Earth Day Inspiration, Sweet and Colorful games, and Five For Friday!

Hello!
Well, I have been waiting and waiting for spring to arrive and I believe it is finally here! But unfortunately, my spring allergies have returned with a vengence and I cannot get outside to enjoy it... Boo hoo! So presently, other than doing recess duty, my time with the spring has been spent inside my house looking out. Hopefully, the trees will soon stop making so much pollen and I will be able to get outside and enjoy this beautiful weather! So... here are my Five For Friday.....


1.  I love to celebrate Earth Day with my students , but this year, it just seems that we have run out of time to do so many of the things that we usually do in the spring. It has been too cool to plant in our school garden, so instead we celebrated Earth Day with an art twist! I read the book "The Reason For a Flower" by Ruth Heller and explored various types of flower pictures that I imported upon my Promethean board. It is also a wonderful time to pick a spring flower or two, bring them inside the classroom, and observe the flowers up close. After observing flowers in a few different ways, I showed my students pictures of flowers painted by Georgia O'Keefe. We discussed how she painted just one or two flowers rather than a whole vase of them. We discussed how she painted her flowers like she was looking at them under a magnifying glass. At the end of our discussion, the children painted their Earth Day flower picture in the same way as Georgia O'Keefe - BIG and colorful!
     First, they sketched their flower with pencil. 
Then they chose one color in which to paint their flower using big paintbrushes. When the flower was complete, they used small paint brushes to add detail. After the flower dried, I stapled the picture to black construction paper and my kiddos used oil crayons to add details to the border. The rule was that the picture details had to be about Earth - no cars or houses or ball games! Here are some pictures of their work - I think they created some beautiful Earth Day art!














And because I believe in PURPOSEFUL LEARNING, my kiddos did a writing activity after they completed their painting.




2.  Here are some beautiful pictures of spring in my yard!


3  We are celebrating new life in our classroom, too! We have painted lady butterfly caterpillars and chicken eggs. The chicks are supposed to hatch this week and the butterflies next week.

4.  Another PURPOSEFUL LEARNING activity that we did with flowers was to create a watercolor flower (painted on both sides). When the flower was dry, I gave my kiddos a center to glue onto both sides of their flower. One side said "CVC" and the said "CVCe". They were then given words that were to be cut apart, sorted, and glued onto the correct side of the flower. If you would like the template for the center of the flower and the words, click HERE to get the Google doc.


5.  Finally, we had a SWEET and COLORFUL time this week in our math tubs! Each tub had a fun game in it that was totally aligned with the Common Core. It is always sweet words to hear when my kinders cheer when I say it is time for math tubs!
     In Tub One, they used crocodile mouths and equal signs to show greater than, less than, and equal to.

In Tub Two, they sorted number cards into tally marks, tens and ones, and ten frames to show the different ways to portray a number.

In Tub Three, they played a board games using plus and minus dice.

I also want to share with you this SUPER way to make a game piece stand up! Use a LARGE brad and slip the game piece inside of it! Super cool!
In Tub Four, students sorted addition facts under their sums and then wrote the equation on a recording sheet. I only included sums to 5. Hopefully this summer, I will get a chance to update this resource with math facts greater than 5!
 


Here is preview of the Sweet and Colorful Math packet:


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Four-Fabulous-Sweet-and-Colorful-Math-Centers-678016


Finally, I am linking up with Doodle Bugs for Five for Friday - VERY, VERY late!


Until next time!

Blessings,
Cindy

2 comments

  1. I love those painted flowers!!! Beautiful!
    Kerri :)
    Teacher Bits and Bobs

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Kerri! The kids had a great time with them and they make me smile when I walk b them!

    Cindy

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