The Hard-Working Hen: A Sensory Poem

Our Watermelon Wednesday reading group had a
discussion about the Little Red Hen. Was she right to
eat all of her freshly baked cake and not share with her
friends? It's true that the friends refused when she
asked them to help plant the wheat, pick it, and grind it
into flour. Some of us thought she should still share her
cake. We didn't agree with each other. That's why at
the end of our sensory poem, we have a selection of
different endings. What's your opinion? Should you
share with friends that don't help you?

The Hard-Working Hen

I  see  lots of golden wheat growing in the fields

I feel like making a veggie pizza

I smell warm fresh air and something yummy in the oven

I see lazy creatures watching me work

 I smell delicious pizza

I taste a soft, fluffy crust

I feel 3 pairs of eyes staring at me

Different Endings:

When I am done, I will share (Genesis)

I hear a distant train whistle

Poor, hungry friends (Ms. Senyak) 

They asked for some, that’s how good it was (M. Ali)

An Excuse to paint: Cinco de Mayo and Diego Rivera/Una excusa para pintar: Cinco de Mayo y Diego Rivera

Diego Rivera's Mother's Helper

    

Adrian's

Jazavier's

Sophia J.'s

Genesis'

To help bring Mexican culture to the fore in honor of Cinco de Mayo, the students worked on  observing, discussing, and then copying the work, Mother's Helper, painted by Diego Rivera. We used materials everyone had at home- a set of watercolors and a dark crayon. The crayon we used to sketch the outline of the features in the painting, and then we went over our works with watercolors. Many of the students preferred to sketch directly from Rivera's work which I projected on our shared ZOOM screen. A few students (letting me know with our universal video conference symbol of affirmation- a thumbs up) preferred following me as I sketched the painting from scratch. The magic of painting was present once again during this activity, as the students were entranced in their individual art pieces. The results are unique and beautiful, just like the artists who created them.

Annalisa's

This project idea came from: https://www.deepspacesparkle.com/diego-riveras-mothers-helper-art-lesson/, They recommend for 4th grade, but my 2nd graders thoroughly enjoyed it. I also experimented with the lesson's soft pastels on colored paper, and it gave a pop-art look that was really fun. 

Kelly's

Para ayudar a destacar la cultura mexicana en honor al Cinco de Mayo, los estudiantes trabajaron observando, discutiendo y luego copiando el trabajo, Mother's Helper, pintado por Diego Rivera. Usamos materiales que todos tenían en casa: un juego de acuarelas y un crayón oscuro. El crayón que usamos para dibujar el contorno de las características en la pintura, y luego repasamos nuestros trabajos con acuarelas. Muchos de los estudiantes prefirieron dibujar directamente del trabajo de Rivera que proyecté en nuestra pantalla ZOOM compartida. Algunos estudiantes (haciéndome saber con nuestro símbolo universal de afirmación de videoconferencia, un pulgar hacia arriba) prefirieron seguirme mientras dibujaba la pintura desde cero. La magia de la pintura estuvo presente una vez más durante esta actividad, ya que los estudiantes quedaron fascinados con sus piezas de arte individuales. Los resultados son únicos y hermosos, al igual que los artistas que los crearon. La idea de este proyecto vino de: https://www.deepspacesparkle.com/diego-riveras-mothers-helper-art-lesson/, recomiendan para 4to grado, pero mis alumnos de 2do grado lo disfrutaron muchísimo. También experimenté con los pasteles suaves de la lección en papel de color, y le dio un aspecto pop-art que fue muy divertido.

Fractured Fairy Tales : Taco Tuesday/Ichthyosaur Thursday Cinderella

We have been engaging in fairy tale study during our small reading group times. Our Taco Tuesday group and our Icthyosaur Thursday group had each read a different version of the classic Cinderella story. Our Tuesday reading group created the first part of our new fairy tale, and our Thursday reading group added on to it. Note: We are still collecting pictures to add to this blog post. If you would like to make an illustration to go with our fairy tale, please leave a comment in the comments section.

Annalisa's artwork

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Payasina. She had long hair down to her feet. She loved to make people laugh. She had two very nice stepsisters. Payasina was always playing jokes on them. She liked to tell them to close their eyes and she would have a big surprise for them. When they opened their eyes, she had left the house. One day, the prince sent invitations to everyone in Richmond to his big BBQ party on the beach. Payasina really wanted to go, but her family said, ‘No, you are too clumsy. We don’t want you to trip on that long, long hair!’ Then “POOF!” a fairy godmother appeared. “Bippity boppity boo, I’ll turn your sneakers into clown shoes!” And next thing she knew, she was wearing bright red and blue clown shoes. And a huge grey elephant was waiting outside her house.  So she hopped on the  elephant and they headed towards the beach. She noticed dogs running all over the place. The elephant was clomping so hard that he shook the steak off of the grill. Two little chihuahuas raced over and ate the steak before they could get it back. The prince, who was also the grillman, looked up on top of the elephant’s back. He was shocked to see a clown with blue hair smiling back at him. He laughed so hard, he fell backwards. He tried to get up, but when he saw her face, it was just a normal little princess. The elephant’s trunk knocked over the radio, and some jam music started blasting. The prince and Payasina started dancing. The clock struck twelve, and she turned back into her beautiful self and the clown slippers disappeared. Then she stepped on some beach sticks, and got an ouchie on her foot. So he grabbed a royal band-aid and carefully wrapped her little toe. They said good-bye, and they lived happily ever after. P.S. Maybe they got married after 5 years of being friends.