Alphabet Visual Aid...

I have finally managed to put my alphabet visual aid (from Walmart) on display in my classroom.  I especially like my paper holder / organizer, which I have now hung on hooks over my bathroom door. When I bought it two years ago, I initially hung it on the wall.

 

  I think I prefer it on the door! The paper organizer can be purchased from S&S Worldwide   www.ssww.com  (item #RS289)

Butterfly Craft Teaches / Reinforces Letter, Colors, and Shapes Recognition...

"R r" is for Rabbit (mask craft project)...

My granddaughter, age 3, modeling her rabbit mask. 

The mask is made from card stock paper.

"M m" is for "Mittens"...

 

 

We have been learning the letter "M m".  "M m" is for "Mittens".  Today we learned the poem / story about the "Three Little Kittens Who Lost Their Mittens" (literature / reading).  My two young students and I made a large poster depicting these kittens wearing their mittens (art).  The kittens represented each of them, as well as their baby brother.  This poster makes a great visual aid for learning the story, learning rhyming words, recognizing the letter "M m" and the sound it makes (phonics), learning the opposite words "lost" and "found", learning colors (brown, black, tan, etc.),  and learning to recognize the numbers 1-2-3 (math). I suppose the story of the three little kittens could also be counted as a social studies lesson as it shows how irresponsible behavior will result in a negative consequence. 

 

"M m" is also for "Mammal".  We discussed the characteristics of mammals (science).  They are warm-blooded, have hair / fur, give birth to live young, and they produce milk to feed their babies.

Our poster is almost as large as the children's school table, which will comfortably seat 4 small students.

Handprint / "Fan Bird" Craft Project - Elijah Fed by Ravens...

We did this project in Primary Sunday School Class as part of our study about Elijah who was fed by ravens during a time of drought. 

This project could also be used to make a white dove  during Christmas or Easter, or in the Spring to make various colors of birds

 Fold a piece of black construction paper in half.  Place hand on top and trace around your hand.  Cut out and glue the palms (bird body) and thumbs (bird head) together.  Fold down the other fingers to make wings.  Add yellow beak and yellow feet.  Cut a 8 to 12 inch  X  4 to 6 inch piece of black paper and fold it accordion style and glue one end into the top part of the body, at an angle, for the bird tail.  White crayon was used to make the eye.  Wiggle eyes would be great!

 

My grandson's version:

This craft would be good to make and use as a visual aid when learning the letters  "B" is for Bird, "C" is for Crow, "R" is for Raven; the colors; and animal (life) science.

This idea was taken from the book Christian Crafts from Construction Paper, written by: Lori Miescke, published by: Shining Star Publications.
 

"R r" is for Rocket ( lift-up book ) craft project...

Fold a piece of cardstock in half to make a tall, slim book approx. 11 and a half inches tall and 4 and half inches wide.  Copy a free coloring picture of a rocket from the internet, color, and glue to the front of the book.  Give your book a title.

On the inside of the book / card stock sheet, color the right half black (outer space).  Add star stickers or dabs of glitter glue, and a partial picture of the moon (to the top of the page). My moon picture was cut from a magazine.  If you prefer, you could copy a picture of the moon (to color) from the internet.  

Next, color half of another piece of cardstock black.  Cut the black section away from the whole page. Cut about 1/5 of the length off of the top of the black section.  Put glue on the back of the lower 1/4 of this piece and attach it to the bottom of the black, colored side of your book.  Add a partial picture of the earth to the bottom.  My earth picture was cut from a magazine.  If you prefer, you could copy a picture of the earth (to color) from the internet.  

Fold this black section in half toward you.  Then fold the upper half (also in half) away from you.  Attach a small picture of a rocket to the top fold with the tip of the rocket and the exhaust from the rocket extending slightly past the upper and lower edges.  

Unfold the loose, black section and color in some exhaust fumes ascending upwards from the earth to the rocket.  Add more star stickers or dabs of glitter glue.  On the left-hand side of the page/book, add some facts about rockets, the moon, the first man to walk on the moon, etc.  Add a "countdown to blast-off" if you'd like.  This would be a good way to bring numbers/math/counting backwards into your lesson.  After everything has dried well, fold down the rocket section, then unfold it back up to demonstrate how it travels to the moon.

Curriculum covered by this project:  Science,  Math,  Art,  History / Social Studies.  You could even add a Geography lesson by finding on a map and/or globe the location of the blast-off.

A fun way to do school!

I got this idea from the Teacher Resource Book entitled How to Make Books with Children, Volume 2  by: Joy Evans & Jo Ellen Moore.