Back in Business!

We sold out of the first batch of bracelets from Sabore's village in Kenya but I just met with Therese after school today to get another batch of bracelets AND KEYCHAINS (they are just the cutest)!!!!  I will be selling them tomorrow and all of next week before Christmas break.  They are $5/piece and ALL proceeds are going to buying school supplies for the Naretu Academy, the first school in Sabore's village, that opens on January 7th!!!

The money we raised for our free dress fundraiser that was matched by VMware has helped tremendously.  They broke ground just the other day on the kitchen for the school so that the students will have a nutritious meal when they are attending school.  I can not even tell you how exciting this feels.  We have been with them from the start and to see all of these donations making a difference in the lives of not only children but women is just simply amazing.

If we sell out of this next batch of bracelets and keychains, we will have raised another $700 dollars that will be used for buying school supplies for the students.  Thank you!

Students may come to my classroom at recess and lunch to purchase them.  Middle school students will also see me on yard duty in the morning before school starts patrolling the middle school area clutching my basket of bracelets and keychains and may also purchase them then.

Once this batch is done, we will have to wait until Sabore returns from Kenya with more bracelets and keychains as we will have depleted their jewelry stash here in the states :)

Oldies But Goodies...

I like to call these "CLASSIC" SFC Christmas projects.  If you have had any other children go through SFC, they most likely made one of these projects with me. 

While I rotate and change a lot of my projects on a yearly basis, I almost never get rid of these two classic projects.  They always turn out so beautifully and I see them as keepsakes that can be saved for years to come. 

2nd Graders just completed their Advent candles.  They were made using oil pastels and students used an overlay of white oil pastel to create the highlights which really make these candles "pop."  

3rd Graders just finished their Nativity silhouette projects.  Students learned about tints and shades and what a focal point is.  They emphasized the focal point by keeping a circle of white on their paper and placing baby Jesus near this spot and by adding a glitter star above the baby Jesus. 

8th Grade: Hint Of What’s In-Progress

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More to come....

Kindergarten's Baby Jesus Ornaments

I'm not going to lie, I was really worried that this project wasn't going to turn out but boy was I wrong!!  These came out WAY cuter than I expected.  So much love went into this project by the Kindergartners.  They sure do love baby Jesus!!!  They really wanted to make sure that every detail was just so.  Here are some pictures that I was able to get. 

I have a feeling that these will be that special ornament that makes it onto the tree well into their adult years.  A keepsake for sure!

6th Grade Roy Lichtenstein: Pop-Art Meets First World Problems

6th graders are just starting to finish up their Roy Lichtenstein inspired pop-art projects.

We spent some time learning about the art and style and life of Roy Lichtenstein and how he drew inspiration for his art from comic books.  Students learned about benday dots and how they were used in many of his artworks to create values and to replicate the printing style of early comics.

Students had to find a portrait of someone in distress and use it to create a Roy Lichtenstein inspired artwork.  The projects were made using transparencies, sharpies, and paint.

To create a parody of his work, students had to think of a 1st World Problem and use that in their thought/speaking bubble.

Below are pictures of some of the completed projects.  More pictures to come!

Maasai Bracelet Sale

I have a bracelet that I wear quite frequently that was a gift from Sabore and Therese a few years ago and a lot of students ask me where I got it.  Today I asked Therese to bring a bag of small beaded bracelets from Sabore's village that are handmade by the women of his tribe.  I will be selling these bracelets in the art room with ALL proceeds going to the buying of school supplies for the new school.  They are $5 each and come in many many colors.  Any students are able to come to my room at any time in the morning, at recess, or at lunch to purchase one if they feel inclined to do so.  They make great gifts as well.  If we run out, I'll put another order in with Sabore and Therese.

Sabore's Visit Today!!!

Sabore and Therese came to visit the 5th graders and 7th graders (as they had scheduling conflicts that prevented them from meeting Sabore when they were in 5th as well as 6th grade) and he spent an hour in the church with all of us talking about what it was like to grow up as a Maasai child and warrior and his life as a Maasai elder.  He talked about why they are building wells and what that means for the people, especially the women, in his tribe and updated us on the new school that is almost completed and will be opening on January 7th.

Students spent a good 20+ minutes asking him very thoughtful questions and unfortunately we ran out of time to get to all of the questions as there were just so many!!!  I was so proud of the students for how engaged they were and the quality of their questions and enthusiasm.

A fifth grade student presented Sabore with the check from the fundraiser and we gave them some of our completed 5th grade Maasai art projects (I will give them the rest of them when I see Therese in a few weeks).  Sabore and Therese presented me with a shuka which is a traditional cloth worn by the women in the tribe.  I was quite honored!!

It was such a wonderful day!  I hope that for the 5th and 7th grade families that your dinner tables were filled with lots of exciting stories from today and that you got to learn about Sabore and his amazing organization as well.

4th Grade Fall Trees

If you haven't had a chance to sneak into the 4th grade classes to see these all hanging up together, you might want to take a little trip down the hall to take a peak. They are stunning hanging up all together!

Students used cool colored tissue paper squares to create the background and warm colored tissue paper to create a border.  A tree was made using air dry clay and then painted.  Gold paint pens were used to create details on the border and tissue paper was used for the leaves.  They are absolutely frameable!

Good work, 4th Grade!

7th and 8th Grade Christmas Projects

7th graders are just finishing up their ceramic angels with melted glass bodies and wings.  I just pulled the first batch out of the kiln today.  These will make beautiful keepsake ornaments!

8th Graders are completing up a very open-ended project.  Their objective was to turn Silent Night sheet music into some sort of religious Christmas themed art project.  They could cut it up, fold it, paint on it, draw on it, shred it....anything they wanted to do to alter the sheet music to create Christmas art with it. Here are a few that have finished.

Kindergarten Christmas Project Update

I have never met a child that does not like working with clay and after working with Kindergarten this past week, that statement still remains true. 

Kindergartners worked very hard to make their mangers out of air dry clay.  They then used markers that they dipped in water to create a very controllable watercolor pen.  They thought this was the coolest thing!!!! 

This week we will be making baby Jesus to lay in the manger and then a magic elf will be adding hangers so that it will be a Christmas ornament. 

Funny Day in 8th Grade Art Last Week

Sometime the materials in Art class can come in handy for things NOT Art related. 

On Halloween, the room turns into a tailors shop and on rainy days it turns into a drying station. 

We all had a good laugh in 8th grade Art last week when students came in out of the rain, many with soggy shoes (and socks).  Well, we fixed that!!