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This post is a tribute to my father...who has always supported me in everything I've chosen to do so far in my life...to him...I am ever grateful...

Born year of the Rat...he does fit the profile of this zodiac to the T...hardworking...energetic...he has keen instincts and has overcome so many barriers and hardships. I salute you!

This lunar birthday was a milestone birthday...Happy Birthday Dad!

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Earth Hour Preparations (8:30pm on March 26^th )

Earth Hour is a global WWF climate change initiative. It began in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and in just three years it has grown to what is cited as the largest voluntary action in history, reaching more than one billion people worldwide. As Canadians we should be particularly proud, as we were one of the leading countries for participation! Design an Earth Hour Poster – Awareness

On your poster include:

What is Earth Hour?

When is Earth Hour?

Why participate?

Where can you participate?

How can you participate?

http://assets.wwf.ca/downloads/earthhour_toolkit_schools.pdf

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Number design art (math connection)

Artist: Charles Demuth

Background on Charles Demuth and the painting: The Figure 5 in Gold

Read poem by William Carlos Williams (The Great Figure) who inspired the art piece. Alert students to the focal point (the #5) and the use of colors. Have students think about a number between 5-10, have them think about why this number that they chose is significant, then show sample piece: 7’s, I chose 7’s because it is a lucky number, direct attention to the piece, I wrote the number 7 out in words, I split the background into 7 portions, I used 7 colors, I outlined the focal 7 in black Sharpie, I have 7-7’s, I have 7 circles. These are ideas the students can use in their piece too.

Students are to use crayons or pencil crayons. Black Sharpie and white paper.

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Artist: Keith Haring, American, Pop Culture Art

His art usually conveyed a message – peace, global awareness etc

Today the students will use his inspiration to create pieces of art that convey the theme of diversity.

Instructions:

Read diversity/multicultural book to get them engaged.

On whiteboard, write “Diversity” or “Multicultural” and have a discussion on this word (create a word-web). Have students think of a word that they would like to create. That word will be the focal point of the art piece.

Then hand out coloured foam. The students will receive construction paper to use, they will draw things related to their word, then they must decide what pieces of their artwork will be foam and what will remain in pencil crayon.

Medium: coloured foam, construction paper, pencil crayons, Black sharpie, glue

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Instructions:

On a piece of regular sized white paper, have students first draw (using pencil) on half the sheet the side profile of a person’s face (it can be male or female).

Include all the details, eye, eye-lashes, nose, hair, neck, shoulders, lips, dimples etc.

On the other half of the sheet – fill it in with a front view of a face (this completes the portrait) – the other eye, the lip, etc.

Now use a black-Sharpie to outline the drawing.

Finally, using varying shades of pastels, color in the face.

Medium: pastels, Black sharpie, white paper

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Becoming Artful Artists...

Learning Intention:

We are learning how to create our own master-pieces of art through different styles, artists, mediums and moods.

Success Criteria:

We are successful when we can...

• describe our art visually (through use of warm and cool colours)
• describe our art physically (using different textures and mediums)
• describe our art emotionally (how it makes us feel)
• identify and appreciate various artists and their art
  

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My wishes for u in year 2011...
Great start for January,
Laughter and love for February,
Peacefulness for March,
No worries for April
Fun times for May,
Joy for June to November,
Happiness for December,
Have a lucky and awesome 2011!

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What a last few days...crazy schedule...but it's all done...papers are graded and assignments handed back...bring on the holidays!

Leave you with a Wonderful Winter Wonderland by my awesome kids...

See you in the New Year!

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Canadian Mosaic Assignment is due on Tuesday, December 14th.
Please see rubric for expectations.

Thank you to those who have handed theirs in early:


Reminder: Government Test is on Wednesday, December 15th.
Please bring Black duotangs home to review
- forms of government
- levels of Canadian government and their responsibilities
- the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms
- Becoming a Canadian (the immigration process)

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Winter bliss...what fun everyone had skating today...here are some memories

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This week we will be looking at our first North American artist, Andy Warhol. He was a highly influential icon of the Pop Art movement during the 1960's. He is widely known for his artwork of popular or advertising products (soup cans) and his portraits of famous Hollywood movie stars.

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Today we discussed the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

We talked about how special this document was and what it truly means to be Canadian.

I shared with the class a little "I am a Proud Canadian" rant that ties in to the key points of the charter. Their homework this weekend was to write about what it means to them to be Canadian.

Homework:
1. Why you are proud to be Canadian "Leaf"
2. Rights & Freedoms worksheet

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This week we continued with "Stem and Leaf Plots" and we'll be learning about Mean, Median and Mode.



Homework:

Please take Green Math Duotangs home to review -

Data Management Unit Test is on Thursday, December 9th!

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The character trait for the month of December is EMPATHY. We look forward to recognizing our students at our Character Assembly on Monday, December 13th at 8:30 am.

The Tree of Hope/Tree of Giving, will take place from Monday, November 29 - Wednesday, December 8th. This is the initiative of our Student Leadership team whose members have been divided into teams who are responsible for sorting and collecting the donated items. All items collected will be loaded onto a school bus on Monday, December 13th and from there, they will be distributed by the York Regional Police and the Fire Department, as part of their annual 'Quiet Food Drive'.

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Reminder:

Our Government/Immigration Unit test will be on Wednesday, December 15th!

Please be regularly taking home your Black or Green Social Studies duotang to study!

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We have been working on our Government Unit

Aspects of Government & Citizenship

Today we were very excited to have a guest speaker.

Councilor Colin Campbell of Markham




He talked about local concerns (traffic), his action plan and the students got to ask about all sorts of questions from how he became involved in politics to his favorite part of his day.

Thank you Councilor Campbell for visiting and sharing all your experiences with us!

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The King of Color!

This week we move to the Expressionist movement...color color color!


Started with a Read Aloud of "Matisse the King of Color" by Laurence Anholt
- artists books for children series.


Changing the medium this week, we focused on Matisse's style of art called The cutouts(which is Gouache on paper, cut and pasted, on white paper).

We simply used colorful construction paper and white paper as our base.
This week, the students were encouraged to create! They had tons of fun...and were even quite serious about properly naming their artwork.

These are some of the wonderful pieces...please enjoy!

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Please take duotangs home to study!

Assessment # 2: Broken Line Graphs - reading & interpreting - Monday, November 29!

Assessment # 3: Broken Line Graphs - graphing & interpreting - Thursday, Dec 2!

Math Club - will be available for students during morning recess (sign name on whiteboard).

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