Grade 1/2 Experiences at Rosser Elementary
During the last week, before the Christmas break, we read, “The Polar Express” by Chris Van Allsburg and did a buddy activity on it. These mini-booklets are displayed on the bulletin board outside of our classroom.
Our class watched the movie on the Thursday morning.
All students seemed to really enjoy both the book and the movie.
A huge (belated) “THANK YOU” to all the parents who drove, and stayed to help supervise, on our field trip. In spite of the rainy weather we had a good day. The students reported that the highlights, for them, were: the blacksmith shop, the school house, the tram, and the carousel. It is great to see how people used to live in the 1920’s and compare it to our lives today.
Notices went home last week about our Gingerbread House building which is scheduled for Thursday, December 17th in the afternoon. Please send in the items on the list by Tuesday, December 15th so that I can ensure that everything is ready for the 17th. Here is a photo of the size of milk container that is needed as the base of their houses:
The children also need a hard cardboard base, covered with tin foil. I have purchased the Graham wafers and mini cones, and will make the green icing for the ‘cone trees’.
This is a very fun activity that the students all love to do. Please ensure that your child has a fun day by sending in the needed items.
Thank you for your continuing support.
We have been busily getting ready for the Christmas concert. In between our regular academic subjects we have been using our ‘theme’ time to enjoy our fairy tale unit, and also to have some fun with Christmas crafts. I won’t tell you the main one – as it is the children’s Christmas present to their families – but we have also spent some time making our class Christmas tree with some very special unique ornaments which, I hope, will become longtime family keepsakes. You will see them at the Christmas concert. We have also made some other fun ornaments for your Christmas trees.
Student also had fun last week making paper chains for decorating the gym for the concert.
We look forward to seeing you all at the concert on Wednesday, December 16th. The children have been working very hard. I am sure the show will be very nice.
We did a directed drawing lesson on ‘bears’ this week. The next day the students did a much larger version of this bear’s portrait. The lines were then traced over with China markers. Students had used these markers to outline their Remembrance Day poppy art. Today students had the opportunity of working with oil pastels. They were given guidelines on colour choices available for the different sections. The background needed to be one of the varieties (shades or tints) of either green or blue. They were also instructed in the ‘smudge-iness’ of working with oil pastels and were supposed to work from the inside to the outside in order to not rub the colours into each other.
I think the students should be very proud of their hard work. Many said that their hands were sore afterwards but they were troupers and I think that they did a great job.
As part of our exploration of the elements of art (colour) students created complementary colour patterns. We read the book, “Hello, Green Fox”, by Eric Carle, which shows how the colour opposites can trick our eyes. Students learned which colours are the opposites of each other: red/green; purple/yellow; and blue/orange. They learned that opposites, when placed next to each other, make each other seem brighter and almost appear to glow. They also got a chance to get ready for making winter snowflakes through the cutting technique. Check them out on the bulletin board outside our classroom, if you are in the building.
We have spent the past week getting ready for Remembrance Day. This has involved stories, poems, and discussions about war, peace, and the reasons that we recognize this important day each year. Student learned about John McCrae, a Canadian army physician, who wrote the famous poem “In Flanders Fields”. They made their own poppies out of heart shaped construction paper which they arranged around a copy of the poem. These are displayed on bulletin boards in the corridor outside of our classroom.
We also had a directed drawing lesson on the shape of a poppy. Students then re-created these poppies onto large cartridge paper which they then outlined with black china marker. These were then coloured with red painted petals and green centres. After these had dried the students went over the black lines with the china markers again, cut out the poppies, and mounted these onto green construction paper. These are also displayed on the large bulletin board board in the corridor.
The poppies that we made for our wreath are displayed (intact as a wreath) in the centre of this bulletin board.
Each poppy demonstrates the students’ individual interpretation and creativity. They all look great!
On Thursday, October 29th we met our Division 2 buddies in the gym and had fun carving our pumpkins. Some of us got more into it than others.
In the end they all looked great.
The pumpkins were all lined up on the stage and made for a very nice surprise when we came into the darkened gym for our Hallowe’en Assembly the next morning. They were all well lit from within with flame-less candles!
We had a good Hallowe’en day with the assembly/parade and all the great goodies that were brought into the classroom. Thank you to those who sent in treats.
As we have been finishing up our Math unit on patterns, the students have been working on using pattern blocks to create beautiful 3-D pictures. They have been very creative with their designs.
We have Directed Drawing lessons 3 or 4 times a week. Students follow the direction of my drawings on the whiteboard while creating their own pictures on paper. They have been taking these lessons quite seriously and are gaining their skills more and more each week. We have been drawing a variety of domesticated animals.
As a result of these lessons many students are spending their free time (book time or Centres) using my collection of ‘how to’ drawing books to continue to work on their drawing techniques.
I am happy to see so much enthusiasm for Art!!