Marker Heaven
Now, you all know you have markers that dry up. We have a community supply of markers in my room so, when one dries up, I have been asking students to put them in “marker heaven”…aka the trash can. The students find it amusing and it still makes me smile under my breath.
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More recently, I thought I might should save the almost dried up markers that don’t color so well. I remembered the “marker bots” we had made a few years ago realized I had saved the almost dried up markers for this. I exclaimed, “Oh no!” during one class and told children we needed to save them somewhere. One child said, “Marker Jail, ” and so there it was, marker jail was born. Maybe marker purgatory would have been more appropriate, but I loved the child’s idea. Children who weren’t in the same class began inquiring about the marker jail. I love the curiosity it has generated. I used a random box top lid for marker jail because it was what I had nearby. Use whatever container you like. I hope this idea spreads a little fun in your classroom.
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The 2024 Creativity Challenge…
On January 1st, I shared with you an idea you could use in your classroom to start the year off. Students could imagine the numbers in 2024 to be other items besides numbers. I am really proud of some of the results from this activity. See how their creativity blossomed….
left to right top to bottom… shield, potato, fish (look how perspective was used as this student turned the page), archer, hourglass, hotel and white beach, hanger (again page was turned as this student used perspective).
When I taught this lesson, I used an idea from a previous year that I got from the Carly and Adam website.
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Happy 2024!
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I am personally looking forward to this year in many ways! Last year, I saw the idea somewhere to make something out of the numbers 2023. I decided to do something similar with some of my beginning of the year lessons this year. What can you create from the numbers 2024? This I great for children’s creative thinking. Try different fonts on your computer and see if it sparks different creative thinking ideas. What if students make a reflection from the numbers 2024? What if students make pictures of the 2024 together? What if they use the numbers individually? What if they turn 2024 sideways? What if they turn it upside down? Do they see different pictures? You will likely have a child say they they messed up. Sometimes those are the best opportunities for imagination!
Enjoy your year! 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving with a Quick Lesson!
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This year for a quick and easy lesson, I showed a quick video about thankfulness by Kid President. Next, we discuss what thankfulness even means. Children aren’t certain on this I have come to realize from listening to their answers. Next, I have students draw pictures of certain things they are thankful for that I can describe such as these…
Name something you are thankful for
1.that is red.
2.that is in the shape of a triangle.
3.that is scratchy. (usually kids want a description of scratchy)
4.that is soft.
5.that is the shape of a triangle.
6.that you can’t see.
7. that makes you happy.
8. that makes your teacher happy.
Add to these or change them around and make them your own. This is sure to make your students brain juices flow!
Children Will Love this Easy and Fun Activity with their Name!
I had children create name monsters a few years ago, but these are new and improved! This time the art teacher let me borrow his graphite sticks. First have children fold their paper in half the long way. Then have children write their name large on the fold. Then they write over it with the graphite stick, fold the paper back, and rub the paper. This will create a reflection of their name on the other side. Bonus! Children are learning about reflections and symmetry. Their next job is to make a monster out of the shape that was created. Challenge the children to see eyes, a nose, a mouth, a tongue, hair, and eyebrows etc. Then children can color their creation. They all turn out really interesting!
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Get Student Attention with These!
I wore these today. As I walked down the hallway, I had multiple kindergarteners tell me they liked my glasses. Looking at them makes me smile, too! I got the glasses from Amazon and the eyelashes from the Dollar Tree. These work great for a lesson on being original!
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