The Art Edition:
It's been a busy couple mornings of art making. We've looked at various books for story illustration inspiration. Tuesday we focused on the painted paper collage work of Eric Carle. We've also talked about various media artists use: collage, watercolor or photography, for instance and have focused on developing painting techniques such as color mixing and watercolor paintbrush techniques. By week's end students will create at least one large finished original illustration for their story. Below are examples of what we've been up to so far.
Books for Inspiration
The Writing Edition:
Monday and Tuesday we discussed the elements of a good story, character, plot, and conflict and built a group story using those elements. Next the kids brainstormed ideas for their own stories and today they dug in!
Here are some poems from a warm-up exercise we did today.
My happiness is sports
My happiness is made from my friends
I found my happiness in a room of light
My happiness can be writing or art
-by Noah
My sadness is a cat that can't purr.
My sadness is made from my dog that died.
I found my sadness in my dog's ashes.
My sadness drifts lonely in the huge ocean.
If I lost my sadness I will be myself again.
-by Mira
My happiness is reading on my bed.
My happiness is made from a lake in the woods.
I found my happiness in a box full of books.
My happiness can be happy.
If I lost my happiness I would still be me.
-by Nina
My fear is haunting me.
It is made from my wild imagination.
I found my fear in the television set.
My fear can go away.
If I lost my fear I would be finally living my life.
-by Charlotte
My joy is a young colt ready to run.
My joy is made from many added excitements.
I found my joy in the things that I love best.
My joy can explode into happiness.
If I lost my joy I would never be happy, excited, or amazed, or surprised again.
-by Izzy
My happiness is a leaf proudly falling from a tree.
My happiness is made from sunshine and care.
I found my happiness in a box of music.
My happiness can always be true.
If I lost my happiness I would find it soon.
-by Maddy