When I was a kid we would play a weeklong Monopoly marathon over Christmas vacation. We would also play board games in the evening as a family, even though my father was extremely busy as a dairy farmer! Kudos to him for making the time! Our world is changing and it is difficult to get children (and adults) to stay focused on task for a long period of time. I have also noticed that many children don't spend the amount of time that I did as a kid coloring and crafting.
I like to infuse art and design into my other subjects. I think it gives students a chance to slowdown, learn to plan, make decisions, be creative, and it also promotes independent thinking skills.
At the end of last year I developed US Region State Posters.
I finally got them bundled together for sale! I love this project because there are so many creative ways to use these in the classroom to develop designing skills, research skills, presentation skills, and decision-making skills.
The students need to decide on four major research parts of their poster from this list:
Sometimes a student really struggles with the decision-making process. Many times, they research all the areas and then decide on the four. These posters will look great around the perimeter of your classroom (infuse a math term there) and can definitely lead your learners on the way to smart designing!
Here's my freebie set ( after all it is freebie Friday) to get you started:
Happy Designing!
Amy
