ISM Spotlight – Monthly Handprint Pictures

This year I am the luckiest teacher in the world. I get to teach at the best school ever – International School of Morocco, with some of the best, most creative, teachers ever. Each time I walk into someone else’s classroom, I get inspired and we just seem to spiral great teaching ideas off of each other. It’s a wonderful place to teach, and since we are all collaborating, it’s a wonderful place for our kids to learn – a teacher’s dream, right? I have tried and tried to convince the other teachers to create blogs of their own to spotlight and share some of their amazing ideas, but everyone is super busy. Instead, they have each agreed to let me spotlight some of their ideas right here on Raki’s Rad Resources. So, each Friday night, I will be posting an ISM Spotlight.

I have posted many times about our amazing Pre-K, Jen Kadiri.  She does the most amazing activities with our 3 year olds.  Every month this year, Ms. Kadiri made a handprint portrait with her students.  Then at the end of the year, she stapled all of the handprints together to create a present for the parents.

September is an apple tree with a brown hand print trunk and green and red finger print leaves and apples.

October is a bat with two black hand prints and two pumpkins with two orange fist prints.

  

November is a turkey created by painting the palm and thumb brown and then each of the fingers a different fall color – green, orange, red and yellow.

December is a Christmas tree, created with five green hand prints and multicolored finger print lights and ornaments. 

January is a set of snowmen, created with a white open fingered hand print on blue paper.

  February is a heart, created with two close fingered hand prints, upside down.

March is a rainbow created by painting the palm white, then thumb purple, index finger blue, middle finger yellow, ring finger orange and pinkie finger red.  Then, students rub their hand across the page, creating a rainbow effect.

April is an umbrella creating with an upside down hand print – students get to choose their favorite color.

May is a set of two flowers, created with two hand prints – students get to choose between red, pink, purple and yellow.

June is a sun, created with four yellow hand prints – palms overlapping.

Ms. Kadiri gets the students to create these hand print portraits at the beginning of each month.  She works with each student one on one to create their hand print portrait, while the other students work on a more open ended painting project at the next table. The parents were so excited to have the year’s worth as a keepsake at the end of the year.  Do you have any great ideas for documenting a year’s worth of growth in your students?