Bored and annoyed with some old kindergarten career lessons, I hit up Pinterest in search of new and exciting things. I had pinned an image of the book LMNO Peas by Keith Baker with a simple blurb underneath: This book has peas dressed for careers from A-Z. Have kids make green fingerprints and then add details to make careers. SOLD! I got to work with ordering green ink pads and the book. Just an FYI, I'm cheap as all get out, so I did some price comparisons. The best prices were through ebay (N & K Trading Inc for the ink pads and Goodwill Books for LMNO Peas). I also created a worksheet and SmartBoard presentation to go with it. My first trial with this is takes place Friday with some of my kindergarten friends, and I'm pretty stoked.
I am incredibly fortunate to work where I work. The years that I was a counselor in one school, I had a nice little budget that came out to about $1.00 per student. In spite of this, I spent a lot of time making things by hand. I have bulletin boards, books, and various resources that I free-handed, because I just couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. I thank my lucky stars that I did that, as it was preparing me for my new life as a travelling counselor where I have no budget.
Today, I started prepping for a social group session and decided I wanted to make a game. I, of course, looked on Pinterest first, and quickly realized that it would be just as easy for me to make a game by myself. Hmmmm, no game board template big enough, and my new laptop is not yet hooked up to the printer at this school... What to do? I decided to quickly draw up my own game board template. No, it's not perfect, but there's something really charming about those imperfections, right? Right?!?! :-O You can take the printed picture to your copier and magnify it to a larger size. I have mine on 11x17 paper, and it seems to be the perfect size for a small group. Whew! I just got done with my first mini lesson for the year, and it was SUPER fun! There seems to be an outbreak of personal space invaders amongst kindergarteners these days- jumping all over one another, hugging a little too tightly, grabbing each other, and so on, and those are just the boys! :) I searched around on Pinterest for ideas and smashed a few of them together.
I will attach the lesson that I used in both Smart Board format and Powerpoint format on my Resources page, BUT here's a quick overview of what I did. I began by discussing the four different types of space that can be invaded by others: property space, hearing space, seeing space, and body space. I role play for the kids what each looks like, as well. They really liked that and thought it was really funny, especially when I kept making noises over the little girl trying to talk about her dogs during the hearing space portion. I save body space for last, so we can play a little game. I give each student a piece of paper roughly the size of an open newspaper (I didn't have any newspaper handy, so I improvised). I played the song "Wipeout" and broke it in to three different levels: Level One: On the playground (lots of space) Level Two: At your desk (less space) Level Three: Sitting on the floor or standing in line (small amount of space) At Level One, they are able to dance around and have lots of paper space to do so. I stop the song after about 30 seconds and make them fold the paper in half. Now at Level two, they have to dance as if they were at their desks with less space to move their arms and legs. After another 30 seconds, I stop the music and make them fold their paper one more time. For Level Three, they are left with about enough paper to only fit their shoes. The music goes back on, and they dance as if they are in line or sitting on the carpet. Both the kids and the teacher loved this lesson. They seemed to really understand the concept of changing amounts of personal space depending on where you are and what you're doing. No, seriously... In the year since I have found Pinterest, I have spent ample time searching for and looking at things that it makes the actual human I'm dating ever so slightly annoyed. I avoided adding a work-related pinboard until the summer, and now I'm on fire. I have told nearly EVERY counselor I know, and many of them have since joined. They have seen the light (insert sound of angels singing here)! If you haven't been to Pinterest, go there NOW, and sign up. Look! I'm so nice that I linked it for you!
You know those points in your classroom lessons where you're trying to explain something and you wish you had a really good picture, quote, or just something visual to illustrate what you're talking about? Well, Pinterest helps you find that! Really! OK, what good is telling you if I have no example, right? Every year, I have talked with kids about using their "filter," and I always wished I had a good visual. One day, while trolling Pinterest, I came across the most perfect example (below). I give the students the example that if I were to stand in front of them during a lesson and pick my nose, there would be explosions of thought in their brains; however, due to a variety of reasons- not wanting to say anything, worried about my reactions, worried about other consequences, etc., they filter their thoughts and don't say a word. The point I hone in on is to make sure that those little puffs of thought that make it out the door are constructive. I have also found countless resources on every topic imaginable- behavior plans, mandalas, bulletin boards, bullying, quotes, and much more. Do yourself a favor and check it out! |