Springtime Learning: Engaging Activities for the Elementary Classroom

As the flowers bloom and the birds chirp, it's time to infuse your classroom with the spirit of spring! With the arrival of this vibrant season, elementary teachers have so many opportunities to engage young minds while celebrating the beauty of nature and fostering essential skills. From art projects to math activities and everything in between, here are some delightful spring-themed activities to enrich your curriculum and keep your students excited about learning.

Sunflower Directed Drawings

Embrace the sunny vibes of spring with sunflower directed drawings! Guiding students through the steps of drawing a bright and cheerful sunflower not only encourages creativity but also helps develop their fine motor skills. Plus, it's a wonderful way to incorporate elements of nature into your art curriculum. Read the blog post for more details: Sunflower Directed Drawings

Spring Math Crafts

Combine the freshness of spring with essential math skills through engaging math crafts. From creating flower patterns to modeling addition and subtraction skills, these hands-on activities make learning math fun and tangible for young learners. Ready to learn more? Grab your freebie craft here

No-Prep Worksheets for Grammar and Math

For busy teachers seeking convenient resources, no-prep worksheets offer a quick and effective way to reinforce grammar and math concepts. With spring-themed worksheets featuring engaging puzzles to enhance vocabulary, review skills and helping them work independently or in small groups, they will  keep your students engaged while reviewing essential skills. Get more details here.

Earth Day Activities

Celebrate Earth Day by engaging students in activities that promote environmental awareness and stewardship. From planting seeds in biodegradable pots to conducting nature scavenger hunts, these activities encourage students to appreciate and protect our planet while learning about ecology and sustainability.

Boom Learning Activities

Incorporate technology into your spring curriculum with Boom Learning activities that offer interactive and engaging learning experiences. Whether practicing grammar skills with digital flashcards or reviewing fact and opinion skills, these activities cater to diverse learning styles and preferences.

Pop Art Bunny Drawings

This is an oldie but a goodie in my classroom! Add a touch of whimsy to your art lessons with pop art bunny drawings! I originally discovered this idea on Pinterest from TeachStarter a gazillion years ago. I adapted the original idea to work for my students. I am happy to let you know that TeachStarter offers the templates for FREE! Hop on over to their site to grab them. This year I used AstroBrights neon cardstock for a POP of color. I just love how they turned out!

Spring Paper Bag Books

Take a multidisciplinary approach to learning with spring paper bag books that cover a range of topics, including Earth Day facts, the life cycle of a chicken, the water cycle, and different types of clouds. By integrating reading, writing, and science content into a single project, students gain a deeper understanding of seasonal themes and concepts.

Incorporating these spring activities into your lesson plans can breathe new life into your classroom and ignite a sense of wonder and curiosity in your students. Whether exploring the beauty of nature through art, reinforcing academic skills through hands-on projects, or fostering environmental consciousness through themed activities, there's something for every teacher and student to enjoy as we welcome the arrival of spring. Let the learning blossom!

{DON'T FORGET IT! PIN IT!}

Directed Drawings: More Than Just Art

Directed drawings....have you tried it? In my opinion, it's a MUST in every classroom! I have witnessed so many of my quiet, introverted, students who never raise their hand for anything, flourish during our directed drawing lessons. Let me tell you why directed drawing are so much more than just an art project.

 Improve Listening Skills

During a directed drawing lesson, students are forced to listen and watch each step of the drawing process. This skill can be very tough for many students to master. I breakdown each step so that the entire process is manageable for all the students. I model the first step in front of the whole class. Then, it is the students' turn to try it. I walk around the room and monitor their progress, make adjustments where needed, then I introduce the next step. I try to encourage my students to limit their erasing. Their picture needs to be unique just like they are. It does not need to be a carbon copy of my sample. 

Connect To Other Learning

I always connect our drawing lessons to something we are studying and learning in language arts, science, or social studies. Currently, we are studying the life cycle of plants. This directed drawing lesson was a great connection to that learning. We used our new vocabulary words to describe the parts we were drawing. We discussed how each part functions and its importance. 

Improved Self Esteem

So many students struggle to meet academic benchmarks on a daily basis.  Our directed drawing lessons always seem to boost the self esteem of all my students, but especially my struggling students. These lessons give them a time to shine! There are no right or wrong answers. They can just be themselves and with a little guidance, they flourish! 

Evidence for Portfolios

I keep all our directed drawings from the year and create a "photo album" for the students to take home at the end of the year. They can see their growth from August to June. It also is a wonderful keepsake for their families. Sometimes we connect a writing assignment to our drawings, which is also a wonderful way to document all they have learned.

I hope you will give directed drawings a try in your classroom. Use the picture above to model the steps and get started today. Your students will love it!

Scarecrows and Pumpkins: Time for Fall

I am SO excited that October is finally here! It is my favorite season! The weather is still very warm here, but sweaters, boots, and scarves are on the horizon, my friends! As soon as it is humanly possible, I bring Fall into my classroom.

 Last week, I introduced acrostic poetry to my students. I started off by reading one of my favorite fall stories.

This got my kiddos hooked! Then I introduced how to use a thesaurus. The kids worked in pairs to come up with words that described a scarecrow. Next, we made a chart of all the words and phrases that described a scarecrow using the letters in the word. 

After we wrote our poems, it was time to build our scarecrows!

The kids took so much pride and ownership into following the directions and building the perfect scarecrow. Too darn cute! I don't have a lot of bulletin board space, so here are their scarecrow masterpieces hanging from the ceiling. You can find all the scarecrow templates and writing ideas in my Scarecrow Craftivity and Writing Prompts pack.

I also did my first directed drawing lesson of the year with my kiddos. I was looking on Pinterest and found this little gem. When I went to the website, it did not take me to the actual lesson. I hunted around, but I used the pinned picture for directions instead because I needed to make a sample before the kids came into the classroom and time was running out! 

Step 1: We used pencils to sketch the drawing step-by-step. This allowed for mistakes to be erased, since this was their first drawing of the year. Then, we used black felt tip markers to trace over our lines.

Step 2: I showed the kids how to shade using different colors of yellow and orange.

Step 3: Color the background sections using solid colors or with patterns. We used crayons this time. Oil pastels and water colors would also be great to use.

I mounted them on black paper so they would POP! Viola! I think they turned out marvelous!

I love these lessons because it forces my students to listen and follow directions. It helps them with their fine motor skills and introduces them to different types of art and art mediums. They are so proud of themselves when they are done. This will be the first piece that goes into their art portfolio for the year!