Birds, Birds and More Birds!

In Year 2, we do a literacy unit on 'How the Birds Got Their Colours' by Pamela Lofts.

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Whenever I can, I like to integrate art into what we are learning in other Key Learning Areas. Here are some bird artworks that I've done with my class on birds.

I had students paint bird templates with water colours and then cut out and decorate with glitter and feathers.

Here I provided students with a simple tree template. They drew birds in the branches and then painted.

Firstly, students wove using different coloured strips of paper. Then they secured the weave with sticky tape on the back and cut out in the shape of a bird.

Water Works

In Year 2, students are involved in a science unit called 'Water Works', where we investigate the uses of water around the school and home, the water cycle, the journey of water from the clouds to the tap and also the importance of water conservation.

Here is the display board created for the topic. For the water cycle frieze, students worked in small groups to either mosaic or crepe paper-scrunch the various components. Then I pieced them all together.

For another art lesson, students used wax crayons to draw on two large art papers then paint over them with a blue wash. Once dry, they were cut out into cloud shapes, stapled around the edges and stuffed with cotton wool.

In small groups, students created their own 'journey of water from the clouds to the tap' flow chart, using pictures and then writing a sentence on the back of each.

I love using the Smart Notebook software with students, and the following picture was created in the program. Students located the lake background in the gallery and labeled all the components appropriately.

Students had to create a poster using Comic Life, of different 'water saving' tips.

 Finally, we finished the unit with an excursion to Sydney's Warragamba Dam. Ironically, the excursion happened to take place on the day before I went on a holiday to America. So when I got back I was able to share pictures of America's Hoover Dam, which I visited along my travels.

 

Old Classroom Pics

As I am a teacher from Australia, we are at the beginning of our long Summer holiday break. We will begin our new school year after Australia Day at the end of January. So I can start 'sharing', I thought I'd begin by posting some ideas from previous years.

Here are some pictures from my classroom back in 2011, when I was teaching Grade 2.

Up in the back corner and out of the way is my desk. For the student tables, I had them arranged in a group/u-shape combination (sorry- a bit hard to see from the single photo).

Off to the side of the room was the wet area (a bit messy from artworks drying). The grade Literacy Support Teacher also had her desk in the room, which is hidden behind the book rack.

At the beginning of the year during a guided drawing session, I had students complete self portraits, which we displayed on a wall space. I saw this idea in the window of another fabulous teacher at my school and thought it was a cute idea, so I had to give it a try.