Polish Wycinanki

Wycinaki (pronounced with a v at the beginning) is the Polish form of paper cutting. The colors and designs vary by region. I love the symmetry and detail involved! I made these with third grade two years ago and WOW, the results were amazing! It is simply something you have to try, even if it is only for your own fun.

It seems straight forward to me, but let me know if a demo is needed. I can always do that.

Happy Cutting!

Tiki with a Twist

I found a fun blending project to be used with just about any grade. The steps to drawing are simple and offer room for a lot of artistic interpretation. Simply start at the brow and work your way down. Blend in the colored areas and top off with wood texture. Voila!

Laurel Burch Cats

Ever since I found the amazing work of Laurel Burch, I have been mesmerized. Her use of color throughout her work is amazing (I love all things bright and colorful...I am much like a small child).

I have seen this done on other blogs, but can't give a direct link as it has been years since I have seen it. If you created this please let me know so I can credit you.

I made a little drawing guide for those students who may need extra help (I would put it up on my Activboard) or for those kids who are out for the day.


I've tried painting, oil pastel, a mix of the two without promising results. I think I may do tempera this year if I try it again.

Laurel Burch Cat Reference

Clay Pigeons

I loved this story the first time I read it. I've seen paintings and drawings, but I have never seen them done in clay. I had the chance to make some clay birds this past year using a similar slab process, but I wanted to try this for the upcoming year. First grade would be my intended audience. Yes, it uses templates...please don't scold. ;) I try to limit my use of templates, but for this it seems to work.

Simply download the PDF, print on tagboard and you have yourself a project ready for the making. I would use bottle caps to make an indentation of the outer eye and marker lids for the inner. I would have them free cut the wing. Enjoy!

Clay Pigeons PDF

Room Signs

I made some signs to go above famous art prints around our room that highlight the media used in that particular work. I am missing printing and digital. For some reason that file is corrupt and I will need to do a redo. Are there any others that I am missing? Let me know I can fill in the gaps.

Signs 1 & 2

Signs 3 & 4

Signs 5 & 6

Behavior Forms

I am refining my consequences from last year. What can I say? I am still learning and I'll be honest, I was firm at first... then lightened up too early. It definitely wasn't out of control by any means, but definitely not the atmosphere that is 100% conducive to learning, so this year I will implement the behavior reflection sheet to add to my consequence list. I have created two, one for the lower grades and one for the upper. Maybe you can find this useful for your classroom?

Lower Grades Behavior Form

Upper Grades Behavior Form

Rubrics

Grading is tricky with the upper grades for me. I never quite managed how to let the kids see what I am grading them on other than what I mention in class. I tried extensive rubrics and spent countless hours creating, then I came up with a generic rubric that highlights all of what I am looking for...with the addition of objectives. I am planning on using these for the upcoming year by printing out an oversized poster (ever used www.blockposters.com? It is a must!). All I will have to do is write up our objective(s) for the day and voila! Major time saver in my book.

Here are my examples. Let me know if you would like changes so that it can be yours too!  I've lost the original file of the first two rubrics! ARGH! They were from so long ago... However, the two page rubric has a completely blank column that could be of help to some. Sorry about that!

One Page Rubric

Two Page Rubric

Kindergarten and First Hand Rubric

It's a Beginning

I have been desperately trying to figure out how one starts a blog... particularly in the summer months when there isn't a lot going on (for me anyway). I decided it might be a good idea to just start going through the oodles of files I've managed to create over the past two years and maybe post some of my classroom management tools, signs, whatever I come across. I hope that the next few posts prove to be helpful.