The kids made Thunder cake cupcakes...
In art they made calico collages of farm animals and huge thunder skies on lengths of canvas and them added sound effect words of their own making.
In music class they explored the sounds and rhythms of a storm; creating lightning, thunder and the quiet space that falls between.

First grade
Some Birthday

The kids wrote and illustrated a story about their most memorable birthday to date.
In art class they made papier mache birthday cakes. They also decorated the cake we all ate at the open house they held for parents to see their kid’s work.

Second Grade
Chicken Sunday

The second grade was inspired by the beautiful hats in the window in Chicken Sunday.
In art they each created their own fanciful hat. In their own classroom they explored the themes of the book through poetry with their teachers as well as a guest poet, Alice George.

Third grade Appelemando’s Dream

They dove into the world of dreams- day dreams, night dreams (bad and good) as well as life dreams. Some students wrote dream poems, some wrote dream stories. Some kept dream journals and made dream mobiles.
In science they were all introduced to the science behind dreaming- Why do we dream? What part of the brain is responsible? Do our dreams have meaning?
In art parents helped make a plaster mask of each third grader. These masks were them mounted on watercolor paintings of that child’s personal dream.

Fourth Grade
Rechenka’s Eggs

In art the fourth graders painted eggs based on the patterns and colors from the book.
In the class teachers used this story to introduce many other folk tales from around the world. Finally students worked with teachers as well as parent volunteers to write, edit and type their own folk tales.

Fifth Grade
Pink and Say

This book fit in with their study of the Civil War. They discussed family legacies, and the gifts that are passed down from our forefathers.
In art they each created a family tree book. Some wrote stories of family history, some wrote poetry in the first person as if they were one of the characters in the book, and others imagined a family tree for Pink and Say and compared it with the information found on the book. The book was also compared and contrasted to other books and facts that the students used in studying the Civil War.

In the Library
Meteor! Thank You Mr. Falker The Keeping Quilt

Ms. Crocker introduced students to Polacco’s books and read these to every grade level. Based on these stories the students made poetry quilts that celebrate family tradition and love. Each student also wrote a letter of thanks to a particularly important teacher, coach, mentor in their lives. They also learned research and inter net skills using our web page.