Geometry Spider Glyph

Hi everyone!  It's Anita, again, from Primary "Teach"spiration.  Can you believe it's already October? Me neither!  In the spirit of this fabulous fall month, I have a quick little spider post for you today.

  

At the beginning of October, my second graders really got into helping with the October decorating of the classroom.  You know, second graders LOVE, LOVE, LOVE doing those kinds of activities.  I am a firm believer that children need time to just have some fun and be creative.  And making October spiders has always been a big hit.

A few years ago, I had a principal who forbid us to do anything in the classroom that was not related to the academic standards.  We were required to attach the standard to any student work or activity that we posted on the walls or bulletin boards.  Can you imagine kindergartners, first graders, second graders, or any grade for that matter, not being allowed to have creative downtime!?

Well, that October, I was not going to keep my second graders from the usual spider craft my class did each year. Sooooo, I changed up the activity a bit to make it a geometry lesson that fit with our geometry standards.  Each spider part had a geometric shape.  We talked about the shapes, their names, how many sides, and how many angles.  The kids had a blast choosing their spider parts and counting the sides and angles before they even began putting their spiders together.

For you, today, I have a Spider Glyph and the spider patterns.  I've also included a Spider Geometry page to guide your students in counting the sides and angles of their spiders (this can be a little tough for some, so doing it in small groups will be helpful).

But first, let me show you how we put the spiders together.  Again, it may be easier to do it in small groups, so you are more accessible to help.

First, here is the spider glyph that is used to design each student's spider, according to his or her answers.

These are the patterns for building the spiders.  I copied all of them, except for eyes and mouth, onto black construction paper, and I could see the pattern lines.  If yours does not show up on black, you could make card stock patterns to trace around.  Copy the eyes and mouth sheet onto white construction paper.

Two per page.

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Two per page.

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Six per page.

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Six per page.

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Rectangular Legs (straight)

Two sets of 8 per page.

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Rectangular Legs (Accordion)

One set of 8, plus 2.

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Eyes and Mouth Choices

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After students have their chosen body parts, they may cut them out and begin building their spiders. Take them through it step-by-step, talking about the shapes and attributes as you go.

Glue the white eyes and mouth onto the head.

Fold the body down the middle on the dotted line, with the two little dots on the outside.

Keep the body folded in half, and use a hole punch on one of the little round dot marks.
This will be holes for the web string to thread through, so you can hang the spiders from the ceiling.

Have white string or yarn cut to about a yard length for each student.
Thread it through the two holes evenly and tie in the middle on the backside of the spider as shown.
You can do this at the very end, if you choose.

Glue the head onto the inside fold of the body, as shown.

Glue four legs on each side of the spider's back.

Tie the two parts of the top of the string together and hang the spiders from the ceiling.

A variety of spiders will be looking down at you and your students all over the classroom!

Before you hang the spiders, let your students use their spiders to help them complete the Spider Geometry page.

If you would like the Spider glyph, patterns, and geometry page, click HERE to download them.

Happy October!

                                          

A special thank you to Teaching in the Tongass, KB Konnected Clips, and The Clipart Factory for the graphics.

Fun Friday

Happy Friday!  It's Shelly from Smiling and Shining in Second Grade.  My students love learning about dinosaurs.  Future paleontologists will LOVE creating these dinosaur fossils.

 All you need is some modeling magic and some dinosaurs skeleton toys.  You can get the modeling clay at Michael's or Jo-Ann's Fabric store.  The skeleton toys are from Amazon.

The students shape the modeling magic into a pancake.  Then they make impressions with the skeletons.  After it dries, they paint the modeling clay with coffee to give it a brownish tint.

   We practice our math fact by playing Three in a Row.  

I  like to read the book called If the Dinosaurs Came Back by Bernard Most.  We do a writing activity and write about what we would do if the dinosaurs came back and then we make a drawing like the book.

         

What are some dinosaur activities you do with your students?

All About Me Necklaces

Happy Saturday, friends! It's Lisa from over at Second Grade Stories and I'm excited to share a fun activity with you that is great for getting to know each other at the beginning of the year. We as teachers know that building a strong classroom community is probably one of the - if not THE - most important thing we do all year.  I started a blog talk series over on my own blog about exactly that! (You can click {HERE} to check that out.) And with all those little faces coming into our room in the first few weeks, it's important to get to know each other.

I love to make "All About Me" necklaces sometime during the first couple weeks of school.  The necklace itself is like a glyph - each part tells something about the person who made it.

You can choose any kind of beads that work for you. I have done it in past years with just pony beads, while other years I added different kinds foam beads that I got from Oriental Trading Co. Beads that spell out their name are a definite must! Here's how we create our necklaces. (Confession: I do not start school until the end of August and I don't have any pictures of this from previous years... sooo... we'll have to make do with what I can put together from home!)

Since we usually do this project when we come back from lunch/recess, I greet them wearing my very own necklace.  It is sure to be noticed and it brings all sorts of questions! I explain that this necklace tells all about me and that each part of the necklace is special.  Now that everyone is excited - and I tell them they'll be making their very own necklace - we're ready to start!

Helpful Hint #1: I prep the beads to be ready before we actually start the project. I find the letters for everyone's names and put them in small containers or baggies so each kiddo has their name all ready to start. (I learned the hard way that having 20 or more kids digging through beads trying to find the letters in their names is CHAOS!) We work at tables, so each table has containers of all the beads we will need - and they are within easy reach of everyone to limit spilling!

I like to project the information for each part of the necklace on the SmartBoard. I have all the slides in a PowerPoint and it's easy to go from slide to slide, one at a time, while I walk around the room. Each bead has a special meaning. For example, the red beds might be for how many people in your family (take one red bead for each person). Green beads show if you take the bus to school or get dropped off - one green bead for the bus, two if you get dropped off.  I include ideas about families, likes and dislikes, school activities, etc.

The possibilities are endless and what's great about this activity is that you can customize it to fit your kiddos! Each time my kiddos take a bead, they put it in their bag/container until we have all the beads we need.  Then comes the fun part - putting it together!

Helpful Hint #2: I pre-cut lengths of a variety of string/cord that we'll be using. Students come up and choose a color. Then comes THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP: TAPE one end of the string to the table/desk. Students will slide the beads onto the other end, but they won't go any further than the tape, so no dropping beads all over the floor when their necklaces are half made! (I do guarantee, however, that at least one kiddo will get excited and pull the string to show their friend and the beads will drop...  but it's better than 10 droppers!)

Everyone gets to design their own necklace by putting the beads in any order they want (names, of course, are spelled correctly!) After the necklaces are created and tied around their necks, we spend a few minutes walking around and chatting with each other about our necklaces. That gets us ready for the second part of our activity - learning about each other!

Since each part of the necklace has meaning, we can find out about each other by looking at our necklaces. I have done this a few different ways: (1) I've created a "Find Someone Who" sheet for students to use to walk around the room and fill in each box with the name of their classmate (ex. Find someone who has 2 sisters; Find someone who takes the bus...); (2) I play music and students walk around. When the music stops, they find a partner and we use the PowerPoint slides to find out about each other. (ex. Does your partner prefer art or gym?) The music starts again, and students find a different partner when the music stops for our next question; and finally (3) I have partnered up students and had them fill out a quick 4-5 question sheet based on their partner's necklace. When we come back to the group, each person shares what they learned about their partner.

I like to end the time with some movement and a "Stand up if..." activity. We all come together and  ask students to "Stand up if..." (basing my questions on the information in the necklace.) This gives everyone a chance to be noticed and it's also a quick way for me to learn about my class.

That's it! This activity is definitely a favorite every year for my kiddos and even though it can get a little crazy trying to get everyone's necklaces done (get other people to help!), it is worth it! Have fun making your own necklaces and finding out about your new kiddos. Building that classroom community has just begun!

Classroom Display

Happy Monday, everyone!  It's Lisa from Second Grade Stories coming to you with a two great ideas for Make-It Monday!

I have to tell you, I'm not much of a crafter.  I don't scrapbook, I don't have a room filled with art supplies... I like my crafts easy and simple!  This first idea is soooo easy and simple, but it has had such a BIG impact in my classroom. I have this big white space by my door when you come in the classroom.  It doesn't have a bulletin board, no cork strip... just open space.  I have never really been able to figure out what to put there (and how to hang it!) so decided to fill it with something to think about.

Developing a sense of classroom community - a respectful environment in which all students feel valued, is the cornerstone of my teaching. So I decided, why not put that front and center as the first thing you see when you walk into the room!

  I bought curlicue wooden letters from Michael's (on sale for 99 cents!) and painted them black and sprayed them with clear gloss.

(I had to go to THREE different stores to get a the letters I needed, but it was worth it!)  Here's the end result:

These simple words are the very first thing you see when you enter our classroom - and since they are black letters on a white wall, they really stand out.  Pretty much EVERYONE who comes into our classroom comments on the letters.

This was definitely a small project that has a BIG impact!

I also have another space in my room that is hard to fill.  It's the blank corkboard space above my whiteboard.  It's loooooong and narrow and high up.  And it's in the back of the room.  The same space in the front of the room has my alphabet and some quotes, etc.  But the back area was pretty much a black hole of space. I knew I was going to need more than one thing to fill it up, and whatever went up there would have to STAY there all year, soooo.... let's see what I did.

I started with 8x10 blank artist canvases, modpodge, brushes, scrapbook paper, black acrylic paint and clear gloss sealer.  (And I didn't think to take pictures of what I need until I started, so we'll have to just go with the list.)

Step #1  Paint the canvases black.  I put on two coats because the first one still showed some white when it dried.

Step #2  Cut out letters.  I used my Silhouette Cameo so it was easy-easy.  I made the letters fit an 8x10 frame, and had the Cameo cut them out. (Hard to see, but there is an "E" cut on there.)

Step #3  Modpodge the black canvases.  Modpodge is your friend - use a lot.  It goes on smoother when the brush is full. 

Step #4  Brush modpodge on the back of the cut out letter and stick it to the canvas.  It helps if you just put down one edge first then run your finger over the letter as the rest of it goes down.  You get fewer bubbles that way.

Step #5  Now cover the whole thing in more modpodge.  Run the brush in the direction of the letter s it doesn't tear.  Smooth out the thick parts and let it dry.

Step #6  After they are dry, spray the canvases with a clear sealer.

Can you figure out what it spells?



There you go!  I hung these up in the back of the room and they really do look nice. 

It still looks a little bare there right now, so I'm thinking about what can go on either side of the words.  I had some of those pompoms up there, but they looked funny.  Any ideas?

I hope my simple ideas have inspired you to try something in your classroom.  Just remember, small ideas can have a BIG impact! Thanks for stopping by!