It Was A Crazy Day...

Have you ever seen this project? I taught this to fourth and fifth grade students at my school and they worked in collaborative groups to complete these flowers. They had a blast but some students struggled with making the pedals and were able to get help from the children at their table. They had to listen, follow directions, use a stencil to create their own template, and then put it together. Once we got through this part we decided to add some glitter to the leaves which made them gorgeous. These students could not wait to take these home to their families. I would have done some kind of writing with this if there had been time.Next year I'll be a little smarter and plan ahead.  Common Core has brought art back into the classroom and our students really "blossom" when given these creative opportunities. The Legend of the Poinsettia is a nice book to read before starting this activity. What projects do you like to do?

This is a great card to do across all grade levels and the kids loved making it. In kindergarten I cut the strips out ahead of time in shades of green. The base is a rectangle and the star is a square that they cut on the diagonal. I love teaching longest to shortest with these strips. For some children this can be a real challenge and they might need more practice with this important math concept. My fifth grade classes are in the middle of a Common Core unit on Fractions so their teachers had them measure long strips of paper and cut them specific sizes, using their knowledge of fractional parts. The directions were placed under the ELMO and they had to work independently to construct this. The results were fantastic and they were so proud of their work! This project could be done in shades of blue and purple for a gorgeous winter scene and snow could be added with paint on your finger! Does this reflect common core- you bet! Do you have any other January favorites?