Star Wars!

I received a Facebook message from a friend of my sisters, asking if I could make felt Starwars figures, as her husband's 40th birthday was coming up, and he was mad about Star Wars. She had seen some on Pinterest. So I googled felt Starwars figures, and there is quite a variety to look at, lots of different ways people have made them - felt finger puppets, felt key rings, intricately detailed needle felted figures.  My first response was "No way! Too difficult!".  But it is funny how your mind works.  Take a problem, go to sleep, and your subconscious will work on it while you sleep.  There is a book called "Grow Rich While You Sleep" (I forget who the author is) that details how this works.  Waldorf schools also use the power of sleep with stories - tell a story one day and let the children process the story in their sleep that night.

Anyway, I said I would think on it, meaning 'No, I can't do it'.  Early the next morning, in that dream state just before I began gaining consciousness as I started to wake up, I found myself thinking of my pipecleaner figures, which led to imagining how to do Princess Leia. Then once I had made Princess Leia in my head, I began visualising Luke Skywalker. Of course, there is a difference between seeing it in your minds eye, and actually doing it.  So I got up and went into my craft room and began creating a pattern for Princess Leia. She was really fun to make.

Once I had made Princess Leia, I began thinking of how to do Luke Skywalker and tried to figure out how to make his top, which kind of looks like a karate costume.

Unfortunately they don't wear hats, which I use to help hide the top of my pipecleaner figures' hair.  I then made Lukey a removable cape.

Then came Hans Solo. I made his costume slightly differently, and it needed to be sewn around him. I tried to add in all the little details, such as the red stripes down the side of his trousers, the waistcoat, the gun halter and the strap around his leg...

Then came Darth Vader...

followed by...

The next morning, I was off to Spotlight buying brown fur, to make...

From one question with my answer being "No I can't do it", I spent an entire weekend making Star Wars figures, and am pretty pleased with the results! Yes the stormtrooper looks a little funny, I just can't figure out how else to make one at the moment.  Perhaps C3P0 will come next...

These Star Wars figures are available for sale, and you can find me each month at the Mt Eden Village Craft Market.  https://www.facebook.com/Mt-Eden-Village-Craft-Market-338452259534044/

Literacy activities for Primary School - Reading and Spelling ideas

Although I am not currently teaching Primary School, I trained as a Primary School Teacher and taught 5 year olds for 3 years. I also collected and created teaching resources throughout my training and teaching, which I still have.

I have a friend who is about to start her Primary School training, and I told her that I would send her photos of my resources that she may be able to use for ideas and teaching. But then I thought that putting them up on here would be a much better idea, for sorting, organising and sharing.

Feel free to use and copy ideas, or adapt to suit your own classroom.You can find ideas for math resources and games which I have created, here.

Tumble Board Ideas

Some of my Tumble Board activities for literacy.  I had a variety of ways children could practice their spelling words: using magnetic letters, alphabet beads, chalk boards, felt letters, and cut and paste using newspapers and magazines.

Ways for children to practice reading: reading to a puppet, to a buddy, by themselves; reading nursery rhymes.

Ways to practice knowledge: playing reading games such as Bingo, Scrabble, matching games, doing puzzles, etc.

I had created games for different reading levels of words. It was simply high frequency words written on cards, and children could either play Snap!, Memory, or Fish using the word cards.

 

I found children often confused letters p, d, and b.  I created this resource to help support their learning and knowledge about these letters.
It consists of a variety of pictures and words of objects starting with the letters B, D, and P, with the word written underneath.
I made a sheet (we also did this on the wall) where children could sort the pictures by the initial letter,
They then wrote the words out on the corresponding form, to help them practice their letter formation of b, d and p.

Re-Making Sentences

A follow on activity for beginner readers... cutting the words up, and children have to put them in order to make sense.

Contractions.
This activity was created to help children practice their knowledge of contractions. Simple game with a contraction on one card and the full words on another card, and children have to match up the contraction to the words.

Magic E:   Words with 'e' on the end

Learning about Magic E. Can be used with whole class, or small group, or children practicing with a buddy..
Magic e comes along and asks the vowel to say his name.

Simple to create:  Cards with CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words written on them; pegs with 'e' stuck on the end. I used a punch to punch shapes out of card, wrote 'e' on them, laminated them and taped them onto pegs.
When you put Magic E on the end of the word, it changes the word from 'mad' to 'made'.

Word Ending Activity

Activity to support children learning about word endings...
consists of a variety of simple verbs;
cards with a variety of word endings - er, s, ing.

Children put words together with a word ending and write them down on their sheet.

The drawback with this is that some words change according to the word ending, eg swim, swims, swam, swimming; cry, cried, cries, crying.

Making Words

I printed cards with an initial letter on one card (consonant), and a word ending (vowel, consonant) on another card. The animals are either on the beginning or end of the card to show whether it is a beginning letter or word ending.

Children create words by combining an initial letter with a word ending.  They can then write down their words on a recording sheet or in their books.

 Pictures

When I was at University, my English lecturer told us that we needed lots of pictures as resources.  They can be used for oral language, writing prompts, story prompts. I collected pictures from National Geographic magazines, adverts in magazines, and local newspaper photos. I mounted most of mine on card.


I used this box of pictures with my 5 year olds to stimulate oral language. We would talk about what was happening in the picture; use the different thinking hats when looking at pictures; or make up a story about what was happening in the picture.

I also had pictures of animals and objects, and children would play 20 Questions games and "Give Us A Clue" games, where one child would select a picture and the other children had to guess what it was.




 

 
Choices
What do children do if they have finished their work early?
I collected this range of ideas from the various placements that I went on, as well as adding some ideas of my own. This is by no means an exhaustive list of ideas, but it is a start of ideas.
Do not have them all up on the wall - change your Choices for Early Finishers on a regular basis - daily or weekly.

 

  Spelling

Children learn to spell by repetition. I tried to find as many different ways for children to practice spelling their words as possible - I endeavour to find different ways to teach the same thing.

Some ways my children would practice their spelling words would be:
* using felt letters on a flannel board
* magnetic letters
* chalk board
* rainbow writing - writing their words using different coloured pencils or pens
* cut and paste - cut the letters out of magazines and newspapers and paste on their recording sheet.
* writing their words in chalk on the fence or pavement outside

 

 

Spelling Ideas for Older Children
A variety of ways to further practice their spelling words, breaking them down, pulling them apart, using them, and finding out their meanings.  Again, as with the Choices Menu, don't have them all up on the wall for children to choose from - either have a select few on the wall for children to choose from and change on a regular basis, or have a 'hat' where children pull an option out of the hat.

Opposites: Bingo Game

 I have always loved opposites and playing around with words.

I created this Bingo game using opposites.  The teacher says a word, and if a child has the opposite of that word, they cross it out/place a counter on it.  If they fill up their line, they shout Bingo!

The word cards have the opposite word written on them for easy reference when checking.

If teaching about language and the different types of words, you could also make up Bingo games for: onomatopoeia (words such as Splash, bang pop etc); verbs; adjectives; nouns; different words for 'said'; homographs; etc.

These games and activities are ones that I have created to help support my children's learning; but there are lots of fabulous websites with loads of ideas and downloads for supporting learning.

Some of my favourite sites that I have used over and over again:

http://www.carlscorner.us.com/

http://www.kizclub.com/

Click on the link for more of my teaching resources

Storytelling Stones

Storytelling can be scary - when I first began to tell stories from the top of my head, I thought I was not creative enough to be able to make up an interesting (and short) story.  At first I used Enid Blyton's "The Faraway Tree" to inspire me and to help me make up stories - and the kids were enchanted! I noticed the stories that I told, emerging in their play and in their drawings.

But I was still nervous about telling stories.

Then a few years later I went to a workshop with Storytelling Threads - and that was incredibly inspiring and taught me that it is ok to begin a story and not know how it is going to end.  Or what is going to happen.  We did exercises in pairs, where we each chose 5 items, and then built a story around it.  And part way through the story, you get to an "OH" point where suddenly you know what is happening or what the resolution will be.

I went home from that workshop and immediately started gathering things into a basket to take to school... fairies, fabrics, little knick knacks such as a fish shaped comb, a shell, a pebble, a fan.  The next day I took that basket to school, and sat down with a child who asked for a story, and began getting out items and making up a story.  Next minute I had 8 children gathered around me, all as quiet as mice, helping me to tell the story and coming up with ideas.  Then afterwards, they took it in turns to retell the story, using props, and even making up their own stories.  An hour went past and they were still telling stories.

Time and again I have seen 3-4 year old children engaged in listening to stories and telling stories for at least an hour or 2, all of their own free will. I never cease to be amazed by children's capacity for listening to stories and telling stories.  Rudolf Steiner talks about the spiritual and soul connection between the adult and the child when the adult tells a story from their own imagination, from their heart, and there is certainly some kind of magic that takes place when you tell a story (not read a story - there is a big difference between the two).

A while ago a colleague gave me some stones that she had collected from the river, in order to make story stones.  She had a wonderful book on storytelling (I think it was called The Story Sack?) that used hand drawn stones as one method to help tell stories.  The stones were already painted with white acrylic paint, and they had been sitting in my craft room for almost a year waiting for me to become inspired.  Yesterday I became inspired, I made a list of elements that might be incorporated into a story, and drew them onto the stones.  I used sharpies to draw and colour, and coated them in clear nail polish to protect them. Unfortunately the clear nail polish caused some of the pens to run, but I did my best to make them ok.

You do not need to be an artist to make things for children. Items do not need to be perfect. Children just appreciate the effort and the fact that you have made something for them.

 a key, a bird, a paw print, and a basket... What will the key open - a treasure chest, a door, a secret tunnel? Will the bird help you on your quest? What might be in the basket - food and drink to help quench your thirst on your journey, or a baby, or a map, a key, or treasure?

 a necklace, and a door... Who does the necklace belong to? Has it been stolen, lost, or found? Is it magic? What is behind the door - a dragon, a dwarf, a wicked witch, an angry giant, or a good fairy?

 a map

 a castle... who lives at the castle? Is it deserted? Does a dragon guard it? Or does a handsome prince live there?

 a forest and a bridge

 a crown

a well, and a storm.

Imagine the stories that you can create with a set of story stones. They are easy to make, and can be used in a variety of ways,  You might like to select 5 stones to tell a story.  Or you might like to put them into a feely bag, and have children take turns to pull out a stone as you tell the story. You then incorporate the stone into your story.  

Try to think of elements that are open ended, that are able to be used in a variety of ways, when deciding what to draw onto your story stones. Think of some classic childrens stories and common elements - eg a witch, a wolf, a princess, a swan, treasure, a forest, etc.

One thing I learnt from the workshop with Storytelling Threads, is that Three is a classic number when it comes to telling stories... The Three little pigs; Goldilocks and the Three bears; The three billy goats gruff; Three wishes; a quest that involves completing three tasks. Three is a soul-satisfying number when it comes to stories and resolutions.  Think of how to use the number three in your stories - three people that you meet on your journey; three tasks to complete; three items to find.

Story telling does not come easy to many people, including me. I might not be feeling particularly inspired on a particular day. I often have no idea what shape the story will take when I begin. Story telling requires taking risks. It requires a leap of faith that it will turn out ok.  And with children around you who are willing listeners and great imaginations, they will have ideas to share, so you are not on your own. And the results are amazing - so incredibly amazing. And like with all things, the more you do it, the more confident you become and the better you get.

Click on the link for more of my teaching resources

How to make Poi

Getting children to use both hands at the same time helps with brain development, as it helps to reinforce left-right brain connections.  Poi are a great way to do this, and are easy to make.
My 4 year olds help with the plaiting.

You will need:
Plastic bags
stuffing - I used washed wool scraps of fleece, but you could use polyester filling or even paper towels, which I have used in the past when making poi with children.
Wool for plaiting
scissors
squares of fabric
Needle and thread

Begin by cutting lengths of wool. I tend to like using strands about 70cm long (you will be folding the yarn in half when plaiting).

Cut two strands of wool together.

Fold in half.

Tie an overhand knot to create a small loop. This loop can either attach around your toe or a hook or something to help you plait.

Begin plaiting the four strands together. Click here for my previous post on instructions how to do a 4-strand plait... 4 strand plaiting

Gather up a handful of stuffing.

Wrap the plait around the middle of the stuffing, and poke one end of the plait through the loop at the other end.

Pull tight to tighten the plait around the ball of stuffing.

Cut a plastic bag in half lengthwise.

Place the ball of stuffing on top of the plastic bag.

Gather the plastic up around the ball of stuffing, leaving the plait free.

Wrap a piece of yarn around the plastic ball and pull tight.

Tie off.















Trim the plastic around the top, being careful not to snip the plait accidentally!

Place plastic ball in centre of fabric.

Gather fabric up around the ball, and stitch together around the top to fasten it securely.

Poi ready to swing.  Some poi are long, some are short, some are big, some are small.