Jasper Johns and the American Flag

We finished our flag project inspired by Jasper Johns' Flag from 1954-55.  Check out this video for some background on the history of the artist and this piece.

First we had to practice using a ruler to measure and make straight lines.  It's harder than you would think.

 Here is an animated discussion about the difficulties of straight lines.

 Some very focused artists/mathematicians hard at work.

 A little encouragement was all these guys needed from each other.

 All done!

 A little help is always nice to have.

Day two was a bit chaotic.  Pictures to follow.

Teaching

Our dear Mr. G next door is working with some of our mega math minds in class.  These guys came back from math club the other day and said they needed time to teach something they just learned.  Well naturally I was thrilled that someone else wanted to do the teaching.  Here they are explaining lines, segments, and rays to the class.

Citizenship

Here it is ladies and gentlemen, the first 1st & 2nd grade community project.  It looks so great we hope to do more community projects in the future.  Not only did all the kids create amazing work but it gave all us teachers time to work together and share stories about our classrooms as we worked.  I'm a bit forgetful so naturally I missed most of the work talk.  Shoot!  This project, found on Pinterest, is so wonderful!

Discovery Time

We are studying Citizenship during Discovery Time.  My group is working on the language of "getting along".  Here are some shots of us playing a game and working on shape, size, and place vocabulary.

 

We also drew a bunch of pictures about Citizens We Need in our Community.

Then wrote about how important they are.

Helping hands: A Project in Process

Here is a glimpse of our helping hands project.

After outlining everything in Sharpie we drew designs in white crayon.  Then painted with water color.  Art is a chaotic time so I didn't get any pictures.  All five classes did this project but decorated their hands in a different way.  Volunteers are in the process of cutting them out.  Then they will go up together in a mural somewhere in the school!

Word Work

Last week we started Work On Words.  It is a time to practice word recognition, spelling, and develop vocabulary.  We do this by:

 Playing games on the iPods

Spelling words on the magnetic cabinet

Spelling words from our word lists

iPods and iPad, we have 3 iPods and 1 iPad (they are very popular)

We practice sign language to help with spelling

Lots of sound puzzles help with reading

Magnetic boards are always a hit

More word games will be introduced later, and as the year moves on we hope to get another iPad.  I have a lot of work to do to get more games loaded.  Anyone know any high quality word, vocabulary, or spelling apps?

Superstudents!

Next week marks the start of our students of the week.  This year, we are Super Students!  Here are a few of the things we have worked on as we begin our year together.   

A discussion comparing super heroes to students led to our pledge this year.

 We graphed our favorite superheroes, then had a discussion about graph reading. 

 We have been working on our illustrations.  A great way to strengthen writing is to add great drawings to go with the words. 

 And of course the room is covered in Superman stuff.