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.
What do you do after reading the book, 5 Little Pumpkins, with your toddler on a nice day? You paint a pumpkin, of course!! I guess you can paint one on a not so nice day, too, but being outside is always more fun than being inside to a toddler!
The pumpkin may not look like a masterpiece, but this was my little guy's first painting job ever, and he really enjoyed exploring the colors, learning about what he was painting on (a pumpkin), and having fun with mom.
Description: This is a fun book
to use around Halloween time, but it is perfect for school because it doesn’t
discuss Halloween or even mention it.The book is about a witch who has a black cat, but always trips or sits
on the cat because it is black like the rest of her house and possessions.She changes the cat to green, but can’t see
the cat outside in the grass because it blends in, so she then turns the cat
several different colors.The cat is embarrassed,
so she turns it back to black, but changes the color of her house and
possessions so she can see the cat again.
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 ideas:
HOOK: (Get
the students interested…) Put on a witches hat to read the story.
1.Art
integration/Colors: This is a fabulous book to integrate finger paints and colors with.After reading the book have the children
paint something!!You can be as specific
as you want (better for younger children) or let the children be creative and
paint what they want.The catch is- they
have to use the colors you tell them.For example, if you are working with preschoolers and teaching colors,
give them a coloring sheet, such as a house or something Halloweeny.Then you tell them a color, and they use
their fingers to paint that color on their picture.For older children, you could have them paint
on a blank canvas or piece of paper, but you still tell them the color they
have to use.They probably already know
their colors at this point, but it makes the art activity more involved and
fun, and allows the students to think more creatively and deeply as to how they
are going to paint their pictures using only certain colors at a time.
2.Drama
Integration Activity/Problem and Solution: This book is
great for teaching young children about problem and solution. This activity
would be best for 2nd graders, but can be adapted for younger
children.While reading the book,
discuss the problems the witch has.Discuss
how she solves her problems.After the
book, put the students in groups.Give
each group a problem.The group then has
to figure out a solution to the problem and act it out in front of the
class.Some possible Halloween problems
you can use are:
a.The little ghosts lost their mother ghost during their midnight walk.
b.The little girl wanted a big pumpkin, but they were all gone at the pumpkin
patch.
c.The kids went trick or treating, but their friend was sick and couldn’t
go with them.
d.The witch lost her hat while she was on her broom flying around the
city.
e.The little spiders’ web got washed away from the water, so they didn’t
have anywhere to live.
3.Art
Integration/Graphic Organizer/Problem and Solving: This
problem/solving activity is good for Kindergarten -1st grade.Before reading the book the children, create
a big chart with two columns.One side
will be the problems while the other side is the solutions.Make little pictures to go on your chart for
each problem/solution.The pictures you
will need are: black house, black cat, grass, green cat, tree, colored cat, and
colored house.As you read the story,
place the corresponding picture in the correct column.For example, the first problem is that the
black cat blends in with the black house, so put the black house on the problem
side with the black cat.As you read you
can move the pictures to the solution side or back to the problem side if they
become the next problem.(If you choose
you can make multiple pictures of the same things, and leave the current
picture in its original place so you don’t have to move the pictures).Now for the students’ activity: during small
groups- choose another simple problem/solution book for each group depending on
their reading level.Read the book
together, but this time the students will make a chart and color/draw little
pictures to represent the problems and the solutions.
You can use the following pictures (found on Bing images) or find your own. The blank cat is for the multicolored cat and needs to be colored after printed.
4.Music
Integration Activity/Colors/Science (Nature): There are lots of fun color songs.I found several YouTube videos with color
songs!Choose your favorite and teach
the kiddoes the song!You can show them
the YouTube video if you choose. The videos all have lots of colors displayed in
the video!
This video is great for pre-k. My toddler loved watching it, as well.
This video is good for learning to read the color words, or incorporating colors into nature. Plus, it has a pumpkin, so another added bonus to use during October or November.
This video is fun for Kindergarten age children reviewing their colors.
At
home Activity: Of course the above activities can be adapted to be at home activities,
but another idea that would be great at home is to find all of the colors in
your house to see if you have as many colors as Winnie does with her new
colored house.
If you have more school or at home
ideas to go with this book, please share!!
Special Post: Integrating the arts into Halloween
parties and fun
I love integrating arts activities with children’s
books, but I know there are ways to teach with the arts other than using a
children’s book. Every once in a while I will be posting a “special post.”It will not be centered on a children’s book;
it will be focused on something else- like a holiday or age group- and still have
arts integrating activities!This is the
first special post of the blog!
It is now October, and I know many teachers and
parents have begun thinking about school or family Halloween parties.If the teachers or parents haven’t, the kids
sure have!!It’s hard to ignore that
fact that once the leaves start changing colors- Halloween is on the minds of
little (and big) kids everywhere!Here
are some ideas/activities that incorporate the arts into your classroom or
family home parties.Some of these ideas
are more academic than others, and can actually be integrated into lessons
during the month of October.
Subjects: Writing, Music, Drama, Dance, Art
Music:
When
I was student teaching, I had the kids do a lip sink to a song of their group’s
choice.The kids had a chance to pick
the song, practice, and then perform.They had a ball.You could do
this for Halloween fun!Here is a list
of kid friendly Halloween songs that would be fun to karaoke or lip sink to:
1.The
Monster Mash
2.Spiderman
3.Ghostbusters
4.Ding
Dong the Witch is Dead
5.I
Want Candy
6.The
Witch Doctor
7.Thriller
8.Dem
Bones
Another
Music Activity: Music can be used for so many things during a
Halloween party because it is fun.Some activities
that involve music for Halloween parties are: (you may have heard of some of
these before)
1.Cake Walk:
Put numbers on the floor and have the students walk around in a circle while
the music is playing.When the music
stops, draw a number and whoever is standing on the number you drew wins a cake
or cupcake!!
2.Musical Chairs:
Put the same amount of chairs in a circle in the room as students- minus one
chair.While the music is playing, have
the students go around the chairs.When
the music stops, have the students sit in a chair.Whoever is not in a chair is out.Continue playing, but be sure to take a chair
out after each round so you always have one less chair than number of students.
3.Dance Moves:
Start the game
by having the kids write down random words on slips of papers. Put the papers
into a bowl and gather everyone into a standing circle. Pass the bowl around
and have everyone pull out a slip of paper. After they've read their paper,
turn on some music and pick one child to start the game. She'll come up with a
dance move using the word on her paper. For example, if she has the word
"kangaroo," she can use hopping as her dance move. Once she performs
the move for about 10 seconds, the person to her left comes up with a dance
move. This continues around the circle as everyone creates their own moves.
Once everyone has contributed, have the kids vote on the best dance move.This game came from ehow.com: http://www.ehow.com/list_6597778_music-party-games-kids.html#ixzz2gVYbegn9
4.Dancing Body Parts:This game would go well
with the song, “Dem Bones.” Gather the kids into a circle and stand somewhere
they can see you. After you put on some music, tell them they can only move the
body parts you instruct them to move as they dance to the music. For example,
start by only moving your pinkie finger, keeping the rest of your body
motionless. Invite the kids to mimic your movements; anyone who doesn't is
eliminated from the game. Make the movements more difficult as you go on, for
example, only move your stomach muscles, or combine two movements, such as
shrugging your shoulders while you tap your feet. The game ends when only one
player--the winner--remains in the game.This game idea came from ehow.com: http://www.ehow.com/list_6597778_music-party-games-kids.html#ixzz2gVZB4bTo
Art:
There are countless Halloween
Art projects out there, so I will only give you one idea that dives more into
creativity than just making a cute cat hanging for the wall.One reason kids (and adults) love Halloween
is because they get to where costumes.Some schools don’t allow costumes. This activity can be done with or
without costumes.Before the party, take
a picture of each child’s face.Make the
picture actual size of the face and print it as a dark watermark.Then have the students choose their favorite
animal. The activity is to have the student’s create the face of that animal on
their own face picture using paint.This
would be a good chance to incorporate an art lesson on combining colors,
texture of paint, etc.
Dance:
One
year when I was in college I was in a show choir and we put on a Halloween
performance for a big Halloween party.We actually sang and danced to the songs we were singing, and it was a
live performance, but an idea like this can be incorporated on a much smaller
scale for a classroom party.Throughout
the month of October you could teach the students a Halloween dance, such as “Thiller,”
by Michael Jackson.If you don’t know
how to do the dance, here is an instructional video that gives you step by step
moves on how to do it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFEu2vd0nPk
During your classroom Halloween party, have
the students perform the song for their parents, other students, or the
school.Obviously, “Thriller” is for
older students, but this idea/activity can be done in younger grades with other
songs.You could even make up a dance to
“5 Little Pumpkins,” if you wanted to!!
Writing/Technology-Media
Art/Drama: For a writing integrated activity, you could have the students as groups write
a Halloween radio show using sound effects.The students would write a “story” to share on the classroom radio as if
it was the 50s and they have to make all of their sound effects
themselves.After writing the story with
sound effects and different voices for the characters, you could have them
record their radio stories on a device (tape, mp3, or whatever technology you
have) and play each story to the class as if they were listening to the
radio.If you don’t want to have the
students record their radio stories, you could put up a sheet in front of the
classroom so the audience cannot see the performing group.The group who is sharing their story goes
behind the sheet with all of their sound effects and reads the story making the
sound effects as if they were live on the radio in the 50s.There are “spooky sounds” and Halloween side
effect cds and audio files on the internet if you want to allow your students
to use pre-recorded sounds. (This idea is not my original idea.It was something we did when I was taking the
Arts Academy through BYU while teaching).
If
you have more ideas on how to integrate the arts into classroom or at home
Halloween parties, please feel free to comment with those ideas!!Thanks for sharing!
