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All
About Me
All
About You
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include your favorite learning differences activity in this theme!
*Games
Fool Your Family (active/icebreaker)
From: Games
Kids Play Site
Equipment: One slip of paper for every player. Papers should be in
groups of five, and each group represents a family, for example, the
Smiths. So the first Smith paper would be Mr. Smith, the second Mrs.
Smith, the third Brother Smith and so on.
Each family should have a different last name but the same characters
(ie) one mom and one dad.
Each player is given one slip of paper and they must walk around
trading papers with everyone else on the room. They should try to
make as many exchanges as possible, and they should not be looking at
which papers they are receiving. The leader then calls out "Find
your family". The players must find the other members in their
family. When they have found them, they must sit in order from dad to
baby in a line on the floor. The last family to sit down may be
eliminated if you choose to do so. The leader may also give out
specific instructions, for example "Find your family without talking".
*The Patchwork Quilt
Read the Book, "The Patchwork Quilt", by Valerie Flournoy.
Round Robin Story Retell
Have children retell the story "The Patchwork Quilt" using
a round robin process:
Begin the story by reading the first sentences just as they are
printed in the book.
Allow each student to have a turn at adding other sentences to the
story, in their words.
Family Traditions
Ask children what Tanya's grandmother meant when she said,
"Sometimes the old ways are forgotten." Why is it important
to Tanya's family to remember the "old ways"? What kinds of
family traditions are reflected in the story of "The Patchwork
Quilt"? Brainstorm to make a list (quilting, Halloween and
Christmas celebrations, caring for older family members...).
Ask the children to list traditions in their families. Compare the
lists, helping the children to see how many things their families
have in common. Explain that these traditions are part of the
children's culture.
You may want the children to illustrate their traditions and compile
them in individual books.
*Art
Dream Bulletin Board
Cut construction paper into different size squares and rectangles.
Have the children decorate the shapes. Place the squares and
rectangles onto the bulletin board to look like a quilt.
Using lunch paperbags have the children create puppets. Tuck the
puppets into the top of the bulletin board quilt.
You can place a white paper cloud above the puppets heads and have
children write or draw in their dreams.
Designers Only
Ask each child to select fabric from the fabric box and design an
outfit s/he might like to wear (dress, blouse, pants, shorts, etc.).
Give each child an outline of a person. Have the children glue the
outfit onto the outline. The children love doing this activity and
will spend a lot of time working on their outfits.
Patchwork Puzzle
Have the children draw a picture of a quilt on tagboard. Color in the
sections with magic markers. Cut the sections apart to make a puzzle
for your friends to put together. Store all the puzzle pieces in a
large clasp envelope.
Class Quilt
Provide a basket of fabric remnants for making a quilt. (Children may
work in small groups) Also, provide thread, needles, and scissors.
Instruct the children to list the sequence necessary to make a quilt.
Prepare a checklist for the children. If the list is in the correct
sequence, allow the children to proceed with making the quilt.
Steps in making a quilt:
1. Cut pieces of fabric using a pattern
2. Place the right (printed) sides of the fabric together.
3. Sew the pieces together on one side.
4. Continue to sew pieces together until you have at least 8 pieces
sewn together.
5. Repeat step 4 until you have at least 10 strips.
6. Sew the strips together by placing the right (printed) sides together.
7. Repeat step 6 until all strips have been sewn together.
*Other Sites
Quilting
with Children is a site by a teacher that will give you ideas,
techniques, and resources for working with children in making quilts
*Creating A Mandala
Background: A mandala is a wondrous and meaningful design made in
form of a circle. These special drawings were first created in Tibet
over 2,000 years ago. They have been made by all cultures from the
Aztecs to the Navajo Indians to people today. A simple definition of
a Mandala is that it is a circular drawing made to represent the
harmony and wholeness of life or the wholeness of a person.
Need: colored pencils, markers, tape dittos that have a large circle
drawn on them-fills 81/2 paper from side to side. A teacher made
model if possible.
As a class brainstorm a list of things that are important to a
person's life.
Each child should choose ten items from the board and then rank order
them from most important to least important. Each item should be
something the student experiences in their own lives.
Children should now think a symbol that they could draw to represent
each item on their list. Note: May need to explain what a symbol is.
Use poplar business symbols in your area (examples: McDonalds, Nike...)
Children should draw the most important symbol in the middle and then
arrange the other items around the circle in a pleasing manner to
each individual child.
Now color in the symbols on the space around them. Children may also
brainstorm for colors that symbolize different items, for example,
money might be shown as green dollar sign.
After they have designed their mandalas, each child could write one
sentence about each symbol explaining what it is and why it is
important to life. For example, The three figures in the middle
represent my family that gives me strength, hope and support.
No name goes on the front of a Mandala. Hang them up on the walls and
let the other children read them and try to guess who the Mandala represents.
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