Donors Choose Grant Fully Funded!

I am so excited! I had my second Donors Choose grant fully funded over the holidays! The document camera that I ordered arrived today and I hooked it up and installed it. Now I am ready to do all of my classroom demonstrations on the big screen. Yippee! No more "Ms, I can't see". The one I ordered also captures video, so I can video my demonstrations and upload them to my classroom blog for the students to re-watch when they need additional help. How cool is that?!


Once I get my Thank You package completed, I want to write another grant. I am thinking about looking into a couple of digital cameras..... Hmmm....... Pin It

Kindergarten Bluebonnets

These are the bluebonnets we did in years past- Kindergarten Bluebonnets

The project we did this year is the same as in the past. The surprising thing this year, was how well the students did on their sewing! Either I am getting better at teaching it or they are more coordinated!

Here are the bluebonnets we completed this year:

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Third Grade Maori "Tattoos"

As part of third grades study of Australia, they learned a little bit about the Maori people of New Zealand. I showed them a PowerPoint that I had put together:



Then I passed out copies of different Maori designs that I had printed out from Google. The students used these as their inspiration. They created 2 different designs in their sketchbook. The students had a lot of fun with this project. They all know someone with a tattoo and this was a harmless way for the students to create their own.

For their project, I gave them 2 choices (trying to keep with the choice-based outcomes):
1. printmaking
2. aluminum bas relief

As the students finished up their sketchbooks, they picked up a piece of white paper (9 x 12) and drew their favorite design onto this paper, making sure to fill their space.

While they were working on this, I used this time to meet with my 2 groups to demonstrate the steps for each project.

For the printmaking:
The students taped their paper onto a piece of styrofoam and traced their design with their pencil. After that, they removed the paper, traced one more time and then used their pencil to color in the positive space.

For the aluminum:
The students taped their paper onto a piece of pre-cut aluminum (I buy it in rolls and cut to whatever size I need). They placed this on top of their sketchbook so that they had a fairly soft surface and traced their design. Then the paper was removed and they used their pencils to color in the positive space.

I then set up stations in the back of the room for each project.

Printmaking:
White ink and brayers- they students rolled the white ink onto their styrofoam and then placed the styrofoam onto a piece of black construction paper. Using a clean brayer, they rolled it onto the back of the black paper, helping to transfer the ink. Once they were finished, they washed their styrofoam.

Aluminum:
Black india ink and brushes- the students painted the aluminum with black ink. Then using paper towel, they wiped as much of it off as they could, leaving ink in the crevasses made by coloring in the positive space.

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Second Grade Calaveras

Second grade repeated their Day of the Dead project from last year: Day of the Dead Calaveras

Here are this years outcomes:

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Fifth Grade Pagodas

I adapted last year's pagoda lesson to allow for more choices on the part of the students. They were able to choose between printing, drawing and sculpture.

The printing project was the same project that was completed last year: Pagoda Printing

For the drawing project, the students drew the pagoda they wanted. I had them trace their composition with a black Sharpie and then they colored them using Crayola Color Sticks. For this project, I did a lesson on basic shading. They decided where they wanted the light source to come from and then used the Color Sticks to create light and dark areas in their building.

The sculptures were made out of 100% recycled materials: cardboard, bottle caps, cork.... basically if they found something they wanted to use, they went for it. Then the used tempera cakes to paint them. I think next year, we might try acrylic. The tempera didn't have the vibrancy that I was looking for.

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