I used watered down tempera paint at home, and mixed up a batch that was still thick enough to hold color on the watercolor paper. Since I had already checked to make sure I could use the school's tempera, I didn't bring any extra. (Note to self: ALWAYS bring your own.) Upon arrival, I discovered that the tempera paint supply in the office was limited to magenta and orange, and had been used heavily, based on weight and the amount of dried paint on the outside of the bottles. I found a bottle of watered down brown, added it to what I had, and then after splitting it into 4 batches, watered it down a bit again.
When the students showed up, (24 today), I showed them that we would be painting "just the trees" today, having learned that if I was not specific, we would end up with squirrels and other additions. We talked about the fact that we had no sky, no grass, no leaves... just the naked tree. And they giggled, as any K-2 student would do when you say that word. And then my tiniest Kinder raises her hand and says, "It's like the trees are bald." How cute is that?
So I get everything handed out, and the class quiets down while they are working. They naturally finish at different times, so some start cleaning up while others are evidently trying to cover their entire paper in brown. Finally, I get the brushes in the sink (and rescue the ones going down the drain, toss out the watered down tempera paint, and collect the bald tree scenes on the only other table in the lounge.
After enduring several pokes (two of which were at my breast!) and the repeated question, "What are we doing now?" (even though we had already talked about it it at the start of class), we were ready to start the second project for the day: cards for our principal, in recognition of Boss's Day, coming up on Wednesday.
Over the summer, I had been given a set of cards for high school graduation announcements that were blank, and so I showed the students we were going to use these to make cards for Mr Principal. (Not his real name). I set up the three tables with different activities, and told the class they could move around to whatever table they wanted to work at. One table had crayons and markers, one table had Sharpies and finger ink pads, and one table had scissors, glue sticks, and some construction paper.
We had to ensure that Mr Principal did not come in, of course, and he was just across the hall from us. Oh, the terror when he came near the door!
By the end of this project, every table had every item. Yeah, you can imagine that cleanup was fun. How is it possible to lose glue stick tops? And one of them that was returned (minus the glue stick itself), had some blue construction paper all screwed into the cap. What is the thought process here?
We were able to get most of the pieces of construction paper (I call it destruction paper) picked up from all of the nooks and crannies it always ends up hiding in, glue sticks and tops mostly together, and we even checked the floor for runaway crayons and Sharpies. I have to say, they all (mostly), worked together to clean up so they could go home to their waiting parents.
I collected the cards in a brown gift bag for Mr Principal, and the plan was that I would decorate the bag before giving it to one of the secretaries to give to him on Wednesday. However, between the huge falcon constructed card, my personal exhaustion, and the need to clean up and take one of the students home, I admit I cheated and gave them all to Mr Principal early. He was thrilled.
Next week: q-tips and paint. What could go wrong?
- I figured out how to load pictures... The first one is mine. -
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