Puppet Theater

Melissa Kent, the librarian at Oakdale Primary School and I have spent months working with the third grade classes to create puppet theater from four books. The stories we have chosen align with third grade pacing guides and all focus on problem solving. Each play is taken from a different genre of story.

We did a dress rehearsal on November 30th and will have our first performance on Tuesday, December 7th. These photos were taken from the dress rehearsal. Above, is a photo of the puppet performance of "WOLF!" by Becky Bloom.Below, is the shadow puppet show of "Flossie and the Fox" by Patricia McKissack.

Channeling Van Gough

Fifth graders have been hard at work channeling Vincent Van Gough. Combining the vibrant colors of pastels with the texture of tempera paint students at Verner Elementary have recreated their favorite Van Gough paintings. The process involves dipping the pastel in paint with each stroke-- mimicking the brushstrokes of the master himself!

Promethean Board

Enjoying the Promethean Board at Oakdale Primary.

Ogden Family Fair

This weekend I visited the Ogden for Family Fair Day! Oh what a celebration of the seashore! Newspaper starfish, seahorse hobby horses, pelican hats, OH MY! It was energizing to be part of such a vibrant expression of the arts in a southern community!

Literacy Service Project

Back to school! I've been out on maternity leave for almost a year and we've started out this school year RIGHT... with CLAY! I led a service-learning workshop for the art teachers in our district. We made tiles for the West Alabama Literacy Council to use as awards at their annual awards banquet in September. Thanks to all of the teachers who cranked out 75 awesome tiles in just two and a half hours! You're earthenware rock stars!