I don't know about you, but I really enjoy a little bit of chaos in my class. This week, we're doing just that. I wanted to share with you what my 2nd graders are currently up to. We've been practicing our ta's, ti-ti's and rests and this week they get to do their own composing! I've seen this idea floating around Pinterest in various forms, but the specific idea for caterpillars came from Mrs. King's rockin' blog.
So, first things first, I spent some time making my new caterpillar friends. Fortunately, our art teacher had some unused wooden dowels and just gave them to me! Then I invested in some styrofoam balls, googly eyes and a cute fluffy nose. I wedged the styrofoam balls on and hot glued them in place, and before I knew it I had me a whole posse of caterpillar friends.
Then there was the pool noodles. Each piece is approximately 4 inches long (because lets be real, folks...measuring all those got real old, real quick) and I cut enough to fill up a bin for storage.
I left the composing part up to chance. This is the board I presented to my 2nd graders.
Here's the reality: this activity can get really chaotic really fast. First and foremost I emphasized the fact that these were my caterpillar friends and I didn't want to take any of them to the hospital. Oh my word, did the kids ever respond to that--they took such good care of my materials! As far as the composing, I broke it down for my students by simply roll playing and putting together a whole caterpillar before I set them off on their own. I was the caterpillar holder, I had another student be the "roller", and another be the "runner" (who did not actually run). My job was to hold/place on the parts, the roller is to roll the dice, and the runner is to get the new part that we need. With each addition to the caterpillar we stopped and read it. In the beginning it was simple, ti-ti. Then, as the caterpillar grew, our rhythms got longer too. I made each group perform for me before they could start again--because everyone wanted to switch jobs.
This activity was definitely a hit, and it will come back around when centers happen a little bit later. What are some of your favorite activities to do with 2nd grade?
Labels:
2nd Grade,
Center Activity
