A Patriotic Lunch and Learn

If you've been a follower for a while, you may remember that I am teaching at a program for 4 weeks this summer called Lunch and Learn. Since this week began with Independence Day, our Lunch and Learn program is only two days. I racked my brain and did some searching to find some educational, fun, and creative ideas to share with the children centered around- you guessed it- the USA!

Now, what could be more fun than bags of red, white, and blue marshmallow stars?  The possibilities were endless!  Found these at Walmart and couldn't resist. 

My second graders used them to multiply. 

My first graders used them to add and subtract.

My kindergartners used them to sort, count, and make and extend patterns. And, yes, I even let them eat a few too!

Our day continued and I read aloud a few patriotic tales.  I have many song books like America The Beautiful and Oh Say Can You See.  The children respond well to these and it boosts their confidence because they can "read" along too!

We charted and then graphed our favorite USA symbol.  Which one would be your favorite?

And if you know me, you know that I couldn't let these kiddos leave without painting some handprints!  We did American flag handprints!  

 In hindsight, I should have done these on a color paper other than white.

These two days flew by!  I guess the old adage is true! 

I won't be back teaching at Lunch and Learn for two weeks...but I've got lots to do to keep me busy! 

Lunch and Learn Day 2

I'm back again for Day 2!  I was amazed at how fast the first day flew by yesterday!  We didn't get nearly as much done yesterday as I had planned so I had everything ready for today.

Sticking with my ocean theme, we started off the morning with a couple more of my favorite read alouds. 

The Clumsy Crab was great for conversation because of how the main character changes from beginning to end.  At first he hates his big, clumsy claws.  By the end, when he saves his friend Octopus, he sees just how helpful he can be. 

Over in the Ocean allowed the children to participate because it's a counting and rhyming book.

Then we moved onto a glyph!  I sent the children around the room to different centers so that I could work with a small group on this project.  It had many steps! 

First, the children painted their paper half blue if they had been to the beach before.  This group then got to paint the other half with glue and add sand.  Girls did a green hand print fish and boys did orange. 



Then, the children added gems as bubbles; one for each year of life!  The seaweed represents how many people are in their family. 

Glyphs are a great way to get to know more about the children.  Before I knew it, we were talking all about their families; brothers and sisters and cousins, oh my!  You can create a glyph for any theme and with any questions you wish to ask. It's not just any old art project.....it becomes a representation of who the children are!

Sadly, I was given a reminder of just how important this program is today at lunch.  I watched as a little boy stuffed an extra sandwich in his pocket to take home.  I didn't ask questions or even let him know that I noticed.  It makes my heart ache that there are children that go hungry.  I'm glad we can do this little bit to help.

Lunch and Learn

I couldn't have been more excited to get back to school this morning!  I will be leading a program called "Lunch and Learn" this week.  Funded by a grant, I get to teach a group of Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade students for two hours and feed them lunch.  Oh, but don't worry, I don't have to actually cook or make the lunch...the school district does that!  Thank goodness...

The main goal of the grant was to provide lunch for a group of 50+ children in need at our school.  We added on the "Learn" part, and it is, as Amber calls it, just icing on the cake!

During planning, our group of teacher leaders decided that it was ok to have a little fun too.  I got to thinking about this and decided that this "opportunity" may be the closest thing some of these children will ever get to a summer camp type of experience. 

So, the crafty, artsy side of me is coming out!  I am planning on this week to be a complete "Ocean and Beach" theme.  Here is a little of what we did today:

I started off by reading one of my favorite ocean books, Commotion in the Ocean.  Then, we sang some songs from this "What's In The Sea" CD. 

I recopied these three poems from the read aloud.  The children helped me by reading along!

  

Then, they had to choose their favorite one to create a handprint picture of. 

Here are two of them:

Handprint Octopus

Handprint Crab

I can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us!