Name Art

First you have the kids draw five wavy lines on their paper. Then have them write their name over and over again with capitol letters. Go over it with a black sharpie pen. After that erase any pencil lines. Color and shade edges. This is fun for the very end of the year.

Egyptian Art

The last day of school I turn our room into an Egyptian tomb by tipping over the tables and putting black paper over the top. It reminds me of making couch tents when I was little! I pin pictures of Egyptian treasures to the walls and put black paper over the windows so that it is dark. I take all of the rejected pots my boys have made over the years and set them on the floor by my smart board. I set out all kinds of treasure such as fake coins, necklaces from the dollar store. The finishing touch is to sprinkle gold glitter all over everything. (I vacuum when it is over so that the custodian will still like me!) Tomorrow morning the kids show up to school with flash lights. I put a paper plate Egyptian collar around their necks and let them crawl through the tomb one at a time. They end up by my smart board. I will post pictures tomorrow. Once they all go through the tomb, I teach them about how Howard Carter found King Tut's tomb. We have already done the art and learned Egyptian hieroglyphics. We wrote their names. I bring a treasure chest and the parents send treasure. Last year one little boy said it was the best day of his life! My friend Mikell does it with me and we were laughing about how it is all so thrown together, yet they LOVE it!

This is Olivia, isn't she a doll?

Truman loves art. They all do really.

Giraffes Can't Dance Art

We were studying the grasslands of Africa and decided to do giraffes. I got this idea from deepspacesparkle.com . First you wet white paper with a sponge until it soaks all the way through. Do it at the end of the day so that you can let it dry overnight. Have drop very wet watercolor drops of brown and yellow. The color will spread and make 'giraffe skin'.

Then on another piece of white art paper draw a circle with a cup for the moon. paint around it blue. paint the bottom of the page yellow. Then paint the bottom of the page green and scratch grass with the end of the brush. I went around with white paint and swooped the moons wherever they had drizzled blue into it. 

The last step is to make the giraffes. We read 'Giraffes Can't Dance' and drew practice giraffes on white paper connecting shapes. Then they drew on the back of their giraffe skin paper. Some outlined their giraffe with a black sharpie. We drew tales and the mane. The kids loved it.

2013 Rain Forest Pictures

I showed my kids last years pictures and it really motivated them. First we drew a tree trunk with branches and roots. Then I handed out photos of animals and plants from the rain forest. They all wanted to do a snake and vines. It took us 20 minutes for about 5 days. We do it at the end of the day after recess. I am pretty proud of these budding artists! Every one turned out. I didn't put all 23 because some of the them looked so much alike.

New Centers Mega Pack

This is my latest tpt packet. I decided to change my centers for the second half of the year and this is what I came up with. I will switch the grammar activity depending on what I am teaching that week. I think The Weekend News will be a fun Monday morning narrative writing activity.

This is the cover:

Focus Wall for Texas Treasures

I use this focus wall every day. It is for me, not my kids. It helps me remember what I want to focus on for the week. I think if anyone has ADD, it is me! I glance at it every time I have that little thought, "What's next?" My buddy Mikell always asks me to be sure and send it to her because it keeps her focused too. I am putting it on TPT for anyone who is teaching Texas Treasures. It truly saves my life! If you're a groovy grandma like me, you do tend to get forgetful! 

How to ACE a Test!

I made this test packet for a friend at my school. Her name is Melissa Chappell. She is trying to get enough money to adopt a baby. So we collaborated together and came up with this! I love the lucky penny idea :) 

It includes: 

10 test taking strategy poster.

 Cards that are for a get up and move activity

A positive sign for the door

A note to send home to parents 

A lucky penny

Cards to place students picture on so that when they walk through the door

 they see themselves in a positive way

Defend your answer (scratch paper)

Good Luck Testing from Melissa and The Groovy Grandma!