I really loved the concept of this lesson I found. Keeping to the topic of my kindergarten minis, I chose to write about an art lesson. In this lesson, the students will create an art book, following different lessons about different concepts in art. I always loved these creative projects when I was in school, so I thought it would be a nice addition to my blog. The students will create different pages, which you can really choose what you would want them to be about, but because I am not really too crafty in the arts department, I will keep it to the lesson I found.
First is of course the art cover. You can choose the topic of what you would like on the front cover. Next comes the first page which is called Primary Hands, where the students will trace their hands, and color them in using any of the primary colors. Page two is called Blotter Bugs where the students will learn about mixing colors. Now we skip a few pages in the book (you guys can all go to the link to see all the other ones), page 8 is about the artist, where the students will write a little bit about themselves, and draw a self-portrait. Once that is done, you guys will collect all the pages-maybe have them put them in order for you?-and bind them together for them. You can staple the pages, punch holes and run yarn or other strings through them, what ever you choose!
This is really an interactive cooperative learning project for the students. They learn the lessons and will create their own little pieces of art for the pages in their books, and can even walk around helping their classmates when they're done! :)
I found this lesson plan idea on:
http://www.kinderart.com/artbook/conclude.shtml
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Flinkers!
This is a stray away from my usual reading/language arts type of activities, but I really enjoyed this little science project!
First off, for those of you who aren't really familiar with the concept (I sure wasn't!), a flinker is an object that when place in a container of water, does not float at the top or sink to the bottom, but just "flinks" in the middle of the water area. For this specific project, the challenge is for the students to make a flinker of some sort that will flink for at least 10 seconds.
My little twist to the lesson plan, I think in the beginning (especially if you are working with a younger age group...in my case, my wonderful Kindergarten chosen ones), you should cover the distinction between objects that float and sink. Have a container of water and show the students different objects like pennies, paperclips, sponges, styrofoam peanuts, an empty plastic bottle, etc. Have the students make guesses as to what they think might float or sink. After doing the demonstration, have a discussion with the class about why they think certain thinks would float and other things would sink (i.e. what do they think makes them float or sink and different characteristics of these objects that may contribute to it).
The students are separated into groups and start performing the project. They test materials in water and start putting them together one-by-one to make their flinker design better each time. They can attach things together, change the shapes of things, or anything else they may think of, this is when they can really be creative! The students have to try to make their flinker flink for at least 10 seconds. Have them call you over to show you and then, if you have time, let each group present their findings to the rest of the class.
This was such a cute idea because they can really get creative and hands on with everything. The kinesthetic learning approach is really the way to go, I believe, and this experiment gives them a chance to test things for themselves instead of just taking somebody's word for it. :)
I found this cute experiment first on the cpalms.org website and then on http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/flinker.html
First off, for those of you who aren't really familiar with the concept (I sure wasn't!), a flinker is an object that when place in a container of water, does not float at the top or sink to the bottom, but just "flinks" in the middle of the water area. For this specific project, the challenge is for the students to make a flinker of some sort that will flink for at least 10 seconds.
My little twist to the lesson plan, I think in the beginning (especially if you are working with a younger age group...in my case, my wonderful Kindergarten chosen ones), you should cover the distinction between objects that float and sink. Have a container of water and show the students different objects like pennies, paperclips, sponges, styrofoam peanuts, an empty plastic bottle, etc. Have the students make guesses as to what they think might float or sink. After doing the demonstration, have a discussion with the class about why they think certain thinks would float and other things would sink (i.e. what do they think makes them float or sink and different characteristics of these objects that may contribute to it).
The students are separated into groups and start performing the project. They test materials in water and start putting them together one-by-one to make their flinker design better each time. They can attach things together, change the shapes of things, or anything else they may think of, this is when they can really be creative! The students have to try to make their flinker flink for at least 10 seconds. Have them call you over to show you and then, if you have time, let each group present their findings to the rest of the class.
This was such a cute idea because they can really get creative and hands on with everything. The kinesthetic learning approach is really the way to go, I believe, and this experiment gives them a chance to test things for themselves instead of just taking somebody's word for it. :)
I found this cute experiment first on the cpalms.org website and then on http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/flinker.html
 |
| an example of a Flinker! |
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Blog 2: Story Question Cube
Hey guys!
So in the spirit of keeping with my Kindergarten reading theme, I found another very cute and interesting lesson plan to complete with the students. This lesson plan is called the Narrative Text Structure Story Question Cube. The Story Cube itself contains the questions: What happens in the story (beginning, middle, end)? When does the story take place (time)? How was the problem solved? Where does the story take place? Who are the characters? Why did the problem happen? The cube is put in the middle of the table of the group of students. Each student also has a student answer sheet, with different general questions about the story. After reading the story, each student takes turns rolling the cube. They then answer whatever question the cube landed on, on their answer sheets. They continue this until the answer sheet is complete!
One teaching strategy that is used in this lesson plan is the strategy of discussion. They students all need to talk to each other about what they think the answer might be and why it is that answer. This also means that another teaching strategy used in the lesson plan would be cooperative learning. They all worked together in groups playing the "game" and helping each other discover the answers to the cube's questions. The lesson plan also used the active learning strategy because it gave the students a chance to be active by using a hands-on activity to learn reading comprehension.
I really love this lesson plan! I am a kinesthetic learner myself and I feel that it will benefit most if I teach that way because it will allow me to give all I can. (This is not saying however that I will ignore other learning style, just saying this one I think works out best for my teaching style). I also think that it is good, especially for students at such a young age, to be shown these different fun learning projects so they know that everything is not all lecture and busy work. :)
This is an example of what the story cube might look like.
This is the website where I found this lesson plan:
http://www.fcrr.org/studentactivities/c_011a.pdf
So in the spirit of keeping with my Kindergarten reading theme, I found another very cute and interesting lesson plan to complete with the students. This lesson plan is called the Narrative Text Structure Story Question Cube. The Story Cube itself contains the questions: What happens in the story (beginning, middle, end)? When does the story take place (time)? How was the problem solved? Where does the story take place? Who are the characters? Why did the problem happen? The cube is put in the middle of the table of the group of students. Each student also has a student answer sheet, with different general questions about the story. After reading the story, each student takes turns rolling the cube. They then answer whatever question the cube landed on, on their answer sheets. They continue this until the answer sheet is complete!
One teaching strategy that is used in this lesson plan is the strategy of discussion. They students all need to talk to each other about what they think the answer might be and why it is that answer. This also means that another teaching strategy used in the lesson plan would be cooperative learning. They all worked together in groups playing the "game" and helping each other discover the answers to the cube's questions. The lesson plan also used the active learning strategy because it gave the students a chance to be active by using a hands-on activity to learn reading comprehension.
I really love this lesson plan! I am a kinesthetic learner myself and I feel that it will benefit most if I teach that way because it will allow me to give all I can. (This is not saying however that I will ignore other learning style, just saying this one I think works out best for my teaching style). I also think that it is good, especially for students at such a young age, to be shown these different fun learning projects so they know that everything is not all lecture and busy work. :)
This is an example of what the story cube might look like.This is the website where I found this lesson plan:
http://www.fcrr.org/studentactivities/c_011a.pdf
Friday, September 20, 2013
Lesson Plan: Phonics Jumping Words
The objective of this lesson is to practice the use of high frequency words, also known as sight words. Common
sight words for kindergarten level students include like, look, and,
am, we, up, he, her, here and many others. Learning site words helps
students become more confident readers. In this lesson, the students
practice the frequency words by playing a game of checkers. This is a
student center activity so it allows the students to independently
practice skills that the teacher has already taught them.
The teacher first chooses the high frequency words to be used in the game, all depending on the reading level of the students. These high frequency words are put directly onto the game board, along with the normal set up of the checkerboard. The students will each take turns moving a checker and reading the frequency word of the board that they placed the checker. If the student is able to read the word, they leave the checker in that spot and continue the game. If the student is not able to read the word, however, the student returns the checker to the previous square. The game ends when one of the students reaches the opposite end of the checkers board.
Here's a sample of what the game setup looks like:
This was a really interesting and cute lesson plan. I really enjoy the visual learning aspect of it because I find it easier to learn this way and I think it is a fun way to get students to practice sight words which have become such a high standard in school. I found this lesson plan on the Sunshine State Standards website, which offers many different interesting lesson plans for all grade levels and different subject areas! Here is the link to this lesson plan:
http://www.cpalms.org/Resources
The teacher first chooses the high frequency words to be used in the game, all depending on the reading level of the students. These high frequency words are put directly onto the game board, along with the normal set up of the checkerboard. The students will each take turns moving a checker and reading the frequency word of the board that they placed the checker. If the student is able to read the word, they leave the checker in that spot and continue the game. If the student is not able to read the word, however, the student returns the checker to the previous square. The game ends when one of the students reaches the opposite end of the checkers board.
Here's a sample of what the game setup looks like:
This was a really interesting and cute lesson plan. I really enjoy the visual learning aspect of it because I find it easier to learn this way and I think it is a fun way to get students to practice sight words which have become such a high standard in school. I found this lesson plan on the Sunshine State Standards website, which offers many different interesting lesson plans for all grade levels and different subject areas! Here is the link to this lesson plan:
http://www.cpalms.org/Resources
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