Full of Beans!

Jack got more than he bargained for when he exchanged his beloved cow for a handful of magic beans.  Imagine the excitement in my classroom when I tell my students that I have a whole bunch of magic beans that can be used to create a variety of colourful and interesting patterns as we build our names.

This organizer is an excellent way to keep the beans sorted.
I print each child's name on heavy cardstock paper.

As the children create patterns on the letters in their names I encourage them to make each pattern different and challenge them to try their hands at "trickier" patterns (like double attributes or three different colours of beans).  Upon completion of their name we count the letters, identify the letter their name begins with, and write a simple "story" about their name to be displayed with their project.

I'm a strong believer in proudly displaying the hard work of my students.
The giant (sporting dark liver spots and feathery orange eyebrows) peeking
over the top of the bulletin board is fourteen years old.  I made him my
first year of teaching.  I guess you could say I'm also a strong believer in doing
something really well once and keeping it for a lifetime.