THE RAINBOW BOOK & Rainbow Mosaic Collage

This was the second rainbow project I did with Kindergarten to reinforce the order of a rainbow. Reading THE RAINBOW BOOK also gave us chance to talk about the way colors can relate to feelings.

After a demonstration on the document camera students began by folding, drawing and cutting a heart for the center of their collage. I always ask students to check with me before cutting since hearts can be tricky! Then, students used strips of paper from orange to purple to cut into different shapes for their mosaic. We reviewed rainbow order and also talked a bit about symmetry. I love the way each student interpreted this differently, but all the variations were beautiful and successful. I'm publishing these on ARTSONIA as my Mother's Day fundraiser.

NOT A STICK

We did this project as part of our Kindergarten unit on line. The first day we read NOT A STICK, which they loved, and talked about using our imaginations. Students glued popsicle sticks to a plain black paper after creating a composition they were happy with.

The next day, after they had dried, they painted using flourescent tempera cakes.

TOO MUCH GLUE

I love reading this book the first time we use glue in Kindergarten since it's fun to see what NOT to do! Since we begin by studying line I give them an assortment of paper strips to make a collage. Rather than use scissors I encourage them to tear the paper to make it smaller. It's also a good way for them to develop fine motor strength. For glue I use spill-proof cups and cheap plastic brushes. These are SO much easier to refill, and they never get clogged the way glue bottles do. Plus using brushes prevents puddles and putting TOO MUCH GLUE on their paper ; )

FOLLOW THE LINE THROUGH THE HOUSE

To transition from our first trimester unit on line to our second trimester unit on shape we did this project incorporating both elements. I've been wanting to use the cute book by Linda Ljungkvist for awhile, and this lesson was perfect. 

After reading the story students chose geometric shapes to use for a house, planned their composition and glued them with a glue stick. I had different sizes of rectangles, triangles and squares pre-cut for them to choose from. Then they drew details using a sharpie marker. This kept them very engaged, and as always they all came up with interesting stories to go with their pictures!

Robot Collages

Students loved making these robot collages! They were inspired by the book, ROBOT ZOT! by Jon Scieszka,  illustrated by David Shannon.  They started by planning their shapes with the tissue paper- I had pieces pre-cut in squares and rectangles, and they cut smaller pieces out of those. They glued them on using glue brushes and liquid starch.

On Day 2 of this project we read another robot book, RABBIT AND ROBOT: THE SLEEPOVER, by Cece Bell. It was another book that had us all speaking in robot voices for the rest of class. They used black and metallic sharpie to add details to their robots, which really brought them to life!