Last week I read this marvelous book, Only One You, with my 2nd graders. The fish in it are so cute, shaped like little rocks or Easter eggs. We made our own fish in the style of the fish in the book, using Sharpies and watercolors, with lopsided sideways heart-shaped mouths and big circular eyes. When we were done, we felt badly for the fish, having no tails and fins, so we glued on tissue paper scraps and added them on even though they weren't in the book.
Then they needed an ocean to swim in, and what fun my 2nd graders had on Friday painting the ocean! I gave each table a sheet of paper to paint (the paper was 16"x24"), varieties of blue and white tempera, giant bristle paintbrushes, and sponge squares on clothespin handles, and by the end of the morning the tables were blue, our hands were blue, the sun was shining and it was actually above 50 degrees and I opened the windows, and everyone was smiling and happy! The kids scrubbed the tables shiny clean, and a couple of nice 4th graders in my room for lunchtime washed all the brushes. My fingers still seem a little blue...
At the end of the day, I took all the painted papers and stapled them end-to-end on a bulletin board and finally stapled on all the fish. Here's the bulletin board:
The book has all these wonderful words of wisdom in it, and it was my original intent to get those words on the bulletin board as well, maybe inside bubbles? I ran out of time, but I will re-hang the bulletin board for our art show in mid-May, so by then we should have the bubbles and words to complete the board. Here's a sampling of the text:
And if that wasn't all enough to accomplish in three of art classes, we have now also completed step 3 of our teddy bear chairs (gluing on the backs), and they will be ready to begin painting in the next 2nd grade art class! So the chairs should be complete in time for any Build-a-Bears purchased when the 2nd grades take the ferry over Lake Champlain on their field trip to the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory in May.
