A Quick Book Review

In class we have been reading Roald Dahl's "The Minpins." We didn't have much time left in the school day so I did a quick book review activity with the class. I had students write on a post-it-note their name, if they liked the book or not, and their reason why. We displayed these notes on the board and compared the likes to the dislikes. Some of the students found the story a bit scary so they didn't like it.

Our next book is Roald Dahl's "The Magic Finger." I am hoping the students will like this story a bit more as it is also one of my favourites.

Sharks Beanbags

I have a boy dominant classroom this year so I thought they would appreciate something cool in their reading area. I have seen these beanbags in a classroom before, and my to my delight I found a set for sale on Gumtree. I jumped at the chance to buy them and add them to the classroom. The students love then and find them really comfortable. A simple way to make reading fun again. Plus I also get to take them home at the end of the year and let my own children enjoy them.

Sprout Pencils

I love this idea, pencils that students can write with and then plant to watch herbs, flowers or vegetables grow. It would be the perfect student prize for good behaviour or to sum up the end of a life sciences unit. The pencils also have the name of the plant on them so they can be used to label your new garden. Just make sure littlies don't chew the end of the pencils.

The only issue I have is the cost. I have found these online for $15 - $25 for a packet of 8 pencils. Hmmmm... I will keep an eye of for a special deal I think.

Birthday Picture Graph

I wanted to display the student's birthdays in the classroom so I decided to have the students help to make a picture graph. I had introduced graphing last term so I thought this would be a good way to review what we had already learnt.

Students were asked to colour in a cupcake. I also coloured one, as did my Education Assistant. I had an axis drawn on the chalkboard and students helped me to name the axis. They placed their cupcakes in the appropriate positions and we discussed the data we had collected. Students then completed a worksheet where they used the data to create a bar graph and answer questions about our data.

I then laminated the cupcakes and placed them on display in the classroom.

Exploring Shapes and Colours with Kandinsky

I have introduced my students to the artwork of Kandinsky. We started by creating a Kandinsky inspired tree on our cupboard doors. Then we experimented with colour using wax crayons to colour in an edited copy of Kandinsky's famous "Colour Study, Squares with Concentric Circles" 1913. This term students will be exploring some more of Kandinsky's art and providing written responses. They will also create their own Kandinsky inspired artwork using a variety of shapes, colours and mediums.