtEM8SuNVh3NKKZrJBJoAAA-z2Ro8t1QwSt4ws0HkB4nSoNoz_8leZIXTSAS3IGvqW9I27JBoZcUAW7QfxvTNuefLBVjdZQRDuA_8ZvSmfMWH32oPnI0RigMBYw_1M4KsDB5mvNgx8/s1600/Dinasours+-+Grade+6+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5EGtEM8SuNVh3NKKZrJBJoAAA-z2Ro8t1QwSt4ws0HkB4nSoNoz_8leZIXTSAS3IGvqW9I27JBoZcUAW7QfxvTNuefLBVjdZQRDuA_8ZvSmfMWH32oPnI0RigMBYw_1M4KsDB5mvNgx8/s320/Dinasours+-+Grade+6+(3).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>(Example of dinosaurs half covered with plasticine)</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicKVwk8E48-qCHrBqF_gipLRkf_eAR3CJt3j9SM-8A9FXhkNXLaoccqztPaMc9A6F-2oQ5KcEex4Xgj0Am2rbqeow9y2OYuuXNFkH3zXmlXgk6bxho_IEaN-oJW1aR-9cJdK77v_KsWGU/s1600/Dinasours+-+Grade+6+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicKVwk8E48-qCHrBqF_gipLRkf_eAR3CJt3j9SM-8A9FXhkNXLaoccqztPaMc9A6F-2oQ5KcEex4Xgj0Am2rbqeow9y2OYuuXNFkH3zXmlXgk6bxho_IEaN-oJW1aR-9cJdK77v_KsWGU/s320/Dinasours+-+Grade+6+(1).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>(Example of dinosaurs with plasticine finished)</i></div>
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5. The students were then able to paint the paper bag to match the colour of plasticine they choose. <i>(This will be the body of the dinosaur.)</i> They also painted two toilet paper rolls the same colour. These would be the dinosaurs legs.</div>
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6. Once dried, students cut their toilet paper rolls in half and glued them to the bottom of the dinosaur as legs. <i>(I used a hot glue gun and glued them on myself to make things easier.)</i></div>
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7. For feet, students took plasticine again and put them at the bottom of the toilet paper rolls to help their dinosaur stand. They also put plasticine between the toilet paper rolls and the body of the dinosaur to make sure they stayed. </div>
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8. Students were then given a chance to be creative with their dinosaur. They could use different colours of plasticine, feathers, sequins, googly eyes, etc. to decorate their dinosaur. </div>
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Here are some examples of the end results of the dinosaurs. I only wished I had taken pictures of more of them - they all turned out so unique!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0n73bohoy_Bih_Vd7NapYEqAf2JToT72y7iXWjXaNxouAQVTjghoz-Fc90XlgqY_f3GayrQuV9aw-keZ3hXN-lESYvxbxVE2n65ZQMdCGC0X02KGYtGJ4aXkIRlrXoHT-ob2zy5F1Hq0/s1600/Dinasours+-+Grade+6+%25285%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0n73bohoy_Bih_Vd7NapYEqAf2JToT72y7iXWjXaNxouAQVTjghoz-Fc90XlgqY_f3GayrQuV9aw-keZ3hXN-lESYvxbxVE2n65ZQMdCGC0X02KGYtGJ4aXkIRlrXoHT-ob2zy5F1Hq0/s320/Dinasours+-+Grade+6+%25285%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTgrF3OaW7AB5Ry9OaglQPIp7k85Nw5Gd3D9JKcOY6RR_1Z2HOAbX-luj6cNQ42wL2J5BsRljbyxiHFnHx_7qeWhTfTjrX_If7IbP5mZh2q3yms_D-RQBnbfmjhNv8cILzNOaRFtCN_D0/s1600/Dinasours+-+Grade+6+%25286%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTgrF3OaW7AB5Ry9OaglQPIp7k85Nw5Gd3D9JKcOY6RR_1Z2HOAbX-luj6cNQ42wL2J5BsRljbyxiHFnHx_7qeWhTfTjrX_If7IbP5mZh2q3yms_D-RQBnbfmjhNv8cILzNOaRFtCN_D0/s320/Dinasours+-+Grade+6+%25286%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkXusP6csAyYruf_MCySc3bTLUFddqCE3xKTcqj9iyoONfN-VJ6bHXniG7DjmGddGVbFeM8Dv-Mb_NG2Cp_fVdxTtI0iEq6eqKFQ6AvHLDcu_cHARbMG8AIZvEJFiI2EYMr5WsPwuMGuM/s1600/Dinasours+-+Grade+6+%25287%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkXusP6csAyYruf_MCySc3bTLUFddqCE3xKTcqj9iyoONfN-VJ6bHXniG7DjmGddGVbFeM8Dv-Mb_NG2Cp_fVdxTtI0iEq6eqKFQ6AvHLDcu_cHARbMG8AIZvEJFiI2EYMr5WsPwuMGuM/s320/Dinasours+-+Grade+6+%25287%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Dinosaurs - Grade 6</i></div>
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I know this project can seem a bit much, especially if you have a big class. However, another option is to make it a group project. They look great to display around the classroom and are definitely worth all the work! Perhaps even using part of the project could be done - for example making a plasticine snake (Just use tin foil and plasticine!)</div>
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Currently I am working on <u>colour schemes</u> with my Grade 5's and 6's. Be sure to come back for a look at those projects soon!</div>
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<br />Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-58960490997240567442013-03-20T15:30:00.001-07:002013-03-20T15:30:21.659-07:00Easter Egg Math FactsSince my school has a two week long March Break, I only have four days with my students before Easter. Being so short, there's not much time to make decorating the classroom worth it or to even do much Easter activities. But I thought of one quick and easy idea that will be great for the students who finish their Math work early this next week. <br />
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I decided to buy some plastic eggs, take a permanent marker, and write down some math facts. On the top part of each egg I wrote down the multiplication statement and at the bottom, the answer (obviously mixing up the colours). Putting them in two baskets, all the students have to do is match the right top with the right bottom. This is great not only to keep students busy and practising their multiplication facts, but also for me to check after for assessment. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEfCT8XuR9wdz6ycdEXhp9lvtk4GPlz93mzgHHTet0RhXBvwS8DbDl6Vur6rgkzDzr3SKD7PpmC3WUyCUj6HwrmZLEKEwlO91_vzWccAj97fPH6-Jy54XqNSWlbZU60VD-uVr0hjHg1L4/s1600/DSCN1230.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEfCT8XuR9wdz6ycdEXhp9lvtk4GPlz93mzgHHTet0RhXBvwS8DbDl6Vur6rgkzDzr3SKD7PpmC3WUyCUj6HwrmZLEKEwlO91_vzWccAj97fPH6-Jy54XqNSWlbZU60VD-uVr0hjHg1L4/s320/DSCN1230.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Problem is - I bought a bag of 40 eggs. What to do with the rest? </div>
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Some ideas I have... </div>
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- Write a different journal topic in each egg, and when the students are finished their work they have to pick an egg and write a journal entry.</div>
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- Put a little treat in each egg to give to the students for Easter break.</div>
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Any other ideas?? :)</div>
Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-46624469934213313992013-03-20T13:00:00.001-07:002013-03-20T13:03:23.624-07:00A Cup of Hot Chocolate...Looking on people's facebook statuses, talking to the server at Starbucks, and having a phone call from my Mom, I feel that all I have heard today were complaints about the cold, cold weather. And, I just chimed right in. After all...as I said to the man at Starbucks 'it's spring for Pete's sake!'. So while, I originally thought I was going to be pretty late with posting this bulletin board, thinking that by this point it's bound to be warm and springy outside, I'd say it still fits the weather right now. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_p79ap6hjdxPhRRw6t5LH361gBQQQHAPrDN_PDcHFmfyVphEqfDVRGlTL9kGearo-uhyvzJN23ywwu5482rxX3W2vE4N74v44Mga9A2F2tUCpBsYlaVgbq9UzN_2iLkJhtbgdwpz53GQ/s1600/A+Cup+of+H.Cocoa+and+a+Good+Book+-+Book+Reports+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_p79ap6hjdxPhRRw6t5LH361gBQQQHAPrDN_PDcHFmfyVphEqfDVRGlTL9kGearo-uhyvzJN23ywwu5482rxX3W2vE4N74v44Mga9A2F2tUCpBsYlaVgbq9UzN_2iLkJhtbgdwpz53GQ/s320/A+Cup+of+H.Cocoa+and+a+Good+Book+-+Book+Reports+(2).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>A Cup of Hot Cocoa and a Good Book!</i></div>
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I taught the students about the 5 Ws and had them write book reports on one of their favourite books. I then had them write good copies of these book reports onto marshmallows in order to fit the theme of the bulletin board!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3s3J1gDk6zjzBn30N9fh3hB9gkSFzIfY_Pb17_QI-9wMWViUggmqi8AcYGlytaIQojO9-FISgFK-e_Th1RvcRwRBtponEeE9y6GQ-cAfKh1lpv2EJQKQEUX4FHFBYaJBV4vbr9fTQ8gk/s1600/A+Cup+of+H.Cocoa+and+a+Good+Book+-+Book+Reports+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3s3J1gDk6zjzBn30N9fh3hB9gkSFzIfY_Pb17_QI-9wMWViUggmqi8AcYGlytaIQojO9-FISgFK-e_Th1RvcRwRBtponEeE9y6GQ-cAfKh1lpv2EJQKQEUX4FHFBYaJBV4vbr9fTQ8gk/s320/A+Cup+of+H.Cocoa+and+a+Good+Book+-+Book+Reports+(3).JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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My mug could have been a bit bigger,,,but hey..it gets the point across :). The rest was pretty simple as I used the background, border, and snow bottom from my last bulletin board on the <a href="http://adventureofteaching.blogspot.ca/2012/12/lost-snowmen.html">Lost Snowmen</a>. </div>
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I got the main idea and the marshmallow template from <a href="http://www.mrsliretteslearningdetectives.com/">Mrs. Lirette's Learning Blog</a> . While you might think it's a bit late to use in your own classroom, I would say it's perfect when thinking of those chilly, rainy April days! :)</div>
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Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-54632453153077955392013-02-26T15:36:00.002-08:002013-02-26T15:36:57.234-08:00"Ghetto" PulleysWhile I've mostly blogged about my art classes and bulletin board displays, today I have a different subject to blog about - Science. I never thought I would be teaching science - It is not my strongest subject in any way. However, I have had a ton of fun teaching science to Grade 2! Our first unit was on Animals. While students love animals, and love learning about them, I found this unit hard in the fact that there wasn't much for experiments. Science is one subject that you can truly do hands on learning, but I found that to be more tough with studying animals. (If anyone has any ideas for me, please message me!!) We then had a unit on Matter and Materials. This unit was great, in the fact that we had an experiment almost every science class! Learning about solids, liquids, and gases always have engaging activities to do with the students. <br />
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Now, we are learning about Simple Machines. So far we have worked with pushing and pulling forces and inclined planes. Just recently we worked with pulleys. Being the procrastinator I am, the night before the lesson I looked everywhere for a good pulley activity...I thought it would be no problem! Nope, not true. Everywhere I looked, making a pulley required wooden spools. Unfortunately, I don't just have wooden spools hanging around...and I especially can't find one the night before the lesson :). So I decided to make my own pulleys out of some stuff I had in our apartment: toilet paper rolls, a pizza box, and a glue gun. <br />
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They turned out like this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmJJME5oJLk9pPRTGDcrxfwCLQ8AwpH3-Uvb8My-QhBNjLYP9bdHSw-8_vkECbHfItxUW7FAFnVnIb0rlOGAZ5_xWH-A4dHyFV2lxXeqdxebAODIU696RNr-T20nAFFX0h9A9DDtoUbYo/s1600/20130222_152524+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmJJME5oJLk9pPRTGDcrxfwCLQ8AwpH3-Uvb8My-QhBNjLYP9bdHSw-8_vkECbHfItxUW7FAFnVnIb0rlOGAZ5_xWH-A4dHyFV2lxXeqdxebAODIU696RNr-T20nAFFX0h9A9DDtoUbYo/s320/20130222_152524+(2).jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Here's how I made it:<br />
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I took a toilet paper roll and cut it in half. I then cut out two circles from the pizza box, and with a glue gun I glued them together. The students simply had to stick a pencil through the middle, put some yarn around the pulley, tie a load to the yarn...and voila! A pulley! Mind you, it wasn't the strongest pulley ever, but it did the trick to show the students what a pulley is. And they had fun with it anyways!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4aldk_1X2p_cD5n9ipCJHUNr7wZkWfzQqMNeXq25tL43DptUmiKo3w7wAkmwAaIimk1pZmSG7N7JfL4TofpnHd_kHMbDYbUfQcrq1xQ-Zy7XYPITnykPdbMhTJ5d-079dYAHemsShy2o/s1600/20130222_152125+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4aldk_1X2p_cD5n9ipCJHUNr7wZkWfzQqMNeXq25tL43DptUmiKo3w7wAkmwAaIimk1pZmSG7N7JfL4TofpnHd_kHMbDYbUfQcrq1xQ-Zy7XYPITnykPdbMhTJ5d-079dYAHemsShy2o/s320/20130222_152125+(2).jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Now, here's hoping for a snowy day tomorrow - too snowy for school perhaps? Ah...one can only dream.<br />
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<br />Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-37569265540089347972013-02-19T15:49:00.000-08:002013-02-19T15:58:00.442-08:00Advertisements and Perspective<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Since</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Grade
6</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">did such a great job persevering through their long Pointillism project (see <a href="http://adventureofteaching.blogspot.ca/2013/02/picasso-and-pointilism.html">here</a>), I wanted to give them something a little more fun for their next
project. I decided to work on</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">advertisements</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">with
them. I found this great idea on the following blog: <a href="http://mrsdahl.wordpress.com/"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Mrs. Dahl: Projects from the Classroom</span></a> .
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">I had the Grade 6s make an advertisement for candy
or a chocolate bar of their choice. The catch was, the candy bar had to
be 3D on their paper. They were given cardboard, tin foil, felt, and any
other scrap they could find to use. The candy bar had to be 3D and the
rest of the paper had to be advertising this candy bar. This project was
different from any I had given them yet this year - their first 3D project.
The results were great! (You will notice a lot of colourful dots -
They found some bingo dabbers and could not get enough haha)</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi2mrF8FQ8nXvFpQYUEAKY0kun2qTyoQs0asBt1AqRtmuZdOQo-4WXlQOBWmF1TCCyt5qx0g80fhUNWB3AtaNw4jIqgyuhNBppNq8XDKT43Wq2aXtyXgpMjdMTk1w8jcsN4f4k_OG7pnk/s1600/Advertisements+Grade+6%252C+7%252C+8+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi2mrF8FQ8nXvFpQYUEAKY0kun2qTyoQs0asBt1AqRtmuZdOQo-4WXlQOBWmF1TCCyt5qx0g80fhUNWB3AtaNw4jIqgyuhNBppNq8XDKT43Wq2aXtyXgpMjdMTk1w8jcsN4f4k_OG7pnk/s320/Advertisements+Grade+6%252C+7%252C+8+%25284%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqBuJp_MNqKmN6bUZoRfjeHd9M8BoYdXKxa6WXLBEnwEXopNuvdR-0LbU_sJBSi__7p1wi-ky5a4a8K0m4KMFPp6weNO2dq3vj8EHl0nqaD0kktaNfYJITShi0NlSHRziPPu245Bc0EeA/s1600/Advertisements+Grade+6%252C+7%252C+8+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqBuJp_MNqKmN6bUZoRfjeHd9M8BoYdXKxa6WXLBEnwEXopNuvdR-0LbU_sJBSi__7p1wi-ky5a4a8K0m4KMFPp6weNO2dq3vj8EHl0nqaD0kktaNfYJITShi0NlSHRziPPu245Bc0EeA/s320/Advertisements+Grade+6%252C+7%252C+8+%25283%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Pop Up Advertisements - Grade 6</i></div>
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I just find these so creative! Definitely a little more enjoyable for the students than the pointillism as well :)</div>
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While Grade 6 was allowed to let their creativity shine through their project, I did a little more of a structured project with the Grade 4 class - <b>One Point Perspective</b>. Since the focus for Grade 4 is the element of line, I thought it was a good grade to do some perspective drawing with. I found this great lesson plan (with drawing steps and everything!) on the following blog: <a href="http://elementaryartfun.blogspot.ca/2012/02/drawing-steps-for-one-point-perspective.html">smART Class</a> . These steps were amazing and so helpful! I will admit - perspective is not my strong point. But these steps made it so easy to teach! And helped the students come to a very clear understanding of it. I <u>highly recommend</u> checking out her blog if you are considering teaching perspective! Here are a few of the results:</div>
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<i>One Point Perspective - Grade 4</i></div>
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While I told the students they could either do a street scene or a river scene they all chose street. I had them colour with pencil crayons all the detailed items, and then do the background with watercolour. If I was to do it again, I definitely would have had them colour with crayons and cover the background with watercolour after that, so that the crayon would nicely show through the watercolour.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpOvSfFTCAm9pZwUmhYJ0-ikTJ6sIduGeX0ee4jf35F_9v2MIrSoenFXD3D1mGPHl5hMfKNvzmD1mR_N4f4BxXVZH3GoeCeGV5OZGchLu_ChcAAQL8hkyVHhCuywfVJL99n-90_4KhQt0/s1600/Dinasours+-+Grade+6+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpOvSfFTCAm9pZwUmhYJ0-ikTJ6sIduGeX0ee4jf35F_9v2MIrSoenFXD3D1mGPHl5hMfKNvzmD1mR_N4f4BxXVZH3GoeCeGV5OZGchLu_ChcAAQL8hkyVHhCuywfVJL99n-90_4KhQt0/s200/Dinasours+-+Grade+6+%25281%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a>Well that's all for now. This week, Grade 6 is working on making dinosaurs out of paper bags, tin foil, plaster-sine, toilet paper rolls, and paint. <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">I am really looking forward to seeing the end results! </span>This is how far we are:</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Well, enjoy your week and thanks for stopping by! Feel free to leave me a comment or two! :)</span></div>
Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-61894680506909463732013-02-19T15:20:00.002-08:002013-02-19T15:26:40.660-08:00Picasso and Pointillism<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Alright - Valentines Day is over, Report card season is coming to an end (finally), and tomorrow is the last day for clubs (yes, my school has clubs and I am in charge of cooking this semester - not the easiest club with Grades 1-3 :) - time for some blogging! There have been many art projects that I've done in the past month or so that I've been super excited about and have been dying to share! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let's start with some obvious ones. Picasso and pointilism. These are two projects that I feel are necessary for students to have had at least once in their elementary years of art...but also time consumin. Sometimes, they feel over done - but perhaps that's more of the teacher's view than the students. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I worked on <b>Picasso portraits</b> with <b>Grade 5</b>. I had the students draw a pencil sketch of their own portrait while looking at a mirror. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We went through the steps of how to draw a face, what goes where, and how to make it with the best proportion possible. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We then looked at different Picasso drawings, specifically looking at the abstraction, bright colours, and cubism used.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Keeping this in mind, they drew their face again, except disoriented it, the way Picasso would have. I don't think I did as good of a job as I could have in teaching the students how to disorient the face on their portraits (as you will probably be able to see in the end result). It's really important at this stage to have them disorient their face step by step. The students then painted their face with watercolour paints, only using bright colours. Last step - outlining each section with black marker. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Here's how some of them turned out:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Picasso Portraits - Grade 5</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Pointillism</b> was done with <b>Grade 6</b>. We first discussed <b>Georges Seurat</b>'s usage of pointillism and why pointillism was used. I then allowed the students to drawing any picture they chose (making sure they didn't draw too much detail in their pictures, so that the pointillism wouldn't take absolutely forever) and they used markers to make their pointillism pictures. At the beginning, they were excited and really enjoyed it. By the end, they just wanted to be done! It took about 3 periods...and I could tell by the end the students were just so excited to move on to a new project! But they pushed through and the results turned out great! Here's a few of the results:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb3ZYS0TPiZQyRV0sB50kikiLxjFVLeR9HGz737C-arpjRhIe1hdx1dyEo5w7fN1N1uIEHG_N0ybtlerWAt2EFW4lkp6PQHrBPU4s7N6qyz_EXHbdg1kOOgVKx6VDZdONSYoHqeXZzcF0/s1600/Pointilism+-+Grade+6+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb3ZYS0TPiZQyRV0sB50kikiLxjFVLeR9HGz737C-arpjRhIe1hdx1dyEo5w7fN1N1uIEHG_N0ybtlerWAt2EFW4lkp6PQHrBPU4s7N6qyz_EXHbdg1kOOgVKx6VDZdONSYoHqeXZzcF0/s320/Pointilism+-+Grade+6+(1).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Pointillism - Grade 6</i></div>
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Stay tuned for my next blog post about the most recent art projects done with Grade 6 on <b>Advertisements </b>and Grade 4 on <b>Perspective! </b></div>
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Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-82591990865897148382013-01-18T15:36:00.004-08:002013-01-18T15:38:15.639-08:00A Snowy Day<span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As much as I dislike winter, I do love how the classroom looks with winter decorations! For the past week I have been having my students make snowflakes after they finish their agendas, or if they finish their work a bit early. Some even ask to stay in during recess to make them. I'll admit, it is for a selfish reason. I just love the way they look all over the classroom! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I also needed one more 'wintery' bulletin board. I saw lots of great ideas on Pinterest about how no two snowflakes are alike, but I decided simply to do a writing assignment about a snowy day. I just love the way the colours look on this bulletin board! It isn't the most exciting bulletin board, but I still really like the way it turned out!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I found my snowflake templates <a href="http://www.firstpalette.com/tool_box/printables/snowflake.html">here</a>. I had to help most students fold the paper, but they turned out so nice so I didn't mind! Some students also chose to make their own designs. The writing piece is simply about their favourite activities to do on a snowy day. Our focus is on detail and adjectives so they had to make sure to include those. If you would like the template for the writing piece just comment! :)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well it's the weekend!! Time for a date night of pizza and a movie with my wonderful hubby. I am ready to relax! Enjoy your weekend as well :) </span></div>
Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8289953041474400427.post-8980523084931324672013-01-18T15:21:00.001-08:002013-01-18T15:38:32.331-08:00Classroom Management with Marbles Results<div>
<span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's been two weeks since the Christmas break and already I feel that January is becoming a better month than my first few months of teaching. I feel more focused, and more determined to make interactive and engaging lessons. My New Year's resolutions of using my SMART board more and having more group work has been helping my lessons incredibly. While it is more work at times, in the end it is so much more rewarding! Now I just need to make a goal for getting marking done on time...haha. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I posted about how I was going to use marbles for a new classroom management strategy <a href="http://adventureofteaching.blogspot.ca/2012/11/classroom-management-with-marbles.html">here</a> in November. I said that I was going to try it within 2 weeks...well it's been about 2 months..and I am finally starting it :). As for results... it is going well. I find it is an easy strategy to keep up with (I found this hard when I used the stop light strategy at the beginning of the year). It also motivates the kids to be more attentive when specific instructions are given. Most of all, they are excited about it. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If your interested in trying it in your classroom these are the rules that I gave to my students:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">1. To get marbles, it is a group effort. Some examples of how students can get marbles is showing me that they are ready for a lesson quickly, staying quiet when you are supposed to, acts of kindness, etc.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">2. Marbles are taken away when students do not listen, are not showing me they are ready for a class, are extra loud in the cubbies, etc.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">3. There is absolutely no blaming allowed. If a student blames another student, all of the marbles are taken out of the jar and we have to start over.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">4. By March Break if all the marbles are in the jar we get to have an afternoon class party. I plan on playing a class game, have some treats for the students, and maybe watching a short video. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you have any other tips for this classroom strategy, let me know!</span></div>
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Estherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00963681348006928843noreply@blogger.com1