Winter art and writing our first reports

Sometimes I forget to take all the pictures that I need....the watercolour paper was taped down onto each students' desk when they walked in.....that caused quite a stir!  Where you see the white vertical lines was where there was also strips of painter's tape.  The students used the sharpie pen and drew a line across their page to act as the horizon.

 For most of the students, this was a new term....where the sky and earth meet is the horizon.

The students then painted with LOTS of water and some acrylic paint to create the sky.  The pages were taped down to allow the papers to dry without too much crinkling and curling.

Having the desks out of commission meant that most of our work in the morning was done on the floor.  Not a single child complained!

The students used a gray crayon and lightly went back and forth about half way on the left side of the white vertical lines, to offer shading  to the trees.  Using a Sharpie pen, each tree was outlined and six pairs of small lines were added to the right side of the tree to suggest that these are birch trees,

The students then were given a choice of two Alberta animals that might be found in the forest in the winter.  The animal pictures were done in silhouette and with all the little details, the students had to cut very slowly and carefully in order to ensure they scene looked right.  I think they did a fine, fine job!

Click here to watch a beaver work on repairing a dam

We watched a few little videos about beavers, as we continue to talk about things that identify us as Canadian.  We've talked about our flag, our country, the RCMP, Niagara Falls and have been talking about moose and beavers this week.  Together we created this chart....which can become sentences by using the words "Beavers are   or  Beavers can   or    Beavers have" at the beginning.

The students made those choices and then decorated their reports so that each looked like a beavers.

They were very proud of their completed work.

Not all the sentences start with uppercase letters or end with periods but it was a great start to having the students believe that they are writers!