New Friends in the Library

Today's post is centered around the amazing School Community I am apart of at Pine Tree ISD.  The High School Fine Art's department has been a constant source of support for my growing program at the Elementary level.

I want to give a big shout our to Wayne Gaddis, art teacher extraordinaire at PTHS for donating these happy characters to our campus!  I wanted to find a place for them in my room.....but after I got them back to our campus I knew they needed live in the Library!  And boy have they been a big hit! 

The teacher and student have all enjoyed them and books are flying off the shelves as students are inspired to read about their favorite characters.

These happy little faces encourage the students and really are just fun to look at.  If you get a chance, come visit our library, volunteer to shelve books and enjoy these amazing pieces of art!

Painted Paper

This past week we restocked our supply of Painted Paper with a little help from Pattie Palmer at DSS.

Deep Space Sparkle Members Club

I have been a member since it's launch and it has been a Godsend!  I am only on my fourth year as an Art Teacher and I have really relied on those who have been doing this successfully for years.  I read Art Blogs excessively!  Much to my Administration's dismay.  It's where I get my best ideas! 

The students had a BLAST with this lesson, everyone from my 1st graders to my 4th graders.  Whenever you can get as messy as possible in the Art Room it is a good day.  Poor Mr. G (my janitor) almost had a heart attach when he saw the carnage Friday after a week of Painted paper.  What a mess....but the smiles were worth it!

Look at that smile!!  This little darling LOVED making this mess and coming out with a masterpiece!  

We started out by painting the background one solid color. 

Another Ham! 

After we got our background painted we worked quickly to add a few our favorite patterns in a contrasting color.   All the layers much be wet for the next step to work....

Next the students got to use all the cool texture tools I gathered from the Art Room magic cabinets.  It's true...my cabinets have magical Mary Popins powers.  I found paint scrapers, "Grape Juice" corks (totally donated by a parent...),  marker lids, all sorts of bottle tops in various sizes, and out dated Gift Cards from that favorite place with the chicken pushing Jersey cows cut with my scrapbook scissors in different patterns along 3 edges.   This evidently is a punishable offence in the eyes of children everywhere because the students almost expired when they discovered them in the trays!  It was touch and go there for a while with the mighty mites!  How could you Mrs. Scaggs?!?!  

After they had fun stamping, scraping, swishing, swirling, and swiping they got to their favorite part of the lesson.  I let the splatter the paper with paint!  I know, crazy right?  But they really did a great job keeping it on the paper and painting place mats.

Now we have a good supply of Painted Paper for future art lessons throughout the year.  If only I could find a place in my magical cabinets to store over 600 pieces of painted paper.  It was a short, 4 day week for us....so I am missing a whole day of papers.

2017-2018 Art Club Application

Click on the link below to download a PDF of this year's Art Club Application.  Hope this is helpful for those who have lost the copy I sent  home.

Art Club is for 3rd & 4th Graders only.

Until I can figure out how to upload this application without allowing you to edit, please do not change this application.  Just print it and fill it in by hand.

Return it to Parkway Elementary by September 15, 2017.


2017-2018 Art Club Application

First Day in the Art Room

Students were given the challenge of finding 10 different QR Codes posted around the room and watching the videos I created using tellagami Edu app on my iPad.  Each video gave a little information and a procedure for that area of the classroom and I did not have to do all the talking!  It was great!!  The students had fun finishing the Scavenger hunt and I got to keep my voice.  Usually by the end of the week the first week of school I have no voice left.  I know I should be letting the kiddos create the first day of school, but I just can't bring myself to make a mess this first day.  Plus, i need them to review what to do, where to go, how to solve problems themselves, and depend more on each other and less on me.

I believe next year I will only do this with my 1st and 2nd graders.  I will have had my 3rd and 4th graders for 3 years and I believe they will be able to recall my procedures and rules well by next year.  Last year we went from a 3rd and 4th grade campus to a 1st - 4th campus.  I am overjoyed that I will have my babies for 4  years.  This will offer a consistency in instruction and I will get to watch their skills and abilities grow over the next 4 years.

What do you do the first day of school?  I am always looking for new ideas and insight.  I have only been at this gig for 4 years and I know I have a LOT to learn!!  

The Art Room

A few pictures of my classroom for this year.  It took me quite a while to decide on my door.  I had finally decided on a design when my BFF the music teacher who is right next door to me totally stepped it up!  Wish I had pics of her door...I will get some and add them later, but she totally ROCKED the Deck your Door challenge!  I had to rethink my design totally and come up with something just as awesome! So....This is what I came up with.  Our theme is 

Growing Greatness....Whatever it Takes!

Not super excited about this board, but I will add to it as the year goes along.

The Gallery Board.  Last year I had frames on a black background and it took up the entire wall to the floor.  But this year I had to reduce the size to accommodate my drying racks.  So this is my compromise...Only students that get complemented by other students on their excellent work get on The Gallery Wall.  Makes them feel very special.  What they don't realize is I hang EVERYONE'S artwork in the hallway, all 800.  But there is something special in a child's mind about The Gallery Wall.

This brick wall and I have a love/hate relationship.  I love that I have an "accent" wall.  Something different to break up the boring white walls, but getting ANYTHING to stick to this wall is impossible.  It is weird brick,  it has this "grit" all over the wall.  Ticky Tack is no match for this monster wall!  BUT! I have discovered its Kryptonite...Hot Glue!  Shhhhhhhhh!  Don't tell Facility Services/Maintenance!  I also had to use 3M outdoor double sided tape to mount that white board to the wall.  

We use the C.H.A.M.P.S.  behavior management in our district so we have to have the Champs posted in the room.  You are supposed to move tabs up and down the board to let the students know what the expectation.  Instead of listing every expectation I do it all in one word...well two words...I use the Mona Lisa approach.  I say Mona and the students say Lisa.  We go over the first day of Art Class the expectation of Mona Lisa.  Mona sits with her 

1.  Noises off (Conversation - C)

2.  Body is still (Movement - M)

3.  Eyes are on the Speaker - (Activity - A)

4.  Hands are in their lap (Participation - P)

H and S are a given.  Students are listening to instruction and success is the end product in all Art Projects.

First Day of School

Well, I am about a week late but better late than never.  Here are our first day of school pics.  This is the first of many posts for this new blog and I wanted to start it with my three favorite people!  Bug and Little Man were super excited and bounded out of the bed bushy tailed and ready to go!  Little Man will be attending our local Montessori School and Bug is starting the 1st grade.  

Notice the strained and forced smile on Mads face?  Not so excited to start the 6th grade!! She did NOT bound out of the bed, but rather slid out from under the covers and slithered to the floor as if her legs were made of Jello, moaning and groaning the whole time! 

This will be the first year of four that Bug will be on my campus.  I am so excited to have her in my class for the next 4 years and can't wait for Little Man to come to me.  In 2 years there will be 3 Scaggs on the same campus!  Watch OUT!!

These three are my heart and I love them beyond anything else in this world!  

My AP send me this picture of Bug discovering "Magic Wishing Clay" .  The Clay turns colors after you make a wish and her class wished for a fantastic year!  This is my texture kid and look at that face!  LOL!  Yuck! She is thinking "Thank GOODNESS this is in a bag!"  

Looking forward to a fantastic new year with my 1st - 4th graders and a new adventure each and every day!