Everyday tools for increasing expression.

I love to incorporate fun hands-on activities into my service time with students.  This is tricky at the middle level, but there are usually creative ways to approach descriptive language with materials that are cheap and easy to find.  

Smelly Markers! 

 I could just eat the orange marker with its tangy candy smell.  These great tangibles are a fun tool to work on describing.  At level one, I have students get creative with naming the color (below).  Students provide a descriptive statement of the marker's scent for Level two (above).   

Paint Swatches:  

From fresh cut grass to sage leaves, your students will love acting as painting color pros.  Students can name the color and expand expressive language by describing the color in oral and written forms.  

See how your students can become jelly bean connoisseurs on my

 Tasty Expression post.   

Use these ideas for data points throughout the year!  

Now tell me: What's your favorite color, scent, or flavor?  

You may also like my new Expanding Expression Tool Companion Bundle pack.  A year of describing activities with data tracking forms.