"I have found that all ugly things are made by those who strive to make something beautiful, and that all beautiful things are made by those who strive to make something useful." Oscar Wilde

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Paper Dolls


Several months ago I bought some fabric with paper dolls all over them. After mounting them on some kind of very stiff backing I've started cutting them out. Now all I need are for some little girls or boys to come and visit their Granny. Hint! Hint!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Winnie the Pooh Birthday




January 18th is A. A. Milne's birthday. If I were in school I would have a Pooh Party. I would have the children bring their favorite O'l Bear or stuffed animal. In the past I've had the children read with their bear, measure body parts, then graph the measurements. I've also had the children write stories about their bear. I have made hats for the children out of newspapers and then march around the room ending up in the office to the music "Teddy Bear Picnic." We also would have Teddy Grams for a snack.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

100 Random Acts of Kindness

I usually start this project earlier in the year. This year has been rather difficult on many levels. This past week I started collecting “Random Acts of Kindness” from my students. The acts can be just about anything (walking quietly in the hall, helping another student, sitting quietly, or paying attention during a group less, etc.). About the only thing I require is the students cannot tell on themself, somebody else needs to report their act of kindness. I make a poster and each time an act of kindness is reported to me I write or if I am busy and can’t stop right then I have the student write the child’s name on the heart and it is glued on the poster. In the beginning until things get going I'm usually the only one reporting.

I organize the hearts in rows of 5’s or 10’s depending on the size of paper I have available. When there are 10 hearts on the poster I circle them. It helps the children learn place value and makes it easier to count the hearts. I like to end the project somewhere around the 100th day of school but, as in the case this year, we will be working on the chart until we have reached 100 Random Acts of Kindness.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Effle (Eiffle) Tower

One of my students who has difficulty focusing more than one minute made this tower. He called it the Effle or Apple Tower. All I can say is WOW! Somewhere he has seen a picture or heard somebody talking about the Eiffle Tower.