Newspaper Sculpture

We are exploring art mediums to express ourselves. We explored paintings and sculptures thought books, internet and by observing some of artwork I brought from home (two paintings and a sculpture). I asked the children about the uses of newspaper and if they could be used to create art. They said no. Then and I showed the students how to make a newspaper roll. Then I asked the students if newspaper rolls could be used to make artwork. It did not take long until one child said that we could stick the newspaper rolls together.

Connecting the Dots of Knowledge

Connections! Learning taking place! Applied knowledge! Isn't that what all teacher want to see happening with their students? Here is one example from last week.

Early in the morning many students were using beads and laces to make chains. They would do and undo them until two students said they wanted to share what they had done.

Beads and laces are also a great fine motor activity.

One of the girls began to talk about her chain and she said she used a bead like the cube we have in our 3D shapes box. Then she showed the cylinder-shaped and sphere-shaped beads. Of course she hadn't planned to discuss the "3D beads," but rather is was a connection she made once she started to talk about her chain.

One of the boys also made a chain and made all the connections with the shapes we have been exploring. He also noted his chain was longer than the girl’s chain, and they began comparing who used more cylinders.

From this day, on almost every day we’ve had someone making a chain and asking to share with the group.  The end result is that the students found a way to review 3D shapes with something they were interested in; thus the initiative came from them and not from the teacher.

This week a girl called me to show she found the 'primary colors' in the beads. 

I had also done a “shape hunt’ around the classroom and other relevant activities such as comparing shapes properties, which ones can roll, etc, but to me the best learning experience are the ones initiated by the children.

I use the word “connection” often and frequently ask them to draw parallels with past learning.  It is wonderful to see this becoming established in the student’s minds.

I never ceases to amaze me how children are so ready and eager to absorb knowledge. As Maria Montessori used to say: "Children are like sponges absorbing everything around them. They have absorbent minds”.

Pegs and Pegboard

Practicing fine motor skills is essential in Preschool. One of my students’ favorite materials/activities is “Pegs and Pegboards”.

We can learn a lot about the student’s fine motor, visual perception and organizational skills by observing how they organize and carry on with their work.

Some students like to work as a group and they take each piece from the tray, as they need them.

Others like to work by themselves.

This boy likes to select pegs place them in one hand then get one by one with the other hand and place it on the board.

This other boy likes to place the tray close to the board and get one peg at a time.

This one likes to previously separate pegs by color (sorting) and use them as he needs them.

It is fascinating to observe how each child has different ways of doing an activity. Unless the child is having difficulties, like dropping too many pegs on the floor and it is not learning through mistakes then I interfere to help the child be aware on how organizing the work space and materials is important. But I never impose one way or another.

One point I made this time is to have them think about the benefits of working with pegs and pegboards.

Some of the answers I got are:

“It is good for your fingers.”

“It helps you hold the pencil better.” (we have been talking about pencil grip and exercising our fingers)

“It is good for your brain.”

“You use your eyes and hands and even your nails.”

They know it all!

Note: I can no longer find those pegs and pegboards in catalogs. See the comments below for a substitute.

Valentine Cards

Today we made Valentine’s cards, of course.

I had two objectives with this lesson. The first was writing with a purpose with an audience in mind. The second was to use fine motor skills.

I wrote a few possible messages with the students but most of them opted for the one you see below. I think they liked the little pink heart. I left the models at hand if they needed to copy.

It was interesting to observe how each student did the writing. Most would write ‘I’ then glue the heart and finally write ‘U’. The student below decided to write the two letters first and then stick the heart.

I pre cut small hearts so the whole process would not take too long as I have 3 year olds in the group. I gave them four different colors of tissue paper pre cut in small squares. Students could also choose to make more than one card, which very few did.            

Crumpling little pieces of tissue paper is a great fine motor exercise.

It was also a great opportunity for me to observe how the students organized their own workspace and materials as they carried on with the project.

It was nice to see how different they turned out.

Happy Valentines to all! 

Amelia Mello, M.Ed.

P is for Popcorn! Pop Pop Pop!

Whenever possible I like to make something special for the letter of the week. This week was the letter “P” and I made POPCORN for the students. We had already made popcorn when we investigated our senses. Making popcorn with the students is a wonderful experience because you use all five senses. But as I said I had done it before and did not have much time. I went straight to the connection between letter P and the beginning sound of ‘popcorn’ and ‘pop’.

I made the popcorn at home and brought a big bowl to school. I gave each child a paper plate with the capital letter P written on it. The activity I proposed was to use the popcorn to make the letter P and after that the student could eat the letter P. Picking up one piece of popcorn at a time it is also a great fine motor skill activity.

First I introduced the activity on the big circle talking about the letter sound, what begins with that sound, trace it in the air, when was the last time we did popcorn and why, etc.

I showed them the paper plates with the capital P on it and where to start placing the popcorns as if they were writing it. I said I could not lift the plate because I did not want the popcorn to fall and one student said, “Well you can if you use glue!” Then I challenged him by asking “And why would I bother to do this?” I swear I could see his brain ticking and it took him a few seconds to say, “Because then you can teach better”.  And he looked at me with his smart look.

Then I did it. As this was early in the morning and it is HOT and DRY here the popcorn was firm on the plate in no time.

 

Now we can lift the plate. We pinned it on the board.

 First trace the letter P with your finger.

 Pick up one popcorn at a time

 Make the letter P with Popcorn

 Now they are ready

 And the best part according to the students was to eat your letter P.

We did the activity in two groups as I have 22 students. The older group who was working with me finished quickly and asked me for more popcorn. “Why should I give you more popcorn?” I asked them. They quickly bombarded me with all sorts of answers like, “Because we are good”, “Because we are hungry”, “Because it is delicious” and “We want more!”

The younger group was working in groups of 3 and 4 at a time with my assistant. They were finishing at different paces. One particular boy who is only 3 but very expressive and active looked at my assistant very seriously after he finished eating his first P and asked, “Can I… can I …can I … make another letter P?”.  How adorably clever is that?

I’m telling you, if the amount of popcorn they ate reflects their learning they surely know how to trace the letter P.

Amelia

SEED TRAY: an option for SAND TRAY

Seed trays work as well as sand or salt trays. The smaller the seeds the better. Actually salt trays do not work in humid climates like in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Believe me I've tried that.

 

The red tiny seeds I used for my Seed Tray are called “ulezi” in Kiswahili. I have no idea what they are in English, neither in Brazilian Portuguese. Ulezi is sold in bulk in the local market. You buy the seeds, grind them and use the flour to make porridge, or to mix usually with maze porridge, as a local told me.

 As with sand or salt we have to test the amount of seeds we put in the tray so you can see the bottom of the tray as you trace something. If the seeds and the tray have contrasting colors it’s even better. I chose a green tray, which gives a nice contrast with the color of the seeds.

The students are having fun with the new seed tray and it gives them a totally different texture than sand. It has been working great for tracing letters and numbers.

After you trace something, give it a little shake and the seeds cover the tray again.

Fabulous Montessori Inspired Cheap Easy to Assemble Activities

I know this is a big title but it says it all.

Torn Paper Fish

One simple yet fun fine motor / eye-hand coordination exercise is tearing paper.