Fall Prints

Many teachers fear using paint in their classrooms.

Not me!

I love the challenge of a possible spill,

a smudge on new clothes,

tears when someone thinks she missed her turn,

someone licking his fingers,

or

an accidental step in a pile of orange paint.

(all of which have happened in my classroom over the years by the way!)

I welcome this because I believe that, in an educational world of testing and drilling, 

children need a creative outlet.

To tell you the truth,  making these apple prints was fun, easy, and super fast.

Then we used it as the border for our fall bulletin board.

The children loved it.  I loved it.

You should pop in to the school and check it out.

Dallin workin' the yellow.

James, Dallin, and Eden

printing away!

THANKS!

Thanks for the donuts Zack!

Friday Performance Day

Every Friday, we have "Performance Day" in the Lucky Duck classroom.  The children are encouraged to practice and memorize our weekly poem which they receive on Monday, to perform on Friday.  Usually, there are two or three students who are ready to perform.  

BUT...

this poem really got the kids going.  We had lots of fun with it and used different voices to perform.  The following four videos are just a sampling of the children who practiced and recited for us.

AWAY UP HIGH

Away up high in the apple tree.

Two red apples smiled at me.

I shook that tree as hard as I could.

Down came those apples and

Boy, were they GOOD!

Katja and Kate using their "mad" voices.           Gabriel and Silver using "normal" voices.

Ethan and Tristan using "opera" voices.

Lizbeth, Chloe, and Brooklynn using "sad" voices.

So cute.  Memorizing is a great and essential skill for children to acquire. 

Mrs. Anderson's Show and Tell last Friday

My darling little twin grand daughters, Lyla and Olivia, came to school for a visit.

They were very charming and the students thought the girls were extremely funny.

Of course, they LOVED all of the ducks in the classroom...

who doesn't??

Red, Yellow, and Blue

I LOVE art. 

  I've dabbled in watercolors, acrylics, and oils.

I love coloring with oil pastels and have tried my hand at colored chalk. 

  I even married an artist.

But...all of these art experiences pale in comparison to children's art. 

My heart skips a beat as they discover the most basic and fundamental principle of art.

That is, that all colors are derived from just three colors...

red, yellow, and blue.

Here's Jon working on his color wheel.

To teach this principle, I love to take clay ("plasticine" for all you Canadians) in the primary colors.  Then, we take a small amount of red and a small amount of yellow.  Knead them together and VOILA!  Orange!

The surprise on the students' faces is priceless.

Then we repeat with yellow and blue=green 

then blue and red=purple.

A great activity.

Ethan, Gage, and Katja

working with the clay.

Zack, Melany, and Dallin making some green for their color wheels.

The finished product!

I'm not sure if this is a "color wheel"

or a "colon wheel"!  HA!

Once again, illustrating the power of proper letter formation.

What Time Is It?

It's 5:00 somewhere isn't it???

Oatmeal or Chocolate Chip?

I loved, loved, loved this Math activity.

So did the kids.

Part probability.

Part graphing.

Lots of counting.

Lots of FUN.