Sunday, March 29, 2009

Paper Punching- solved!

My kids have never taken to paper punching (punching out a shape drawn on paper using a small push-pin...a skill that strengthens the muscles used later for writing). I put it out earlier in the year, at Christmas time, because I was sure they would want to punch out Christmas trees. But...no. A couple of them tried it, but they punched a few holes around the edges and then thought it would be ready to come out. It was hard for them to grasp the concept of punching SO MANY holes. So, this activity has been retired for a few months. Until last week...


I realized I could break it down a little, and teach them the concept of punching enough holes, close enough together, to at least be able to tear out a very small shape. Or, in this case, they can punch on the line (perhaps 20-30 holes will do it) and then they can tear off a small piece. This is very do-able. Kind of like cutting with scissors...they can keep punching and tearing more pieces off, until they have had their fill. Done in short spurts, they could theoretically accomplish at least one "tearing" in just a couple minutes. Once they have grasped the concept, and feel confident in their punching abilities, we can progress to punching out shapes and other figures.

I think this will work! The pictures below demonstrate how the work is used. Oh, and I almost forgot...as a point of interest, once a small piece has been punched and torn off, it can be put in the small cardboard box by slipping it through the slot in the lid.



5 comments:

Susanne said...

Great way to break down the punching work. We had some trouble at the beginning as well in my classroom. We punch out traced metal insets on construction paper. Once a child chose the work, they have to put their name on it, then if they only punch a little of it, they can come back to it later or the next day. There still was some of the ripping it before it was ready to come out, but it helped graduate the work. Thanks for sharing!

Renée said...

Hey Hannah,

I just wanted to let you know that I nominated you for two awards on my blog.

Have a good night!

Maddy said...

I love this idea! The little box makes it even more exciting! My kids do the same thing. They get bored of this job after about 20 or 30 pokes. I've noticed their teacher also has a tray they can store their work in until the next day so they can finish it. Loving your blog, btw.

Amy said...

Hi, I enjoy reading your blog. I really love this idea! My daughter is working on pin punching the insets because she is not ready to trace continents either, but she usually makes it only half way through. Thanks for sharing this, I can't wait to introduce it.

AndieF said...

Thank you for posting this! We have the same problem in our classroom. This would help them to be able to feel some success with this work, and be more likely to pick it!