Christmas Writing Workshop

Here is a great book about creativity and hard work. The students loved that Russell, came to the rescue and helped save Christmas.

This week with the help of this wonderful book we learned:

• Building a Character Map: which included the skills of finding details in the book and drawing inferences
• Using our creativity to find solutions for Santa
• Paragraph writing skills- focus on indenting
• Writing that is step by step-sequence of events
• Writing that makes sense to the reader

 Some details about the characters were given right in the story. The others we had to come up with and then prove using details from the story.

 We played a game after everyone filled out their character map. No one knew which character we had picked. We gave our details and everyone tried to guess which character it was. With only 2 main characters..we had a 50/50 chance!!

 The next step was discussing the creative way that Russell helped Santa and what we would have done.

WHAT IS A SANTA TO DO?

What if Santa got stuck in the chimney?? What would you do or how would he solve his own problem?

Some of the student's plans for getting Santa out of the chimney:

• KS: I would pick up something heavy and throw it in the chimney and it would push Santa out.
• AM: I would make a peanut butter and honey  machine and make him slip out.
• CO: I would put metal along side of Santa and he would slip out.
• BM: I would blink my magic eyes and he would magically be out. My family would be proud of me.
• CM: I would take magic from his sleigh and throw it on him and then disappear.
• MS: I would make a fire in the fireplace and it would be so hot he would jump out.
• BB: The reindeer would get him out with their horns.
• AB: Santa fell into the chimney because he was standing up in his sleigh. That is how he fell and got stuck. You shouldn't stand up in a sleigh.
• IN: He would ask the reindeer for help and if that didn't work he would push himself out.
• SS: He would push and push and push himself out. If that didn't work I would jump on him till he was out.
• JC: I would pull and pull him out. If that didn't work I would go in the house and push him out.

Read Santa's Stuck by Rhonda Growler Greene


Linking to our Common Core Standards we:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

Christmas Monday Reading

It’s Monday! 

What are you Reading? 

 Jen and Kellee’s meme have a weekly link for reading enthusiasts who would like to share what they are reading. This week we are reading Christmas books!

We wanted to work on our predicting skills this week. What we did while looking at this wonderful pop up book was to look at what we know about the celebration of Christmas and then predict what we thought each letter would be.

As we made our predictions we would discuss how some of us thought the same but on other letters we had lots of different ideas. We discussed that most of the time we have different ideas and how that makes things more interesting.

Each letter has an exquisite pop up and all of our smiles at each one was amazing. Everyone loved this book. Although..we wondered and discussed:

Why Y was not for Yo Yo?
Why Z was not for Zebra? Although we all laughed when we saw what Z was.
And Why R was not for Reindeer?

Check it out. It is a beautiful book.

Isometric Paper and the Brain

Building independent thinking is a challenge for students who have years of waiting to be told the answer. Or worse, students who just guess because "It is too hard." This activity was to review 3 dimensional shapes and get the brain working.

Simple instructions where given after we discussed how to use isometric paper to create towers and shapes.
Students were given no teacher support other than words of encouragement.

A whole new way of looking at how to create 20!! This student used blocks first then drew what she saw.

This student used paper first..after a couple of attempts drew the shape he wanted and then created his block tower.

This student used blocks first then drew what he saw.

This lesson turned out to be more about:

The many different ways that things can be done!

Flat Class is Packing Up!!

Today we addressed envelopes and finished writing our letters. Everyone is so excited about going on this adventure that we could hardly do our other work today!!

I wonder....an IDIOM

 At Wonderopolis.com they have a "wonder" a day. Have you ever wondered about:

When Should You Come Out of Your Shell?

 Did you know?

"Have you ever been told to come out of your shell? People sometimes use this phrase to refer to kids who are shy. If you’re shy, sometimes you keep to yourself and don’t interact much with others.
Keeping to yourself is kind of like a turtle hiding inside its shell. Turtles feel safe inside their shells. Likewise, you might feel safe from the outside world when you keep your thoughts and feelings to yourself.
However, we believe most turtles would tell you — if they could talk — that you need to come out of your shell every once in a while. When you do, you encounter the world and meet new friends that make life more enjoyable." From Wonderopolis: Wonder # 776

Reading Class number 2 has been working on idioms. 
What is your favorite idiom? or
Is there an idiom that you use all the time?

Writing Workshop Goes Flat

Today reading group 1 and reading group 2 read the book, Flat Stanley. As we read, students created a flat version of themselves. We will be working on the following skills while we send our flat selves on an extended field trip around the world:

• letter writing
• sentence structure
• addressing envelopes
• geography
• map reading
• reading skills 
• understanding cultural differences
• computer based research

Check out our "Tricky Word Wall"

Here are some of our "Tricky" Word Wall words. The kids find words while they are reading and post them for practice. Students have to read the tricky word wall on their way out the classroom door, as their exit ticket. Most of these tricky words are no longer tricky at all.

The students loved creating the wordle (at wordle.net) and being able to read the words while we made this. In fact, they were so excited by creating the wordle that they didn't even realize they were reading!!!

Learning can happen anywhere

We love snow canyon! Tons of fun in the sand...even learning fun. CT has written letters C, B and H just for fun.

Summer Sewing Fun

Finding yourself bored this summer?

Make a sock monkey..great directions can be found at DIY Craft Projects.

All you need is:
     pair of socks
     sewing machine
     buttons (just two for the eyes)
     ruler
     pens
     scissors
     stuffing
     pins
     needle and thread

Fondren April 2012 Portraiture in Pop Art Style

Objective: To create a portrait using four different styles: Realistic, Abstract, Fantasy, and Comic Strip. And to review or introduce: Andy Warhol-Pop Artist, Pablo Picasso and Roy Lichtenstien- Abstract, Norman Rockwell and Paul Gauguin-Realistic.

Who can guess what Pop Art means?

Dictionary.com:

noun

an art movement that began in the U.S. in the 1950s and reached its peak of activity in the 1960s, chose as its subject matter the anonymous, everyday, standardized, and banal iconography in American life, as comic strips, billboards, commercial products, and celebrity images, and dealt with them typically in such forms as outsize commercially smooth paintings, mechanically reproduced silkscreens, large-scale facsimiles, and soft sculptures.

Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol

Have fun changing the colors of this piece of art..click here. Andy Warhol found that he could silk screen ink onto photos of people. He made repeated faces of Monroe, Elvis, and Jackie Onassis.

Old Fashioned Vegetable by Andy Worhol

Using everyday items like canned soup or coca cola cans, Andy made repetative mass media images.

 Femme Au Chapeau by Roy Lichtenstein

Definition of Expressionism: A manner of painting, drawing, sculpting, etc., in which forms derived from nature are distorted or exaggerated and colors are intensified for emotive or expressive purposes.

Stepping Out by Roy Lichtenstein

The Ring by Roy Lichtenstein

Pierrot by Pablo Picasso

Portrait of a Woman by Pablo Picasso

The Dugout by Norman Rockwell

Woman with Mango

Baitinger April 2012: Claude Monet Teaches Texture

Lesson Objectives:
To introduce visual and surface texture by introducing students to Claude Monet. Introduce the term impressionism through examining landscapes, seascapes, and still life paintings.

Create a list of words that describe texture. How do things feel (give students sample items and have them, eyes closed, feel and describe them. Think Pair Share.

What you see and what you feel...do you use the same words?

 Impression: Sunrise by Claude Monet

Claude Monet was born in Paris, France in 1840. He loved painting from real life. He and his friends wanted to become famous artists and had their own show...it was not a success. People of the day liked a different style of painting. A newspaper reporter/art critic wrote that these artists were "impressionist." He got that name after seeing Monet's painting above. (Monet by Mike Venezia) 

Claude Monet Self Portrait

  Chrysanthemums by Claude Monet

He loved painting and creating new texture and colors..this was a time when you had to create your own paints with colored powders and oil. It could be very messy. During his lifetime the creation of paint in a tube came along...and he was free to paint outside more!

Who can remember what type of painting this is? (Hint SL)

 Haystacks by Claude Monet

He would sometimes paint the same thing at different times of the day or year to see how light changed the area. Fifteen of the paintings were exhibited at the Galerie Durand-Ruel in 1891.(Link)

 Monet Painting in His Garden by Pierre Renoir

One of his friends, Renior, painted this portrait of him. In his later life, he created a huge garden and spent the last 10 years painting from his own amazing back yard. Some of his pieces of art were as big as 40 feet wide.

What kind of painting is this?

Sea Coast at Trouville by Claude Monet

He sometimes would have to tie his canvas down when he was in bad weather. (Mike Venezia) He tried to make his paintings as real to everyday life as possible, using shadows and light.

What type of painting is this? (Hint S)

Tulips in Holland by Claude Monet

Later in his life Monet had eye problems. He needed 2 surgeries and the paintings after that time had a red tint to them. This was common for cataract patients.

Can you remember what type of painting this is? (hint L)

Weeping Willow by Claude Monet

During World War 1, Monet painted weeping willows to remember the French fallen soldiers.

Water Lilies by Claude Monet

After his death his home where he painted so many of his painting become a famous tourist stop. One of his paintings sold up to 41 million dollars.



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