I gathered together a handful of my favorite lessons for showing gratitude...always a fun thing to do ANY time of the year but especially terrific as we approach Thanksgiving.
Now, the ONLY thing that was tough...connecting the students to the staff. Many of the kids have favorite teachers...and those teachers tend to be mighty popular. So I had to come up with a system where it was fair and where all the teachers and staff were chosen. To learn how we did it, you can check out the process here.
Now the key for this: work small. On our first day, we covered our mat board with a solid color for the background and then began adding layers of clay for the face shape, neck and shoulders. I created a video to walk the artists through the process and you can find it here:
So here you'll find a couple of lessons on creating faculty and staff portraits to surprise and thank those in your building, courtesy of your amazing artists!
For the other two lessons, I've got a daily doodle or a grati-doodle and a fun drawing activity that can be worked on by your early finishers. Did I mention I have a free download for you? Yep! Two, actually! So let's dive in!
First up, we have these modeling clay portraits! These were so much fun to create and made especially fancy with our Hobby Lobby metallic plates/frames!
My students who finished early either helped their classmates OR...many of them wanted to make a self portrait! These were so fun.
We even wrote about the faculty and staff members before hanging them all up for the display. To check that out, you can visit here.
Now if you are looking for some lessons that are a little less involved...you might be interested in these couple of FREE downloads! This one was created for my 3rd and 4th graders and can easily be used for a sub plan. So keep it in that sub tub, y'all!
And if you are looking for a continuing practice of gratitude by maybe doing a daily doodle (this is something fun just for you, if you like!), you can check out that process here.
Now...I will say this: when we created these, we used modeling clay. Modeling clay never dries out, it always remains workable. That's not great for what we're going for here. Initially, I coated each piece with a hardening solution made by Crayola...that they no longer carry. So! Now, I would recommends something made by Mod Podge. They have a huge line of varnishes in a variety of finishes that would probably do the trick. The clay will ALWAYS be a little squishy. Just an FYI.
The lesson that inspired the clay portrait was this one! I had done a Gallery of Gratitude and it was a huge hit! It's much less prep and work...as you can see it involved the students drawing a portrait and writing up a statement about the person whose name the selected.
If you are looking for a download that might be easier for your kindergarten through second grade students, I have that free download here!
Have a great week, friends!
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