Baby Steps!

Setting up my Teacherspayteachers store has been a huge learning experience.  I still have a lot of questions.  I was able to link my blog to the website which is a big step in the right direction.  My freebie is up on the teacherspayteachers website.  It's a Chinese New Year writing mini-lesson with a rubric and a craft idea (making bookmarks).  Please go and check it out.  I'm hoping that tomorrow I will be able to upload my Chinese New Year Counting Book and Clip Art.  If any of you out there who is reading this knows how to upload multiple jpg files and pdf files.  Could you please let me know how to do it?  I am struggling with this. Tomorrow, I will try to upload a few more ideas on here for Chinese New Year.  It has been a long day and I am calling it a night. 

Winter Holidays Tree Map

During the holidays, I like to cover at least three celebrations.  This year my students learned about Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah.  At the end of each lesson, we discussed what we had learned about the holiday and listed it on the tree map.  I know my tree map is messy with my doodles and handwriting but it's how I like to do things.  Teaching is not always neat and cute.  It can be dirty, chaotic, and lots of fun! 

After our tree map was completed, the class and I had a discussion comparing the similarities and differences of the celebrations.  The children were able to ask and answer questions and make comparisons.  Our discussion was filled with many teachable moments for the kids and especially me.

The Turkey Protection Program

I love to think of ways to get parents involved in their child's learning.  At home parent/child activities are a great way to do this.  For this project, parents help their child disguise the turkey to save it from being eaten on Thanksgiving day.  The kids like this activity.  I can't wait to see their final products as they return them to school.  It can show humor and definitely creativity.

Before they take the project home, I read the story Turkeys in Disguise by Scarlet Honeycutt.  There are other books out there that you can use to introduce the concept of the turkey hiding from being cooked on Thanksgiving day.  The class and I have a discussion about the book and brainstorm ways they can disguise their turkeys at home.

Here are some of the new members in the Turkey Protection Program:

Stamping Art with Fruits and Veggies

Kindergarteners get excited anytime you mention the word "paint" but when you tell them they will be painting using fruit and vegetables instead of a brush, they really get excited!  Fruit/veggie stamping is an easy and fun way to express yourself. 

Here are some tips when doing this activity:
1. Cut fruits and veggies in half ahead of time.  Apples do really well, I also used squash and mini pumpkins. (we did this during fall)  You can use this activity any time of year.
2. Pierce the stamp (fruit/veggie) with a big paper clip so the child has a way of picking up the stamp.  Make sure the paper clip hooks upward.  (this helped me a lot during the activity)
3. Prep the paint on sturdy paper or plastic plates ahead of time.  Students had to share.  I told them the fruit/veggie goes with its plate to the next person.  They did a good job sharing with their neighbors.
4. The clean up is super easy.  Just throw it out when you are done.  My class shared our fruit/veggie stamps with another class.

Try stamping with different kinds of fruit/veggies.  You can also use different colors of paint.  This is an activity you can do anytime during the school year.  Hope you have fun stamping with your students!

Below are a few pictures.  Enjoy!