Painting Like Michelangelo

This was a really fun lesson, the kids had a blast. We began by reading a short biography on famous artist Michelangelo. We talked about and saw copies of his famous paintings. Then we talked about the ceiling of the Sistene Chapel and what it must have been like to lay on his back and paint for hours and hours, day after day, for two years.

Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists: Michelangelo

After discussion, the kids got to try it out! I wish I could show you the photos I took of the students with drops of paint all over their faces!

Painting the Sistene Chapel!

How did your arm feel after 10 minutes? 20 minutes?

Classroom Management

Hey Everyone - Happy Monday!

So I hate Mondays. HATE Mondays. I have the hardest time getting out of bed on a Monday morning, no matter what time I go to bed on Sunday night. I feel like I need to get one more thing in. Last night, for example, I put my two cherubs to bed and got to work labeling all the bins in the toy closet. Some scrapbook paper, self-adhesive letters, some modge podge and voila! A very organized toy closet. Photos to come!

I thought I would also squeeze in a blog post about my classroom management system. I got the idea from a professor in my Master's program at American International College. He is also a 4th grade teacher and uses these as a positive reinforcement tool. I use them a bit differently and they can be adapted to any classroom. I call these bills "Fornero Dinero." Whenever I catch a student doing something right - sitting or reading quietly, getting ready, working efficiently, lining up quietly, etc. I simply slip one in their hand. I don't draw attention to it - but it certainly garners attention. It catches on so quickly!

One time, the students were lining up to go to Music and they were very loud in line. I looked around for one student standing quietly and patiently. I spotted her and handed her a Fornero Dinero. As soon as I did - like a ripple effect, each student began quieting down. I never had to raise my voice or even speak. And without words, they all got in a straight, quiet line and we headed to Music.

How Does It Work?

Once a week we do a "drawing." I usually do it on Friday afternoons, right before Fun Friday (choice) time. As students collect Fornero Dinero throughout the week, they write their names on the back. On Fridays, I collect them back and put them all in a bin and draw one or two and the winner gets a prize.

My prizes are: a homework pass, choose an item from the "treasure chest," lunch with the teacher, or teacher for a day (student teaches a lesson).

I also use this opportunity to teach about probability - reminding them that the more Fornero Dinero they put into the drawing, their chances of winning are much better. Before each drawing, I randomly pick a student and ask how many bills he or she entered into the drawing, then I tell the class how many are in the bin then ask what is the probability of this student winning?

Then we put it up on the board - 8 out of 40 = 1/5 or 20% chance of winning. I do this for each student and find out who has the best chance of winning.


I got the idea from the professor I mentioned before - his last name was Bateman so he called the bills "Bateman Bucks." Find a name for money that rhymes or has alliteration with your name and it makes it more fun!

Not legal tender!

Repurposing Shaving Cream

This is a really fun way to practice cursive letters, printing letters, multiplication facts, etc. It can be used as a whole class activity or as a literacy center. We had so much fun with this lesson.

While the students were out of the room, I sprayed shaving cream all over each of their desks. When they came back in, we did one cursive letter of the alphabet at a time, starting with A. The shaving cream allowed their little hands to move fluidly on their desks, as needed to create cursive letters.

As a bonus .... the desks had never been cleaner!!

Teaching About Warm and Cool Colors

Sadly, the art teacher from the school I work at passed away last year from cancer. She was an amazing woman and wonderful art teacher. While she was sick, the classroom teachers in our school agreed to take on teaching art so that she could continue to receive her pay through the end of the school year. 

During that time, I spent countless hours in the library researching art lessons for 3rd graders. Here's one I came up with to teach about warm and cool colors. I used Shamrocks because it was March and thought it was a good way to tie in a St. Patrick's Day craft. 

All you need is a shamrock tracer, white or manila card stock and markers.

I traced the shamrocks onto the card stock for my students, but they cut them out themselves. They began by tracing their hands and forearms across the side of the shamrock. Then they alternated colors in a pattern using warm colors (reds, yellows, oranges) for their hands. Run one color all the way around the hand in a single line. After filling in the hand, they used cool colors (blue, purple, green) to fill in around the hand. I suggest having the students begin their lines around the hands first.

For younger students - do the two pieces separately and glue the hand onto the shamrock. 

New Name!

Confident Little Readers is now Confident Little LEARNERS. That way I can post about all things teaching!

Teaching Symmetry

One of the lessons in math I teach each year is on symmetry. It's a very basic concept, but I like to have some fun with it so I come up with an art project for the students to do to illustrate symmetry. Below is a fun one we did last year.

Materials:

A photo of each student - student must be facing the camera as straight as possible, smiling, printed in black and white
White card stock
glue stick
pencil


Start by cutting each photo down the center of the student's face. Make sure it is exactly half. Hand each student half of their face (they will think this is hilarious). Ask them to glue the half-picture onto the card stock, as far to the edge as possible.

Using a pencil only, students should draw the other half of their face on the blank side of the page, using as much symmetry as possible.

My Classroom

As you may remember from my previous posts, I am taking a year off from teaching because I had a baby (3-month-old Joseph) in October. He joins my little family of my amazing husband Wesley and my spirited 3-year-old son Frankie.

Taking the 2011-12 school year off has taught me one important thing so far: I LOVE BEING A TEACHER! I just can't wait to get back to teaching in September. I have so many fresh and creative ideas for classroom design and lesson plans, as well as interactive bulletin board displays. I simply can't wait to try them out.

I wanted to post some photos of my 3rd grade classroom at my school in Gloucester, MA. Here you can get an idea of what my style of teaching is. My goal for this September is to take wider photos of the entire classroom so you can see the desk and bulletin board set up.

The community supplies are in a central location and clearly labeled. These bins were purchased at Dollar Tree, they came in lots of colors. However, I am toying with the idea of having supplies for each table group instead of the whole class. This may make transitions easier and quicker.

Calendar and birthday wall. 

We keep track of how many days in school with this place-value pocket chart.

Interactive "Celebrate America" Social Studies board.  I put three books into pockets and wrote questions below . I left space on the right for student to post their answers.

In third grade Science, we chart weather patterns, so we keep track of  the daily weather. In addition, I used the language of Science - "observation" and "prediction" to remind students that they are indeed scientists!

Book baskets (from Dollar Tree). After testing each student,  I determined their reading levels and used those levels to make book recommendations which I weekly put in their book baskets. During Reader's Workshop, students needed to use a book from their book baskets. Each label has the student's name and the level books they are allowed to choose from.

Reading corner: I like to put books on display that correspond with a particular theme, season or unit. Below,  books are sorted according to level.

More classroom supplies and math manipulatives. Each bin is clearly labeled. The milk crates have clip boards, white board and blocks. I don't like the look of this so it will be more organized next time you see it.