DINOSAUR DELIGHTS

Taken from Copycat Press.  http://stores.ebay.com/Copycat-Store
Pick and choose what you would like to do.  I enjoyed using the rubs in a center with my students.  I also liked the poetry and the drawing.  You can use geometric shapes for the drawing project.  See a similar project with geometric shapes - http://okscribbler.blogspot.com/2010/02/geonimal-jungle.html

THE DIPSYDOODLE

Sometimes you just want to have fun in your classroom.  This is such a cute poem for Spring.  Young children love it.  While you memorize it, explain what the problem is.  Also look for rhyming words, contractions, adjectives....You can extend this to writing projects about Dipsydoodle.
The Dipsydoodle isn't brainy-
He plays outside when it's cold and rainy.
If he'd only learn to use his noodle.
He wouldn't be called The Dipsydoodle.

LESSON ON CINQUAINS

http://okscribbler.blogspot.com/2009/11/seasonal-cinquain-and-fingerprint-art.html
 http://okscribbler.blogspot.com/2009/02/cinquains-for-primary-students.html 
http://okscribbler.blogspot.com/2009/11/easy-turkey-cinquains.html

Cinquains are one of the easiest poetry forms to teach.  This project can be put in Journal/Memory Books and on your class website.    

POETIC LICENSE

Once you start working on poetry in your classroom, make up a license for the students to present when reading or writing poetry.  Cute idea.

KEEP A POEM IN YOUR POCKET

This is one of my favorite poems.  I hope you enjoy it and can find some activity to use with it.

A MOTHER'S WORK IS NEVER DONE - POEM

This makes a great addition to a Mother's Day Program that you have in your classroom.  Divide the poem and assign each student two lines to learn and to bring in items to show what it means.  "Wipe the nosed, wash the faces" could have kleenix and wipes.  As the students recite their lines they would who their items they brought.  Try to make it cute.  If you have more than 14 student - who doesn't - then one could state the title, one could be a program announcer, some could serve the moms your prepared treats...Be creative.

www.techingheart.net/mompage.htm

This year I decided to make a classroom cookbook for my helpful and supportive moms. I began by asking each child to tell me something their mom makes that is one of their favorites. Some kids are great observers and will give me great detail of how their mom prepares their favorite meals. But most of the time, I had to practically drag the answers out of them by asking them questions like, "Where does she get ____? What does she do first? What does she do next? Describe how it tastes?"

Some additional sites for ideas:
http://www.allfreeprintables.com/mother/index.shtml

http://www.perpetualpreschool.com/mother_songs.html

http://www.thevirtualvine.com/MothersDay.html

I LOVE POETRY

This is a simple way to make sure your students are exposed to poetry even though you have a full curriculum and very busy days.   Gather some poetry books and them put on a shelf or in a crate.  I actually put the books in a picnic basket and then stored them that way when we were not using them.  Make sure you have all of the Shel Silverstein books.  Children love that poet.  Copy at least a weeks worth of the worksheet and put out near the poetry books or where you put papers for your students to access. Do one with the students to show what you expect of them.  I would always demonstrate with one of my favorite childhood poems by Robert Louis Stevenson: 'The Swing'.  Below is a sample with out the student drawing.  Expectations for students:  neat handwriting, detailed drawing, and neat coloring .  This could be worked into a great center area if you wished.  I assigned one a day during the month of April - National Poetry Month.  This gave my Third Graders extra penmanship practice with cursive handwriting.  You might end up with 20 completed for each child at the end of the month.  This makes a nice booklet to send home or even a nice Mother's Day Gift.

A BIOGRAPHY POEM

This is a great formula poem for any student, but especially for students that seem to have trouble finding words when they write.  Make sure you walk students through the poem while they are filling it out.  Once the sloppy copy is checked, then encourage BEST HANDWRITING on the final copy.  These look great in the hallway outside of your classroom.  You can also post on your class website.


Word Choice:
My adjectives are excellent and thoughtful.
I use a good balance of action and linking verbs.
My nouns are precise; I don’t overuse pronouns.
It is clear that I am not afraid to take risks with new words.
I used a few color and texture words to describe.

ENJOYMENT OF POETRY

Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out by Shel Silverstein 

Sick by Shel Silverstein

One of the cutest ways I found to get students interested in poetry was to memorize part of it.
DIRECTIONS:
Find a poem that is really cute, maybe from Shel Silverstein, and make sure there are enough parts for each child to learn.
Copy the poem and then blow it up so younger students can read it easily.  Keep a master copy for yourself to carry around.
Cut the sections apart and assign a part to each child.
I would hand out the parts in number or alphabetical order.  Students would have a week to learn and then we would start.  I would have them recite when we were waiting (to enter another class like P.E., Art, Spanish...), lined up to enter class after recess/restroom breaks, during times we had to do Tornado Drills or Fire Drills.  This activity kept everyone very quiet and attentive because they would listen for their turn and also to hear the entire poem.
Some great poems to use:  Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out, Sick, and Bear In There.  All three are by Shel Silverstein.  Eventually the students would start choosing the poems we might learn next.  The exciting part of this...quite a few of the students had the entire poem memorized just by listening to our recitations.  This is also a great way to use up the minute or so you have at odd times of the day.  Once we were about finished with the poem, we would have each student write their lines they memorized and illustrate.  These became poetry books in our Book Corner.  Students samples are shown.

Bear in There by Shel Silverstein

TORN PAPER BUNNY HEAD

An easy project that can be completed in a short amount of time.  Every student gets a piece of pink construction paper.  Guide the students while they tear the bunny face.  This is the most difficult part of the project.  Have students tear the eyes and nose from purple  paper, the whiskers and inner ears from black and the teeth from white.  Place all the pieces where they should be and then glue one piece at a time.  Back onto dark construction paper.  Add to this project with a poem or story.  If this rabbit is made smaller it is a cute front to an Easter Card.

LARGE SPRING BASKET TEMPLATES

These make cute Spring Baskets.  Make as large as you wish.  Help the students place the template on the folded construction paper.  I stapled the construction paper closed so it would not move as the students were cutting.  Make sure they understand not to cut the folded edge sections.  Choice of colors should be spring colors. Once the student is finished tracing their basket, set up another student.  Monitor the students as they cut out the basket.  It is the most difficult part of the project.  Have students write a poem to go along with the basket.      

RAINDROP WRITING

Read CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS and culminate with a bulletin board or ceiling hanger.  Have students color a rainy day picture, their favorite thing to do on a rainy day, write a rainy day story or create a poem.  Hang a real umbrella and use colored raindrops.

SPRING FLOWER TREE

This is a beautiful bulletin board for spring. Have students color and complete their tree. Make sure their name is on the tree. Then have students write a poem about trees or spring. This can be done easily if you format the poem. Center the TREES poem by Joyce Kilmer on the bulletin board. Put student art and poetry around it.

TREES

I think that I shall never see

A poem as lovely as a tree

A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed

Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day

And lifts her leafy arms to pray,

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair

Upon whose blossom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems were made by fools like me

But only God can make a tree.

­Joyce Kilmer

EASTER EGG COLORING DESIGN

This project can be done in a lot of ways.  First way that I like is to either lay an acetate on top of the egg pattern for the students to color and trace, or copy the pattern straight to the acetate for the students to color.  These can be put in the windows and add lots of colors on sunny days.  Be sure to use magic markers - permanent ones are great except for the smell, so keep your doors and windows open for ventilation.  Second way is to give the eggs to the students and let them color, cut out and place in the hallway with a GIANT EASTER BASKET and Easter Grass.  Third way is to blow up, print on tagboard (make sure it is not the slick side), color with markers, and cut out to hang from the ceiling.  Write an Easter or Spring Poem to put on the back side.  See MAY CEILING HANGINGS for another idea.