Love Miss Booth: Ideas for the primary classroom

[lovemissbooth]

Rain Rain Go Away

We have been studying all about water in our Year One class this term. I wanted to consolidate this learning with a fun, hands on and colourful art lesson to go with it. Rain clouds can sometimes be a bit limited with their colour palettes, so I decided to concentrate on what happens AFTER the rain = the RAINBOW.

This lesson was cheap on resources, easy to implement and run and the results have really brightened up our classroom windows - especially with all the Summer storms we are experiencing of late.

[lovemissbooth]

Small words

This is a little mantra that helps to guide me. Sometimes some small words can carry big messages. This time of year in any classroom can be a hectic and stressful time. It can be easy to feel rushed through the school day - just trying to get everything done! I try to never let a lesson pass where I don't think of these words, because these words inspire me to take a breath and be a gentler, more accepting and positive teacher. To let little mistakes grow into big beautiful things.

[lovemissbooth]

Watermelon Wallpaper

I thought I could start getting my students Summer ready this week with a fun little art activity that only really requires some paint, baking paper and potatoes!

I used this lesson recently to introduce the concept of halves and quarters with my Year One class. First we experimented with comparing a whole potato to half a potato and then to a quarter of a potato. Getting our hands dirty and actually touching and interacting with real objects really helped my students get this concept clear in their heads!

Then what to do with all these chopped up potatoes? Well why not make watermelon wallpaper for our classroom since it is the first week of Summer!

This lesson was so fun, colourful and full of informal conversations littered with terms such as: halves, quarters and whole... Just what I wanted to hear as a teacher!

And the results are so bright and Summery - our classroom walls have never looked so delicious!

[lovemissbooth]

Happy Holidays

I found this quote the other day and it stated so well one of the (many) reasons that I'm so grateful to be a teacher: I get to play even the smallest role in shaping someone's view of how special {and unique} they are.

There is no better job satisfaction than seeing a student smile at one of their own achievements. I love it.

Happy Holidays!

[lovemissbooth]

Great Books For the primary classroom: A Monster Wrote Me a Letter

A boy accidentally receives a letter from a monster, inviting himself over to play. The boy, afraid to offend, accepts the invitation. Meanwhile, the monster realizes his mistake, but decides he can’t be rude and cancel. Each one of them anxiously prepares for their first meeting. How will it go?

A hilarious look at what happens when boys and monsters mix. Are they really made to get along?

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This book is cherished in my collection of picture books. It teaches the universal theme of Getting Along but also opens many exciting doors into literacy and creative based learning tasks.

I tried a new idea out with my Kindergarten Class yesterday. We read the book, discussing along the way how the letter delivery mix-up caused these two unlikely friends to meet. I then asked my class to draft a letter to their Monster Cousin Fred. We published our letters on colourful paper and then started to brainstorm what our INNER monster would look like...? This is where the fun started!

We collaged, glued and drew our way to creating our very own monster to be displayed with their very own Monster Letter! It was an interactive, fun and engaging lesson and I can't wait to do it again with another class.

[lovemissbooth]

Natural Born Kindness

It never ceases to amaze me how kindness comes so naturally to my students. I can't think of the last time I wrote another person in my life to wish them just simply a happy day or to say thank you (apart from our traditional birthday cards or thanking a friend for a special present or effort). When does this desire to be nice and giving just for the sake of it get lost?

I've attached a few "letters" I receive (almost daily) off my students, I'm well aware that this happens in most classrooms universally, so I just wanted to throw out my own little shout out to say Thank You for how NICE kids naturally are!

This inspires me to be a little kinder and softer in my daily focus as well.

~ ~ ~

"When we are born we were programmed perfectly, we had a natural tendency to focus on love. Our imaginations were creative and flourishing and we knew how to use them. We were connected to a world full of enchantment and (to) a sense of the miraculous."

Marianne Williamson

[lovemissbooth]

Pablo Picasso In Primary

It is never too early to introduce your little learners to Mr Pablo Picasso's world of art. I have used this lesson (in differentiated formats) with students ranging from Stage One to Stage Three and all have been successful learners and most importantly, students have learnt something about cubist / abstract art while having fun.

Today this lesson was completed with a Year Two/ Year Three class. I started the lesson by viewing a short YouTube clip introducing some students and reintroducing others to concepts such as: 'self portrait' 'cubism' 'abstract art' 'Picasso' 'innovation' and '2D vs 3D shapes'. Together, with the students, we selected some of Picasso's artworks from Google Images which best reflected Picasso's use of: Line, Pattern and Colour. These Elements of Design were discussed as we found them in the artworks and the images were left on the board for visual reference.

Students were then equipped with A3 paper, a lead pencil, oil pastels and watercolour pencils and I happily let them take control of their composition and use of line, colour and pattern. The results speak for themselves. We can't wait for our first Cubist Exhibition!

[lovemissbooth]

Behaviour Management in your primary classroom

I've tried lots of different behaviour management techniques as no one technique or strategy will work every time, with every student or in every classroom. I just wanted to quickly share an easy, consistent and visual way to target problem behaviour, reinforce positive routines and reward individual students that need that little bit extra extrinsic motivation to keep on task. I found this really useful in my Kindergarten teaching.

I created this A3 Reward Tracker for an individual Kindergarten student who found it specially hard to stay on task during learning time and finish tasks, whether in individual or small group settings. This chart was tailored to the student's specific interests with rewards including: free time on class iPads, choice of sticker sheets, free time with smart board games and prize box rewards. This strategy works particularly well for younger students (Early Stage One - Stage One).

This reward chart allowed the student to see how they were progressing through the school day. Once the student earned a chart token, It was up to them to stick it to their chart and monitor how many more were needed to get to their daily reward. It was the daily aim to earn a different reward everyday. The chart was stuck close to the student's desk and with such a large visual aid, I could use non-verbal techniques such as simply pointing to the chart to refocus the student. I laminated all good behaviour "tokens" and reward choices, so again, the student had ownership over their progress and ultimately, their reward.

This strategy can be modified to fit individual students preference and learning styles.

Good Behaviour Tokens & Choice of Rewards:

[lovemissbooth]

Great Books for the primary classroom: Uno's Garden

Uno's Garden by Australian author Graeme Base is such a versatile book to use in your primary classroom. The story features themes of environmental degradation, conservation of nature and habitat, and extinction. It also contains a game in the book where you have to find the amount of plants, animals, buildings on each page.

All of the animals and plants featured in the book were invented by the author. Some of the animals included are the snortelpig, moopaloop, lumpybum, and frinklepod.

Recently I used this book with my Year One class (6-7 year olds) to teach adjectives, where we listed all the adjectives found in the story that were used to describe the exotic creatures found in Uno's Garden. From this we made a word bank of our own adjectives and with this is mind, each student created their own undiscovered, exotic creature which could also reside in Uno's Garden. By integrating literacy and creative art curriculum outcomes, the students were beyond excited and engaged to create, describe and then "discover" their creature for the classroom display. This lesson could easily be extended with some drama role plays, where students embody their creature and act out their descriptions. So much fun!

Below are some snapshots of our class display of all the creatures we created that could also live in Uno's Garden! We discovered creatures such as the busybusy, the sharkabatasauraus, the pigity-mouse and the shiny-tig. Lots of fun and creativity happening with this lesson!

[lovemissbooth]

I love you more than cupcakes...

Today was fun! With the last school day before Mother's Day underway, I worked with a sprightly Year Two (7 - 8 year olds) class to create a bright buttoned artwork  / card just for mum.

I began by dispersing the various coloured buttons to each student, followed by the (already prepared & trimmed down) cupcake cases and then, finally; the coloured square cards. I loved that each child received a unique combination of all these materials, so no two cards were alike.

I moved around the room to give students individual attention when using craft glue, this avoids some unwanted mess and sticky fingers(!) We finished off the cards with a strip of brightly coloured or sparkly ribbon on the inside and the outside of the card ~ a nice finishing touch. The students and I were extremely happy with the finished product & hopefully so will be all the mums!

Materials:

Process:

Finished cards:

[lovemissbooth]

Heart Balloons

With Mother's Day happening this weekend, I had the crafty task of showing some mums how much they mean to their little ones!

This craft activity was completed rather quickly with a Year One (6-7 year olds) class, I'm sure younger ages would be able to handle it easily as well with some adult supervision.

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First I printed off the heart template on various coloured cardboard. The students were asked to cut their own hearts out from each of the coloured pages placed on their desks ~ so they ended up with between 3 - 5 hearts each.

I then asked the students to turn over their hearts so none of the black outlines would show on the finished piece. I moved around the class at this stage to assist with the craft glue application and we stuck down pieces of (cut to size) ribbon as the balloon string and then arranged the balloons in a vertical cluster.

I love how each card turned out differently and all students had original ideas on how to compose their heart-balloon cluster.

We had lots of fun! We can't wait for Father's Day!

[lovemissbooth]

The Messy Table

I saw an interesting post on an interior design blog (can't remember which one!) which I thought could translate wonderfully into a primary classroom. I've called it "the messy table" and basically it is a communal table in the classroom covered in brown craft paper (you can buy this paper fairly cheap in bulk rolls).

The beauty behind this idea is that it can be used for any stage class or at anytime during a lesson. I tried out the idea with a Kindergarten class today when we revisited phonics work covered before the school holidays.

At first the children found it hard to remember words starting with 'K' and the reluctance to participate in a whole class discussion wasn't the best start to a lesson, so I encouraged students to individually respond and brainstorm their ideas on the messy table. Students sat at the table individually or in pairs, at one stage the entire 12 seats were taken at the table! I continued the verbal discussion on the floor and as students returned to the group they were eager to discuss what they added to the messy table or what they saw another student doing / drawing / writing.

I did not put restrictions on how they could respond to the question - some drew and others preferred to 'have a go' at writing a sentence or spelling their word out.

I think this idea could work really well as an orientation activity, to get students moving to another area of the classroom and respond to a whole class discussion in another way. I'm also planning to stick parts of our messy table on the board tomorrow so we can revise today's contributions again ~ kids are always engaged when their own work is on display! It also works wonders with shyer students who are not always the first to put their hand up in a verbal discussion.

Here are a few snapshots I took of our activity today ~ we were revising "K" words and I got some really great contributions from using the messy table: ranging from Knee (with a silent K! Wow!), king, kiwifruit and even Katy Perry as a response! Love Kindergarten!

[lovemissbooth]

The art of organisation

I have been waging a never ending war against my to-do lists which always seem to be scattered over various post it notes and many scraps of paper!

The result is a lot of fuss just to see what needs to be done! So I decided to inject a bit of cuteness into my organisation and purchase a Kikki K daily task mat for my desk. I'm SO happy with the result - not only are all my jobs and reminders in the one place BUT ticking off my list gives me a sense of satisfaction that throwing away another crumbled post-it just simply can't!

The optional extras of tracking water intake and listing a daily treat are pretty cute ~ if only for novelty value. 

[lovemissbooth]

Teaching supplies shopping...

I had an unexpected shopping afternoon. Aren't they the best!?

Firstly at my local supermarket I stumbled upon HEAPS of Dr. Seuss titles for $7 each! I couldn't help myself and bought one of each...

Later on, I intended to just window shop at one of my favourite stationery shops: Typo, BUT I found a "this book belongs to" stamp and for only $2 I couldn't bypass it!  I also picked up a cute bird stamp and a panda-man tote (great for lugging my new books to school!)

I had a happy night stamping and admiring each of my new books.

I've always had a thing for children's books and new stationery ... Lucky now I can justify all of my purchases ... sort of.

[lovemissbooth]

Happy School Days

I've only started my teaching career this year ~ and these pics sum up how much FUN I have had already. I really love my job and I'm so lucky I've found it!

Kids make me smile, laugh and question things everyday... and that is so healthy and fantastic!

[lovemissbooth]

Mickey Mouse for Band Aid

I was really excited when I spotted the Mickey Mouse Limited Edition Band Aid designs at the chemist this week. I was so excited I bought multiple packs as well as the Limited Edition tin to take to school with me.

They have in fact have proved so popular, my students are asking for band-aids to cover their 'invisible' cuts or just "sore" skin.. haha!

Kids know a cute design when they see one!

[lovemissbooth]

Grassy Heads with Kindergarten

My Kindergarten class had an absolute ball making their very own ‘Grassy/Sprout Heads’ to design, name and care for.

Getting ready for this lesson included a lot of prep and even a mock-up a couple of weeks before to ensure all went to plan and the sprouts grew (I didn’t want tears because of bald grassy-heads in a few weeks time!)

I used easy-to-find, everyday materials from my local supermarket, hardware and cheap craft store. As this lesson was designed for an Early Stage One class, I did not bother with writing out detailed instructions, but rather did a hands-on, step-by-step demo AS the students made theirs. Simple things, like tying rubber bands proved to be harder for my students then I had planned for, so following a step-by-step approach ensured all students progressed together and any issues were addressed at the same time. Phew! It all went to plan and my students and I were thrilled with our new Little Sprout* people!

Keep an eye out for my upcoming Teacher Ideas Booklet ~ including detailed steps for this lesson and more classroom activities that have been tried, tested and loved by my students.

* I decided to go with sprout seeds over grass seeds, as we can eat the sprouts as they grow. Yum!