Pennies for Peace DEADLINE

As Thanksgiving approaches we are reminded about all that we are thankful for! Let this be your last opportunity to collect pennies over the break from school when you are out and about with friends and family. I will be taking our collection to the bank when we get back from the Thanksgiving holiday.

A report from Prince...

The above confession was even signed! I concealed it to protect his anonymity...

Along with tattles, stories and grievances...Prince reports now that he is receiving confessions!

Turkey Glyphs

The kids love doing glyphs...and I like to sneak in the crafts! Everyone made a turkey but if you look closely, they are all different! The questions this time were all about Thanksgiving preferences...what they like to eat, if they are staying in town or not, etc.

abstract art

Today in computer ancillary, the kids experimented with creating abstract art on the computer!

Keith Haring

Keith Haring always wanted to draw. While attending art school in NYC he started seeing empty black pieces of paper on the subways and knew that this was the perfect place for him to draw. He began his career by making subway drawings every day. He is known for using simple pictures and bold black lines whose pictures left a lot to your imagination. He was known to say,

"It's your job to decide. I only do the drawing!"

Keith didn’t just want his art shown in galleries…he wanted everyone to make art, especially children. He worked with children in schools to paint large murals with them, and he made paintings and sculptures for schools and hospitals in many places.

If you want to know more…go to this amazing website.
Go here to play hangman. I like the animals game!
Go here to send an ecard.
Go here to watch animals, people and things morph into different things…just click away!
Go here to tell what YOU think is happening in each picture…just like we did when we read his book today! (look on the left for the word MORPH)

There's more do to...look around!

I know Keith Haring would LOVE to know how much we enjoyed learning about him and his work. We ran short of time…I challenge you to go further! Have fun!

Piet Mondrian

In art ancillary the children learned about Piet Mondrian. They explored straight lines, primary colors, rectangles, squares and grids.

Help-Wanted

Do I have a volunteer to wash and fold our field trip bandannas? Thanks in advance!

MFA Rocks!

An actual Calder...how exciting!

We had a FABULOUS time today at The Museum of fine Arts. The tour was short but we had great docents. They were impressed with our art knowledge! My hope is that this "taste" will encourage your children to want to return to the museum and learn more!

At the end of the day...we were totally exhausted! Thank you to all the chaperones...I couldn't have done it without you. Really.

MFA Fieldtrip

Please try to wear a WHITE T-SHIRT...it makes it easier for me to spot my own class in the midst of millions! :-)

We are going to the Museum of Fine Arts tomorrow...Wednesday, November 19th. We will leave at 9:00am. So far, I have 6 volunteers...Cathie and Mike Partridge, Allison Levine, Priscilla Kennedy, Suzette Lang and Beryl Mazella. Volunteers may ride the bus, follow in your car or meet us there...no siblings. You will need to pay admission once there unless you have a membership. I am still missing money and/or permission slips for 3 students...YIKES!!! Everyone needs to bring a sack lunch...no lunchboxes. We expect to arrive back on campus around 1:00pm. Today Mrs. Stryker, Ms. Franco and Ms. Jackson had a wonderful time at the MFA...I know we will, too!

Art Project

Next week will be our last week of our current planner, “How We Express Ourselves.” The central idea is…through art, people express how they think and feel. As we conclude this planner, I thought it would be a good idea for the children to go home and look around for art outside of school and really think about how it makes them think and feel. You may actually visit an art museum on your own, look through art books at the library, go to a bookstore, or even go online to visit museums around the country or even the world to view art!

After choosing a favorite piece of art, I want each child to neatly fill out their “Looking at Art” sheet answering the following questions:

* Title of artwork
* Name of artist
* What colors do you see?
* What shapes do you see?
* What objects do you see?
* What do you like about the artwork…why did you choose it?
* Include a photo, picture, copy, or drawing of your piece of chosen artwork.

The projects are due Friday, November 21st. We will be sharing these in class November 24th and 25th and I’m thinking they would be a nice addition to their portfolio assessment for the art planner.

Our homework load this week will be light (spelling only) to accommodate enough time to do a nice job on the project. I look forward to hearing about what kind of art your children choose to share. Although it is OK to choose an artist we may have already talked about…try to stay away from the pieces of art we already know about. As always, have fun!

elephants, elephants

We can't seem to get elephants off of our minds...so I read a book about elephants and the kids went wild writing facts they learned! Challenge your child to tell you 10 facts...I bet they could!

I promised (especially to SK) to put some elephant links on the blog...so here they are: There is the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. They even have a live "EleCam" best seen during the day and stories about each of their elephants that live there. There is Riddles Elephant Sanctuary in Arkansas that has more stories about their elephants and you can even adopt an elephant! ER was especially loved that there are sanctuaries available to old circus and zoo elephants that need a place to retire. Check out this amazing footage of elephants swimming...who knew they could be so graceful? This is on YouTube (this is cannot be seen on HISD computers because it is filtered out)...so please monitor use! For whatever reason, the class wants to know more about ivory and elephant poachers! I told them all I knew...but they want to know more! Be on the lookout...some were really concerned they might have ivory in the house and will want further clarification from you!

Harry

Thank you RS for bringing you new friend, Harry! I've never quite seen a hot dog sized caterpillar. The kids were both grossed out and fascinated all at the same time! Loved it!

Calder mobiles

We had great fun making mobiles...inspired by our favorite artist of the day, Alexander Calder! Come by to admire their beauty...I bet we keep them up all year long!

The Circus is Here!

The projects look great. It sounds like everyone had a great time working together as a family! Mission accomplished. We will share the projects and do a writing assignment in class Monday.

Be sure to double click the mosaic above to see the tiny details!

We've got LICE

The plastic combs that come with the kit do not work. The metal ones are better...sometimes you can find them on the pet isle (flea combs) at the grocery store or pet store. I've heard that if you use a comb to use it every day until all eggs have hatched and are gone. I did not have any luck with this method in the past. The hot straightening iron works!

Look what happens when I am out... :-)

LETTER TO PARENTS OF STUDENTS EXPOSED TO PEDICULOSIS:

Your child has been exposed to Pediculosis (Head lice) in school. One child in our class was found to have head lice. The eggs will hatch in approximately one week and become fully grown in eighteen (18) days if left to develop. The adult female may live 20-30 days during which time she can produce as many as 100 eggs.

The children who are known to be infested have been sent home and the parents advised to seek treatment and complete Nit removal. In the meantime, you are advised to take the following precautions:

1. Thoroughly shampoo your child’s hair using your regular shampoo.

2. Check the head for lice and nits. Nits are small, silvery eggs attached to the individual hairs. They resemble dandruff but unlike dandruff they are extremely difficult to remove. They are known to congregate at the base of the neck at the hairline.

3. If you locate any lice or nits you can buy lice shampoo or cream rinse without a prescription. Another method to treat head lice is with vegetable oil.

4. You should routinely check your child’s head at least once per week. Head lice can easily pass from one child to another.

5. Check the heads of all other children in your family to be sure they are not infested.

6. After treatment:

a. Wash all clothing, towels and bed linens in very hot water.

b. Dry clean all clothing and hats that are not washable.

c. Vacuum all carpets and upholstered furniture and mattresses.

7. Wash coats and jackets. They hang together when not being worn.

8. After using a over-the-counter product to kill the live lice, I've found that using a hot iron (commonly used to straighten hair) will KILL the eggs! The over-the-counter product does not kill eggs.

WOW

OK...keeping up with bulletin bulletin boards is not one of my strengths. I finally took these "What did you do over the summer?" plates off the wall. WOW is all I have to say! Those where done on the 1st day of the school and I had some very reluctant (if that) writers. I am so proud of the progress I am seeing with their writing! Many of the kids have started on their 2nd journals and I have been sending them home in the red folders. Take a look at them when you get them and check out their writing. They have so much to say! Way to go guys!

Circus Lions

I went to school tonight after my appointments to get substitute plans ready for tomorrow and look what I found...adorable circus lions! I can't wait to see everyone on Friday!

Shining Stars!!!

I was told most of the class did a great job but a few really stood out...M.L., A.A., S.S., N.K.

Reading Champions

If your child chose to participate in the March of Dimes Reading Champions program...the reading logs are due Thursday and I will turn them in on Friday when I return back to school.

substitute reminder

I will be out Wednesday (tomorrow) and Thursday. I hate to be out but it is unavoidable. Obviously, I will have nothing posted on the blog those days but I have a surprise for you... Blogger has an option where you can post things in the future and schedule posts! I will try out this option and see if it works...be on the lookout for a post on Wednesday and Thursday!

I know my stars will shine all day long! I don't think it will hurt to give them a gentle reminder in the morning! :-)