This art activity is a great way to reinforce adjectives taught in Theme 10 of the Houghton Mifflin Reading Series. After reading the story Fireflies for Nathan, I discuss adjectives with my classroom and have them come up with some adjectives of their own. The following day I have the students come up with adjectives that describe fireflies and I list them on the whiteboard. I show them an example of a completed jar with fireflies in it (all with adjectives beside them). I tell them they will describe their fireflies that they put in their jars. I have them color the fireflies. I then have them write out (on a scratch piece of paper) a different adjective to describe each of the 4 fireflies. Next, they write out the adjectives in the jars (in pencil first). Then, I have them trace the words in a fine tip, black pen or marker. Next, they cut out and paste the fireflies inside the jar (under the corresponding adjective). After that, they color and cut out the jar. I usually bring some Q-Tips and Scribbles Dimensional Fabric Paint (glittering confetti colored). When a student has finished (and done a good job on their work) I dip the Q-Tip in the fabric paint and have the students lightly paint their fireflies. The paint gives the fireflies a sparkling effect which students love.*I usually print the jars out on construction paper using a special machine at school. If printing the jars on construction paper is not possible, then perhaps you could print out the jars on copy paper and then paste them onto construction paper to give them some durability. I print out the fireflies on copy paper and give each student 4 fireflies.
*Scribbles Dimensional Fabric Paint can be purchased at Michaels
http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayProductPage?productNum=gc0518
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