How To...

...brighten up the hallway.
...get complimented on the cuteness everytime someone    walks past.
...let 2nd graders get away with something they don't usually do.

AAAAAANNNNDDD!
...get 2nd graders to write without complaint!

Why, all you need to do is this cute little How To Blow a Bubble Writing craftivity!

I got the idea from someone's board on Pinterest and traced it back to Lindsey over at The Teacher Wife. You can see her post here: http://theteacherwife.blogspot.ca/2011/11/bubble-gum-fun-writing-and-math.html . She actually got the idea from Julie Lee over at Mrs. Lee's Kindergarten. You can see that post here: http://mrsleeskinderkids.blogspot.com/2011/09/pink-day-cute-clipart-freebie.html .  If you've gone to both you can see that Lindsey tweaked her activity to make it a little more advanced. If not then you will just have to trust me won't you? :)

When I first told the kiddo's that they were going to get to chew gum in class their eye's grew big and they exchanged looks with each other like " Is this lady for real?!". It was great. After I gave them the gum I told them to pay attention to each step that they were doing because it would be important later.

After we had chewed the gum for a little bit I encouraged them to try to blow a bubble with it. Again, making sure they were really paying attention to everything they were doing. After the one's that really could blow a bubble were able to do so, we got down to the writing. First, I had them verbally walk me through the steps they would need to take. I purposefully did exactly what they told me to do, even if it meant leaving out steps. For example, they told me to get some gum and chew it but didn't tell me to take off the wrapper. That was kind of gross but I chewed it anyway!

After we had successfully talked it through I had them write their steps out thinking about what they had done first, next, and then last. When they were finished they brought it to myself or Mrs. Abbey, our classrom aide, who read through the steps and did exactly what they said. When they missed steps they went back and added them. I had them check their work over for spelling or grammar boo-boo's and then let them do the final copy.

Once the writing was done was when I let them make the face that would be blowing the bubble. I used the template from the blog. I blew up all the balloons ( only about 1/4 of the way full like Lindsey recomended). I had them glue their writing and their face onto a big peice of blue construction paper. Then I hung them in the hallway. ( See above photo). Then I made this bulletin board to go along with the kiddo's work.




They turned out SO cute and, like I mentioned at the top, I got so many compliments on them. My one problem with them is the balloons lost some of their air and shape. I think if I had started with smaller balloons and blown them up to their full size it would have been better. Something to try for next year I guess.