Open House/Class Community Activity
I've gotten some questions regarding this picture of my "class" and what exactly is going on.
I mean, besides the oversized Patch of Good Ideas... :)
These are my "students" at our open house.
My favorite thing about this Photo is "Abby" - who forgot her water bottle that day and so "Abby" had it after school.
This project was TOO fun.
A
LOT
of work.
But a ton of fun and I'm not quite sure who loved it more...the parents, the kids, or the teachers.
Everyone except Miss G who had the horrific task of giving everyone their hair.
By the end I think she had permanently glued her fingers together and never ever wanted to see yarn ever again.
Meh.
It was fabulous and I was proud of her work.
As is so often the case, this isn't my idea and perhaps you have something to add to make it even better.
Mrs. Donna Covey who teaches first grade at Deerfield Elementary in Deerfield, MA is the one who showed me this.
I was student teaching in 6th grade at the time and remember walking by her room the night of open house and thinking...I WISH I HAD A TEACHER LIKE THIS.
Anyhoozle.
Here we go.
You start this activity with a card stock face for every student, aid, and teacher TIMES 2.
I used the template below and enlarged it a little and cut out 58 of these bad boys.
We started our project about the beginning of October, as our Open house wasn't until the end of the month.
Meanwhile, you'll need to send home a request for a sweater/sweatshirt/jacket from each child that they won't need for awhile.
Parents or teacher should write their name on the inside tag.
I was really lucky to work somewhere where parents respond right away and for the 5 or so that didn't, many families sent in 2 sweaters.
We did use one teacher jacket.
Okay.
I did ONE and only ONE quick tutorial with my kids.
The point isn't for theirs to be perfect but for it to really reflect who they are.
Some kids struggled and wanted to know how to do their lips or their eyes, but in the end - their perception of themselves it what makes this work.
They spent one writing period working on their face and then any rainy days at indoor recess..they LOVED it.
My artists thought they died and went to heaven.
My non artists thought they died and went to heaven.
They did collaborate and work together to make sure they got every detail just right.
When they were finished and TEACHER approved, the amazingly talented Miss G would give them the other side of their face and add hair - AKA multi colored yarns. The hair is the most time consuming part. My kids were in 2nd grade, and for it to look authentic, I think we needed to do it. I think if I did this in 3rd grade, I'd let the kids have at the yarn :)...so would Miss G.
You'll notice here there are laminated letters, pens, and another sheet of paper.
Students wrote to their parents about their favorite things about 2nd grade.
Their letters were edited, written in pencil, edited and written in pen.
Something about pens in 2nd grade...it's like, how I feel about sharpies as an adult...OH!
Then, I laminated the letters, and left the parents a paper to write back to their students.
Making that connection from home and the love of learning is so important.
You'll also see my "Thanks for popping in" kernels there.
Thanks
Just edit your name in, print, and tape to a bag of microwavable popcorn.
You'll need to collect yardsticks and wire hangers.
One per "student".
Undo the wire hangers so that they are long and straight and able to mold.
You'll also need DUCT TAPE.
I can't think of anything I wish I had more of during this project.
Wrap the coat hanger around the yardstick and duct tape the wrapped part to the stick.
Do NOT tape this part to the chair, that will make it impossible for your to dress your students.
Then, duck tape the INSIDE of the the faces that are stapled together, front and back and stick the head on.
The duck tape is more for stability here, as the staples at the top of the head (underneath the "hair") should hold it in place.
Dress your student with their sweater or jacket and put the "pencil" they wrote their letter with in their "hand"
And that's about it.
My sister arrived right after school and between 3 and 6:30, we went to town.
We finished LITERALLY at the LAST second.
The parents had fun...but...the surprise the next day...that was some PURE student fun.
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