Happy New Year!

The kids came back to school today, and to celebrate the New Year, we had a countdown to noon!

We watched the ball drop and timed it to coincide with 12 in the afternoon.  I talked to the kids about the tradition adults have of kissing someone as the New Year begins, but because kids don't do that(!) I gave each of them a COOKIE to kiss as soon as the countdown was over.  They thought it was hilarious!  You can watch the video here: New Year's Cookie Kiss!

Then we looked at pictures of the celebration around the world.  In every country, we noticed the same thing: fireworks!! We read a book about New Year's Resolutions, and when the kids finished writing their own resolutions, they got to paint a fireworks scene.  

It was a fun day back! I've missed these little ones!

Visit from Johnny Johnson!

As some of you may already know, one of my students (Jada) is the granddaughter of local artist Johnny P. Johnson.  We were lucky enough to have him come in this week and teach our class a thing or two about how to create beautiful watercolor paintings! We didn't have enough time to paint our own, but will try our luck with it during art class in the coming week.

He started off by telling stories about when he was growing up.
Look at how he held the kids' interest!

Showing how to create the sky.

After he's added some more details.

Marco and Alex get to help add some rocks to the painting!

Students get to take a close-up look at the work so far.

It's so neat to watch someone paint.  You know, when they're talented like he is.  Watching me paint wouldn't be nearly as fun! ;0) 

To find out more about Mr. Johnson and view some of his work, please check out his website by clicking HERE.