In this post, we selected excellent suggestions for working the first weeks of classes with the Back to School Project for Elementary School, with the objective of welcoming the school community (students, parents, employees) in a happy and effective way.
Always thinking of making it easy for you, we decided to provide some Back to School Project for Elementary School, for free download in PDF, check the following link and download:
Resources - Carpet or pillows.
The teacher invites the children to sit in a circle and talk about what they did on vacation. We suggest organizing this moment in a cozy place, which does not necessarily have to be the classroom. Each child will have the opportunity to talk about something they experienced on vacation.
The teacher can ask questions to help children remember situations they have experienced and encourage them to talk, such as: what did they do on vacation? What did you play? Who or how did they play? Walked or visited friends or relatives? And where do they live? How did they move: walking, by bus, by boat, by bicycle or by plane?
In the conversation circle, the teacher must always be attentive to the shyest children, who need to be encouraged to speak and be heard, guaranteeing them freedom of expression.
Resources – Bond paper or cardboard, gouache paint, caps, brush, cloths, water, masking tape, school wall.
After the conversation in the circle, the teacher invites the group of children to go to an outside area of the school, close to a wall on which it is possible to fix the paper to paint. The teacher invites the children to paint on paper what they said in the roda about the vacation.
It is important to provide a variety of physical space for the child to paint or draw and direct painting situations in different positions: standing, sitting or lying down. In this case, we suggest large sheets of paper, placed on the wall, at the children's height, so that they can paint standing up. The teacher's choice to place the paper in a vertical position, that is, glued to the wall, gives the child different body movements and a different way of looking at what is being done.
During the activity, the teacher attends to individual differences, encourages the child to choose their space and the paper on the wall, the colors and the brush. For this activity, we suggest a sheet of paper for each child and gouache paint distributed in small caps. It is important to enable children to exchange and explore new colors. The teacher can take the time to ask questions about the colors, identifying them or asking the children to identify the different colors.
Resources– Duct tape, children's paintings, a place to display the works.
The next step is to talk to the children about their productions and propose their exposure. For this, the teacher must first have identified the appropriate spaces to exhibit the work. In addition, it is important for the teacher to pay attention to the careful choice of the place for the exhibition of the children's works, in order to guarantee care so as not to damage them and the prominence of each one. This care is a demonstration of the valuing of children's production by the teacher.
The material can be displayed in the classroom or in another space within the institution for productions. At this time, the teacher promotes a dialogue with the children, highlighting and valuing the different forms of expression, as well as allowing each of the children not only to present and talk about their own production, but also about the colleagues. However, as we find, in everyday life, children who, after finishing their performance, prefer not to speak about their experience, this needs to be respected, although it is also important to encourage them to express.
When working with painting, drawing and other forms of expression, it is very important that the teacher has mind that: “In our work we will record a procedural and organic view of the graphic development of the kid. This is full of comings and goings, not occurring linearly and upwards, mainly because it is a process”. (DERDYK, 1989, p. 21)
This assessment should have as its main objective to see if the children are managing to insert themselves in the group and in the school, as well as collect data about your interests and needs, to be able to think about the planning of upcoming classes and future projects working with the group. In this sense, it is important that the teacher pay attention to questions such as the following: Were the children able to talk about their vacation? Were they able to detail experiences? Was it possible to get an initial idea of how the children's oral language is doing? Did the space in which the conversation took place help the group to concentrate? How is the children's concentration time? How did they interact with the material offered? Did they manage to explore? Are there children in the group who did not feel comfortable speaking, or expressing themselves through painting? How do children deal with each other: do they show respect, can they listen, can they speak succinctly, etc.?
Finally, the teacher must list important aspects to get to know the group and have subsidies for the work of expanding children's knowledge and providing learning and development throughout the year.
Main goal: Receiving the school community (students, parents, employees) in a happy and effective way.
Check out an excellent suggestion for back to school project for elementary school, prepared by professor Valéria, from the blog Teaching with Care, with the objective of providing students the joy of going back to school, awakening in them the desire to study, play and socialize.
