Print Shop

from trash to treasure

One of the things I collect is used Styrofoam boxes. You know, the kind you get for leftovers at a restaurant. The reason is art. I chop the flat section of the lid into a rectangle, and every winter, the children transform those pieces of Styrofoam into printing plates.

Begin by developing a design. We brainstormed winter themes for ours.  Next, tape your design to a flat piece of Styrofoam and transfer the design by pressing a pencil firmly against (and sometimes, through) the paper.

Lift the paper to check that your design has transferred properly. Use the pencil to define the lines of your design, as necessary.

Squeeze a ribbon of printing ink onto the ink tray.  Roll the brayer over the ink a few times in each direction to spread the ink evenly over the brayer's roller. 

Roll the brayer to coat your printing plate with ink.

Invert the inked plate and press it against a folded piece of construction paper. Rub the back of your plate (or roll with a clean brayer) to transfer the ink from your plate to the card.














Carefully separate the construction paper from your printing plate.

Tada!

Re-ink the printing plate, and print as many cards as you like! Be sure to sign and number the bottom of the card. Printers use a number to indicate the number of the specific print and the total number of prints in the edition.  (For example, if it’s your second card and you plan to make 10, record 2/10.)









There’s a Book for That!
The Etcher's Studio by Arthur Geisert

Dimetrodon in the news!

I love when science makes front page news! Our very own Museum of Natural Science paleontologists have made a fabulous discovery!  Typically, fossilized bones are in the ground like a jumbled puzzle with missing pieces.  This fossil--dubbed "Wet Willi"--however is different.  It's almost entirely complete, as if the animal just lay down and died a few weeks ago, rather than close to 300-million years ago.  Ribs connected to vertebrae.  Vertebrae still connected to each other.  The spines that go into the fin all lined up, nice and neat.  Shoulder.  Foot.  Incredible!

Mysteries of the trunk

--Revealed!

What's in the box?

It's filled with clues to the mystery place(s) Fluffy and I traveled.

To investigate this trunk, we assembled a team of experts: botanists, zoologists, economists, anthropologists, historians, geographers, and a meteorologist.  Each expert would be searching for evidence related to his/her field of expertise.

  

 Then, we opened the trunk to reveal its contents.
 Aren't you itching to dig in and find out what's in there?

Each child was invited to remove an item from the trunk. 

  

As we examined each object, we asked ourselves, "Of what material is it made?"  "How is it used?"  "Which experts would be interested in this object?"  "What information does it give us about the mystery place?"  Experts were then invited to identify the item and determine in which category the item should be placed.  

Very often, more than one expert was interested in the same object.  The economists, the anthropologists, and the zoologists were all interested in a giraffe sculpture constructed from strips of reused soda cans.  A "Lucky Bean" necklace was interesting to the botanists, the anthropologists, and the economists.  The zoologists, the economists, and the anthropologists were all interested in the Mopane Worms ("Ewww!").  The economist was interested in the Coke can, but the historian noticed that the can featured an important event: The World Cup.  Where did this event recently take place?

The children began to see connections.  A catfish bone tells us something about the zoology of the area. It also gives us an idea of the geography of the area.  Similarly, fibers from a Baobab tree tell us about botany and also give us an idea of the climate.  The children began to realize that one aspect of a place influences another.  The people's art reflects the zoology of the area.  The botany in the place influences the materials used to make baskets,

As students investigated the trunk by sorting objects and asking questions, we developed a “web” on the board. 

We finished up with tea time, sampling sips of herbal "bush tea," also known as "red tea" or rooibos.

Special thanks to Jackie Bohdan, children's librarian and fellow traveler, for sending three children's books after Fluffy and I returned!

Election connection!

"I can't WAIT to vote!" excitedly breathed a child on the way back from lunch. 

Music to my ears. 

As a child, I spent hours coloring at the feet of women engrossed in League of Women Voters meetings.  In our family, not voting is pretty much sacrilege.  I must admit, I am hoping to pass on the conviction.

As citizens of Room 15, all of the children received Voter Registration Cards.  After signing the bottom of their cards, the children joined the long line at Precinct 15, excited and ready to vote.

Each child signed in and received a Kids' Favorites ballot. 

After registering their choices by secret ballot, the children cast their votes in the ballot box.

Results?

Kids' Favorites

Musical Artist: Justin Bieber

Fad: iPods

Websites: http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/ and http://www.disneychannel.com/

Movie: "Iron Man 2"

TV Show: "Spongebob Squarepants"

Electronic Games: Nintendo DS and PSP

What We're Reading:

Granddaddy's Gift by Margaree King Mitchell

Rookie Read-About Holidays: Election Day by Patricia Murphy

Vote! by Eileen Christelow

Lions and elephants

and giraffes! Oh, my!

Happy Halloween!

And happy birthday to the lovely Mrs. D!

(Yes, we dutifully celebrated Pencil Amnesty Day today in her honor.)

A parent reported that when she asked her son if he enjoyed the Fall Festival Friday, he replied dejectedly, "Yeah, I guess so, but Ms. Frizzle didn't come."  It's become a bit of a tradition for me to send Ms. Frizzle in my stead (oddly, right around Halloween).

Luckily, she was available today!  Some funny stuff happens when Ms. Frizzle substitutes for my class.  One of my colleagues was in hysterics after school, telling me, "I saw Ms. Frizzle getting out of her car and I thought, 'Look at that strange substitute.  Oh, my gosh!  What is she WEARING?  Look at THAT dress!  And THAT HAIR--is that a WIG?'"

Ms. Frizzle does make some interesting fashion choices . . . and she delights in the details. 

One student quietly admired, "Oh, I LOVE those earrings."

Another commented under her breath to a friend, "Where did she GET those shoes?"

Some of the children were skeptical about their strange substitute. 

"You laugh like Ms. S." 

"I think I see some blond hair peeking out." 

"Hmmm...You sound just like Ms. S." 

"How come you know our names?"

"Ms. Frizzle doesn't wear glasses."

Most of the children indulged her, though, with "Ms. S___ . . . I mean, Ms. Frizzle" and "I think I see the Magic School Bus!"

Ms. Frizzle is not just fun and games.  She's all about learning.  She brought along a Mystery Trunk, filled with artifacts that provide clues to the mystery of where Fluffy and I traveled over the summer.  Stay tuned to find out what was inside!

Books to love:

The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus In the Time of the Dinosaurs by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus On the Ocean Floor by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus Inside a Beehive by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus & the Science Fair Expedition by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Ancient Egypt by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Medieval Castle by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Imperial China by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

Paint your palette

blue and grey

Our finished work files are starting to look messy, which is a signal that fall has finally arrived and we need to sort and select work for our portfolios.  First, though, we need beautiful Take Home Envelopes in which to send home the giant piles of finished work. 

We began by coating manila envelopes in black acrylic paint.

Since we've been studying the solar system, I decided a little star-studded inspiration was in order. We studied The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh.  We examined the tints and shades Van Gogh chose to use in his painting, and the children practiced mixing tints and shades during the morning work period. 

We also discussed foreground and background.  The children used q-tips to create starry night backgrounds.

Because I didn't want twenty-two Starry Night look-alikes, I told the children to design their own foregrounds that would go with a starry night background.

I don't know why I'm always surprised by the deep concentration and peace that art brings to children, but it never ceases to amaze me.  Some of my wiggliest, most unfocused little people were completely absorbed by this project--more beautiful than any work of art!

The results are phenomenal--and every one different!

Will it float?

This is my Fall Festival tradition. 
Even our parent volunteers enjoyed it this year! 











We fill a plastic tub with water and gather an interesting selection of items that may or may not float: shoes, a candle, a can of diet soda, a can of regular soda, a sack of flour, a bottle of nail polish, playdough, a giant piece of pumice, a tiny pumpkin, a giant can of Crisco, and--a Fall Festival favorite!--a giant pumpkin.  As a group gathers, each child exchanges a ticket for a guess (a popsicle stick labeled "sink" or "float").  Then we try it out.  Will it float?  The results are sometimes surprising . . .

Cheap Thrills

Balloons were on sale at Target.  The vinegar was left in the cabinet by a previous teacher. 

So cheap . . . and sooooo exciting.

Lots of learning, too. 

In preparation, we started with a lesson on conservation of volume. 

"If I pour the liquid from this graduated cylinder into this container, what do you think will happen?  Will it fit?" 

Chants of "Do it!  Do it!"  "It's going to overflow!"   

Nope.  Our brains sometimes fool us into thinking short, squatty containers will hold less than taller, narrow ones, but scientists pay attention to what they observe with their senses.  Every container pictured held 1000 milliliters (one liter) of liquid.

After a short lesson on how to get down at eye level with the liquid and measure at the center of the meniscus, Cooperative Investigation Teams were ready to begin.

Great opportunities for measuring volume

(170 milliliters of vinegar)

  

and mass (15 grams of baking soda).

This is also a great way to experiment with matter--combining a solid (sodium bicarbonate) with a liquid (vinegar) to create a gas (carbon dioxide)! 

Just look at those bubbles go!

Yep.  Matter takes up space . . . even when it's invisible, like this carbon dioxide gas.

What you can't see in these photos (darn my slow trigger finger!) is that there was a slit in one of the balloons, and baking soda/vinegar solution sprayed out in a super-exciting fine point stream. Crazy, jump-around-and-scream fun. (Seriously: First graders so excited they're running around, screaming . . . ah, first graders . . . so many first graders).

Please do try this at home!

What We're Reading:

What is the World Made Of? All About Solids, Liquids, and Gases by Kathleen Zoehfeld (a paleontology friend!)

Kids Discover: Matter

Kids Discover 1: Solids and Liquids

Kids Discover 1: Changes