School-Age
FromMore Than Letters,
Sally Moomaw and Brenda Hieronymus
What to have
- word cards, made by printing the words cat, mice, red, yellow, blue, green, orange, and purple on individual 3-by-5-inch index cards
- self-adhesive paper circles (¾ inch) in each of the six colors
- sticker or rubber-stamp impressions of a cat and three mice
- two sets of colored pencils (red, yellow, blue, orange, green, and purple)
- red, yellow, orange, green, purple duplicating paper, and blue construction paper (half and quarter sheets)
- name card for each child in the class
- blank books with red, yellow, blue, green, orange, and purple covers
- fill-in-the-blank papers: for example, The mice made ______ paint.
- containers, for holding the pencils, paper, blank books, word cards, and name cards
What to do
Children love to mix colors in art activities. This center builds on that interest and includes a wider variety of color words than either the Apple or the Autumn writing center. The Colorful Mice writing center also coordinates well with the book Mouse Paint, by Ellen Stoll Walsh (New York: Harcourt, 1989). In the story, tiny white mice get into paint pots and mix primary colors together. The mice, cat, and color word cards and fill-in papers encourage children to think more about color combinations as well as to retell the story of the mice in the book.
Helpful Hint
Cut the blue construction paper the same size as the duplicating paper.
Why
Children will experiment with the materials at the writing center. Children will begin to display different states of writing from random scribble to conventional letter formation.
For more activities check out
More Than Letters: Preschool, Kindergarten, and First Grade Literacy Activities
By Sally Moomaw and Brenda Hieronymus Copyright 2001 School-Age