Pages

2.25.2012

I'm Done -- All Grades

What do you do with kids that are all done?!

Here is what I do - as of now:
- Students first have to come show me their work and we discuss it - we compare and contrast their own work within their work.  So for example if one part is colored/painted with care and precision but another part is scribbled in - I point out the two spots and ask if they match in quality.  In most cases students will see the difference and go fix it.
- When students bring me their 'done' work I also compare it to our list of expectations.  For example if we are working on their Wild Things I will go down the list of requirements: - is the wild thing made up of 4 or more animals? - Does your wild thing have visual texture? - Does your wild thing have a habitat?  - Yes to all of those? You are done for today.

When I agree they are indeed done most times I send the kids to the 'Done List'.  I sometimes have mini projects for them to complete, but often times kids get a huge benefit of exploring things on the done list.

The 'DONE LIST' in my room currently has the following to do:
- Free Draw (2 papers)
- Modeling Clay (size of a golf ball)
- Art games - memory and go fish
- I Spy - books and search bottles
- Tangoes
- Kidpix


Free Draw: Students may use 2 papers to color, cut, glue, paper punch - it is free draw after all.  For some reason my students LOVE to use paper punches.. they will sit and punch holes in paper for their entire 'done' time.  I don't full get it, but there must be some magical about punching perfect circles and hearts in a paper.

Modeling Clay: This is a favorite with ALL grade levels - and mostly with boys.  The rules are: no weapons, no throwing, no chasing each other.

Art Games: These tend to be more popular with younger elementary students, as most older kids have mastered memory and go fish.

I SPY: These tend to interest middle to lower elementary students and mostly boys - though many girls still enjoy them.  I made the search and find bottle out of a plastic tea bottle, added some small bits of this and that from around the room, filled with plastic beads, glued on the lid, printed out a list that I taped to the side.

Tangoes: Tangoes are basically tangrams with different shapes.  I got these travel tangoes at Target - they are magnetic and have little books inside with pictures to make on the front and the solutions on the back.  I find all grade levels love these and I tend to see girls play with them longer.

Kidpix: ALL kids LOVE kidpix.  I have 3 computers set up in the back and they make silly pictures.  I set a timer for about 4 minutes so they don't stay on all class and give other kids a chance.  I don't have it hooked up to the internet or to a printer.



-

3 comments:

ArtMuse said...

Ah the dreaded "I'm done"! Last year I had about 4 different shoes boxes, each with a different center activity. One activity was 'silly sentences, where students use sentence strips to create wacky sentences and then illustrate them. I center was model magic, one center was scrap paper collage, and one was different puzzles I had made from laminating then cutting art posters. I found it very helpful to have these extension activities to keep them occupied. Lord knows boredom brews trouble! :)

ArtMuse said...

Wow, that had a lot of typos, sorry for being practically incoherent...I really need to proofread more!

Ms Novak said...

Art Muse - Thanks for the reminder! I also have a 'silly picture' area. Students pull out colored sticks from jars, read the sentence it makes and draw the picture! They have such a good time with it!