Pre-Kindergarten - Mrs. Davenport & Mrs. Levy
The Pre-K Monkeys and Frogs had an exciting month with our Building, Engineering, and Imagining unit. We read several books that encouraged us to use our mathematical and scientific thinking. One highlight included reading The Three Little Pigs: An Architectural Tale and building structures that had to withstand the wind (hair dryer). We worked to revise the buildings to make them as strong as possible. We also read Sky High and worked to make tall structures with marshmallows and toothpicks. Our centers revolved around this topic with a variety of building blocks and an invention station.
In December, we will be exploring all things Gingerbread People and Christmas while focusing on retelling, comparing and contrasting stories and STEM experiments.
Kindergarten - Mrs. Calton, Mrs. Puckett, & Mrs. Collins
November was filled with fun, fall learning in Kindergarten as we anxiously awaited Thanksgiving Day! We set sail aboard the Mayflower with the Pilgrims and found out what it was like for them to live at sea for months. We learned how God provided for the Pilgrims and how the Native Americans helped them hunt and plant food, like corn. We even watched popcorn pop (and of course tasted the results…yum!) Students made cute Thanksgiving crafts and took part in Thanksgiving-themed science activities like dancing popcorn! We had a blast reciting our poem, I Ate Too Much Turkey. In Bible, we read about David & Goliath and learned that nothing is too big for God. We also sang a fun song about David and loved acting out how the giant came tumbling down!
December brings anticipation of Christmas Day! This month, we will be making fun Christmas crafts, exploring how Christmas is celebrated around the world, and participating in exciting Christmas-related science activities. Most importantly we will learn the Christmas story and focus on the birth of baby Jesus as the true meaning of Christmas. We will continue to work on our songs for the winter concert and are excited to perform for our families!
1st Grade - Mrs. Gartman
In November, we learned a lot about Pilgrims and Indians. In Science, we created homemade butter. We made tepees, headdresses, and totem poles. We also had a guest speaker come in to share Indian memorabilia. In December, we will be traveling around the world as we learn how other cultures celebrate the holidays. We will learn about Germany, Mexico, and the Netherlands. In Spanish, we will continue our work with the days of the week.
Primary Art - Mrs. Wright
November was a busy time in art at DHA. We discussed the element of texture, how it applies to art and why it is important. We learned the difference in actual and implied texture and made projects using both. The 3 Eagles, 2nd, and 1st graders kicked off fall with a woodland creature project. We took advantage of the unusually warm fall weather and collected leaves, grass, and twigs outside to create our very own textured woodland animals. Thanks to your generous donation of leftover candy wrappers, we turned that trash into art with textured candy wrapper Thanksgiving turkeys. The kids picked their favorite candies and made turkeys complete with crazy google eyes. They seemed to have fun but were a little disappointed that the wrappers were empty. The 3 Eagles looked at several examples of paper food sculptures. Drawing names out of a bag to pick a partner, they drew one of several Thanksgiving dishes and created their very own paper sculpture Thanksgiving dish. Two students even made a Thanksgiving tablecloth. Look for our textured Thanksgiving spread at the DHA concert and art show coming up. While 3 Eagles were busy making paper food, 2nd grade spent two weeks making paper totem poles. We talked about implied texture and how we can make shapes to indicate texture. The kids had fun learning about Native Americans and the purpose and history of totem poles. I shared pictures of the Crazy Horse museum from my South Dakota trip that I took in September. We discussed the craftsmanship behind the Indian headdress, why Indians wore them, and how they earned their feathers. Then, we created implied texture feathers by using the Zentangle method. After the students completed their Sharpie drawings they had fun using watercolors to complete their feathers. The results were vibrant and beautiful. Several students said it was their favorite project. The 1st graders learned about Vincent VanGogh. We discussed how his thick painting techniques created actual texture. We read the book Camille and the Sunflowers by Laurence Anholt and studied VanGogh's sunflower painting. Then, we used tempera paint and oil pastels to create our own sunflower. We cut these out and each student’s sunflower will be used in a class version of VanGogh’s Sunflower painting. Look for these at the DHA concert and art show. Lastly, 1st graders made textured fall trees by tearing paper to make the land, tree(s) and leaves. We talked about how paper tearing is its own special art technique and creates texture when we tear the paper as opposed to cutting it with scissors. December's element of art will be space. We'll create winter forests and learn about negative and positive space, foreground, background, and vanishing points. Looking forward to all the upcoming winter art projects and excited for the DHA concert and art show. You all have some incredible kiddos and it's a joy to teach them.
Upper Elementary Art - Mrs. Palmer
The 3rd grade class finished their Paul Klee portraits and started on their Nature Kaleidoscope project learning about the different types of Balance and utilizing radial symmetry. The 4th and 5th graders finished their Reflective Landscapes and are now working on their Abstract Sculptures. We are learning about a lot of Art Elements and Principles with this one and seeing how art can be very in depth in just a simple project, using Elements to make Patterns, working on creating Balance and visual Movement in the final 3-Dimensional work. The 6th grade class is finishing up their Color Op-Art Value project and will be starting a project on contour lines next.
