Our first art project was a great success! The students created self portraits using life-sized hands and feet making their heads and bodies look as though they are falling back into space. The students sketched the portraits, outlined them in Sharpie, then used watercolor and/or colored pencil to fill in large spaces. They were quite creative when designing their backgrounds! We have some floating in space, through storms, under water, etc.! We encourage you to pop in to see them in person. The pictures just don't do them justice.
During the first couple weeks of school, the students from room 205 worked on team building and collaboration to solve problems. The first challenge was to save Wendell the Worm during a kayaking trip. Wendell's boat capsized and he was trapped on top of the boat with the life vest stuck underneath it. What a predicament he was in! The students had to flip the boat back over, slide the life vest on Wendell and retrieve the oar with only three paperclips and NO HANDS! They also had to do this without dropping Wendell into the water because his swimming skills were just not good enough to keep him alive.
The next challenge was building a tower using cups, rubber bands, and string. This required the students to decide how they would move at the same time to stretch the rubber band wide enough with the attached strings to get it around the cup and place it in the correct formation. The teams worked together in small groups to plan their strategy and predict what difficulties they would encounter. After the task, students conducted small group evaluations noting what they learned about themselves and group work, what worked, and what didn't. We were very impressed by the positive encouragement they gave one another, determination and perseverance of these kids! These skills will benefit them throughout the year and beyond! Hello!
As we are wrapping up the first day of school, we have come across the need for some parent volunteers in the near future. Some of the activities are: *Sorting Oregon Studies Weekly Labels for math copies *Cutting burlap and string for Oregon Map sewing project *Sorting math tubs *Scholastic book orders for the class In class assistance with Oregon Map sewing project on September 15, 16, and 17 Any activities marked with an asterisk (*) can be done at home Please let us know if you are interesting in helping with these. Thanks in advance for your help and time! Kori Bass and Nancy Gilkey |
AuthorKori Bass, Nancy Gilkey, and students of room Z002 Archives
September 2017
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