Publishing Nonfiction Text with Paper Doll Books

Marcia Tayte tells us the importance of art in learning and developing brain power. This is a fun way to incorporate art, writing nonfiction text, and information about insects.

This paper doll book is really quite easy to make. At the beginning of the year, I teach the kids how to fold the paper to make the book.  We do it together several more times. By this time of the year, they are an expect and can easily make their own. Here are the steps to make the book.

First, get a piece of 12 x 18 construction paper. Invite the children to fold the paper in half like a "hotdog".

Leave the paper folded hotdog, and fold it again. This time fold the paper "hamburger".

Now, fold the paper again "hamburger" style.

Unfold the paper. Using a pair of scissors, invite the children to cut out the rectangle on the bottom left and the rectangle on the bottom right. Save these for later.

Fold the two outside rectangles on the top row over. This will make the jacket for the paper doll.

Using a pair of scissors, invite the children to cut a triangle between the two bottom remaining rectangles. This will divide the two bottom rectangles to make legs.

Glue the two rectangles (cut out earlier) behind the jacket to make the arms.

Use patterns, or free cutting, to make the head and shoes. The children can trace their own hands to make the hands for the paper doll. Use scrapbooking paper to make the jacket front.  Add a name tag, and you are all done with the paper doll.

Now it's time to add the "All About Insects" book.  Staple a cover, a diagram page, and several blank pages together.

Work together in a guided writing, or invite the children to work independently to make a table of contents.

On the first page in the booklet, the children draw and label an insect. Provide several nonfiction books that include diagrams of various insects for the children to use as a reference. On the remaining pages, the children write facts to match the table of contents.

This idea, the reproducibles for the paper doll and the nonfiction book are included in this unit.

Insects and Other Bugs Activities

It isn't spring in kindergarten if you aren't talking about bugs! How many ladybugs, beetles, and other crawling bugs do your children bring to you each day on the playground? Here are some of the fun activities we are doing to learn all about Insects and Other Bugs.

I know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a...

Invite the children to create the old lady paper doll. When gluing down the mouth, only put the glue along the left edge. This will allow you to lift the mouth. Select an insect clip art picture to glue inside the mouth.  On another day, provide the children with the clues frame. The children write clues to match the insect inside the mouth. Writing clues is a great way to teach descriptive language. 

SWAT! It!

Use this fly swatter activity to teach subtraction.  Reproduce a fly swatter clip art and a swat blob.  Invite the children to glue them to the paper and add a handle to the fly swatter.  Provide the children with 2 dice. Roll the dice and write the number sentence on the recording page. Glue fly clip art to the project to match the number sentence. Write the subtraction story on the recording page.

Ant Hill Subtraction

Give the children the ant hill pattern. Invite the children to use a black crayon or marker to draw anthill tunnels. Roll two dice and write the equation on the recording page. Using a new pencil, children dip the eraser end into black paint. Print 3 dots touching to make an ant. Make ants on the paper to match the equation. Once they are dry, add features with a marker. Write the subtraction story on the recording page.

What is in the Jar?

Here is another fun activity to teach descriptive language. Invite the children to make the kid holding the bug jar.  Use scrap paper to create a bug in the jar.  Provide a second jar clip art with lines for writing clues. Children write three clues about the bug in their jar.

Ordinal Number Bugs

Make a flap foldable by creating 9 different sections on the folded strip of paper.  Sequence the numbers on each of the flaps. Glue a bug under each flap.  Each child's work will be different as they can glue the bugs in any order they wish! Record the ordinal position of each bug on the recording page. Use a bingo dotter to add color to the bugs.

Ladybug Cookies

Kids love to cook! Cooking is a great way to teach procedural text. The children must read the recipe to know how to make the cookies. For this cooking activity, the children frost a sugar cookie red, yellow or orange. Then, they add an oreo for the head, chocolate chips for the spots, and yellow gel frosting for the eyes. 

Cookie Graph

Once the kids make their cookies, create a graph to show which colors the kids frosted their ladybug cookies.  Invite the children to ask their friends what color they frosted their ladybugs. Tally the results. Next, use the tally marks to create a graph.  Last, the children use the graph to analyze the data.

Number Word Jars

These jars are an easy way to teach number words and to develop a mental image for each number using a tens frame. On each page, the children glue bugs into the tens frame to match the number word. Use bingo dotters to add color to the bugs.

_ug Family Game

This game is useful for teaching words in the _ug family. Invite the children to place the various onset circles onto the game board to produce _ug family words.

Toilet Paper Roll Ladybug

As the children are making the words on the game board, record the words on the recording page.  Paint a toilet paper roll red. Add wings, spots, eyes, nose and antennas to make a ladybug.  Roll up the list of _ug family words and slide it inside the toilet paper roll.

Bug Jar Number Fun

This bug jar game is a great way to introduce the concept of mixed operations. To play the game, give each child a game board, insect clip art, and a dice. Invite the children to roll the dice. Put that many bugs in the jar. In this example, the child rolled a 3, so there are now 3 bugs in the jar.

Roll again. This time the child rolled a 2. They must decide what they need to do in order to have two bugs in the jar. I ask them, "do you need to take some out, or put some in?"  The correct response will be that they need to take one out to get from 3 to 2.  Continue to roll and move bugs so that the number on the dice matches the number of bugs in the jar.

The ideas in this blog post came from this unit.

 

 

Make the First 30 Days the BEST 30 Days

Spring is the time of year that we start to look forward to the next year. One thing I love about teaching is that every fall we get a "do over." Now is a great time to start thinking about what you want to do differently next year. Starting off a new year is full of excitement and jitters! As a teacher, you are often thinking: What can I do those first days of school that will lay the groundwork for a year full of learning, engagement, and success?

I'm excited that I am working with SDE to bring a summer seminar, "The First 30 Days of Kindergarten."In this seminar you will learn just how to make those first days your best days!

Here are some of the ideas that we will cover in this idea pack 2 day event!

All Eyes On You: Have you heard the saying, “You can’t teach a class you can’t manage?” In this session Kim will show you how to get the kids attention starting that first day! She will share how to establish routines, procedures and independence. She will also share how to develop a schedule that has a balance of independent and group work.

Get ready to learn some new chants to get their attention: You say, "1,2,3 Look at me!" They say back, "1,2 Looking at you!" OR How about a new chant to get them read for the hall, You say, "Ready set?" They say back, "You bet."

Flip This Room: Room Arrangement In this session Kim will show you how to use classroom arrangement to increase effectiveness of your teaching. Learn how to store classroom materials resources to increase teaching time. She will share how she uses different kinds of room arrangement and grouping for different kinds of instruction!

Here are a few of the simple storage ideas that we will share. To store those daily resources, try a stacking drawer storage container. Label each drawer with a day of the week. Before you leave school on Friday, be sure the drawers are stuffed for the next week with everything you will need!

Another way to use the stack drawer storage containers is to organize your projects. Put all of the projects you need to get done in a drawer. Invite parents to pick things from the drawer to assemble. When it is ready, place it in the ready drawer. As you are teaching and finish with the resources, place those items in the put away drawer to keep your room clutter free.

A rolling laundry basket makes a perfect storage unit for your big books!

Establishing Routines and Procedures in Reading and Writing:  In this session Kim will walk you through the steps to set up effective Reading and Writing Instruction. She will show you how to use the Workshop Model of teaching to maximize learning by balancing mini lessons and worktime. She will also share how to scaffold your learners by unpacking learner outcomes.

We will explore the components of the mini lessons: Connect, Teach, Active Engagement, and Link, and the purpose for each. The Connect reminds the children of what you did the last time. This gets all the kids ready for the new learning. The Teach is where the teacher tells the children the new learning and models what it looks like. Next is Active Engagement. This is where the kids practice the new learning. And finally, the link is where the teacher reminds the kids of their new learning.

Establishing Routines and Procedures in Literacy and Math Centers: In this session Kim will show you how she develops independent learners so that she is able to effectively work with small groups. One way to run effective centers is through effective grouping.

During centers our children work with their "family" group. This is a group of mixed abilities, mixed personalities, etc.--they work together well, but don't often choose to play with the members of the group. While the kids are working in centers, I pull small groups. These groups are based on formative assessments and are always changing--these are flexible groups! Once the kids are working in centers, I walk around the room and collect the children that I need. After the small group lesson, they return to their center group and continue working.

DI: Easy As Pie: In this session Kim will share how to effectively use formative assessments to drive your instruction.

One of my favorite formative assessments is "Who is in the Club?" This works well with standards that are quickly and easily assessed. As part of our morning meeting, children have the opportunity to join the club by demonstrating their mastery of the standard. I only call on a few kids each day. Kids volunteer to respond. Those that haven't volunteered by Friday, I pull during centers and assess them separately.

Making a Good First Impression: In this session Kim will share how to establish a good parent teacher relationship those first few weeks.  She will share how to set up a Meet the Teacher night that will be sure to WOW your parents!

Open House is the chance for parents to make that first impression of you as your child's teacher. Set up an Open House that will blow them away! One thing we do is to make this simple craft.  The poem is by my sweet friend Angie! The parents now have something to take home, hang on their frig, and use to display their munchkins work all year!

Developing A Love for School: In this session Kim will share some of her favorite activities from the first 30 days of school.

This fun sorting activity will help introduce the kids to the things in your room.  Cut apart a set of clip art. Invite the children to sort the pictures--things that are in their classroom and things that are not in their classroom. Use the sorting circle to create wheels for the school bus.  At a small group, invite the children to create a face using a paper plate. Add the paper plate faces to the bus and display for all to see!

Here are a few of my favorite back to school resources!

Tackling Transitions

Blasting Off With Reader's Workshop

Writer's Workshop Launch

Back To School Bundle

 

 

 

Spring-Writing, Reading, and Math Activities

It's finally here! Flip flops, pollen, and day light savings time! That means it's time to start planning all those fun activities for spring--both in and out of the classroom! Here are some of the fun things we will be doing in the next few weeks.

 Parts of a Plant

This is a fun craftivity to teach labeling and the parts of a plant--at the same time.  The kids use scrapbooking paper to create a flower. We use the brown shredded crinkle paper, that is used in gift bags, to make the roots! I picked it up at the Dollar Tree.  Once the kids make the plant, I give them each several squares of paper to make their labels.

 Parts of a Plant Book

Once the kids finish their craftivity, they also make this "Parts of a Plant" book.  The children cut and paste the parts of the plant, one on each page. Using their labels, the kids write facts about each plant part.

 Adding Up Flowers

This is a fun spring activity to teach addition story problems. Each child needs two flower pots. Label one with their own name, and one with a friend's name.  Invite the children to roll 2 dice and record the addition sentence on the recording page. Draw flowers in each pot to match the addition sentence. Write a story problem to match the addition sentence.

 Labeling Seeds

To make this fun flower craftivity, start with a piece of paper folded in half. Cut the top fold of the paper to make 4 sections. This will make the stem.  Pick up some flower seeds at the Dollar Tree or use old seeds from last year! Invite the children to tape a seed under each of the 4 flaps.  Give each child 4 pieces of paper to label each of the seeds. Keep the seed packages on the table so the children can use the packets to find the labels. 
On another day, invite the kids to use the stem to create a flower. Provide a text box for the flower center. Encourage the kids to write factual information about seeds. We will want to read many books about seeds.  Make those books available for the children to use as reference during this writing. The kids don't need to be able to read the words...they will READ the pictures and recall the information you read to them.

 Spring Sort

Clip art makes a great sorting activity. I went through all of my clip art, and selected things that are associated with spring.  Children don't need TONS of pictures, really 10-15 are plenty! It is more important to think of MANY different ways to sort, than to sort MANY different pictures only a few ways. Encourage children to work together to create categories. Record the categories on the recording page after each sort. Invite the children to select one of the sorts to record using a nonlinguistic method (pictures.)

 How Tall Are You?

This is a fun way to teach children to compare height. Make a flower that is the height of your average child. Invite each child to go and stand by the flower. The other children determine if he is taller, shorter, or the same height as the flower. (He sure is getting big!!!!)

 Flower Story Problems

Make a set of flower headbands by using several different flower clip art images. (We made 5.) Invite the 5 children to stand in a line. Tell a subtraction story problem. As you tell the story problem, remove some of the "kid flowers." Provide each child with a dry erase board to record the subtraction equation.

 Describing Plants

This is a great graphic organizer to help children brainstorm words that describe plants.  Invite the children to record words in each of the circles that describe plants. Children can use this resource to write factual information about plants that will include these describing words.

 Plants Tree Map

Another great resource for writing is a tree map.  Encourage children to think of ways to finish each sentence, "Plants have..., Plants need..., and Plants are..." As I write them on each flower in the flower pots, the children record the information on their recording sheet.  Now, the children are ready to write a piece of non-fiction text. Staple a book with 3 pages and a title page.  On the first page, the children write "Plants have..." and finish the sentence using their tree maps. Encourage children to add more detailed information. Illustrate the text. Repeat this process with all 3 pages in the booklet. This is a great way to teach children to write over pages!

 Measuring Thumbprint Flowers

In an art center, kids create these cute thumbprint flowers.  Put some paint on a sponge. Invite children to press their thumb into the paint. Place their thumbprint around the circle to create 3 different color flowers.  Once the flowers are dry, use linking cubes to measure the flowers. Use the recording page to compare the length.

 Ordinal Number Flowers

To make these fun ordinal number flowers, reproduce flower clip art on 8 different colors of paper. Invite the children to glue their flowers in a line on a strip of paper.  Each child can put their flowers in any order they wish. Sequence the ordinal number flower cards. Use the recording page to indicate the ordinal position of each flower. Every child's answer page will be different since it matches his/her flowers!

 Spin a Graph

Spin graphs are a super easy, independent center.  Invite the children to spin the spinner. Record tally marks to indicate where the spinner lands. After spinning 10 times, use the tally marks to create a graph. Once the graph is made, the children analyze their data.

 Making Words with Beanstalk

We've all played the game where you take the big word and see how many little words you can make. This is a standard game at many baby and wedding showers. But, playing it with kids takes on a new meaning. I found that usually ONE kid in the group GOT IT.  The others....they simply copied that kid!  Here's a way we can play the game and scaffold our kids for success.  Give the children the letters in the big word, in this case "beanstalk."  Now, give the kids a list of words--some that can be made with the letters in beanstalk and some that can't.  Invite the children to use their letters to see if they can make the words in the list. Indicate on the recording page yes or no depending on whether they could make the word or not.

 Bingo Dotter Flower Addition

I love bingo dotters. I pick them up at the Dollar Tree all the time! To make this accordion folded book, invite the children to glue a circle in each section.  Roll two dice and record the number sentence on the circle.  Use bingo dotters to make dots to match the equation. Record the sum. Repeat with all three flowers. Once the paint is dry, fold the book together and staple along the edge to make a book.

 Roll a CVC Word

This is "go to" game for our centers. Here's how you play.  Give each child a game board, three cubes, and a dice.  The children roll the dice. Move one of the cubes up the first column that many spaces. Repeat with columns 2 and 3. Record the 3 letters on the recording page. Read the new word. Repeat until the recording page is full.

These ideas are from this unit.