Recycled Bottle Writing Utensil Holder

Hey to all!

BOY has it been SOME time!  I apologize.  Well, I have another few projects lined up...I'll post one a day for now though.

This one is a fun and simple one (slightly tedious) but fun.  We will be using boondoggle string (picture below) and a recycled plastic bottle in order to make this.  It's is OH so important to teach the kids to help keep this planet going, and what better way than teaching them to recycle...the fun way? ;)  Instead of throwing away the plastic bottles, we're going to cut them down slightly..and decorate them to hold all those pencils, pens, etc that are all around those kids' desks!

Here's what you need:

-Plastic bottle (water bottle size)
-Boondoggle string (plastic string, I'll post the picture here too)


First things first, we will need to cut down that bottle to 3-5 inches tall (this is your preference for the height). Kids, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT I repeat, DO NOT  do this by yourselves.  Have an adult help you with this part, I don't want any of you to get hurt!  So this part is for the adults: Use an Xacto blade or a pair of scissors (the blade is lots easier, believe me) to cut of the top part until it's your preferred height.

Next, pick out your color for boondoggle.  You can always choose more than one color but it's a lot easier if you use one long strand to make this (maybe rainbow colored if you have the colorful type little ones).  These can be purchased online, or at any arts and crafts store, like Michaels (they always have a great variety).  You're going to either attach a piece of tape to the end or glue it.  Start at the very bottom of the bottle and follow the bottle all the way around with the string.  You might have to keep taping and gluing along the way so it's not flopping all over the place.

This part is great practice for motor skills for those little ones.  Make sure you help them untwist as they go!  When you finally get to the tippy top, again, glue or tape it...done!

Now, parents, back to you.  Now that the string is all wrapped around the bottle, you can take your blade or good pair of scissors and clean it up at the top.  You can slice off those pieces of bottle stick out at the top to make it look nice and pretty AND to make sure kids aren't poking themselves with it.

Here's how it should like like:


Hope you guys enjoyed this one!  Keep checking in for more arts and crafts/learning projects to come! ;)

Rainbow Fish

Hi to all after a brief absence!  Sorry about that, I promise to get better at being consistent with these postings eventually.

Anywho, this project here is one that I actually did with a 4 year old I was babysitting. The project consists of paper mache and painting.  It was a 2 day project, but she enjoyed every second of it!  It is a great practice for reading, art, shapes, colors, etc...

Warning*** This CAN and WILL get messy so prepare for that! :)

So as a background to the project, I went over different colors of the rainbow with my little one and then we read the book Rainbow Fish.  I actually went on YouTube and found an animated read along for it, I think it kept her attention a bit more since it was more like a movie.  

So here's what you'll need:

1 balloon for each fish you're going to make 
various colored paint (try keeping it bright to coordinate with rainbows)
construction paper (any color)
paintbrushes
container for the paint (I used an ice cube tray)
glitter
liquid glue (at least 4 bottles)
safety scissors
newspaper
a big bowl
saran wrap/wax paper/aluminum foil

Paper Mache:

1) First things first, you need to blow up the ballon. (yourself, not with helium) 
2) Pour 2 complete bottles of liquid glue into the big bowl
3) Pour water inside
---measuring it: online I found various measurements.  Some say 2 parts water for every 1 part glue, others say the other way around.  I chose to do 2 bottles of glue and 1& 1/2 bottles of water worked just great
4) Rip up the newspaper into small strips or pieces. 
5) Messy part: dip the strips into the glue/water mix
6) Take the gooey pieces and stick them on to anywhere on the ballon and try to smooth it out as much as possible.
7) Once it's COMPLETELY covered in ooey gooey paper, set it on the saran wrap/wax paper/aluminum foil and let it dry over night.  You might have to turn it over in the morning so the part that was down has a chance to dry completely.


Painting the fish:

1) Put different colors into different parts of the paint holder you're using (I found the ice cube tray to be very helpful with this part)
2) Everyone go crazy painting! Make that fish super colorful!

Rainbow scales:

1) Help the kids cut different sized circles out of the construction paper

2) Cover each circle in glue and then in glitter...doesn't really matter what colors you decide to use

3) Once they dry, stick them on to different parts of the fish. 

Finishing touches:

1)Paint on a face or use different materials to glue on (foam sheets, construction paper, stickers, etc.)

2) Don't forget the fins!

3)And there you have your Rainbow Fish!

The makings of our fish....waiting for the newspaper to dry

 Paint is on, now we wait for that to dry....

 She decided to go with kissy lips.

Credit:  The credit for this idea is a mix of a bunch of projects I found online!

To all, please enjoy! :)

The OOOOOOBLECKKKKK

So, it's been a while since I've posted projects on here...I've been trying to keep up with my schooling but, I'm back!

The project I'm writing about today is super fun! I've already done this with one of the students I tutor (he's currently in Kindergarten...almost first grade)!  It was a big hit with him.  We are talkin' about Oobleck.  Now this one can be incorporated into different subjects which is awesome.  We cover reading, art, and even science, which I'll explain later in this blog.

The idea started with one of Dr. Seuss's not so famous books, Bartholomew and the Oobleck.  I won't give it away because I want you guys to go ahead and read it yourselves, but basically, a sticky substance called the oobleck is taking over a kingdom and a boy named Bartholomew must save it!

Here's what you'll need:
1 cup of water
1-2 cups of corn starch
Food Coloring (green to keep in the spirit of Seuss!)
Mixing Bowl

How to make it:
1) Throw the corn starch into the mixing bowl (be careful, it puffs out everywhere!)
2) Start adding water little by little. 
***With the corn starch, add a bit of water and mix for about 10 seconds.  It might seem really thick at first, but you'll notice that it will get runny after a bit of mixing.
3) Put 5-10 drops of food coloring (depending on how much you have and how dark you want it)

And there's the oobleck! Have fun squishing it around!!

Now, if you want to make it into a science lesson...you can make oobleck into quicksand.  For this, place your hands on the surface of the quicksand and see how long it takes to sink.  Now pull it out slowly and notice the pressure to keep your hand it. Do it again but this time, pull your hand out quickly.  What's the difference?  Which is easier to do?

Clean up is simple.  Comes off very easily with water alone.  :)

Thanks to a friend and colleague of mine, Stephanie, for sending me the idea with quicksand and to http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/oobleck-bring-science-home/  for the idea of turning it into Oobleck! 



:)  Enjoy with the kids and leave me a comment to let me know what you think!

The Art Book!

       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

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

an example of a Flinker!

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

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