Teddy Bears

 

Here we have our Teddy Bear display from Year 1 - a bright, beautiful and colourful display which drew much admiration from other students and parents. 

We had completed a comprehension task about the first teddy bears as part of our unit of Toys. We then created this masterpiece for our visual arts lesson.

First I modelled a drawing of a teddy bear on the IWB. The students drew their own on A3 cardboard and then coloured it in using bright oil pastels. After that, we used edicol dye to paint the boarder and background.

 

 

The technique was very similar to the one I used here for our sunflower display.

 

Display: Out of This World!

This is my current Welcome display to introduce my students to classroom visitors:

I found the alien templates on Mrs Pancake and glued a cut-out head of each of my students onto them before laminating.


The planet is just black cardboard, but the font for the writing is called Cheri and can be downloaded for free at da font.


I printed each letter onto different coloured cardboard, cut them out individually, overlapped and then laminated them.

 

Butterfly Masks

My Year One class made these decorative butterfly masks using a template provided (see below).

Some coloured the template whilst others made a collage using sequins.
My students stuck a paddlepop stick onto the back and used them for an assembly item when explaining the life cycle of a butterfly.

Test Skills

LOVE this little hand-out for students and parents to help develop the skills required for tests, exams and assessments! Reinforce each time the students sit for a test.

My Favourite Author: Lauren Child

My absolute, all time favourite author is Lauren Child. Creator of Charlie and Lola, some of her lesser-known books are just as good!

These are my two favourites:

       

Lauren Child writes rich, quality texts that provide hours of deconstructing for students of all ages.
Here's an example of just how much of a genius she is:

Hugh Laurie also narrates some of her work, so make sure you get the book that comes with the CD - he is BRILLIANT!

Caterpillars

Find a leaf template (like one I found here), and photocopy it onto green cardboard. 

Then, using strips of green paper, glue or staple the ends together to make loops for the body of the caterpillar. 

Do the same with one strip of red paper for the head, drawing eyes on it with textas. 

Cut shorter, thinner strips and glue them to the head as the antennae. 

And here you have your self a basic caterpillar!

Welcome Bags

 

 

Welcome Bags 

How adorable are these Welcome gift bags for students? I originally thought it would be a great idea for the beginning of the new school year, but then I joined the Kindergarten Orientation Day committee at school and thought, 'what better time?' - and didn't they go down well between students and parents alike!!

Contents:

• Eraser
• Smarties
• Lifesavers
• Pencil
• Water bottle 
• Star Burst
• Helium balloon

The helium balloons were attached to the handles for the finishing touch.

I made the following template and pasted it onto white gift bags I purchased from an art store:

 

(this activity has been modified, though originally inspired from here)

Group Work Expectations

I LOVE this display poster detailing student's group work behaviour expectations.
It makes a great reference particularly during Literacy Group work as students are expected to work together completing different activities, all in the same room.

Float and Sink Boat Experiment

 

For our Stage 1 Floating and Sinking experiment for our Science topic on 'Forces', students were asked to bring in recyclable materials from home. They were provided glue and paint, and had to construct a vessel that would float.

We then tested these in large water tubs and wrote a reflection. 

Here are some students busy constructing their boats:

These are some of the finished masterpieces:

Here we are testing their buoyancy:

 

This is a sample template for their written reflection after students have tested their vessels: 

Grandparent's Day Assembly Song

 

This is the most adorable song! "Some Kind of Wonderful" by High 5.

It can be sung at a Valentines, Mothers, Fathers or Grandparent's Day assembly, with a video slideshow of the students with their significant family member.

Colour Monkeys

Dominie sells these cute colour display monkeys. (I had to make new labels because the spelling was American-ised)

Chalkboard Cheat

Back in the day when I had a chalkboard in my classroom, I used this cheat tip to create beautiful artworks for display:

• Find a image and copy it onto transparency paper. 
• Use an overhead projector to project the image onto the board.
• Trace using coloured chalk.

Your students will think you're some sort of artist!