Before Christmas I used leftover paper from our calendar project to make mini sketchbooks for all of my second graders (around 80 or so).
When I cut the calendars to [roughly] 6 x 6, the remaining copy paper is in HUGE stacks. This year I just used my long-arm stapler and made these quick little books for them to have something to draw in the last day before break, rather than start a new project. It worked well UNTIL I got a wicked sinus infection and missed the Tuesday before break. So my second graders that I had today got to draw in them (and take them home) after doing a warm colored painting today (that will be used as a background for some cool-colored buildings later). They were thrilled:
They had so many ideas! "Can we write and draw?" "Can I make this my life story?"
After painting, they really only had 5-7 minutes (which stretched to 10-12 when I totally lost track of time), but it was time well spent!
Teachers in my district reported back today for meetings and work time. I spent my time changing out hallway displays (which needed to happen) and avoiding doing the things I need to do for our artist of the month program (choosing/hanging/writing the letters--all still needs to happen before I can leave today). I took down first grade landscapes and put up first grade owls:
We did our owls similarly to previous years, except our backgrounds were warm-colored-crayon leaf rubbings with black paint over.
I had decided to do a cute little Leader In Me connection on this board because it's the one that every child who rides a bus sees (all 700-800 of them). The spacing of the letters drove me NUTS, so switched some around, leaving a gap, so I had to go find another owl from another class to fill the void:
Much better! Now, what can I find to avoid doing the artist of the month stuff that needs to be done in the next 45 minutes??? Wait! That one on the far right needs to be adjusted. . . can someone else do artist of the month for me this month????
