I am not going to lie to you. This project turned into so much more than I expected on all levels. We have been patterning like crazy for the whole month of January and honestly, we are all pretty sick of patterns. With Valentine's right around the corner and our love of paint, I decided we would make big hearts with a pattern and decorate the school up. I thought this would be an easy activity since we are SOOOOO good at patterning. As Bloom's Taxonomy would say, we were moving to higher level thinking and applying our knowledge. But guess what, it was hard! We had to start with a red heart in the middle, then add pink, then add purple, then back to red, then pink, then purple. Sounds easy, but it was not. I don't know if it was the sheer size that overwhelmed the kids, but some really struggled with this. Of course, others sailed through, but the students who had not firmly grasped patterning were evident. Now I know that some of us need to pattern more! By the end of this enlightening project, Mrs. McMahon had paint on her shoe and pants,her hair on top her head in a sideways ponytail, and a huge sweat on. Yes, it was messy, but they loved it and were so proud of their HUGE Valentines. And I absolutely know who has not grasped the patterning concept.
And by the way, the book called Mr. Hatch, Somebody Loves You is a great read for Valentine's Day. It is available online through Storyline if you have access.
