Thankful in San Diego

 

You are familiar with the film Sleepless in Seattle? Well, I am thankful in San Diego.

A few weeks ago I brought Thanksgiving coloring pages to my Kindergarten and first grade students. We colored turkeys, cornucopia and piles of fruit. With my youngest students I usually give them directions, step by step, but I also have to be flexible. Art is not math, with only one right answer. When we began this project I told the kiddos that we would start coloring certain parts together and after that, they could color whatever they wanted. However, when I say, “Let’s start by coloring the head of the turkey gray and the turkey’s wattle red,” some kids don’t hear that. They seem to hear, “Color the whole head red.” And a few somehow heard, “Scribble all over the turkey in a random fashion, using whichever color you like, but certainly not the recommended gray or red.” But hey, at this age art should be purely about having fun and being creative. So I give them points for effort. If some of them got extra colorful with their turkeys, who am I to squelch their gusto? And so we have several turkeys dressed for Mardi Gras.

 

1st grade--this is clearly the lesser-known tropical turkey...

I asked them what they are thankful for this month, and here are some of their answers:

My family! My friends! My Chihuahua. My brother! YOU! (I’ll admit, I love that answer. They’re too young to be buttering me up for good grades. Kindergarteners are honest, so I did feel appreciated.)

I asked whether they help cook for Thanksgiving. They all claim to help. Some say they help with the turkey. Two students said they like helping with Thanksgiving cupcakes. This is a thing? Where have Thanksgiving cupcakes been all my life? Mom? I need answers.

Anyway, Thanksgiving is on their brains and we had fun doing art to celebrate this season.

1st grade

My third graders also colored turkeys, but they drew their own, and I love the variety in their drawings. You thought all turkeys looked alike? Think again.

My fourth grade students made 3-D Thanksgiving turkeys. Turkey can be either friend or food, and wherever you stand on that issue, the kids had fun making these cute critters. In case anyone wants to make one of their own, I’m including the steps at the end of this post. I only see the fourth graders once in November, so this lesson needed to be something the kids could complete in one class session. Our November is very choppy, with Veterans Day, parent-teacher conferences, and Thanksgiving itself. They finished in less than forty five minutes, and even had time to add personal touches to their turkeys. Didn’t the kids do a great job?

Let’s pause a minute. I’ve got something you’ve been waiting for—

tights that don’t get runs? I wish. It’s a short round of Thanksgiving Trivia.

Which US president declared that Thanksgiving would be a permanent holiday? 

Abraham Lincoln.

In 1928 what did Calvin Coolidge receive as a Thanksgiving present?

a)      An antique coin from Colonial days.

b)      A live raccoon.

c)      1,928 cookies, handmade by local children.

(I hope you’re genuinely debating which of these is the answer. 

It’s B!)

Which year was canned cranberry sauce first available to Americans? 

1941.

            Okay, now back to art. (You kids are always trying to get me off topic. Back to our lesson.) 

My older students made Thanksgiving cards to give to someone in their life. I suggested family or a friend, but one seventh grader vowed to give his to the family cat. (Ahh, seventh graders: always full of ideas.)

The assignment was to draw three fall leaves floating down gracefully. I asked them to use fall colors, and write something thoughtful inside the card. (The seventh grader with the cat said he would write, “Meow” inside. Okay, kid. Knock yourself out. I’m sure the cat will be delighted.)

7th grade

6th grade

5th grade

7th grade

6th grade

This month the students and I took a moment to think about all we appreciate. It’s certainly been a…memorable year. There have been some very difficult months, but we still have a lot to appreciate. And so, as we get ready for Thanksgiving, I wish everyone a safe and festive holiday, however you celebrate.

Until we blog again…I am Thankful in San Diego.

                                               ________________

Pine Cone Turkey Art Project:

Supplies needed:

• ·         scissors
• ·         half of a blank paper plate--ideally uncoated (not shiny), with a ridged edge
• ·         glue (hot glue is ideal but white glue also works)
• ·         pinecone (ideally with a little space between the scales)
• ·         small amount of brown craft foam (roughly 4” x 1”) but cardboard works
• ·         red foam/felt/fabric/paper (size of a penny)
• ·         gray crayon, colored pencil or marker
• ·         brown crayon, colored pencil or marker
• ·         black pen or marker

Instructions:

1.       Cut a paper plate in half. On the straight edge, draw a half circle, roughly 2” in diameter.

2.       Cut out the small half circle. (We will not need this small half circle so it can be recycled).

3.       Put your paper plate on the table in front of you. The plate has a raised part, and this is pointing up. (This is the same way you would put the plate on the table if you were using it for a meal.)

4.       Find the half circle that touches the table when you lay the plate down. Color it gray.

5.       Color a brown arch about half an inch wide, directly next to the gray semi-circle.

6.       Leave a space blank next to this brown arch you just colored. This will be a white stripe or arc.

7.       Next, (leaving the gap of white), draw another arch of brown.

8.       If you want to draw some lines to suggest feathers, you can do this with your black pen.

    9.  With your black marker or crayon, draw feathers on the gray part of your turkey. They look like upside down "U" shapes.

10. If you like, you can cut “feathers” on the edge of your plate. Do this by making small cuts all around the round part of the paper plate (not the straight part).

11. Cut a small piece of foam or felt (1-2” square) to be the base of your pinecone so it does not roll away. Glue the base to the pinecone.

 12. On your remaining piece of foam, draw a simple turkey head and neck, roughly 1” wide by 2” long. With a black marker, draw an eye. Cut out the turkey’s head/neck. 

           13. With  red foam or felt, make the turkey’s wattle. It should be bumpy looking and roughly the size of a penny. Glue it to the turkey’s neck.

14. Glue your turkey head and neck to the pine cone so that the scales of the pinecone are facing away from the head.

15.    Place your pinecone so that the felt or foam base is on the table. Find a place in the pinecone to put the paper plate so that it will not fall out. Tuck it into the pinecone until it is secure. If it needs glue to stay in place, apply some glue. Now you have a cute 3-d turkey. (You’re so creative!)