"Sarah, Plain and Tall" Charcoal Sketches

As a class we are reading the novel Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLauchlan - and we are LOVING it! In one of the chapters, the main character, Sarah, sketches the prairie using charcoal. I decided to recreate this experience for the students by allowing them to draw using artist's charcoal. We created sketch books and we drew the things that Sarah may have seen on the farm.

Drawing a windmill...
And a sheep...

And the prairie that rolls like the waves of the sea...

The kids worked so hard on their work and they enjoyed practicing different techniques with the charcoal.

Some of the techniques were rather, well, unique, but all of the art turned out beautifully!

Perhaps their favorite part was that it was allowed to be messy! Our hands were filthy afterwards and we looked like chimney sweeps! : )

Even better was the fact that today was our class picture day and the kids were wearing their best fancy clothes - yikes! But it just happened that picture day and chapter 5 coincided perfectly, so we had to be brave and go where most teachers dare not go- messy art work!

Next week we hope to take our charcoal sketchbooks outside to draw our own surroundings here at Coulson Tough.

We're Movie Stars!

This week our kids lead the entire school in the pledges on our school-wide announcements, KTUF. They did a fantastic job! I was so proud of them for showing courage and confidence in front of their peers. Way to go Bates' kids!

Jumprope Spelling!

I am always looking for new and exciting ways for the kids to practice our spelling words. Writing them three times each can get old and boring! This week we borrowed long ropes from the PE department and the kids worked in teams to "jump" their words. Each child chose 2 or 3 particularly difficult words and wrote each on a manila sheet of paper in large letters. I taught the kids how to turn the ropes and work cooperatively to help the jumper/speller do their best!

Some kids worked in partners to spell their words. One jump = one letter! keep going until you finish the word!

Research shows that when we add a song or beat to spelling, it helps our brains remember the letters and transfer the spelling of the word into long term memory. Jump rpoing is not only a "heart healthy" skill, but it's a rhythmic way to practice spelling.

The kids are already begging to try this activity again sometime soon! : )

Fun Run

Each year, 10 third grade girls and boys from Coulson Tough participate in the CISD Fun Run. This year several children from our class (and Mrs. Richardson's class) qualified to represent the Titans at the event. Ethan, Kevin, Gabriel, Madison, Sara L, and Adriana represented Coulson Tough so well. I was so proud of our runners!

Way to go Titans!

Election Day at Couslon Tough

The students of Coulson Tough participated in our own school-wide election today! Each student cast their vote in the computer lab after carefully considering the candidates and studying the issues.

In our class, we wrote in our draft books about which presidential candidate we would choose. It was interesting to hear which issues were important to our kids!

We created a bar graph to show the data collected in our own classroom election. It was a close race!

I was so proud of the children and I know they will be responsible voters someday!