Pumpkin Fun for Class

I am always trying to find new things to do each year.  This year it was pumpkins.  What could I do that I had not yet tried?!  I decided upon painting a pumpkin with chalkboard paint.  I think I did not buy the best chalkboard paint.  However, I went for it.  I loved how into the pumpkin they got.  Each day last week tons of kids were into drawing on this black pumpkin.  It turned out to be lots of fun and it was an activity the class waited in line for!  So I say try it if you just need one more fun thing with pumpkins like I did.   

My old stand by favorite activity with pumpkins is to hammer gold tees into it.  I love watching how excited the kids get with this.  We had 2 different types of hammers.  I had some made of dowels that my husband made, and then I had the yellow plastic ones from Lakeshore.  The youngest kids in my class began singing the tune from Bob the builder and it was adorable!  One little guy would say, "Can we fix it?"   And the whole class sang back, "YES... We can!"  It was cute.  I  hope the pumpkins last through the week.  They were very into this and it kept 4 kids very busy.  If you have never tried this before...head out and get a few golf tees from the sporting isle at Target and get this station going.  Kids love this!  It is great fine motor!

Tattle phone time!

We have gotten to the end of the year and we have almost all 5 year old children now ready for kindergarten.  They are also ready to make sure that if something goes wrong, that they report it right away to their teachers!  First, I think it shows maturity when a child can come and tell me that they have found something not going right and then display to me that they know the rules of the room.  This goes a long way actually.  And then it goes too far!  We try all different ways to allow the child to handle their issues with friends in the room so that they are growing and learning how to handle things as they come.  When someone bumps you in line, you ask that child to stop, or you move and stand next to someone else.  This goes on all day.  Many things however, get reported by certain children over and over again.  At this time in the year it seems to be the thing to do, so we have put out a "TATTLE PHONE!"  The kids were so into hearing all about what this magic phone could do.  We began by telling them our principal had installed and answering button that connected to my desk phone.  We put it out with a note pad and some pens (which were very exciting to everyone), and the phone with the teacher's direct phone number.  So when they come to the tattle phone station, they get to write their name first (good fine motor and writing practice), and then dial my secret number (great number matching practice), and then the best part happens....they get to leave me a message!  It is so much fun for us to stand near by and hear all of our little classroom reporters leaving us messages about what is happening around the room.  It is truly one of the best ways to hear who knows the rules too!  Try it in your classroom.  It gives teachers and students hours of fun!

A Day Without Shoes

Recently we explored what it would be like if we did not have shoes.  I began by explaining that if we did not have shoes, we would have to step on things that may not feel so good on our feet.  Many of the students came up with ideas of what they thought would feel good and bad to step on.  I brought in some carpet squares, a tray of mulch, and a slice of a tree.  Each child had a chance to step on the samples and say what they thought about each.  It did not start out as I planned.  Each child stood on the wood and said, "good."  This went on for a while and about the fifth kid did this and I stopped the group.  They were missing the point and in a large group they were also quickly loosing focus.  We quickly lined up the class in about 40 degree weather and went for a walk to experience our own world without shoes.  As we walked we stepped on very cold pavement as we headed toward our playground.  As we got closer to the playground, I began to hear complaints.  They were complaining of the cold, the sharp pebbles and then the sharp mulch.  This was what I was hoping would have happened inside.  We walked in wet grass and then inside for a more meaningful discussion.

I found out that after our walk and  real first hand experience was needed to really drive home my point and try to explain that we should be grateful for the things that we have.  We graphed which surface we disliked the most.  The sharp mulch won by a land slide.
 Now one might argue that being in a low income school, this may not be the best thing to teach.  I think everyone got it though and it was a meaningful experience.  The students still ask me about it and these pictures hang in our room as a reminder of our day.  We kept our shoes off for as long as we could and in order to be safe, put them back on to go to the bathroom and to lunch.
We began doing this day without shoes because the Tom's shoe company was sponsoring this all around the country.  We thought it was a great way to raise awareness as they do by donating shoes each time someone buys theirs.  That is why you see a Tom's flag in the photos!  We did a little photo manipulation in this last photo.  The kids love how it looks blown up.  The app is on my iPad and is great for this.  It is called Moku Honga HD The Art of Japanese Wood-Block Printing.