And Don't forget Draw, and save money, and live your crazy mom or teacher life!! This blog is kind of a modge podge of things I love- Education activities, Money saving, Mom stuff, crafts, and other arts integration into life kind of stuff.

His Name is Jesus Player

Monday, September 16, 2013

Parts


Title:  Parts

By Tedd Arnold

To purchase this book from Amazon, click here!
 
Subjects: Language Arts, Media Art/Technology (photography), art, science

Objectives: Rhyming, poetry, sequencing, comprehension, creativity, fluency, human body

Grade(s): Any Grade

Possible Materials Needed: Camera, writing utensils, computers, chalk, or other materials. 

Brief Description: Parts is a poem in a book.  Therefore, you can use this book for teaching poetry and/or rhyming.  It is also a great book to get older students/children out of their comfort zone, and present the book as if they were the little boy “loosing” his parts (see Drama Integration Activity).  

Lesson:

1.   HOOK: (Get the students interested). Begin by reading the book in a dramatic way to the students (even older students).  Read it as if you were the main character.  Most likely students will think you are funny!

Choose one or more from the following activities:

2.   Media Art/Technology Activity: This activity can be done as a whole class, in groups, or as individual projects for older kids.  It can be incorporated when teaching sequencing, creativity, comprehension, or many other things depending on how you use it.  The activity: for each page of the book, take a creative picture of what the page is saying.  For example: On the second page the main character’s hair falls out in his comb.  You or your students depending on how you set the activity up-take a picture of someone holding a comb with hair in it.  After all the pictures are taken, you can have the kids put them in order for a sequencing activity.  If you did groups, you could have the students present their group media arts project about the book with the pictures.  There is a lot you could do with the pictures. 

I actually did this activity with my class when I was teaching 3rd grade.  We did it to feature this book because it is one of my favorite books, and it is the book my students voted for to feature.  We did this as a class, and students took turns being in the pictures.  (I took the pictures).  When we were all done, we put the pictures on our classroom door, with a sign that said- “Can you guess the book?”  The students loved it, and it made them more excited to read other books.  Here are some of the examples of pictures I took.  (The kids were creative, and they chose what to do for the picture). 

 

3.   Drama Integration Activity: If you chose to use the “hook” for this book, this activity is exactly that, but it is what students will do and present.  You can use this book as an introduction/example, and have the students choose their own books, or you can have students read this book to the class, you, or in a group.  The Activity: have students read the book in a dramatic way- as if they were the little boy missing his hair, brain, etc.  This is a good way to help with fluency.   

4.   Art/Writing Integration: After using this book to teach poetry, have the children write and illustrate their own poem.  You can have younger children use writing utensils, or have older children create their graphics using technology: photography, a program like Paint, or other graphics. 

5.   Science Integration Activity: This is a perfect book to use when teaching about our bodies to little kids.  The book has reference to skin, bones, boogers, body parts (eyes and arm), teeth, and ear wax.  You could focus on any one of these things or all of them when introducing a unit on the body.  Some Art integration activities when using this book to teach the body is: self-portraits, skeleton bodies, or go outside with chalk and trace students’ bodies.  Let them draw their own face and clothes. 

At Home Ideas: Any of the above ideas can easily be done at home with a little adaptation.  Some may even be easier to do at home than in a classroom.


 

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Monsterlicious


Title:  Monsterlicious

By Erk Jon Slangerup

Illustrated by John Sandford

 


 
To purchase this book from Amazon, click here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1577684214/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=
 
Subjects: Drama, Language Arts, Writing, Art

Objectives: Comprehension, Sequence, Setting 

Grade(s): 2-4th, but can be adapted to other grades 

 Description: Mosterlicious  is a book about a little boy who can’t seem to make any food recipe right.  His father owns a nice restaurant, and when he goes out of town leaves his son, Bingle in charge.  Bingle makes crazy recipes, which scares away the human guests, but is perfect for the new guests- the Monsters.  It is a fun book, and I used it to teach comprehension when I was teaching 3rd grade. 

Remember this is not a complete lesson.  It is ideas on how to integrate the arts into Language Arts and other subjects that have to do with the children’s book.  Use and adapt as you like!

 Lesson:

1.     HOOK: (Get the students interested…) A great idea to get the students interested is to make a funny creative food recipe using nasty ingredients, like a shoe, sticks, spiders (fake of course), and dog food.  Make the concoction in front of the students, and then offer it to them to eat!!

2.     Read the book!  (The Drama Integration Activity requires you to read the book while doing the activity.  See below for details). 

1.     Another HOOK idea: While the children are away from the classroom, set up a “Bangdoodle Restaurant.”  Pretend to be the server, and serve some weird looking food.  You choose if you want it to be edible or not, and if you want the children to actually eat it.  You can use your “fake” restaurant as your setting for the story.  (You can also use this idea when teaching about setting).  

Choose one or more from the following activities: 

3.     Drama Integration Activity: Have the children sit in a big circle with lots of space in the middle.  As you read the book, you will basically have the children act it out.  For each character you pick a student to come to the center to be that character.  As you read the story, you tell the student what to do.  Basically, the student does what you say as you read.  Make sense?  For example- on the 3rd page of the book, Bingle’s father talks to him about being nervous and unhappy.  After you have two students in the center (on the stage)- one being Bingle and one being his father- then tell the student who is Beingle’s father to say- “I am a nervous and unhappy person, and I need a vacation…” The student can repeat the words you tell him to repeat.  In the book the father shakes his head and lets out a big sigh.  Tell the student who is playing the father to do just that.  Continue doing this throughout the book adding new characters.  This makes the story long, but it is so fun for the kids, and a great way to teach comprehension and /or sequence.  Of course, when you are done with the book or during the activity, you can ask questions to assess if the students are comprehending.  I did this with my 3rd grade students.  They loved it.  At first they were hesitant to “act” out the parts, but by the end of the book they really had a great time, and were able to answer all of my questions! 

4.     Drama/Writing Integration Activity: This activity especially works well if you did the previous Drama integrated activity.  It can still work if you didn’t do the previous activity, but it may take some preparation in getting the kids to act out the characters.  For this activity, you put the students in groups, and have them rewrite the ending of the book.  Give them guidelines, such as Bingle’s father doesn’t return, or Bingle’s father is not happy with what he did to the restaurant. Then, after the students perfect their rewritten ending, have them act it out in front of the class.  

5.     Art Integration Activity:  After reading the book, have your students design a monster.  You can use any element (colored pencils, paint, markers, etc) that you want to have your students design with.  To integrate writing, have the students write about their monster.  Depending on the grade level, you could have them write a character analysis, a story, or just sentences like, “My monster’s name is _________.,  and “My monster’s favorite color is ______________,” 

At home Activity: A great activity at home for this book is to create a funny, crazy recipe.  You can do it as a family, or have a competition to see who can create the weirdest food that tastes the best.  After the food creations have been made, have a fun family Monster restaurant, and take turns serving each other the crazy food.

 

 

Friday, September 6, 2013

Blog Launch Giveaway

It has been a week since I started this blog, and I know the best way to get an audience is to have a giveaway!!  The giveaway is a $5 Walmart gift card.  It is my way of saying thank you for supporting me in my way of still using my degree while being a stay at home mom!!

 It's easy to enter!  All you have to do is follow this blog by going to the home page and clicking the follow button, AND like my Sing, Dance, Play, and READ Facebook page.  Here is the link to the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/singdanceplayread?ref=hl.

For extra entries, you can also upload my blog to Pinterest, and/or share the giveaway post on Facebook on your own wall.  Let me know if you did these extra entries either by leaving a comment on this post, or a comment on the Facebook post or page.

I will draw the winner next Friday, a week from today, so to enter you need to do these things before Friday.  I will post the winner Friday by midnight on the blog and the Facebook page, and instructions on how to get your prize.  Good luck!

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Leo, the Lightening Bug


Title:  Leo the Lightning Bug

By Eric Drachman

Illustrated by James Muscarello 



Subjects: Bullying, Language Arts, Speech, Math, Drama, Dance, Art

Objectives: Bullying, Believing in yourself, Problem Solving, Prediction, Characters, Emotions/feelings, Comprehension, Fluency, Times Tables 

Grade(s): Primary 

 Description: Leo the Lightning Bug can be used any time of the year, but would especially be good to use at the beginning of the year to prevent bullying before it happens.  In the book, Leo gets laughed at because he can’t light his bottom like the other lightening bugs.  He practices, and is eventually able to light up.  If you buy the book through the link on Amazon, you will get the cd with it.  The cd is a great way to enhance the book sound effects.  It can also be used as a technology tool for language arts (see below). 

Remember this is not a complete lesson.  It is ideas on how to integrate the arts into Language Arts and other subjects that have to do with the children’s book.  Use and adapt as you like! 

Lesson:

1.     HOOK: While the students are not in the room, put glow in the dark stickers around.  Before you read the book, turn all the lights off, so the students only see the glow in the dark stickers.  You can have them guess what kind of book you are going to read.

2.     While the lights are still off, ask the students what they think the book is about.  (Prediction) 

3.     Read the book!  Talk about the book as you are reading it.  What happened?  Who were the characters?  Talk about Leo’s character.  Why was he upset?  Etc.

Choose one or more from the following activities: 

4.     Drama Integration Activity: While reading the book, have the kids “dramatize” certain parts.  For example when Leo feels “small” have the students show you “small”  (They might do things like curl up in a ball, hold their hands close together, or other creative ideas they come up with.  Another example is when Leo’s mom tells him “Leo means ‘Lion,’ have the students growl like a lion or show you a lion face. This is a great activity when teaching emotions, feelings, or bullying.  It also helps the students to comprehend the story better. It also helps students to understand Leo, the main character, and can be used as an activity when teaching about characters.   More things you could do to have the students “dramatize” the book:

a.      “Leo took a deep breath in”- have students take a deep breath of air.

b.     Leo “clenched all of his toes on all six of his feet…”- have the students clench toes, squinch face, and all muscles

c.      When Leo is made fun of and wants to disappear, have the students show you on their faces how they would feel if they wanted to disappear.  (This is a great time to talk about bullying).

d.     During the lighting storm, Leo’s body trembles with the noise.  Have the students tremble. 

e.      When Leo lights for the first time, have the students show you how they think Leo feels now.

f.       KING-OF-THE-LIGHTENING-BUGS!!! – have students do a   “KING-OF-THE-LIGHTENING-BUGS” dance.

g.      “Leo laughed so hard that his whole body shook”- You guessed it- have the students laugh just like Leo.

h.     At the very end of the book, have the kids pretend they are sleeping. (Although, be careful, some kids might not wake up!:-) 

5.     Dance integration Activity: In the book Leo does a “KING-OF-THE-LIGHTENING-BUGS” dance.  This activity would be helpful when teaching children to not give up.  School and other things are hard for some children, and it is easy to “give up.”  Leo didn’t give up, and eventually he was able to light up.  He did a victory dance.  If your students are struggling with something as a class- such as not turning in homework on time, or being quiet when it is not their turn- you could have a class victory dance when they accomplish turning their “homework in as a class” or whatever it is they are working on as a whole.  Another idea to do a victory dance is if- students are working on times tables.  Each time a student accomplishes a times table they get to do a victory dance.   

6.     Another dance integration Activity: This activity can be used when dealing with bullying.  As a class, you could make up a dance as a daily routine.  Then when you do the dance the students should be reminded not to bully.  (It will take some time to remind the students what the dance is for, but it will be a good/fun reminder not to bully other kids). 

7.     Technology integration: If you have the accompanying cd with the book, then you can use it to help individual students with fluency.  This would be good for about 2-4th graders depending on their reading level.  Have the child listen to the book, while reading the words out loud at the same time.   

At home Activity: Of course you can do any of the classroom activities at home, but some may need to be adapted a bit.  The “Victory Dance” activity is a great one to use at home because an individual child may be struggling with something just like Leo.  Another activity you could do at home is create a collage of lightening bugs, or fireflies. You can find pictures on the internet or have fun using materials around the house to make a creative collage.  Along with your collage, you can learn about real lightening bugs from articles on the internet.  Here is the link to Wikipedia on lightening bugs/fireflies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly 

Another great website to learn about fireflies is : http://handsonhomeschooler.com/2013/06/firefly-science-for-kids.html
It has some cool science experiments, and other cool activities that have to do with fireflies.  

Here are few more activities you can do with this book.  They are not my ideas, so you will find the link as to where I found these ideas with each activity: 

1.     Speech Language Learning: “Print 2 jars, cut out and staple together (except for the top). Cut out and color lightning bugs and words. Glue a word on to the back of each bug. You can make duplicates to make a matching game, or you can hide the bugs and find them. When you find a bug (or a match) place the bugs in the jar as you practice the word on them. Find all the bugs (or matches)! Have fun! Remember to get your tongue up for your /l/ sound!”





2.     Art Integration Activity: Create a little lightening bug out of cardstock, pipe cleaners, and a clothespin. Cut the body out of color cardstock, and use the pipe cleaners to make antennas, arms, and legs for the little fellow.  You could glue the clothespin to the back of the body to give the lightening bug more of a 3-dimensional effect.  You can use wiggly eyes for the bug’s face, and a simply black marker for the eyebrows and mouth. 


To see instructions on how to put this lightening bug together, visit Rachel’s blog at http://www.iheartcraftythings.com/2013/07/leo-lightning-bug.html
 

 
If you have any more ideas on how to use this book in your classroom or at home, please feel free to share in the comments!