Making Paper Marigolds

Every year my Second Graders make tissue paper marigolds as part of our theme on Days of the Dead. Here are the instructions to make your own with your students:

1) Cut green pipe cleaners in half, making enough so every student will have one. Attach a small piece of green paper into which you have punched a hole to one end, twisting stem around itself so it will stay on. This will serve as a nametag.


2) Take 4-5 pieces of tissue paper, approximately 4 or 5 inches square. I buy them pre-cut from Dick Blick Art Supplies (a catalog-google to find it) or you can buy larger sheets at a craft store and cut the paper down to size. Stack the sheets.

3) Fold the stack in half, creating a rectangle.

4) Fold in half again, taking care to hold onto folded corner in middle of above rectangle.5) Holding folded corner, cut opposite corner, making a curved cut.


6) To make petals, cut fringe along the curved cut- the more cuts you make, the more petals you will have.7) Unfold gently.8) Gently poke the pipe cleaner through the center of each sheet. Doing each sheet separately reduces the possibility of tearing. Bend the end over to keep the sheets from coming off the stem.


8) Scrunch each sheet upwards towards center of flower. Be gentle! I have seen many a flower come off the stem during this last step. Fluff and admire!

"Pictionary" Sheets

There are many ways to reinforce new vocabulary (or old). Especially at the youngest levels, I really like activities which involve all students at the same time- no time for kiddos to let their attention wander, everyone participates and is part of the activity. One activity I really like in this vein is the use of 'pictionary' sheets- a group of pictures of vocabulary we are working on. This could be anything- colors (as seen in the photo), numbers, family members, fruits, and so on.


These are a great way to work on new vocabulary, building listening comprehension. To use: Pass out one pictionary card to each student (in the photo above, the sheet itself was an activity, coloring the hearts according to color, then used for listening activity). Also pass out manipulatives- little animals, buttons, pebbles, colored pieces of paper, or even candy such as starbursts- one for each kid. The object for the kids is to listen to you, the teacher, as you say a vocab word. They need to then put their manipulative on the picture that corresponds. I usually go through all of the vocab words on the sheet at least once, sometimes twice, mixing it up as I go. As an extension, I then have the kids take turns saying one vocab word, which the rest of us listen to and put our manipulative on the sheet accordingly.

These are also good for quick assessments- I pull kids up one at a time for a comprehension check- "Point to the ____". Then I turn it around and I point to the pictures and the kid says the vocab word.