Summer School Bugs

Grades 1-4
Two Class Periods
Summer School Lesson

Grades 1-4, Summer Bugs

Day 1:
The first day of this lesson, students spent examining numerous photographs of insects.  To fit for the time period of this summer school lesson, I provided students with a drawing bug idea worksheet. Students could pick one of the bugs off of the worksheet to draw, use the photographs provided to help them draw, or rely on their imagination to draw their insect.

Drawing the bug with pencil.

After the bugs were drawn with pencil, students used black glue to outline their buggy creations.

Outlining bug with black glue.

Day 2:
Students used chalk pastels to color their bugs.  Some tips and techniques were discussed for chalk pastels in the beginning of class.

Coloring composition with chalk pastel.

The last few minutes of class, we went outside and sprayed our pieces with fixative spray.

Student Examples:

Group Photos:

The Final Goodbye

On June 29th, I packed up the last box in the art room.  It was a funny feeling to say goodbye to a class room that I had for 8 years.  I am very excited for the new adventures that will take place in our new school and in the new art room, but I will always be thankful for all the wonderful art moments that were created and enjoyed in this room.

Packing up the last box.

Last photo of my art room in the old building.

My helpers (family) who helped me pack up the last few boxes.

Now, I wait for the email that states I can move into my new space.  :)

Been very busy wrapping up the school year, packing up my classroom and teaching a couple of days of summer school.  Before I knew it, we were hitting the road on our family summer vacation to Washington state.

Now that we are back, I have realized that it is time to do some catch up on blog posting.  The first things that I want to catch up on our my running adventures.

On May 30th I participated in a 10K at my school.  It was a brisk morning, but once the race began I warmed up quite a bit.

Haley's Comet Run with my cousin, friend and her daughter.

After this race, I decided to have a more spontaneous racing summer.  So I made a plan with myself, that I would not sign up for a race this summer until a couple weeks before the event.  My overall goal is to keep the summer a little more free calendar wise and take off a little racing pressure.  Now when I run, I just run for me.  No worries on the time or number of miles.  Just run for as long as like and as fast as I want.  Which honestly is my personal favorite.

The second race, I just completed this summer took place July 3, 2015.  It was called the Fishy Four. I didn't sign up for it until the night before the race!  This 4 mile race was pretty hilly, but had a beautiful view of the lake in Chetek, WI.  I ran this race in one of my more impressive times for a 4 mile race.  Not bad, considering I am not doing any training for time in my every day running.  I completed it 36:07.  My running buddy was close on my heels with a 36:11.

My friend Marie and I at the Fishy Four race in Chetek, WI.

I have hit summer vacation running and am loving every minute of it!

Art Room Update

The packing continues for the old elementary art classroom.  I knew that I had a ton of supplies and materials to pack, but as I continue to open cabinet door after cabinet door, I am beginning to realize that I really didn't quite comprehend the amount of treasures my art room was actually storing.

 Here are just a couple photos of one of my many stacks of things to go to the new building.

I, also have a photo of my new room in progress.  My accent wall is being painted Cameron Comet Blue!  So exciting!

OZ Run 2015

Me in my cyclone costume

I tackled another race this weekend.  This one was at Chippewa Falls, WI.  I ran this race last year with my sister-n-law because it is a Wizard of Oz themed race and she is a huge fan.  Some of you who follow my blog may recall that I was the Tin woMAN and made my costume out of duct tape last year. Oz Run 2014 As a group we won first place for our costumes.

The pressure was on to come up with a better idea so we could take home first again this year.  After some brainstorming we came up with the idea of being the Cyclone, Dorthy, Glinda, and the Bad Witch. Since I suggested the Cyclone it became my costume project.

Group Shot

After a few failed attempts with clear packing tape and saran wrap, I stumbled across the idea of using pool noodles and tulle from the fabric store.  Once my frame was built the madness began of duct taping, hot gluing and wrapping yards and yards of fabric.

Another shot of the Cyclone masterpiece.

Our costumes were once again a huge hit.  I imagine this is the closes we will ever get to knowing what it might be like to walk the red carpet.  People were coming up to us left and right to take our picture and ask about our costumes.  It was a pretty cool and a very surreal feeling.

We all ran this 5K race as a group and finished it together with a time of 42 minutes.  It was fantastic day filled with lots of laughter and pride.

We did win first place for our costumes which makes us already start thinking, "How can we possibly top this year?"  Ideas and suggestions are welcome!

A few more fun photos I just wanted to share:

Me taking down the Bad Witch.

A fun shot of me chasing Dorthy.

Our Witch stretching before the race.