Thursday, March 13, 2014

Yesterday was another snow day!  Our sixth of the year!  We had the second blizzard of the year and that's a first, even for snowy Buffalo.

120- We pushed in and worked with students on observational drawings of Australian sea creatures.

Then we had the kindergarten's second field trip to the Burchfield Penney Art Center.  I heard some amazing vocabulary and heard proof that the students are retaining the information they've learned this year in art and science.

Docent- Those lines go up and down.  What do they call the lines that go back and forth like this?
S- Horizontal lines!!!

Docent- The water is trickling down the walls.  How does water feel?  What is it?
E- A liquid!

J was reading the sign above the exhibit. "Buffalo," he says slowly.  "Creek runs under Buffalo..." He read the signage to the exhibit.

The docents have complimented us by saying that our groups have better-than-usual attention to detail and a high level of observational drawing ability.  That made me very proud of the growth the students have demonstrated in this short time.

I will upload the photos tomorrow, as my cord is being borrowed by another teacher today!

103- More students finished up their houses.  The students who are finished are revisiting the alphabet book we started at the beginning of the year, critiquing and improving upon their drawings. I want to make the book soon, but I really think they've grown so much in their observational drawing abilities that a little "Austin's Butterfly" revisit will take the book to the next level.

The students took their houses back to the block area of their room so they can enjoy playing with them!

104- I started a lesson on nocturnal animals, inspired by a painting on our Burchfield-Penney trips and through the inspiration of our previous studies on animals. We critiqued "The Evening Star," in person at the Burchfield today, then we took a second look at it in the studio on the computer.  The students then saw images of nocturnal animals and we had a discussion about what "nocturnal" means. The children each chose a photograph of a nocturnal animal and began the process of drawing drafts of the animal.  When they've completed their final drawing, they will paint a landscape scene using a color scheme of colors that would be seen at night.