All Hands In!

This week was our first week back and, boy am I tired!  My class is great though...very inquisitive and eager to learn.  They take their work seriously and are actively working most of the day.  Who could ask for more??

We did quite a few things this week, but I want to share with you one "get to know you" project we did that really came out great.  I seriously can't stop staring at it!

I saw this pin on Pinterest.  I love how it looks and thought it would make a great welcome sign.

Now, on the pin, the hands seemed to be just colored in.  I wanted something a bit more.  So we started with creating Circle Maps about ourselves.  What made us special?  What are some things that have shaped us?  Where did you go in your life?  etc....Most of the kids finished these Circle Maps in class on the first day of school.

I then asked the students to trace their hands and arms on a piece of 11 x 17" piece of paper.  They then had to draw, write, decorate, etc...the traced in hand with items from the Circle Map.  The goal was to teach their fellow classmates about themselves in a visual way, without giving away too much information (ie: I didn't want them to write paragraphs.)  That is pretty much how far we got in class.  So, the first homework assignment the students had to finish the project at home.  I gave them this sheet so that they could be a bit more focused on their project and add a bit if they wanted. (but if you are going copy-less, just forgo this. They can write the information on a sheet of paper instead.)

The next day, the hands came back to school...and they were great!  I had the kids get into groups and share what they decided to put on their hands and why.  The kids learned a lot about each other in that 15 minute session!

You can see some of them used words as well as pictures to tell about themselves.  I love the one directly in the center of this picture!

Others just used pictures, like the one in the middle here.

When I went to put them around a piece of poster board, like in the original pin, they didn't fit :(  I think if I had used a smaller piece of paper to trace their hands to begin with they might have.  Oh well!  I decided to put them up as if the hands were all in a line, raising up.....and it came out great!  I overlapped the hands, so I was able to get 5 or 6 on one piece of large construction paper.  I then mounted them on my wall.  I love it!

All in all, this was a fun little project that served as a great way for the kids to get to know each other and make a nice display!   What is something you do during the first week of school to help the kids get to know each other and for you to learn a little about them?

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