Model Magic Pointers for Choral Reading

Last time I wrote about creating really easy pointers for my first graders to chorally read their Morning Messages.  And these are so easy to make, if you can un-peel a sticker, you can make these.  But once those were finished I still had lots of dowels left over, and a little downtime in the evenings.  So I decided to try out the Model Magic.



And I'm so glad I did!


I really had my heart set on having pond critters, since this is my classroom theme.  My old classroom had lime green, aqua, teal and brown.  The furniture in the rooms coordinates with these colors.  And a pond has these colors plus the whimsy I think of when I think of first grade.  The critters I planned were a:

* Turtle
* Fish
* Snail
* Frog
* Duck (mallard)
* Beaver


Later I added a worm (simple, gross, but kind of cute) and I might still try a dragonfly and platypus in the future since I have plenty still left over.

I wasn't sure my clay working skills would be up to the challenge, but I found that working with Model Magic is even easier.  It's softer, lighter, and sticks to itself better.  As a result, I could "build on" as opposed to molding out of a single piece.  Forming the head, body, and limbs out of separate little balls worked well.  It helped to keep each limb uniform without having to start the whole body over.  A little pressure (and slight twisting motion, I learned) helped secure each piece on.


Another tip I discovered was to put the body onto the dowel early in the creation stage.  Again, a little pressure and twisting motion worked well.  I could stick the dowel between cushions or in a drawer to keep it upright as I added pieces to it.  It ensured that it wouldn't dry with a flat bottom, and I was less likely to forget to make the hole for the dowel (something I would totally do).


To secure the googly eyes, I pressed them into the head, but then didn't worry about leaving them in as it dried.  The goal was to have nice, flat indentations that they could be set into, but not permanently stuck until the "clay" was dry.  At that point they could be glued on.

The package says your project should dry to the touch after 24 hours, and dry completely after 3 days, depending on the size of your project.  Well, these seem fairly small to me, (I used a piece a little smaller than a donut hole in total for each) but I still gave them a full 3 or 4 days of drying time (it's been humid of course, what with summertime in Massachusetts).  The next step was painting, then gluing the eyes, and the final step was to twist the ribbon around the dowel the same way as with my other pointers.


I'm so happy with the results!  These are more 3D than the last set, and they are exactly the critters I wanted to continue my pond motif.  I really hope that the kids love them like I do (I'm already thinking of having them name each one if I give them an option for two different names to vote for) and I also hope they are durable enough to last.