Sand Castles Grades 2 and 4

These are from second grade. We looked at and discussed images of real sandcastles before they drew their own. The students painted and added real sand and shells for details. The shells were a gift that I had for a few years that I didn't really know what to do with. I'm glad I had them because they were a huge hit!

Beach Day K-1

Since I'm from the north, I'm always a little sad in winter because we can't really focus on all the delightful winter projects. There're so many great snowy projects that I look at with envy and longing, then I sigh and move on. This year I realized that in Florida, we have the beach. It's just as exciting and provides powerful inspiration as well. My kindergarteners and first graders made these painted collages. The most difficult part was making the symmetrical buckets. They did not trace, (unless they were absent and need to catch up). The kids loved adding the real sand for the finishing touches.

Fifth Grade Georgia O'Keefe Inspired Flowers

Third Grade Weaving Creations

Clay Exhibit at the Central Library

This is our annual 3-D art exhibit displayed in the Central Library in downtown Bradenton. I love sharing my students' artwork with the community and this is a great way to show off the clay pieces because there are glass display cases and a lot of traffic. The patrons are always appreciative and have the nicest things to say about the artwork. Also, the Waterlefe Artist's Guild gave my program $500.00 last year and that money enabled all of my 800ish students to make at least one glazed clay project. Thank you Waterlefe for creating so much happiness. The students love working with clay and they especially love taking the projects home.

Some New Clay Projects

First Grade Origami Tulips

Third Grade Weavings

Frogs

Frogs were made by second and fourth graders. We used painted paper to add collage details to finish these tempera paintings.

Tigers

These adorable tigers were made by first graders. We first painted paper and they then followed my guided drawing lesson. We used craypas. The following week we used a collage technique to finish like Eric Carle. Could they get any cuter?

Clay Projects

These clay projects were funded by a grant from the Manatee Community Foundation. They gifted my school $250.00, so that each student could make 3 glazed clay projects. We made over 2400 projects in a 3 month period, whew! Most of the projects were displayed in the glass cases in our school and many were also exhibited in the Central library in Bradenton. We'll display there again this April. I am grateful to the foundation for spreading their wealth as it provided so much joy. It's the best experience for us teachers when our students love and enjoy what they're learning.