The Way I Teach: Beginning/Middle/End

Farm Flu Book Project {Beginning, Middle, End}

The kids had so much fun with this project. We are learning about farm animals in class and honestly this project was created on the fly, meaning, I literally was looking for farm books in my class library that were fiction, pulled this one out, and quickly put the project together and copied it. I am glad I did. I know everyone is all about the NO PREP thing and I GET THAT. I DO. There has to be a balance and these projects do require some work besides Print and Go. If you want to see how to do these - read on.

I did these were kindergarten and we read the book multiple times. We did guided writing and they helped come up with short sentences for the beginning, middle, and end - with guidance of course. I get 2 other kinder teachers kids (we switch). Had I had my students who may not have been ready for writing this, I would have copied the template with no lines and had them draw a picture of the beginning, middle, and end. Here are pictures of all sides of the "tissue box."

I did have my helper and a parent cut these out. I folded 34 of them with-in 25 minutes and they took another 35 minutes to tape them shut and add the tissue. The kids loved them and they were so proud!

If you are wanting to make these they are pretty simple to make. Here is what I did.

1. Get a rectangular prism 3-D template and enlarge it as big as you can on a 12" x 18" construction paper (I was only able to go to 165% before mine was being cut off).

2. I took writing paper (choose the writing paper with lines you want). Use single lines if it is for older students and you want room for them to write. Don't add lines for some students who will only be able to draw).

3. I cut the lined paper to fit in 3 rectangles.

4. I drew a line for the title on the top and another line for their name.

5. I drew the lines for the x on the barn doors on the sides.

6. I copied them.

7. When they finished writing, I took an exacto knife and cut a slit between the title and name line.

8. I taped them up and before I taped the top flap down, I pulled a tissue through the slit from underneath. Then tape.

Here is the book (not an affiliate link)

I also used Dr. Jeans Color Farm song to teach reading a spelling the color words at this time.

For homework, I send home reading response logs that match the reading strategy/comprehension skill we are working on. This week I sent this sheet home.