Guided Drawings of Pilgrims and Native Americans

For the past two years, I have completed these guided drawings with my students.  It usually takes two class sessions to complete them.  On the first day, we make Pilgrims.  Girls will draw a Pilgrim girl and boys will draw a Pilgrim boy.  The following day, girls will draw a Native American boy and boys will draw a Native American girl.  These become keepsakes for their memory box.  

Today, I am sharing my step by step drawings with you.  To complete the lesson, you will need about 45 minutes to 1 hour.  You will also need to copy a U-shaped smile on 12x9 white construction paper.  I have found that giving this starting point helps them tremendously.

I model each step with the students.  As I model, students draw in pencil.  Once completed, they will trace their pencil drawing with marker.   

Along the way, I monitor each student's drawing. Usually, I am giving directions specifically for the boys and then, directions specifically for the girls.  This means, students have to pay close attention.

I model coloring and limit what colors that they can use because these are meant to be realistic drawings.  

As a final touch, we color the background in a color that we did not use in the drawing.  This gives it a pop of color.  I love how they turn out and my students are always so proud of their work.  

I hope you found this helpful.  

Happy Thanksgiving!

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It's November. What Am I Teaching?

How can it possibly be November? I am not ready.  For me, November means formal assessments.  I feel like I have to squeeze in as much teaching and as many standards before I formally assess each child 1-1 on a gazillion skills.

Today, I am going to share my schedule as well as the resources that I use to help supplement my teaching.  Many of the wonderful resources come from you; fabulous and talented teachers who teach by day and create by night.  I am in awe of your dedication and passion.

I am required to teach this as my core Language Arts curriculum.  As a result, my mornings are very full.   

Language Arts Additions
These are activities that we will complete during our Language Arts portion of the day in lieu of doing a workbook page a day.  Instead, we will complete several workbook pages on one or two days to make time for these.

                      

Math Work Stations
These stations will be used all month long.  I will add a few of my own teacher created items like this one.

Daily 5
During our Daily 5 time, these two items are in our weekly rotation.  As students complete them, they immediately go into each student's Book Box to read.

Social Studies
Our focus is on Thanksgiving.  During this time of day, we read, write and create together.   I use lots of anchor charts and songs to develop language and support learning.

 

                

Intervention
Three times a week, our neediest kindergarteners receive intervention support which focuses on one or two skills.  Our entire team supports each other and our students. Every three weeks we progress monitor and change groups as needed.  Students love this time and so do I.  This time, forces you to think outside of the box to keep kids engaged.  This time is fast paced.  We play games, move around, write with shaving cream in addition to using these resources.

         

Whew! I am not sure about you but I am exhausted just thinking about all that we accomplish in a week.

Take a look at what others are doing here.

Read about my Lakeshore Learning Giveaway here.

Happy Teaching!

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