Art Club - Painting

I saw this idea on this blog: http://lostpersonshomeschool.blogspot.com/2011/01/winter-art.html

I had to adapt a bit for my age group (I had k-5 all at once). So I put the tape on for the trees ahead of time. We talked about painting the "negative" and they really enjoyed using the watercolors. They turned out great!

Fluffy snowman

We did holiday centers again with 3rd and 4th grades. I found a cute idea on pinterest to use shaving cream and glue to make a fluffy paint to make snowmen. We used q-tips as "brushes." I combined that idea with an old watercolor project I used to do where we painted snowmen snowglobes. I think they turned out great!

Back to School Bulletin Board

Well, school is starting back up. This means a lot less crafty time for me. I always love doing my back-to-school bulletin board, so here is this year's board:

Winter Bulletin Board

To go along with our opinion writing, I had the kids respond to the prompt "Winter is a great season." We were able to crank this out in one session, they were superstars and worked so hard! And I'm so glad I'll be able to leave it up into January.

Halloween Spiders

We did rotating classes this morning - third through fifth grades. I decided to do a craft... We made these spiders with pipe cleaners and pony beads. The kids loved them and they turned out great!

Fall trees

Every year classes are asked to make decorations for the fall festival. I saw these cute puzzle piece trees. Paper bags, spray paint, and glue!

Pasta Skeletons

This is sonething I've done for all ten years I've taught third grade. I love teaching the skeletal system around Halloween - it just works! It's nice to take a little break from the daily routine to have an artsy moment (although this always reminds me why I hate white glue!). We had a half day this week so it was perfect for doing this project. They turned out cute as always!

Common Core

I could go on and on about the struggles of implementing common core. I think my biggest struggle has been trying to balance my personal life with my job. This fortune from a cookie sums it all up... I have it taped to my desk at school to remind me that I'm doing my best.

Lucky Duck

I decided to try something new instead of doing traditional classroom helpers. I got SO tired of changing them every week and trying to make sure everyone had a chance at each job. So, I found the idea for Lucky Duck. Everyday, I have one helper who does it all. They have a checklist to remind them of what they have to do. The kids love it, and it has been really easy for me to keep up with. So glad that I switched!

Location Circles

In Social Studies, we study a lot about community. We also have map skills and one skill is to give the general and specific location of a place. So, we made circles that showed the different names for where we live (My house, City, County, State, Country, Continent, Planet, and Solar System). We tied in solar system to go with our science! They turned out really cute. Here's a picture of my example, since I sent them home without taking a picture of all the circles.

Bulletin Board - Spotlight on Great Characters

One of our CC standards we have worked on is character traits, so I decided to incorporate that into my board.

I wish my board was bigger because I can hardly fit everybody's work on there!

What the Smurf?

My students won a contest and earned "dress like a smurf day." In addition it was blue ribbon Friday when we reward students with good behavior. So, I decided to let my blue ribbon kids get extra smurfy, and they got to make smurf masks. Not gonna lie - they're AWESOME.

Easter Egg Animals

Today we made animals out of Easter eggs. Most of them chose to do animals from the examples I found online, but my favorite is the little shark. The student thought of it on their own and it is ADORABLE!