4 months, 1 post, 4 more days until summer...

Where did the year go? We've had so much fun this year and have been so busy the past few months! I'm  behind on blogging but I'll try to catch you up on February-May at hyper-speed using this post. February brought us African American history month projects and programs as well as our Valentine's Day party!

 

We began March with some Seuss-tastic activities including measurement and antonym lessons using "The Foot Book."

We also completed a States of Matter unit where students explored characteristics of different states of matter and experimented with physical and chemical changes.

 

We took a field trip to see one of our own classmates perform in the Academy Children's Theater's performance of "Freckleface Strawberry."

It was also in March that I was honored with the opportunity to attend the National Art Education Association's Convention in Chicago, IL with some fellow teachers. I learned so much and was inspired to bring back some amazing arts integrated lessons and ideas.

Did I also mention there was a comic expo in the same building?!?

In April, our brand new theater opened. The 2nd graders were honored to get to perform our school song at the ribbon cutting. We also had our first Fine Arts Festival in the new school.

Our awesome parents help create silent auction art!

On Earth Day, we did research, read "Miss Rumphius" and created art inspired by ways we can make the earth more beautiful.

We had spirit week dress-up days, took a field trip to the Space and Rocket Center, and Panoply School Days. The students also worked hard to create their very own solar system models. They were out of this world!

May brought Mother's Day art and writing projects. 

 Tomorrow begins the first day of our last week of school. We will have our awards ceremony and end-of-the-year cookout at the state park. This has been a wonderful year of growth and learning--the students and I all have learned so much! Thanks for taking the time to follow our journey. See you in the summer!

Creative Connections with Eric Carle

Teaching at an arts magnet school is one of the most fulfilling things I have ever been able to do. Not only am I blessed enough to be teaching children (my passion) but I'm able to do it in a school that is aligned with one of my lifetime passions--the arts! Throughout my teaching career, I've always worked to incorporate art into my daily lessons. However, it is here at the Academy for Academics and Arts that I am challenged to push further and deeper into arts integration to connect rigorous core curriculum lessons with arts standards in order to reach every student's creative and unique learning styles, levels, and interests.

This year, I knew I wanted to guide an Eric Carle author study and explore his illustration techniques in literature and art, but I wanted to find a deeper connection to the curriculum. I found just that in our Science Standard 7.) Identify geological features as mountains, valleys, plains, deserts, lakes, rivers, and oceans. Eric Carle's stories and illustrations are full of plants and animals so this would be the perfect fit to integrate AL Visual Art Standard

1.) Apply a variety of procedures, methods, and subject matter in the production of two-dimensional works of art, including landscapes, still lifes, and relief prints.

Thanks to our amazing media specialist, Brenda Levert, we were able to read the stories and study the illustrations in each of the Eric Carle books in our school library. We also simultaneously studied geological features of the earth and I introduced landscapes through google and bing. After a few days of learning, we were able to begin sketching and labeling our landform landscapes.

Students begin sketching their landform landscapes.

Once our drawings were completed and accurately labeled, we watched a slideshow on the Eric Carle illustration process and a slideshow on his tissue paper painting technique. Students then made a plan and began their work. I started the process by instructing small groups of students at my table. After I taught a few groups, they were able to help other groups get started.

Students carefully trace, cut, and glue tissue paper.

Students were guided by their original drawings to trace shapes using colored tissue paper. They glued these onto a clean piece of cardstock to create their landscape designs. After the glue dried, students then used watercolors to paint over the tissue paper and add to the landscape. Look at these amazing finished products!

 This arts integration lesson lasted about 10 days and allowed students to use learned knowledge to creatively problem solve, plan, and execute unique works of art integrating science, visual art, fine motor skills, and more! This is why I love the arts--students gain so much from the process and in turn have so much pride in the product!

 We also had an exciting December Winter Celebration complete with pajamas and tacky sweaters! Students had Christmas and winter themed stations before the afternoon party. Students designed cards, scratch-art reindeer, and mini-masterpiece ornaments.

 We've also gotten really involved in our Math practices. I'm so proud of how hard the students are working to take ownership of their own learning. They make sense of problems, teach lessons, choose correct tools/manipulatives, and attend to precision daily!

November to Remember

Now that the school year has gotten well underway, students and teachers are buckling down preparing for unique ways to meet learning targets and benchmarks, as well as getting ready for two of the biggest celebrations of the year--Thanksgiving and Winter break, of course! Along with autumn winds come festive seasonal lessons and projects. 2nd grade students designed and created a very unique scarecrow and story to match. Students were to create a scarecrow from a given or self-made template and write a story with a problem and a solution. I was so impressed with all of the unique plots and story lines! Check them out:

Of course, you can't have a scarecrow without a few crows flying around. Using the Kennedy Center's ArtsEdge teacher resources, I found an arts integrated lesson that incorporated drama, visual art, math, science, and reading. First, my students read Aesop's fable, "The Crow and the Pitcher" from the Pearson Reading Street class anthology. We then watched a YouTube version of the same story. Students used a graphic organizer to compare and contrast the two versions. Throughout the week, students designed and created crow sock puppets following the instructions in the lesson plan found here.

On Friday the lesson came together in an engaging multi-disciplinary center time.  
Center 1: Readers' Theater (Drama/Comprehension/Retell)-Students used their own puppets to act out and retell the story.

Center 2: Partner Reading (Foundations/Details/Story Structure)-Students read the story and discussed important details. Students also analyzed the overall story structure using a graphic organizer.

Center 3: Estimation (Math/Science)-Students worked together to predict and estimate how many pebbles would be needed to allow the water to rise to the designated line. Students then tested their hypotheses and recorded the data from their results.

My students were entirely engaged and thoroughly enjoyed each aspect of this week long lesson! They couldn't wait to take their crows home and share what they had learned.

Coming Soon: Eric Carle Author/Illustrator Study Inspired Social Studies Lessons