To help celebrate Earth Day this week you may like to complete a newspaper bee art activity with your learners!
Find out interesting facts about bees using some picture books like Nature's Tiny Miracle Bee by Britta Teekentrup.
You will need:
- newsprint (or use some scrap paper from the recycling bin)
- watercolors or food coloring mixed with water
- crayons
- scissors
- paintbrushes
To make:
- freehand draw some bees, flowers and hearts with crayons
- paint them
- after drying, trim around the edges
Create a bee garden display with your lovely creations!
How to Writing
After making your bees, implement a whole-class collaborative writing lesson. Teach the structure of a procedural text.
This free activity can be accessed over in my TpT store and you can project it onto your electronic board to complete with the class.
- talk about the purpose of a procedural text (to learn to do something)
- discuss who writes them, who reads them, where do we find them
- ask students to verbally recount the craft activity before you look at the text
in your class discussion, gradually encourage a summary of the ideas the students share so some clear steps emerge (e.g. what do we do first, what do we do next) - where appropriate show students how 2 sentences can be joined with a linking word - e.g. Draw a bee. Use black crayon. Draw a bee with black crayon.
- now look at the model text
- show students the heading and tell them it's at the top of the text
- read the heading together
- point out the 4 sections and together read the sample text
- encourage students to help you drag the text into position, encouraging an awareness of the structure as you go
- read and reread, encouraging students to read with you as you build the text
