Halloween Idea #3: Measuring, Art, and Halloween

Halloween Idea #3:  Halloween Art

Even when I do art with my students, I try to make sure that I there is an educational component to it. This activity requires careful measurement.

Students will need an 8 1/2 by 11 piece of blank computer paper.  With a ruler, students will measure and mark one inch intervals down both sides of the paper, then they will lightly draw lines across the paper at these one inch intervals.  This will give them straight lines to work with, insuring that there rows are consistent.

I always start by brainstorming Halloween symbols with my class.
Here's a list for you:  Witch's hat, witch's boots, witch's broom, witch's face, witch's cauldron, spider, spider's web, black cat, frankenstein, other monsters, goblins, ghosts, full moon, moon crescent, candy, candy corns, trick or treating bag, skulls, bones, vampires, vampire's fangs, werewolves, pumpkin, Jack-o-Lanterns, haunted house, eye balls, snakes, etc.

Once the students have a list of symbols to work with they need to decide what they will use for each of the letters of  H A L L O W E E N.  For the H, sometimes students use witch's brooms, others use bones, etc.  For the A, the candy corn and the witch's hat are popular.  What you really want is each student's creativity.  Before you let them work on their actual art paper, have them design each letter so they know exactly what they are doing.  You may even want them to color each letter before they begin, because it is important that every H looks the same, every A looks the same, etc.

When they begin to work on their actual piece of art, they should use the lines to make sure that every letter is the same height.  They will draw their symbols for each letter going across their paper from left to right (all the way to the right edge).  They begin the second row wherever they left off at the end of the first row.  They don't start over at the beginning of the word.  Some students will even put half a letter at the end of the first line, and the other half of the letter at the beginning of the second line - (this is more advanced thinking.)

I have my students make all of their pencil letters first, from left to right and top to bottom.  Once the page is filled in, I have them color all of the H's the same, then go back and color all of the A's the same, and so on.  These come out great and make a very attractive bulletin board.

Here are some samples mounted for my bulletin board:

Halloween Fun With Our Little Friends - Pumpkin Surprise!

My students are the BIG kids at our K-6 school.  Once a month we get together with our little friends (kindergarteners) to complete an activity together.  My students benefit from this because they get to be the leaders, they need to help and guide their little friend.  The kindergarteners benefit from this, because they get one-on-one support with an activity that would be too difficult for them to do alone.
In short, everyone wins!

Well, it's October and time for Halloween.  As promised, I am sharing an idea each day this week - fun and educational Halloween activities.

Halloween Idea #2:  Pumpkin Surprise

This is a really fun activity for younger students, generally a teacher does one in front of the entire class, but by making this an activity for our Big Friends/Little Friends get-together, each kindergartener goes home with his/her own Jack-o-Lantern pumpkin.

What you will need:

Each big friend needs a large piece of orange construction paper, scissors (they could tear it with their fingers instead) and a copy of the story.

What they will do:

The big friend will tell the story of the mouse and the clubhouse to his/her little friend, as the story is told the big friend will cut or tear the paper to fit the story.

The Mouse and the Clubhouse Story:

(Start with an orange piece of construction paper, folded in half with the fold on the bottom)

“There once was a little mouse scurrying about in the forest one Halloween day when he found a huge, enormous piece of cheese!  He decided this gigantic piece of cheese would be perfect for a clubhouse, but first he would need to round the top a little, to make it look more like a house.  He also decided that it would be a good idea to have a balcony off the side of the clubhouse, because what good is a clubhouse without a lookout?”  The mouse nibbled and chewed, and nibbled and chewed.  ”Funny tasting cheese” thought Mouse.

(Cut or tear the top corners off of the paper, make sure you leave a step – the balcony – off to one side of the paper at the fold)

Mouse stood back to look at his clubhouse.  “Very good,” he thought, “but I need a door so I can go inside.”   So, the mouse nibbled a door just his size.  He nibbled and chewed, and nibbled and chewed.  ”Funny tasting cheese” thought Mouse.

 (Cut or tear a triangle or an oval for the door – make this small like the mouse.  This should be in the middle of the fold)

 Mouse stood back to look at his clubhouse.  “Very good,” he thought, “but I need a door for my best friend to come inside.  My friend is much taller than me, and he has a long curvy tail.”  You see, mouse’s best friend was cat.  I know, most people think that cats chase mice and eat them, but the truth is that they are best friends.  True, the cat does chase the mouse, but that is just because it is their favorite game!  The cat would never really hurt his friend the mouse!  “I need a taller door with room for cat’s long curvy tail,” thought the mouse.  So he nibbled and chewed, and nibbled and chewed.  “Funny tasting cheese,” thought the Mouse.

 (Cut or tear a tall, skinny door with a curve at the top curving toward the mouse’s door.  Make sure you do this on the side that is farthest from the balcony.)

 Mouse stood back to look at his clubhouse.  “Very good,” he thought, and he went inside.  “Oh no!  It is much too dark in here!”  So mouse decided that he would make a window to let in the light.  “I need my window to be up where it can let the sunlight in,” thought the mouse.  So he nibbled and chewed, and nibbled and chewed.  “Funny tasting cheese,” thought the Mouse.

(Poke your scissors through, and cut a circle or other shape.  You can have your little friend suggest the shape for the window)

 Finally the clubhouse was ready!  Mouse ran to get his friend cat to see their new clubhouse.  But while mouse was gone a big, scary Halloween wind blew through the forest!  It made all of those creaky, creepy Halloween sounds as it blew through the leaves and branches of the forest.  (Make scary wind sounds) It blew the clubhouse so hard that it tipped over.  When mouse and cat came racing back to the clubhouse, they realized that it wasn’t really a piece of cheese at all…It was a pumpkin, and Mouse had carved it into a Jack-o-Lantern!  “No wonder that cheese tasted so funny!”  said Mouse!

(Open up the folded orange paper, and show your little friend the Jack-o-Lantern that you made!)

Trick or Treat...Teaching Figurative Language with Halloween

Reinforce the concept of idioms by having students dress up for Halloween as an Idiom!

Ah, Figurative Language... similes may be easy enough to teach, but those metaphors and idioms can be tough!  So often our students take what they read literally, when the meaning is actually figurative - this has a huge impact on reading comprehension.

In my 5th/6th grade combo class, I start the year off with figurative language, and don't let up all year. To this end, I use quotes in my classroom in which I have my students determine whether the quote has a literal meaning or a figurative meaning.  If it is figurative they have to tell me what type of figurative language it is and what the symbolism is.  This is tough early in the year, but the students start to see the connections and it gets easier as the year goes on.

I know, this sounds kind of dry and boring, but really it isn't!  I like to keep my classroom fun and engaging, so I work hard at finding interesting quotes to stimulate good conversation.  I also take any other opportunity throughout the year to enhance these skills in a fun way.  Halloween is a perfect example of this...

Yes, it's that time of year again, where your students come to school in their costumes and act like the monsters and aliens that they are dressed up as!  The sugar high doesn't help either!  Not my favorite day as a teacher!  It is hard to maintain a structured learning environment when the students are off in the world of costumes, candy, witches, and goblins!  So why not use it?  All week, I will be posting some of my favorite Halloween activities that are both educational and engaging.

Idea #1:  Idiom Costume

I encourage my students to dress up as an idiom of their choice.  I use my classroom incentive (moolah) to reward the students for their participation.  For this activity, they need to dress up as the literal meaning of their chosen idiom, and then tell the class their idiom, explain their costume and the figurative meaning (what does it really mean.)  I always dress up as an idiom as well!

Last year, I dressed up as the idiom "Smarty Pants."  I bought a package of smarty candies and safety pinned them to the front of my pants.  The kids loved it!  This year I'm thinking of dressing as the idiom, "I'm all ears."

I know that one of my students tells me that she is going to dress as the idiom, "On cloud nine."  She is planning on wearing a white tutu to represent the cloud, and a blue top that says, "I'm on cloud nine!"

Another student tells me that he is going to dress as the idiom, "Dressed to kill."  He is going to wear a tuxedo with some fake blood on it.

Ready for some other ideas?  How about some of these...

Conference Week - Time for Student Goal Setting

Ahhh...it's that time of year again - Parent Teacher Conferences.  I actually enjoy the change of pace, and it is generally a pleasure talking to my students, one on one, with their parents.  The hard part is - Student Goals!  How do you get your students to create meaningful, realistic goals that are measurable?   Of course, the parents are always willing to chime in, but if you let them do too much, then they aren't the student's goals!

This has always been a dilemma for me, that is until I found the book Inch and Miles.  Teaching my students the building blocks that make up the Pyramid of Success has made all the difference in the world!

I must admit, it did take me over a month to go through these building blocks, one at a time - insuring that my students understood each one.  To do this, we made pocket books, with Character Trait Charts and Eye/Ear Charts.  It was slow going, but these abstract concepts became concrete for my students.

Although this took quite a bit of class time, I found that my students and I really benefited from these activities.  Their participation in group work was very focused and effective.  We had a common language for the times that I needed to redirect a student.  I simply needed to say something like "Are you using Self-Control right now?" to refocus a student!  But the best part is the goal setting!!!

I have never had it so easy to guide students to create appropriate goals!  At the end of the book, I gave my students a chart to evaluate their own strengths and weaknesses with regards to the building blocks.  We revisited them one at a time - discussing what a strength in this area might look like and what kinds of things could be done to improve in this particular area.  The students were required to choose a minimum of three areas for growth.  They also needed to put an example for the areas that they identified as a strength - what do you do that shows you are strong in this building block?

These charts are transferring easily to well written, student-driven goals!  I couldn't be more pleased!  I am so impressed by my student's work that I quickly putting together a Teachers Pay Teachers' product for all of you.  

Be sure to check out my store and look for this product if you are interested in leading your students to effective, student-driven goal setting as well!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Beyond-The-Garden-Gate-Shari-Bithell

So Much Learning....SOOO Much Fun!!!!

Having students build their own Continent Twister games was one of my favorite activities from last year - and believe it or not, it was even better this year!  Students eagerly search in their social studies books for maps and information required to create their game boards.  It is so amazing listening to their discussions, as they debate placement of a continent using terms like Eastern Hemisphere and Prime Meridian!  It is easy to tell that meaningful learning is taking place - yet the enthusiasm level is at an all time high!

I found that deadlines were a necessity, because the students easily got bogged down in some of the details.  But with a little guidance, their game boards came along nicely and then they had to create their rules and their methods for playing the games.  This requires real life problem solving!  There were some frustrations, but the students worked them out and came up with wonderfully unique solutions to their problems!

On Thursday, each group presented their game to the class - explaining their maps, their way of playing, and their rules....and then.....WE PLAYED THEM!!!

Look at those happy faces!!!

If you want to try this with your class, check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  I put it all together for you at a really inexpensive price!  Enjoy!!!!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Beyond-The-Garden-Gate-Shari-Bithell

Building the Skills that Lead to Success

I have always admired John Wooden and have used his quotes in my classroom, but this is the first time that I am using his children book, Inch and Miles.  I'm sure many of you already know about this book, and have used it in your own classrooms, but I am finding that the message here is making a profound impact on my students' attitudes and behaviors.  There are not many things that you can make that kind of statement about.

In his book, John Wooden uses a magic whistle to transport the character, as they meet new friends that teach them each of the building blocks that create the Pyramid of Success.

Rather than read this picture book in one sitting, I have read them the adventures one day at a time.  The first character they meet along their journey is an ant, who teaches Inch and Miles about hard work.  I have had each student create their own pocketbook, and each day we add the poem from the book to the front of a new pocket and then the students create two different charts.  

The first chart I call an Eye/Ear chart.  The students make two columns, the first has an eye at the top and the second has an ear at the top.  We brainstorm as a class first, then the students add as many items as they can to demonstrate what hard work looks like, and what hard work sounds like.  I tell them to think about working in small groups - what would I see if their group is working hard, and what would I hear them saying.  I stress that I want what they will be saying, not what they won't be saying.  After they do these independently I either have them share with their elbow partner, or we discuss them as a whole class.

The second chart is a Character Map.  They draw each new character that Inch and Miles meet in the center and then find at least five character traits that this character has demonstrated.  (Common Core - gotta get in many different standards and skills!!!)  I notice that they start using the word from the other building blocks as we continue through the book.  (Not because they are being lazy, but because these words do apply and they are incorporating new terms into their working vocabulary)  At the bottom of this page, I have them write a paragraph about what Inch and Miles have learned from this character.

There are 15 blocks in the pyramid and we don't get to this every day, so it is taking awhile. In the meantime, we have begun working on our Continent Twister game boards in small groups.  What amazes me is that I see these skills transferring to their group projects.  I hear them using the words with each other, and if I do need to talk to a student or a group I simply ask them if they think that I am seeing cooperation or self-control.  They really understand the skills and redirect immediately!  

I highly recommend this book, if you haven't already tried it with your class!

It is well worth the investment!

Shari

Why Not Go Out on a Limb? Isn't That Where the Fruit Is?

I start each year with a quote on my high (unreachable) bulletin board that I do not want to have to get up and change throughout the year.  I want this board to be attractive and meaningful, because we have to look at it all year long!  I decided a few years ago that the best way to approach this was to have the students set goals for the year and revisit these goals at the end, that way there is a reason for leaving them up all year. I have found that there is an added bonus to this, as the students refer to this quote throughout the year, it becomes very meaningful to them.

So, here's what we did:
My students all have a Quote Journal (either a spiral notebook or a composition notebook) that they write in daily.  This quote is the first quote of the year, and we discuss the figurative language as well as the meaning of the quote.  With this one, since this is new to my students, I walk them through the thinking before they write so they are ready to write when I ask them to.  I told the students that there are actually two forms of figurative language in this quote, an idiom and a metaphor.  I reminded them of what an idiom is, and then asked which part they thought was the idiom.  Once they identified it, we talked about the literal meaning as well as the figurative meaning of the words. We then did the same thing with the metaphor, and then discussed what the quote was really talking about.  Clearly not trees!  Once I was sure that they all understood the quote I had them write for ten minutes about the quote.

The next day we revisited the quote, and I told them that they were going to create a character for themselves and then choose any fruit that they wanted and write a goal for the school year on the fruit.  I did give them a template for size, which they could use or create their own.  For the fruit, I gave them all the same size piece of construction paper in whatever color they chose.  I asked them to make the fruit as large as they could with that size piece of paper, that way the fruits were all of similar size.

Here's some of their handiwork:

Last year's quote was "Those That Reach the Stars Walk in Stardust," and here's what the board looked like:

I find that inspirational quotes and quotes that utilize figurative language are a great way to have students stretch for those common core standards.  The discussions that we have in my classroom are simply amazing, and the critical thinking skills are phenomenal!

You can all do the same thing in your own classrooms!  It's well worth the time and effort on your part, but I can make it easier for you.  I have put together a collection of many of my favorite quotes divided into categories.  There are quiz forms and worksheets as well.  Check it out at my Teachers Pay Teachers store:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Critical-Thinking-and-Figurative-Language-with-Inspirational-Quotes-Mega-Pack-309265