• CFT137 - Big Fingerpaint Paper Houses
• (24/kit @ $14.99; #CFT137)
• Read aloud (Suggestions: My Book About Me by Dr. Seuss; It’s All About Me by Nancy Cote; What I Like About Me by Allia Zobel Nolan)
• Magazines and newspapers that can be cut apart

Key Words for Lesson:

• Beginning of the Year
• Collages
• Icebreakers
• First Days of School

Students will be able to:

1. Create a collage about their family and home using cut outs from magazines and newspapers
2. Retell through paraphrasing
3. Share their paraphrase in front of their peers while practicing their oral communication skills

Procedures for Lesson:

1. Begin by recalling prior knowledge and peaking student interest with a read aloud (Suggestions given above in the “Materials Needed” section)
2. Provide each student with a large paper house
3. Provide a large number of magazines and newspapers that can be cut apart; have students choose several and begin searching for items that could be found in their home; they need to be able to retell why each item chosen is important to their unique home
4. Each student is to create a collage covering the large paper house
5. Once collages are completed, have students practice their oral speaking skills by paraphrasing their homes and the pictures chosen to tell about them

Follow up Activity: Introduce the parts of a friendly letter, by having the students choose a classmate and writing a letter to that classmate sharing what they loved about their home.

Wrap Up: As a means of practicing the names and details of their new classmates, you could display the collages, each numbered randomly. Provide a listing of the class and see how many of them they can match correctly to the collages. This is also a great way to practice memorizing skills.

May take several days in school or can be sent home the first day of school to complete as at-home project within a few days.

Materials Needed:

• All About Me Posters (30/kit @ $20.99; #SCH475)
• All About Me Star Cards Kit (24/kit @ $10.99; #CFT105)
• Crayons or Colored Pencils
• Glue Stick
• Tape
• Scissors

Key Words for Lesson:

• All About Me
• Lesson Plans
• Beginning of year

Students will be able to:

1. Retell important facts about themselves to others
2. Follow simple directions
3. Present their finished booklet to their peers

Procedures for Lesson:

1. Begin by reading Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born picture book to the students.
2. Create a thinking map of ways to remember the character in the book (ie. Their age, hair color, gender, birthplace, etc.)
3. Provide each student with one Star Card or Poster.
4. As a class, create a step-by-step directional chart on how to complete their cards or kits
5. Have students create a brainstorming list of items they would like to tell others about themselves.
6. Upon completion of projects, have each child stand in front of their peers and retell their important information

Follow up Activity: Have students create a class chart providing one specific fact per student on the chart. Do not provide the student name that matches the fact. Once all students have presented their projects, take a “memory” quiz and see how many facts you can match to the correct student.

Wrap Up: Allow the students to exchange their project with another student in their class. Have them take the projects home and read the poster or star card they chose to an adult. This will provide further reading practice while introducing the families in your class to one another.

Assessment: Students will complete a poster or star card and be able to present their information without reading verbatim to their peers.