Third Graders Are Masters of Japanese Ikebana!

Oh boy, what an amazing undertaking! I was looking for something challenging and interesting for my third graders to do this year, and was inspired by this post for Ikebana in the art room. After sitting down to plan it I realized this project would take AT LEAST ten weeks to complete because of all of the steps involved, but I was resolved to go for it because I figured it offered an opportunity for a variety of skills to be learned and materials to learn how to work with. My fear was that perhaps the students would get bored and complain that they were tired of working on the same project for so long, but I found the opposite resulted. Students were very engaged in all of the steps and I feel this project was an excellent opportunity for them to practice focus and commitment to a goal.

Kindies Complete their Commemorative Clay Plaques

Each year at my school the kindergarteners each choose a Mother Goose nursery rhyme to memorize and perform on the school stage. They can dress up if they choose but the goal here is for them to begin to learn public speaking skills. They are so proud of themselves, the parents are too, and this year I decided to have them create plaques to commemorate their experiences.