Last week was one of those dreary January weeks that never seem to end. The kids were either whiny or off the walls. No one wanted to be at school. The kids were even at each others' throats...
Student 1: I DON'T want to do these problems.
Me: There are only 12. {Get over it...you should have done them 2 days ago when they were first given to you and I'm not going to argue with you daggone it!}
Student 1: [Rolling around on the floor by his desk.]
Me: {Really? What the hell are you doing??? Keep on, someone will walk in, see you, and fire me...then I can go home.}
Student 2: I don't know what your problem is. I did those problems 2 days ago.
Me: {My children are turning into their teacher...O_o}
A few minutes after that peer verbal throat punch...he got his work done.
So, after that little exchange, I thought, looking at what we've done this week, I think school sucks. Sure, we get up and move, but where's the creativity? The freedom of expression...well, I think we got that covered...
We have no art. We have no ART! We have computer time, library, PE, music, word study, graphic organizers, math problems, but NO ART. How sad is that?
I looked in my cabinets to see what art supplies I had left. Tempera paint. Oil pastels. China markers... nah... I wanted watercolors.
And watercolors I found. Now, what to do?
Cue the frantic search on Pinterest for Valentine's watercolor activities.
Ta-da!
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| http://www.youaremyfave.com/2013/01/30/painted-newspaper-hearts-are-my-fave/ |
I had plenty of newspaper, construction paper, and now paint. When I laid out all the supplies, you could have heard a pin drop. Wanna talk about student engagement? Give them a paint brush. Give them an opportunity to be children. Give them an opportunity to create.
Here is some of what they painted. I didn't give them any direction other than not to make a "picture" but to add colors and patterns to their paper.
After these dry, we'll cut out some hearts from our newspaper and glue them on to construction paper to make Valentines. We are sending these to our penpals in Ohio. Here is an example that I made...
We are hoping to finish these this week and send them off. I thought it turned out pretty well. I know the kids are excited because they came in asking me today if we were going to finish them. I had to leave early because my youngest was sick, but hopefully tomorrow.
I'll post more pics when we finish.
So, as I said, my youngest was sick and had to go to the doctor which equals a trip to Target. I love Target. I went to the dollar spot and you could have knocked me over...
So stinking cute! They had these cute lavender colors, and also in mint green and white. They also had the coordinating accordion folders, but I had to walk away. I have no idea what I'll use them for, but hey, I've got them!
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