Category: Class News

Christmas is coming …

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.

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Student also had fun last week making paper chains for decorating the gym for the concert.

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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.

The Three Bears … and a Few of their Friends

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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.

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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.

Complementary Colours

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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.

Poppies, poppies, everywhere …

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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.

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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.

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The poppies that we made for our wreath are displayed (intact as a wreath) in the centre of this bulletin board.

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Each poppy demonstrates the students’ individual interpretation and creativity. They all look great!

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Pumpkin Carving With Our Buddies

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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.

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In the end they all looked great.

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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.

 

 

Directed Drawing Lessons

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.

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I am happy to see so much enthusiasm for Art!!

Pumpkin Carving in the Classroom

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As part of our pumpkin unit, last Tuesday afternoon we dissected the class pumpkin that I got from our trip to the Laity Pumpkin Patch.  I had a bulb / root that had come out of my garden when I was collecting leaves for our Elements of Art lesson a few weeks ago.  So we began by talking about the ways that plants grow – bulbs or seeds.  We talked about the similarities and differences between the two methods. While one is a bulb, and the other a seed, they both are planted in soil and begin by sending roots down into the earth.  The jobs of the roots are to hold the plant securely in place and to suck up water to provide the plant with the means to make food.  Once the plants are ‘grounded’ they send shoots up into the air from which the plants grow.  We have spent a fair bit of time over the past two weeks discussing the process of photosynthesis – the way that plants use water, air, and sunlight to make their own food (glucose).

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I had cut the lid off of the pumpkin and then let the students clean it out.  Those students, who wanted to, formed a very productive assembly line which included: some students cleaning out the seeds and pulp; some washing the seeds; and others drying the seeds and putting them onto a cookie sheet.  I baked these after school and left them for the students to have the next day.

The students had all tried the pumpkin pie that I brought into class the day after Thanksgiving so they were interested in seeing the part of the pumpkin that we eat.

 

Laity Pumpkin Farm Trip


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We had a really great trip to the pumpkin patch on October 6, 2015.  We were lucky to have so many parents willing to give their time to help make this a fun day for our students.  The weather was spectacular which added to our great experience.

Here are some of the highlights of our trip:

The Petting Zoo

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The Play Farm

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The Forest Villages

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The Corn Maze

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and … panning for ‘gold’.

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We also enjoyed a tractor ride, snack time, and hunting for the perfect pumpkin in the field.

A HUGE THANK YOU to all the parents who helped out by driving us to the farm and helping to supervise while we were there.

Corn Roast and Terry Fox Run

Last Friday, September 18th, students had the great experience of ‘shucking’ an ear of corn.  We all went out to the undercover area and peeled back the outer leaves, and removed the strands of silk, from our corn.  These were then put in a container to be later boiled by our parent volunteers.

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In the afternoon we honoured Terry Fox through an assembly and by running our Fun Fitness route.  We were lucky that the rain was light. Terry ran far longer each day and it was often in much worse weather conditions than we had on Friday!

After the run we all enjoyed eating our corn!!!

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