Spring, Bluebonnets, and Poetry

Spring Has Sprung!  FINALLY!

At least in Texas it has.  Don't get me wrong - that doesn't mean our temperatures are set at a beautiful 75 degrees.  Any Texan can tell you we cannot count on the same weather two days in a row these days, but we are seeing the signs.  Birds are tweeting, trees are budding, grass is growing, and so are the weeds...  But the best thing about Texas this time of year for many of us is driving along the roads and highways and seeing blankets of bluebonnets, the state flower of Texas.

Our beautiful daughter years ago in a field of bluebonnets.

There are many potential projects, so I thought I would share a few ideas with you.  Maybe these will inspire you to create a few of your own.

One project involved one of my not so pretty, yet authentic anchor charts our class created, which listed reasons we like living in Texas.  The class generated the ideas during a brainstorming session, I recorded them on the chart, then they used these and other ideas to write their own paragraphs about why they like living in Texas.

This week I read aloud The Legend of the Bluebonnet by Tomie dePaola..  We discussed the genre of "legend," and talked about the bluebonnet being our state flower.  There is so much rich vocabulary in this book and the illustrations are beautiful.

It is important to stress that this activity integrated the subjects of Reading, Writing, Social Studies, Science, and Art! We are learning about plants and plant parts in Science, and we have been discussing Texas and its symbols in Social Studies.  I love integrated teaching!

After reading and discussing this book - the students loved it, by the way - it was time for a little art.  I didn't find exactly what I was looking for on Pinterest, though I got some ideas and of course I loved looking. :)

So, I decided to be brave, which is not exactly like me when it comes to art...  I have found it is more authentic to ask my students to take risks and try things, if I show them I will do the same.

 Now if you know me at all, you know I am a tiny bit of a control freak in some ways.  Just the tiniest bit ;)  Those who are like me have a little bit  lot of trouble with things like GLITTER and PAINT... YIKES!  That is what makes this next part pretty AWESOME!!  Well that, and the adorable projects my students made - I was giddy with excitement!  They had so much fun!

The class took a look at some images of bluebonnets, along with a silk one from the craft store.
We started with plain old white and green construction paper.  I cut some strips of green for stems and they were responsible for cutting out a few leaves on their own.  This was more difficult for some than others.  I just praised whatever they came up with for leaves. Then we each got a bit of paint and painted our bluebonnet with - Q-tips!  So simple, almost mess free, and so much fun.  I modeled first (scarey...) and let them create.  Every one of the bluebonnets turned out different (you can imagine some did not exactly look like a bluebonnet) and I loved them! (more pictures coming soon)

Since April is Poetry Month - YEA - I have created two different Acrostic Poem frames to be used in conjunction with this project.  Both are listed in my TPT store found HERE:      

The first one is a TEXAS Acrostic Poem and can be found HERE::

And for those non-Texans or those just wanting to celebrate the new season, a SPRING Acrostic Poem can be found HERE:

I hope something here inspires you...to celebrate the new life of Spring, whether it's Texas Spring or a snow-capped Spring in your "neck of the woods."

Keep writing,

America Acrostic Poem

Hello Blog World and Happy Summer Break to one and all!

In the spirit of "planning ahead," I have posted a new, fun activity in my TPT store.

Our 2nd grade students enjoyed writing an A M E R I C A acrostic poem this year.
It was a perfect integrated activity during our Social Studies unit on American symbols and our Writing unit on Poetry.  I think it would be an excellent 4th of July activity for students at home and at school.  It can should also be "pinned" for later use, as it is perfect for Veteran's Day, President's Day, or Memorial Day. 

If you are using this in your classroom, remember to always allow time for pre-writing and MODEL based on age and ability level.  Since this was one of our students' first acrostic poems, I made sure to model on chart paper.

We started our lesson by talking with our table groups about words and phrases we think of when we think about America.  We shared whole group, and I recorded their ideas on the whiteboard.  Finally, we did a Shared Writing - I recorded our poem on chart paper for students to refer to while they write.  The bubble-type letters and adorable clip art (found at www.djinkers.com) were perfect for students to color and "make it their own."

 You are a click away from patriotic FUN!  Print a few out, grab a slice of watermelon or a popsicle, and your kids won't even know they are practicing WRITING! :)

Click here:  
America Acrostic Poem

"Only a Teacher"

Only a Teacher

   
I am a teacher!

What I do and say are being absorbed by young minds

who echo those images across the ages.

My lessons will be immortal,

affecting people yet unborn,

people I will never see or know.

The future of the world is in my classroom today-

a future with the potential for good or bad.

The pliable minds of tomorrow’s leaders will be molded

either artistically or grotesquely by what I do.

Several future presidents are learning from me today-

so are the great writers of the next decades

and so are the so-called ordinary people

who make the decisions in a democracy.

I must never forget these same people

could be the thieves and murderers of the future.

Only a teacher.

Thank God I have a calling to the greatest

profession of all.

I must be vigilant every day

lest I lose one fragile opportunity

to improve tomorrow.

~Dr. Ivan Fitzwater