More Fun From the Luau
The lucky winner of the 'magic hats'!
This year the students learned more about printmaking in a project to be
displayed for Lewis' 1st Thursday Art Night in May. The students looked
at prints by Chuck Close. He is an American artist who loves making
giant pictures of people. Most of his work focuses on the faces of his
family and friends.
Chuck Close wanted to make pictures of people’s faces.
When he worked, he started with a small photo and marked a grid
pattern on it. He liked seeing how faces looked up close and large so he
made that same pattern on a huge canvas and painted what he saw.
We used an enlarged photograph of our faces and traced the lines we saw
into a piece of scratch foam. Then students rolled ink onto the form
with a brayer. Finally, we put a piece of paper on top and rolled over it
with a press pin to create a print.
End of Year Party...
Our end of the year party included a 'white elephant' raffle where one student tried to entice others into trading for his party hats by telling everyone the hats were magic. Fortunately, he found a taker...see more pictures of Luau:). The class feasted on Hawaiian pizza, ate fruit kabobs, and drank Hawaiian Fruit Punch. It was a great way to say goodbye to a class I've had for two years.Detective Agency Now Open and Taking Cases...
During our literacy block this spring our class learned about the Mystery Genre. We put our new found knowledge of key words such as: suspect, alibi, and red herring to work to solve mysteries both whole class and in book groups. I am happy to report that the agency was able to stamp 'case closed' on more than a dozen mysteries.
Secret Formulas....What better way to work on Scientific Inquiry than by making our own 'cola' recipes?
Students sampled name brand soda to see how many teaspoons of sugar were added. Then we created our own recipes by adding vanilla, cinnamon, lime juice, and sugar to sparkling water. Students needed to measure their ingredients by the spoonful, homemade dropper, and toothpick dipper.
Our most recent unit focused on the weather. We began with the folktale, the Weather Makers, and talked about the four elements of weather. While studying the properties of air, we made our own weather vanes and learned about measuring the speed of wind using the Beaufort Scale. For homework students made their own wind chimes that hang in our outdoor classroom.
Next we turned our eyes towards the sky. We made our own 'cloud in a jar' and then drew the different types of sky. we learned about the different types of clouds with the Man Who Named Clouds. Later, we experimented with a homemade thermometer to learn about temperature.
After focusing on types of precipitation, we were ready to record the weather for the week. Two students updated the weather station and shared their findings with the class during calendar.
Knitting with Kathleen...The students in Room 12 were inspired by our parent volunteer, Kathleen, who shared her handmade creations. During the hectic days of December, Kathleen and our interns, Elissa and Tiffany, taught the students how to 'cast on' and then do some simple knitting. It gave everyone a chance to breathe and spend some quiet time during the week before Winter Break.
As an educator I wear a lot of different hats. I am a literacy coach, math strategist, storyteller, scientist, environmentalist, part time nurse, and entertainer but the role I am most committed to is that of 'tour director' or community builder. I believe in the power of creating an environment where students feel included and are confident when sharing their ideas and opinions. I spend a great deal of time using community building activities from the books the First Six Weeks of School and 99 Morning Meeting Activities.
In my classroom you will still see students engaged in critical thinking activities through an integrated curriculum. As I take classes in Differentiated Learning, I strive to include more opportunities for students to have 'challenge with choice' through devices such as: tic-tac-toe menus and independent projects.
