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Showing posts from February, 2012

Woodland Houses

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Thanks to http://paintedpaperintheartroom.blogspot.com/   a wonderful website with great ideas I found this woodland house lesson idea. I see over 200 second graders at this school so I don't have the storage room to store the stand up houses but we stapled them to the blue background paper and then added some details.  I told the students that when I was in school there was a cereal called "Freakys", (growing up in the 70's) Anyway, it came with a plastic monster and I would collect them with my friends and we made houses in the yard for them. I even remembered the jingle and sang a bit for them. The next week I heard a student singing it!  We started by stamping doors, windows and siding on the yellow paper then stamping a roof.  The following week we used Craypas for color. Today we assembled our houses and added details.

Finished HOUSES

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I promised to show the final glazed houses made by Mrs. Perry's class.  I think this special group of students did an outstanding job!!!

Egyptian Projects

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Every year I do an Egyptian project with the fourth grade. I try to time it so it happens right before their trip to the DIA where they see the sarcophagus.  I've done full body sarcophagus, but with only 30 minute classes, they take forever. Last year we did just the heads but since my computer crashed last May I lost those pictures but you can see them if you search under fourth grade. A favorite was the hot dog containers I picked up at GFC. The students decorated the outside and then made a clay mummy for the inside.  This year I tried the foil technique. At NSE we wrapped our glued paper with foil after we put a piece of cardboard on the back, then wiped the front with black paint. I wasn't very happy with this result so after some investigating I found I should have used four layers of foil. But I have over 260 4th graders and someone would have to melt a car for all that aluminum. So I had PKE and CE use permanent markers instead.  Next year I have my eye on the can

Valentines Printing

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I'm still coming up with lessons to do with the stacks of donated styrofoam.  I had fifth graders come up with a design using hearts. As you can see some asked to use my table mirrors so they could write "love" messages!  I really like the white printing ink on red paper. Oh, last year I ran out of printing ink and tried tempera and acrylic...huge mistake.

More classroom organizers- PAINT

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I used this method last year when I was traveling to the ECC to carry glazes but I find I'm using it more at each school to hold paint. I like the way it keeps the paint from tipping over, keeps it in the middle of the table for all to share. The coleslaw containers I buy at GFC for a few dolllars and the muffin tins are from the dollar store and garage sales. After four classes painting the containers still looked pretty good.

Fieldtrip to the Detroit Institute of Arts

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Posing like the mural. Diego Rivera Mural Van Gogh We are so fortunate to live close to a big city and an incredible art museum. Every year our entire district affords to send all 4th graders on a field trip. This year we received a grant for admission to the Detroit Institute of Arts for admission AND the Target grant to pay for some of our transportation for our Title 1 schools. We start our morning at the symphony (DSO) and then head over to the DIA for the rest of the day. We break the trip into 3 different days with 2-3 schools going each time. I was lucky that my three schools all went on the same day so I was able to experience the visit with them.  My students are in the middle of creating sarcophagus' so that exhibit was a  huge draw. I've got my eye on the canopic jars since I do a different type of sarcophagus project every year (I will post soon). I think I better start saving Pringle cans!  The Degas, Van Goghs, Miro, Kandinsky...Ahhhhh What a DAY!