Great Math Idea

This is an idea developed by my partner to integrate art and number concept. Each month starting in September we create a quilt square.
1. The background paper is 12 x 12 inches. In this sample that is light blue.
2. The students first glue down 2 squares (each 6 x 6 inches - black). My partner glues these down so they are all straight. I like to have the kids glue them. I use the words top right and bottom left... understanding these terms is part of our Math standards for K in CA.
3. In the top left square we always glue the die cut number (1 - for this quilt).
4. Next we cut out a clip art Earth (printed off the internet) because their is only one Earth.
5. After that we cut a circle from a 3 x 3 inch yellow square to make the middle of the sun. Then we cut the rays from one or more 2 x 4 inch rectangles. I talk about how we only have one sun in our solar system.
6. The next step is to draw our own face on a 4 x 4 inch white square. There is only one of each of us!
7. Finally, (and I forgot this step on my quilt, but can add it later) we add a penny sticker or a photocopied penny next to the number one.

Next month we will make our 2 quilt. It will have a couple of addition sentences on it. At the end of the year, when we have 10 pages, we make them into a book to take home.

First Fingerpainting

I try to incorporate painting... especially fingerpaiting...early in the year. Some children (especially those who didn't go to preschool) have never actually had a chance to slime their fingers around in paint!!

For this project, I just had pieces of fingerpaint paper (you can use regular paper if it's all you have, but fingerpaint paper is better because it's slick!) cut into pieces about 6 x 8 inches for each child. I also put a 9 x 12 piece of scratch paper underneath to try to reduce the mess on the tables. The students get to choose 2 colors of paint from the apple spectrum (like yellow and red or green and yellow). I give a big blob of the first color they say, then a little dot of the second color they say right onto the paper. Their job is to cover the entire page.

When the pages are dry I just freehand cut the apples about 3-4 at a time into an apple shape. If you don't want to freehand cut, you could use a template to make them all perfect. I like them to be a little imperfect. I call it whimsical. :-)

I add a stem, write the student's name with a really fat tipped black marker and staple them up on the tree.

My favorite is Joaquin's. You can see his handprint right on it.

Bear-ly Beginning

So, I always start out the year with a teddy bear theme. It takes about 3 weeks and ends with a teddy bear picnic on the last Friday. Here are some of the activities we have done so far:

Poems: Teddy Bear, teddy bear turn around
1 little, 2 little, 3 little teddy bears (we end this with kids suggestions like "reading books" or "jumping around" or whatever)

Books: Where's my Teddy? by Jez Alborough (love, love, love this series about cute little Eddie!)
It's the Bear! by Jez Alborough
My Friend Bear by Jez Alborough
Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you see? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle
(We also sing the song to this by Greg and Steve... It's on the Playing Favorites CD)
All the versions I can find of Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Art: Cut paper teddy bears (from TLC book)


Will try to add pictures soon! ETA: Some pictures!!

First Day Project

I like to try to send something home in each child's hot little hand on the first day, so this is what I sent this year.
After a quick circle time where I try to get everyone sitting "criss cross applesauce" (using Herm, of course) and a story (Usually Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle), I let the kids go play. Because let's face it, play is all they really want to do at the beginning! So while they are playing, I circulate around, getting to know them, helping to solve problems, keeping voices at the "inside voice" level. While I am doing this, my aide calls the students one at a time to paint their handprint and place it on the paper of their choice. I have a large variety of colors available and have the tags with the poem already tied on. This year I used raffia for the tying. In the past I have usually used roving yarn, but we have a shortage of roving yarn at my school, and I have a giant box of raffia left over from the 90's just begging to be used up!
The poem says:
Welcome, welcome, school has begun.
Time for work. Time for fun.
I use my hands for fun and play
School has started just today.
(Date)

So, what do you do on the first day of school?