Where the Wild Things Are

I am so excited to be able to share the work of one of my co-workers! Her name is Jo Ann Hamer, known to her friends and colleagues as JoJo! 

JoJo is a middle school art teacher now, but used to be our Kindergarten and First grade Art teacher until our district decided to make some moves a few years ago. JoJo had such knack for working with our Kinders and First graders, she would get them to do work that I never imagined a child that age was capable of! When I asked her to be a guest writer for our blog, she was a nervous because she has never blogged before! I told her not to worry and to just think of it as if she were sharing with me on what she did with her kinder classes. So, when she agreed to write, I was super happy to get to share her talent with each and every one of you!

JoJo has decided to share one of her FAVORITE lesson plans for Kindergarten:

Where the Wild Things Are 

 

The Focus of this lesson: reading, imagination and painting process and brush care

Materials Needed:     Book: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

18 X 24 white or neutral construction paper 80# (heavy is better for tempera paint)

Black tempera paint (day 1)

Colors of tempera paint (day two and three) I use old frosting cups to hold paint because it will not tip over it is a cylinder, plus you can leave at the easel and cover it with the lid!

Brushes/ water cups at each easel/ hand wash buckets around the room with towels

Easels (optional but truly the BEST way for Kinder age)

Day 1:

 

Procedures:

Introduce the book and Ask children if they have ever seen this book before.

Read story, talk and keep the topic light regarding the wild things…

Notice in the book: The yellow eyes of the wild things.

·         Talk about their facial features and exaggerate…

• Ask children if they have ever seen this book before?

At the Easel you:

• Paint using black paint your Wild Thing
• As you paint talk about the shapes you are using, circle, triangles a smile line, nose holes, hair…
• Tell the students they will be only painting with black paint today and then let them paint their own Wild Thing
• Show them how to clean their brush in water cup at end of class.

Day 2

• On day two have students watch you paint with bright colors, your Wild Thing
•  Let them do the same with their art.

THEN...
(Day 2 or 3) 
Share and Reflect:

• Students can share their art                
• While they are sharing ask them:
• Tell us about your Wild Thing
• Does your wild thing have a name? 
• If you were to change anything on your painting, what would it be?

 

I hope you enjoyed this lesson on Where the Wild Things Are by JoJo.  She has so many wonderful Art ideas for Kinder and I plan on having her share them with you on my personal blog Kindergarten Hugs and also through Pre-K and K Sharing throughout the upcoming months! 

I have been trying to talk her into writing her own blog to share her talent and love for Art! Maybe all the love and support she gets from Pre-K and K Sharing will help her make that leap!

Carie is a kindergarten teacher from Illinois who writes on the 17th of each month. She shares her experiences and ideas from her classroom, writing about reading, writing, math, Art, and several other fun and exciting things!

Carie also writes her own blog: 

Kindergarten Hugs

Carie Ramirez

Birds of a feather....

 Check out our flocks of birds hanging around our classrooms! 

One class created painted paper bird houses with paintedpaper birds another 
with flowering vines.

We used all geometric shapes to create this project. 

Circles, semi-circles, triangles, rectangles, and ovals for the birds.

Pentagons, rectangles, and circles for the bird house. 

Another class painted morning glory vines and flowers then added a painted paper bird

we looked at the poem

WHY THE MORNING GLORY CLIMBS
(Author Unknown)

Once the Morning-Glory was flat on the ground. She grew that way, and she had never climbed at all. Up in the top of a tree near her lived Mrs Jennie Wren and her little baby Wren. The little Wren was lame; he had a broken wing and couldn't fly. He stayed in the nest all day. But the mother Wren told him all about what she saw in the world, when she came flying home at night. She used to tell him about the beautiful Morning-Glory she saw on the ground. She told him about the Morning-Glory every day, until the little Wren was filled with a desire to see her for himself.

"How I wish I could see the Morning- Glory!" he said.

The Morning-Glory heard this, and she longed to let the little Wren see her face. She pulled herself along the ground, a little at a time, until she was at the foot of the tree where the little Wren lived. But she could not get any farther, because she did not know how to climb. At last she wanted to go up so much, that she caught hold of the bark of the tree, and pulled herself up a little. And little by little, before she knew it, she was climbing.

And she climbed right up the tree to the little Wren's nest, and put her sweet face over the edge of the nest, where the little Wren could see.

That was how the Morning-Glory came to climb.

then we started to painted our beautiful morning glory vine and flowers. 

Start with a line and curl it and/or twist it

add some oil pastels lines on top for add details.

Week Two: we created the birds using the geometric shapes 

I let them choose their bird's eye:
Sharpie, construction paper or you guessed it-

 Wiggle Eyes! I am always amazed at how much kids love these! 

Never take the fun out of creating because that is when the learning begins!

Laura is an elementary art teacher and the author of the blog Painted Paper. She has presented her thematic units nationally at the National Art Education Association and Ohio Art Education Association Conferences. You can follow her updates on fun and creative projects for kids here.