Teaching Adjectives with Monsters!

If you're looking for a fun way to help your kidlets practise using interesting adjectives, you might like to try this easy painting and writing activity.  Bonus: it makes a gorgeous classroom display!

As with most painting activities, it's best to do this part of the activity in small groups.  We all know how messy kids can get with paint when they're not closely supervised! :) To start, give each child a large piece of paper and have them fold it in half.  Near the crease on one side of the paper, place some blobs of paint.  I like using bright, neon colours but whatever you have is fine.  Have kidlets fold their paper again and use their hand to gently smooth and spread the paint as far as they can towards the edges.  Unfold and let dry!

Now for the best bit!  When their paintings are dry, give each child 2 eyes (I used paper circles, but you could use googly eyes if you have them on hand, or they could be drawn on with marker).  They should glue the eyes onto the page in a way that makes their picture look like a monster!  I cut around the edges of the paint to define them a bit more, but that's totally optional.

Spend some time talking about what each monster might be like.  Discuss their colours and features (do they have horns, polka dots or sharp teeth?) as well as what their personalities might be like.  From this discussion, each kidlet writes a sentence and uses an adjective to describe their monster.  Of course, you could extend this task and have them write a few sentences or a paragraph if that's more appropriate for your grade level.  You might also like to use this as an opportunity to work on the concept of symmetry, too.

I love this activity because it has everyone using their imagination and applying their knowledge of adjectives in a really engaging way.  If you put the monsters on display it's a talking point for anyone who comes into the room! I hope this is an idea that you can use with your learners soon!

Five for Friday!

Boy oh boy, it sure has been a while since I've linked up with Five for Friday! This week was back to school for us after Easter break and that means back to regular blogging. :)

Our first craft of the term (linked to our phonics focus) were these gorgeous handprint monsters.  If you've read my blog before you might know that I love anything monster themed, and these cuties were no exception!

We simply painted each kidlets' hand - they got to choose which fingers were painted - and printed them onto paper.  When they were dry the googly eyes were glued on and a mouth drawn with marker.  Each little monster has it's own personality!

We also made these cute apples from paper plates.

Just paint, cut, staple and you're done! These turned out so well, but seriously - I need to invest in a paper plate factory  I go through hundreds of them every year!

To go along with our /m/ focus we wrote about our monsters, choosing an adjective to finish the 'My monster' sentence starter.

We also worked on a letter m Alphabet Puzzle.

These were perfect for an independent group work activity.

Don't you love it when kidlets return after holidays and haven't forgotten everything they've learnt during the year?  During during Guided Reading this week we revised rhyming words with 'To Rhyme or Not to Rhyme' made by the very clever Brooke!

My Preppies blitzed this activity!  They said each picture names and then quickly decided which mat the card belonged to.  One happy teacher. :)

Tomorrow is ANZAC Day, a time when we remember fallen Australian and New Zealand servicemen and women.  Today our school held a very moving service to honour those who have died  fighting to protect the truly wonderful country we live in.  When we got back to our classroom, my kidlets wrote the word 'Remember' and drew pictures to represent ANZAC Day.

This picture shows a poppy, a sprig of rosemary, a wreath of flowers, and a soldier standing tall and proud.  

That's all from me today, friends.  Be sure to come back on Sunday to check out my post for the 'Swap, Share, Give' linky that a bunch of us Aussie bloggers have planned! 

A Very Colourful Five for Friday!

What a wonderful week it's been!  We've had so much fun in Prep with lots of colourful activities.  Time for Five for Friday to share the fun.

Inspired by a pin from Kindergarten Smiles we made monster paintings as part of our phonics work this week.  They are so simple to make - just fold a large piece of paper in half and have the kids blob paint on one side.  When they re-fold it, they can rub their hands gently over the paper to blur the paint together.  Make sure you watch their little faces as they unfold their painting! They'll be absolutely amazed to see their results. :) When they dried, we gave each child some paper circles and asked them to glue them on as monster eyes.  I just LOVE the way they turned out!

How gorgeous is this guy?!? To me he looks just like a monster peeking over the top of the card, complete with pink hair, purple horns and a blue face. :)

We brainstormed some adjectives that could describe our monsters and each kidlet chose one that they wanted to match their painting. These guys are going to look amazing on display in our classroom!

Speaking of monsters, our Alphabet Monster was hungry this week! I cooked up some Alphabet Soup for him, full of veggies and letters.

Wouldn't you know it, he wasn't interested in the veggies at all and only wanted to eat the letters!

Kidlets took turns using the tongs to grab a magnetic letter, identify it and then feed it to the monster. Some of my little learners (ok, lots!) are still working on letter recognition so we are doing lots of alphabet activities.

As well as letter recognition we're also working on confidently spelling our names using a capital letter only at the beginning. During small group time kidlets used bingo dabbers to dot over their names, and we talked about the letter sequence and the correct direction to form each one.

I bubble cut around them and they brighten up our Library corner nicely!

 We worked on the /j/ sound as part of our phonics program so of course needed a craft to match!  This jellyfish craft was super quick and easy.  We cut some paper plates in half and the kidlets painted them with bright watercolours.  When they were dry we glued on some crepe paper tentacles.

Sorry about the awful photo, my camera doesn't like the fluorescent lights!

We added another poem to our Poetry Journal on Thursday.  This week was 'Five Little Ducks'.  We read the poem together on the carpet, and this time I chose a special helper to point to each word as we said it.  Back at their desks we sang/read the song again and pointed to the words on the journal copy.  I think our next poem will go in the pocket chart so we can work on sequencing and editing by adding capitals and punctuation.

I was so proud of my drawing, but the kidlets set out to draw one better than mine!

I love this one, kind of looks like relaxed ducks on a tropical island. :)

That's all from me, friends. I'm off to see 'Wicked' this afternoon and I'm super excited! I'll be back tomorrow with a wrap up of the fun we've been having in small groups. Happy Valentine's Day!

Differentiation with the Monsters!

If you've read my blog in the past then you'll know that I just love my monsters!  I have two - the Alphabet Monster and the Number Monster.  I can say without a doubt that they are the most versatile and possibly the most engaging resource I use when teaching all sorts of concepts - I use them almost every day.  For me this teaching tool is so important because of how super simple it is to differentiate activities for the needs of my kidlets.  With a $0 investment you've got a resource to use for teaching new skills, practising during review and an easy assessment tool.  Don't believe me? Keep reading!

How to create your monsters!

You can make a monster out of literally anything you have lying around. My Alphabet Monster was made first from an old wine glass box, some paint and bits of scrap paper.  Because I'd been using him and calling him the Alphabet Monster I ended up needing to make another friend for maths - so the Number Monster was created from a tissue box.  There's really no need to have more than one - you could just give your monster a name and them use him/her for activities in any subject area.  I was worried that because my monsters were cardboard they wouldn't last long, but I've had them now for two years with no damage. Of course you could use an old plastic container to make yours more sturdy.

Once you've made your monster the fun begins!  Give them a character - they need a voice so that when they are fed they can gobble 'Nom nom nom nom nom nom!'.  This is super important because it's what will keep the kidlets hanging for their turn and giggling when others have theirs. My Alphabet Monster is a grown up so he has a deep, loud voice but the Number Monster is a baby so his voice is much more gentle. :)

Food for your monster!

I always begin any monster activities with "I think the Alphabet/Number Monster is hungry! We need to feed him." We then refer to anything that goes into their mouths as 'monster food'.  Here's where using monsters becomes so quick and easy - you can feed them anything! Any flash cards that you use for other activities - sight words, letters, phonics pictures, numbers, shapes, ten frames... the list is literally endless.  You can also feed the monster manipulatives - magnetic letters or numbers, small objects from around the classroom (perfect for beginning/ending/rhyming sound work), shape blocks, counters etc.  And of course it's important to have a stash of scrap paper squares for kidlets to create their own monster food by writing or drawing.  As each kidlet puts their food into the monster's mouth be sure to make your monster's gobbling noise.  Don't worry if you monster's mouth gets too full - monsters have very bad manners so if there's no more room they will simply burp and spit out whatever they've already been fed.  Be prepared for the hilarity that will ensue when this happens! :)

Time to eat... with easy differentiation!

When we feed our monster I ask my kidlets to sit in a circle.  If we're using flash cards I lay them out in front of me and hold the monster on my lap.  Then I choose the kidlet doing the best job of looking and listening to start (I go around the circle so I can be sure everyone gets a go, but you could keep choosing those behaving nicely first!).  Here's where differentiation becomes super duper easy - just ask each student a question most relevant to their needs.  Doesn't matter if they're still working on beginning sounds while everyone else is thinking about rhyming - everyone gets a slightly different question so no one will feel like they've had an 'easy one'.  If you've got a little learner who needs more of a challenge ask them a question accordingly.  No need to prepare anything in advance and everyone participates as they are able!  When the question is a little too difficult I simply say - "This question is a tricky one! Let's all try to figure it out."

Here's a few concepts that are perfect to practise or review with your monster: 

*letter recognition

*beginning/medial/final sounds - children either choose a card/object or draw/write their own idea

*segmenting - children choose an object or card and break it into sounds before they feed it to the monster

*blending - "Feed the monster the t/r/ee" etc.

*counting sounds or syllables - ask the children to choose an object or card with a specific number of sounds or syllables

*rhyming 

*sight words

*number/ten frame/number word/tally recognition

*one more/less

*teen numbers - "Feed the monster the number with 1 group of ten and 3 extra ones"

*number bonds

*counting - "Feed the monster 5 counters"

*tens blocks - ask kidlets to choose blocks that represent the given number

*shape recognition

The list, friends, is pretty endless.  You can see why I use my monsters daily!  I just love that kidlets become so invested in the characters that whenever the monsters come out they wave hello.  Watching them giggle as they feed them carefully so as not to be 'bitten' always makes me smile and this year one precious kidlet actually took time on the last day to go and give the monsters a pat goodbye.

I really hope that this post has inspired you to get crafty and make your own classroom monster!  I'd love to hear if any of these ideas work for you. :)

Easy Maths FUN!

Hello friends!  I feel like I have been really neglecting this little old blog lately - so I'm here today to share 4 easy and FUN ideas that I've been using this week in Maths!

We're working on identifying numerals up to 100 this term.  Using my pocket chart I hid little monsters behind five numbers.  Kidlets took turns trying to find the monsters by asking 'Is there a monster behind the number...'.  I've played this game before using monsters hidden behind sight words and the same thing happened this time - the whole class was absolutely bursting with excitement to have a guess.  And the reaction when a monster was discovered was priceless!  :)

While playing this game it was easy to see who was confident with their numeral identification and who needs more work on this.  You can also ask for guesses that are less/more than specific numbers, even/odd, teen numbers etc. and this allows you to differentiate the game really easily for those who are ready for something trickier.

Nothing is easier to use for number identification tasks than board games!  Whether the kidlets are identifying dot patterns or numerals on a die or on the game itself the idea is the same.  This week I used Chutes and Ladders because the board shows the numbers 1-100.  As each player took their turn I had them count out loud as they moved their piece along the number line.  If you can't find a board game with the numbers you need to work with on it, it would be very easy to whip up a grid and make your own!

You might have read my post earlier in the year all about a DIY game called  Pirate Treasure Ten Frames.  This next game is kind of similar, except the kidlets work with teen numbers.  I call it 'Chook Champs'! ('Chook' is an Aussie slang term for chicken.)  All you need is a whole stack of egg cartons.  Cut them down so that you end up with ten frames - these cartons are perfect for working with manipulatives in any number work you do.  To play Chook Champs each kidlet needs two ten frames each.  They take turns to roll a die, adding cubes (or whatever) to their cartons.  As they play, discuss the number of cubes they have collected.  'You have ten and four more, what number do you have?' 'Who has the most cubes?' 'How many more do you need to make 10 or 20?'  I've found that this is a really engaging way to reinforce that tricky teen number concept.  You can also have them record their number on a whiteboard after each turn to practice writing those numbers.  When both ten frames are full, kidlets get a Chook Champ card! (This is just a picture of a chicken.)  The player with the most chickens at the end of the playing time is the Chook Champ!  Warning: excitement levels often make this game noisy. :)  

Last of all is an idea for working on addition concepts that you can adapt to any theme or for any hands on counters you have.  My version is called 'Dino Dash'.

Use two pocket dice and some dot pattern cards.  Kidlets roll both and add them together to move their dinosaur along the path.  When one dinosaur makes it to the end, they have a rest under the tree and another dinosaur begins his journey.  They player with the most dinosaurs resting under the tree at the end of the game is the winner!  To use this game all through the year I simply change the numbers in the dice.  To work on the 'count on' strategy I have one die with numerals and the other with one, two or three dots.  Later in the year both dice will have numerals on them when we're ready for addition to be a little more abstract.

If you don't have plastic dinosaurs just make up a board that suits whatever you have!  Maybe bugs along flowers, or teddies walking towards a picnic - the possibilities are endless really.   :)

I really hope you found an idea that you might be able to use in your classroom!  I'd love to hear from you if your kidlets enjoyed these simple but fun activities.