Leaf Man

An Invitation to Explore Leaves

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert is a beautifully illustrated book about a leaf man that is blown by the wind far away from home.

The children had the opportunity to explore the woods behind the school.  They gathered leaves, berries, sticks, seed pods, and acorns.  They sorted the items to be used in their project.

A beautiful display inspire children to create. 

The children used the natural materials to create their own leaf people.

Completed Leaf People

Word Cards

Inspiring Children to Write

Clip Art: Mycutegraphics

To help inspire my children to write I add word cards to the writing area.   Children are able to choose the card theme and the word they want to write. 

Stages of Writing:

(Adapted from Project ELIPSS, Macomb Projects, Western Illinois University)

Scribbling: Emergent writing - random marks or scribbles

Mock Handwriting or Wavy Scribble: Children produce lines of wavy scribbles as they imitate adult writing. 

Mock Letters: Children attempt to form alphabetic representations, which also often appear in their drawings. Children make letter-like shapes that

resemble conventional letters. 

Conventional Letters: Children’s first experiments with real letters are usually the letters from their name or a family member's name. As children’s mock letters become more and more conventional, real letters of the alphabet begin to appear. 

Invented Spelling: Once children are fairly comfortable writing conventional letters, they begin to cluster letters together to make word forms. 

Approximated (Phonetic) Spelling: Children apply sounds to letters to approximate the spellings of words. Beginning sounds are used first, ending sounds second. 

Conventional Spellings: Children’s approximated spellings gradually become more and more conventional. The child’s own name is usually written first, followed by words such as mom, dad, and love. 

Mock Letters

Transition from Mock Letters to Conventional Letters



Download Word Cards
Adventure Card
Christmas Card
Farm Card
Halloween
Playing Card
Spring Card
Thanksgiving Card
Valentine Card
Winter Card
Fast Food
Feelings Card

Meaningful Print

Heart Words

Heart words are created by the students.  They are words that have the most meaning to each child.  The words chosen are unique to each child.  This experience gives the children the opportunity to reveal to the community what is important to them, what puts their mind to wonder, and what they think about.  Aside from this emotional connection, heart words provide an entryway into literacy.  Learning to read and write becomes easier when the words come from a place of love rather than a rote list.  Slowly, the children learn the letters in their heart words and start to hear and learn the sounds that each letter makes.

Description borrowed from a NAREA participating school.

We display this sign above our heart words

Each child's heart words are held together with a binder ring.  I add a small picture on the bottom to help them find their words. 

Examples of words that the students use: favorite color, foods, toys / special people in their life /  silly words like capow! / etc.

The heart words are hung in the writing zone, but the students take them to whatever area they need them.  

Print Conveys Meaning

Teaching children that letters form words, words form sentences, and that those sentences carry meaning can be a very abstract concept.  This is why I introduce it with printed words coming directly out of their mouths.  

I started this process the first week of school.  I gave them a large sheet of watercolor paper & crayons and had them decorate it anyway they like.

The next week they added watercolor.

On the third week I interviewed them.

The last and most fun step is to get the kids to pose with their mouth open.  Print and cut the outline of their head and then glue their responses .

Each child had an opportunity to "read" their sentences to their friends.  

Pete the Cat

Rocking In Our School Shoes

We love reading Pete the Cat books! That cat really does LOVE his shoes and so do we!

After reading Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes, I took a photo of everyone's shoes.  

I made a Powerpoint with the pictures and displayed it on the Smart Board.  As each shoe was displayed we answered the following questions:

1. What kind of shoes are these?

2. Do you wear these shoes when it's hot, cold, or both?

3. Are these shoes best for walking or running?

4. Do these shoes belong to a boy or a girl? How do you know?

5. Who do these shoes belong to?

Class Book
I printed the slides from the powerpoint and made a class book.

Shared Writing
We graphed each child's shoes by color.  We then wrote how their shoes got to be that color.  For example:  Angie stepped in a pile of ketchup (she has red shoes)

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Download free Pete the Cat Activities and songs:

http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/feature/petethecat/

The Hundred Languages Poem

DOWNLOAD COPY OF POSTER:

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1f5QJtIZGze5huWFH-NLj07QnwJGI4Yrci4D4qWiMlmY/edit?usp=sharing

Photo Tile

Great Gifts 

Photo tiles make a beautiful gift for parents and family.  This is an inexpensive project that is quick and easy.

Materials Needed:

1. Photos ( In this example I digitally arranged mine on the computer and printed, but it is totally not necessary. I have used regular photos in the past.)

2.  Mod Podge

3. Paint brush (I used a sponge brush)

4. Smooth Ceramic Tiles  (I used 4x4)

Steps:

1. Arrange the photos on the tile before glueing.  Make sure it looks like you want it. Once they are glued down they can be difficult to unglue without tearing.
2. Glue the photos onto the tile using the Mod Podge and let completely dry.
3. Apply a layer of Mod Podge over the photos.  This will make a protective seal.
4. Allow to dry (about 1 day)

The tiles make great Christmas, Valentine's day, Mother's/Father's day presents. A friend used pictures from the whole year and gave them as End of the Year gifts.

Class Photo Tiles

Other Ideas:

• Add jewels, buttons, ribbons, or sea shells to add more personality (after completely dried)
• Preserve children's drawings on tiles