Now yes, I know that it is the Friday before the holiday for Dr. King, but it is not too late to do something with your classes to celebrate his birthday. In fact, a four day week sounds like a perfect time to fit in some Dr. King art and writing. I am guilty of being an inspiration only teaching blog, and I'm not one to add linkable resources for the projects I do here [sorry, that's probably not going to change]. However, Nicole over at Teaching with Style is one of those awesome teacher bloggers who includes the goods with her posts! So, Nicole was inspired by this lesson, did it with her 2nd graders, and linked up some freebies to do the lesson with your own kids.
If you haven't done positive/negative art before, I suggest looking at the Blick lesson plan to help you out [it was the only one that made sense to me, and Nicole used it too, so it must be helpful]. I would also make sure to make your own Dr. King example [probably a few to make sure you really have it]before starting this with your class, or disaster may strike!
This lesson will really challenge your kids with following directions, something that all our kids need practice with! Also, I was lucky enough to have a document camera [ELMO] to use while doing this project with my kids. It is a STEP BY STEP project. Because you need ALL the paper you are cutting, having kids go off on their own can turn out problematic. Also, make sure your kiddos have clean hands before starting this project because once you get glue stick, dirty ball wall hands, and white construction paper together you can kiss those squeeky clean projects goodbye! I love baby wipes to get this done quick and easy by the way.
I paired this art with some "I Have a Dream" poetry writing with my kids, but you could really take the writing portion anywhere that works for your kids. Good luck and if you try this project out, I would love to hear how it goes [and see a picture if possible].
