BEAUTIFUL OOPS DAY is JANUARY 15th!

Beautiful Oops? I do not know about you but, when I say OOPS I can promise you it is usually not described with the adjective BEAUTIFUL....


but that is EXACTLY what is happening in classes this Thursday!





A book written by Barney Saltzberg, "Beautiful Oops!" teaches children (and adults) that every OOPS is an opportunity to make something beautiful.  Here is a part of the book description:


"A life lesson that all parents want their children to learn: It’s OK to make a mistake. In fact, hooray for mistakes! A mistake is an adventure in creativity, a portal of discovery. A spill doesn’t ruin a drawing—not when it becomes the shape of a goofy animal. And an accidental tear in your paper? Don’t be upset about it when you can turn it into the roaring mouth of an alligator."

From this book came the resolution for "Oops Day!" where teachers can sign up to take the time to show how mistakes are OK and can be beautiful... You can read more about it here:

http://www.beautifuloops.com/home/

So, my awesome 2nd graders are doing just this! We started last week on making something beautiful from torn pieces of paper, spills, stains, holes in our paper, etc...

Will post some BEAUTIFUL OOPS pictures next Sunday but in the meantime.... HAVE A BEAUTIFUL OOPS WEEK!

I AM BACK! Whew - December flew by!

So, you are probably wondering where I have been and all I can say is - BUSY! November and December were a mad rush of field trips, making art work for the holidays, decorating, and getting items on Artsonia site. Busy times but Loved the work!

I have to say all the kids did amazing work this last 9 weeks as we discussed art from around the world. Take a look:

2nd grade - AFRICA - We discussed where was Africa, showed photos, maps, talked about the culture, etc.. and then I showed them my paper bead necklace from Africa. I explained how the women make these necklaces and other items out of paper to make money for their families. Check this out here for more info:
http://www.projecthavehope.org/bead-store.html?page=shop.browse&category_id=1&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=ggrants&utm_campaign=storenecklace&gclid=CjwKEAiAw56lBRCs29jB9uOvkygSJADnD3-6AK3i5m51z7VikCJdbKWtFVNgFhseT0XBLrcgGmmDJBoCtnzw_wcB

We decided to make our paper beads and rather than string onto a necklace, we put them onto pipe cleaners to make a snowflake. See - they did do a great job!

 

Then, keeping with the African theme - the kids also made individual mosaics out of peas, beans, etc.. Each one was really unique as we discussed patterns and colors.

 Neat, hu? I liked how each one was in their own CD case for display.

 

 

 

 

 3rd grade - MEXICO  - I have to say after just finishing up the weaving art, Mexico was a good choice for this grade. We watched a video on the Legend of the Poinsettia and I really enjoyed tying this lesson in to our work. The students did a great job on their pastel drawings of poinsettias. Here are a few:

 

For fun, 3rd grade also made these cute Santa Claus out of toilet paper rolls but, I did not take even one picture of them.... Oh well.... they were cute and more for fun as I have worked this grade ALOT so far and they needed a "fun" project! :)




4th grade - EUROPE -

Can you say beautiful stained glass? Yes! They did an amazing job helping me decorate the windows of the lunchroom for the holiday season. Hope you got a chance to see them in person!

 After making "Stained glass" the 4th graders also did a fun craft where they made a Queen's soldier (looks like a nutcracker also) out of clothespins. Who knew the kids would like these so much but they seemed to really enjoy them! This is a Pinterest pic of them as I did not take pics of these either.

5th grade Japan -

When you tell kids you are going to do Art from Japan they immediately go to Origami or drawing cartoon characters. So - we did origami... but we went BIG! Loved the snowflakes even though it took longer than I expected to do them. I really enjoyed seeing the kids who went home and made more.

After snowflakes, we changed themes and went with Polar Express. I showed the class how to blend pastels and we looked at photos from the book and video. The kids then went to work on their own SNOW MOUNTAINS.

 Great work by all! I am planning next 9 weeks now... Get ready to get Seussical! :)