When life gives you lemons, make lemonade

Well I hope everyone is thirsty because I have a whole lot of lemons I need to make the most of.  Last week I found out I was losing my classroom in our one year old building...essentially brand new.  I had to move the majority of my stuff( and I have lots of stuff) into my storage cupboard to make room for an added fifth grade class.  Kiss all that wonderful storage, three sinks, and great big work space goodbye.  I am now in the caf"art"teria and on the cart.  I am trying my best to adjust and make the most of what I have, but i have a sour taste in my mouth from all those lemons!  Guess I just need to adjust and make lemonade!

Looking to the New School Year

This year I am going to try some different things in my classroom.  I am going to do a new behavior plan and approach the year with a new theme.  My plan is to incorporate literature into all of my lessons and use a book as inspiration for each of the lessons.  I have some great books to use, but would always welcome suggestions.  I teach K-5 so I will be able to do all sorts of things. I am also going to do a chart for behavior by class and give classes the opportunity to earn 10 points each class period.  They will compete against the other classes in their grade level to see who gets the most points for the month or 9 weeks.  I am working on some other ideas as well, I will keep you all posted!! Hope everyone has a great start to the school year!  (I still  have 27 days until we start, but who is counting)

Long Live the King...or Queen

In honor of the Royal Wedding we made royal portraits.  The Kindergarten students are required to make portraits as part of the curriculum.  We discussed all the important aspects of a self portrait..mainly that only you can make your self portrait.  We also discussed all the facial features that were necessary to include.  One student told the class, "if you don't make ears, you won't be able to hear." (like ears always ensure listening) We also discussed what it takes to be a King or Queen, such as honesty, manners, respect, ect... We started by tracing a pattern for the shape of the head. we cut that out and glued onto a colored background.  Students then added all the facial features.  We added hair, the crown, and frame during week two.  If students did not behave they were not allowed to receive their crown.  I told them kids who wanted to act silly would be the court jester.  Needless to say the kids all behaved as royalty and the results were great!

Put me in coach, i'm ready to play...

I am headed back to work on Monday after 10 long weeks off with my broken leg.  I am so excited to go back with all the ideas and projects I have gathered over the time I have been off.  Thanks to all of of the fun blogs I have been keeping my mind sharp and letting the ideas run a-muck in my brain. Now I am ready to go back...so as the song says "put me in coach, i'm ready to play..hey,hey" Be watching for new art work to follow shortly!!  I'm BAAAACK!

Lights, Camera, Action!

They can't keep me down...or out for that matter!  I just found out that I am not allowed to return to school for another 4 weeks due to the fact that I have to use a walker.  This depresses me greatly because like all of you I love my job and look forward to teaching my children.  Well I was talking to a friend and realized that technology was going to be my in...literally.  I am going to post video lessons to my students that they can watch at school.  Then I can present the lessons and show them what to do.  I am also going to skype them so I can answer questions they might have!  I am very excited to reconnect with my kids from home! 

A little bump in the road...or more appropriately the hill

Hello everyone! I could literally spend ALL day on here right now.  I have some great projects in the works, some exciting things planned for February, but I have hit a little bump in the hill.  Any of you who know me or know about me would know that while art is my thing...all things athletic take a little more lets just say effort.  I will be off my feet (okay just the left foot) for the next couple of weeks.  While heading out for some fun and recreation in NY at Peek N Peak I had a little fall.  Yes I fell, and I could not get up!  I actually broke both my tibia and fibula in my left leg and as a result of orthopedic surgery am the proud owner of a metal rod in my leg(and a few screws) For the next couple of weeks I will be surfing the web and looking for cool projects and ways to keep myself from going crazy.

Sushi Art

Konichiwa everyone!  Our next stop on the trip around the world took my third grade students to Japan.  We talked about the life and culture of the country as well as the food.  We discussed that different countries eat all different types of food.  Surprisingly a bunch of the class had eaten sushi.  We looked at the different types of sushi and how it is artfully displayed.  The results were very realistic!

We had so much fun with this project!  Here is what you will need to create your own sushi!

Crayola model magic clay in white, red, yellow, and blue.  The students enjoy mixing the primary colors to get the other colors you need.  We also used a past machine to roll the green for the seaweed. The base is made from red foam core board.

Handrolls- (the round ones that look like coins) flatten the white modeling clay and mold into a rectangle.  Put your "fish" or "vegetables" at one end on the shorter side of the rectangle.  Roll the clay into a cylinder shape.  Add green thin clay around the outside for the seaweed.  Using a long blade(teacher job) cut the sushi into individual pieces. I used a tool made for cutting rolls of sculpey clay.  If you gently rock the blade back and forth it cuts without smooshing the sushi.  Nobody like smooshed sushi!

Sushi- Make a small rectangle with a piece of white clay.  Decide what type of fish you would like to put on the top.  The favorite in my class was shrimp and eel.  Create your fish and put on top of the white rice rectangle.  Add a thin "belt of seaweed around the center of the piece of sushi.

Cone-  Have students create a triangle shape with the white modeling clay.  Put vegetables or fish on one side, allowing them to hang out the top.  Roll into a cone shape.  Add the green around the outside and trim with scissors.

Mix light green and roll into small balls to represent the wasabi.  Roll flat pieces of pink and bundle them up to represent the pickeled ginger.

View pictures of sushi in different food presentations.  Have students arrange their sushi in an aesthetically pleasing way.

Add hardened sushi to a 4"x 10" piece of foam core board.  Glue pieces into place to secure them in place. Our final step was to add the chopsticks for an authentic feel.