Since it is beautiful and warm here in Australia today, I have been inspired to write about some of my favorite ocean activities. In Prep/1 (aka Kindergarten and 1st Grade) we did a huge “Under the Sea” unit. And with all units, the aim was to integrate as much math, literacy, science, and FUN into […]
Archive | Art and Drawing
Child Designed Decor
I am a big fan of letting children put their stamp on their classroom. As much as I love the cute packs of printed posters and the pre-made, pre-cut room decorations, I think that child-made art is much more powerful in the classroom. I went through a transformation with this last year. One thing that […]
Fraction Art
I love integrating arts into other curricular areas. I really believe that using art, music and movement increases student engagement and understanding. So I was excited to incorporate some art into our fractions study. It was really quite simple. I began with some packages of colored papers that had been pre-cut into shapes. You could […]
Make Your Own Scratchboard Art!
I am so excited to be linking up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics for her awesome Monday Made It series! I am sharing something that my students and I made together, as the Australian schools are still in session. We have pen pals from Argentina, and we wanted to send them something special. We […]
Team Made Books – Great for Holidays or Themes
Well I know this is a bit late for Halloween, but it being the holiday season, hopefully it can come in handy for the next few months. I find that I need something special, and a bit different, for my students to do on the mornings of holidays. We are typically having a celebration in […]
Birthday Celebrations Without Food – Follow Up
I just wanted to touch base about how the birthday celebrations went! I got to celebrate my birthday last week (setting the tone for the year), and we also had out first student birthday. The “Me Box” and Birthday Gallery were a fabulous success! Here are a few photos to narrate how it went. First, […]
The Scrap Box
I am starting to lie awake in bed with visions of my classroom dancing through my head. I have been over the moon inspired by some recent reading, and I cannot stop imagining the changes and improvements I plan to make to the space. You should absolutely visit Sally’s brilliant blog, Fairy Dust Teaching. I […]
Draw What You See
I have written in the past about some of the drawing work I do with my students. If you want to read about our work with 3D objects, setting, comprehension, or just want to learn about the drawing program, click on these links to previous posts to read more. I wanted to share one lesson […]
3D Objects and Drawing
One of our current math objectives is for kids to be able to recognize and name common 3D objects, and for them to be able to relate them to everyday objects. My kids are getting pretty good at this after a variety of activities. I want to share about what we did today. About once […]
Handmade Valentine Project
I am excited to share my experience this year with making Valentines with my daughter. I snagged a wonderful idea from Pinterest, and we made Valentines both for her friends at school, as well as my students. Here is the original source from Pinterest if you are interested: Crayon Valentines Our project had several steps. […]