Happy Holidays! See you in 2011!!

K-1 Frosty the Snowman!

K- ornaments

1st grade - holiday wreaths

4-5th grade - origami ornaments

2- 3rd grade - stockings hung with care :)

4th grade - snowflakes



4th grade- more snowmen

Turkey Day!

A special shout out goes to a wonderful parent/PTA volunteer, Bonnie Buetner, for helping me get all these placemates laminated and sent home before the Thanksgiving break! I hope you all had a nice time with family, and that you enjoy these Turkey Day projects.

Placemates - 2nd & 3rd Grade

Clay Turkey - 4th & 5th Grade

Hand Turkey Plates - K & 1st Grade

A Moving Story...

This was a very special assignment I did with only one second grade class. It reminded me why I love kids and my job. A student from this class who sees me in the hallway every morning randomly started giving me paper bags. He bravely suggested that we could make puppets out of them. At first I thought it was a little silly, but eventually after he consistently gave me a new bag each morning I thought seriously about the possibilities. I told him we would do it but we needed a bag for each person in the class which is about 25 bags in total. He grew excited as he nearly had enough collected. One day he proudly came to me with five bags at once. He knew this would give us enough. As I told the class about the contributor for this project and how it originated the whole class gave this student their attention. We all thanked him and gave him a round of applause. I have never seen a kid's face light up like his did. This was a big deal for a kid who at times does not get much attention from other students. He was the hero and he knew it. This is teaching is all about. To make each kid feel like a hero; to make sure each knows they are important, and that when they put their minds and heart to it they can accomplish anything. Who knew a paper bag could remind me of this? I left work this day and felt confident that my job was significant!

The Season of Fall at Yates

Collage Scarecrows with 4th-5th Grade. Straw/Burlap/Construction Paper Crayons

Spooky Origami Bats 2nd-3rd Grade. The one with the full size head and ears belongs to Trace in Mrs. Krzeski's class and it was his own original idea. He made my lesson plan better! I love it!

Fall leaves and a pumpkin patch 1st Grade. Fall leaves were created with a stencil, crayons, and watercolor paint. They are gorgeous!! Pumpkin patches were created in response to a book that taught them how pumpkins grow.

Jack-O-Lanterns with Kindergarten. Crayon/Glue/Gold Glitter (to make them light up :).

Red Ribbon Week

This was a fun assignment I did with Kindergarden to help support Red Ribbon Week. It brightened up the hallway :)

Admin. Display

Luckly, we were one of the Elementary Schools able to hang some art work in the Administration Building. The student's work looks fantastic on the display and received lots of compliments!

Getting Into the Swing of Things!

This assignment was designed to build the student's confidence. Students had to simply trace the drawing and then color. There is an art and purpose behind tracing and the students really enjoyed it.
- 5th Grade

- 4th Grade

- 3rd Grade

- 2nd Grade

I challenged the students (3rd - 5th) more with this assignment. As you can see below they creatively turned each letter of their name into a creature and drew things around their names that they like. This was a lot of fun and helped me to get to know them.

I also put my young artist to the test with these self portraits and they passed with flying colors!

- Kindergarten


- 1st Grade

- 2nd Grade

Below are some pictures of a collaborative effort with 2nd Grade. The teachers asked if I could do a project to help their students learn about patterns. The students painted noodles and strung them on yarn to make a patterned necklace. Very cool!