Rainbow Poetry

Many Colored Days:

Read the book My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss. It is about feelings and a great way for parents to discuss feelings with their children. The book goes through emotions and ties them with vibrant illustrations and color. Make a large list or a personal list in a journal of how certain colors make the writer feel. Transfer thoughts on to strips of paper that match color as the sample pictured.

Color of the Day:

Younger children may enjoy the color of the day or week. Choose a color and focus the whole day and lessons around color.

For example: Red day or week may include eating red foods such as apples, strawberries, cranberries, berries, red bell pepper, red potatoes and the list goes on!  A quick and fun lesson on adjectives or using descriptive words in writing could be to bring in several red items. Have the children list words to describe. For little ones, you will need to write a list for them. A red ball could have several words such as round, bouncy, smooth or bumpy, etc.

Make a red (or any color you choose) collage. Collect red items such as paper, yarn, tissue paper, buttons, art supplies like sequins, ribbon, wrapping paper and more. On sturdy paper like card stock or poster board have the children create a collage. If you have room in your house or classroom, you could have a large poster board size for each color day to reinforce the theme and have some super fun decorations up for color week.

Make prints with fruits or vegetables. Red or green apples make good prints. Potatoes are easy to carve and make prints.

For each color, books and poems should be incorporated either as a read aloud or as a introduction to an activity. Hello, Red Fox by Eric Carle is a great example for the red day.

Games and clothes: Have the children wear the color of the day to school or at home. If you have a large class you can play games like red rover or red light, green light.

The possibilities to include writing, reading, math, science and more into the color theme is endless. Have fun!

Of course do not forget to write one line per day about the color so at the end of the thematic lesson, children can make the rainbow poem.

Spring Poetry Unit:

Poetry ideas are fun to incorporate throughout the year and there is not an age limit. Tying all of the writing skills and expression at the end of the school year is a great way to showcase a student’s progress. Study words and poetry. Have the children or child start a word collection journal. as they read poems, quotes or passages that sound good to them they write them in their journal. This appreciation of words cannot be taught, but if you can show them and have them stop to soak them in, you are giving a gift of  loving words. Words can be powerful and move emotions. Allow students to choose their own and allow for time to share.

Recycling

Sing to the tune of I’ve Been working on the Railroad

We’ve been working on the recycling.

All the trash we can.

We’ve been working on recycling.

It’s a simple plan.

Separate your glass and paper,

Separate your plastic and tin.

Take the trash you have recycled

to the recycling bin!

If you would like a memorable, yet simple activity for children to celebrate nature, try writing a poem.

Write Your Own Poem or Song

First have children with a paper and clipboard or poetry journal if they have one. Lay down outside and watch the sky, trees and surrounding environment. Have them write words, phrases and feelings that come to their mind. then, gather at a table or back inside. Have them write a poem using the words and feelings they noted outside. Another version is write a letter to the earth or nature.

As a group decide on the topic of the group poem.

Let’s say someone said dolphins:

Then you would write the title and write down all of the responses of descriptive words. Depending on the crowd, you may have too many words. So, this is your chance to discuss words that are similar and how to eliminate.

Then you write the final list poem.

Dolphins

Sleek

Friendly

Fast

Jumping

Dolphins

When you have completed writing the first poem together, allow the child or the children to write their own.  The beauty of this lesson is that it can be used for almost any topic. It would be ideal for animals, seasons, nature, social studies and much more.

A Few Examples:

Beginning of the year:  Have students write a list poem about themselves.

Mother’s Day/Father’s Day: Have child make a card and write list poem inside about parent.

Earth Day: Choose a topic such as the earth, land, pollution, ocean, trees etc and write a list poem. Extend it into an art project using paint and paper to illustrate the topic.

Each Veterans Day check your local area for celebrations, parades and activities.

Here are a few things and activities to do with your family at home:

IDEAS:

READ STORIES (Appropriate for age)

My favorite book is The Wall by Eve bunting. Most of her books are my favorite!

• Activity Idea:  In the story they make a rubbing of the name on the wall, you could place objects like a quarter under paper and rub with the side of a crayon to make your own  rubbing.

Books about Flag

• Design flags
• Write words/phrases on flag as below that have to do with story read or Veterans Day

Here is the plain flag that was bought from the store. The child could draw or paint the flag and then write on it when it is dry.

The words were written on the flag with a fine point sharpie permanent marker.  The words below were written by an eight year old boy who studied the civil war in his second grade class and also had just read the Star Spangled Banner.  That may explain some of his words he chose to write on the flag!

WRITE LETTERS

• Design notes and letters to send to troops or veterans.
• Younger children draw pictures and have the adult write a short message and note the child’s name and age.  If the child would like a certain message, put quotes around the message along with child’s name.

If you do not know anyone to send letters to, we  have found troops to send to through churches, local VA medical centers and check with local retirement center for veterans that would like to receive notes of thanks.

RESEARCH

Older children can research American war heroes such as George Washington. Have them write or present their findings. They could even act out the part for a meaningful experience they will not forget!  Give some creative free choice on how to present the material, children (and students) always amaze me how creative they can be when allowed the time.

Example:

Write the heading “likes” and “dislikes” on the whiteboard or paper.  Then have the child or children guess what little Miss Picky might like to eat.

SHHH….. Do not tell them what she eats. As they guess, write down their guess in the appropriate column.

For this example, Miss Picky will only eat foods that start with the letter “S.”  But it could be only words with a long o sound, short a sound, two syllables, five letters….you get the point.

The object of the game is to discover the pattern of Miss Picky.

So on with the example:

In the “Likes” column you may see; spaghetti, strawberries, sandwiches, squash.

In the “Dislikes” column you may see jelly, tomatoes, bagels, oranges etc.

*If you have a few more minutes and they have guessed the pattern, allow them to come up and continue the list.

*Artsy people can draw a Little Miss Picky and write the accepted words on her body or dress.  If you are using this in a classroom, laminate Miss Picky and use a dry erase marker each time you play!

If you plan on keeping these, I would organize by color or some other system so you can easily pull out the words you will need. For example, colors could be a code for easy to difficult, or grade levels or the week of the spelling list.  Use what makes sense to you. Happy spelling!

Choose a story and read aloud as you munch on some Pooh Bear Treats!

Pooh Bear Sandwiches

Children can cut their own bread with a bear shaped cookie cutter. Mix peanut butter and “hunny” and have children spread on their bear shaped bread. Yum.  we toasted our bread first, and then cut out. I have heard you can freeze the bread before cutting.

Pooh Bear Tasty Treats

Ingredients:

1/4 cup crushed wheat flake cereal
3 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk solids
Non-stick cooking spray

Reserve two tablespoons crushed cereal. Mix honey and peanut butter. Gradually add nonfat milk, mixing well. Spray hands with non-stick cooking spray (or butter)and shape into 1/2 inch balls. Roll in reserved cereal. Chill until firm, about 1 hour. Store in refrigerator. Adult help may be needed and makes about 24 treats.

In the younger grades it is fun to read “If You give A Pig A Pancake” and have pancake snacks that day, as well as other literature activities. If you are in a school, please check your policies. As when I taught, we brought the griddle in the class.

One way is to write a letter on the pan let it cook until you see bubbles. Then pour batter over letter to make a “normal” pancake.  The image is in the pancake. Have fun with this, you can make smiley faces etc.  Also, note that you will need to write the mirror image for letters like “L”  or they will be backwards!

Or, just write a large letter to be the pancake itself. A turkey baster works well, but I just used a spoon for mine.

The whole family agrees that this recipe is the best so far.   Hope you and your family or class have a yummy in the tummy pancake experience!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, stirred or sifted before measuring
• 2  teaspoons baking powder
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons melted butter

Preparation:

Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and 1 1/2 cups of milk; add to flour mixture, stirring only until smooth. Blend in melted butter. If the batter seems too thick to pour, add a little more milk. Cook on a hot, greased griddle, using about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Cook until bubbly, a little dry around the edges, and lightly browned on the bottom; turn and brown the other side. Recipe for pancakes serves 4.