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Brainstorm...
So last Friday morning I was tooling along trying to figure out how to extend the spring unit a little because I'd run out of material earlier than expected and wasn't ready to begin working on the Poetry in a Pot project. The forty-five minute commute to school is productive time for me as it is a boring lonely drive with just me and NPR. Anyway, I had a brainstorm.
Although I had two short stories I could have used, we've been put on a short leash with regard to paper use and the stories were just too long to copy. I remembered a poem called "Thumbprint" by Eve Merriam in the lit book and was considering just what I could do to tie it into the unit when it hit me.
I spent about thirty minutes preparing the foundation (I'm definitely NOT an artist) for the activity. I had the students read the poem, and we discussed it. Then I 'thumbprinted' each of them. From a distance the prints look pretty much the same, but up close the differences shine.
The students chose color and position. I love the results!!
Today I challenged the students to write a three to five-line poem based on the resulting picture. They have to connect thumbprints and flowers without actually saying the flowers are thumbprints. The best poem (chosen by a panel of other English teachers) will be written in the blank space on the paper. I plan to mat and frame it some way and then display it in the media center along with the best Poetry Pots.
Once I decided on the activity, I googled fingerprint art and found this website with some great activities for little ones that I hope to do with the grands. Some of you who have small children and/or grandchildren might like it, too. :D
Although I had two short stories I could have used, we've been put on a short leash with regard to paper use and the stories were just too long to copy. I remembered a poem called "Thumbprint" by Eve Merriam in the lit book and was considering just what I could do to tie it into the unit when it hit me.
I spent about thirty minutes preparing the foundation (I'm definitely NOT an artist) for the activity. I had the students read the poem, and we discussed it. Then I 'thumbprinted' each of them. From a distance the prints look pretty much the same, but up close the differences shine.
The students chose color and position. I love the results!!
Today I challenged the students to write a three to five-line poem based on the resulting picture. They have to connect thumbprints and flowers without actually saying the flowers are thumbprints. The best poem (chosen by a panel of other English teachers) will be written in the blank space on the paper. I plan to mat and frame it some way and then display it in the media center along with the best Poetry Pots.
Once I decided on the activity, I googled fingerprint art and found this website with some great activities for little ones that I hope to do with the grands. Some of you who have small children and/or grandchildren might like it, too. :D