MC Escher

speech work for 8th-10th grade

After verse it is good to do speech work , song and movement


Curtsey (cressets) Betsy jets cleric
lastly (plotless) slight sceptic.

Tu-whit twinkle ‘twas
twice twigged tweaker
to twenty twangy twirlings
the zinnia crisper
zither zooming shambles
this smartened smacking
smuggler sneezing
snoring snatching.

Narrow wren
Mirror royal
Gearing grizzled
Noting nippers
Fender coughing.

Proxy Prized
Bather Broomstick
Polka Pushing
Beady Basket
Prudent Pertness
Bearskin Bristled

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers;
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked;
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck
if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
He would chuck, he would, as much as he could,
and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would
if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.

She sells sea shells by the sea shore.
The shells she sells are surely seashells.
So if she sells shells on the seashore,
I'm sure she sells seashore shells.

Michaelmas time....Michaelmas time...time is turning under the plow

Michaelmas time....Michaelmas time...time is turning under the plow

I would love to hear what you are doing at your school too....and what you are doing for Martinmas

Michaelmas is a season not just a day. It extends from Sep 29th (the feast of St. Michael) to Oct 31st (all hallows eve)
since it's 109 degrees outside, we will celebrate Michaelmas later.

Michaelmas Festival

Thursday, October 8th 2009

8:00 parent volunteers arrive to set up field
8:45- Kindergarten comes onto the field
9:00 1st and 2nd grade come out to the field
9:15 3rd and 4th grade come out to the field ---Kindergarten leaves the field
9:30 5th and 6th grade (they should have snack before coming on the field) come to the field
9:45 7th and 8th grade (they should have snack before coming on the field) come to the field
10:00 1st and 2nd go back to class and have snack
10:15 3rd and 4th go back to class and have snack
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10:30- Families arrive and Students assemble on grassy knoll
10:40 welcomes everyone and faculty sings
10:45 2nd grade performs the Michaelmas play
10:55- 9th grade sward dance
11:00 – dragon appears and St Michael tames the dragon in front of the black smith
11:15- 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th , 9th line up for food at tent station ONE
2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th line up for food at tent station TWO
Parents line up with their children
Everyone must have their order form in hand

12:30 1st-9th go back to classroom for Michaelmas treat, clean up and verse
12:30 parents help to clean up the activities/ break down festival

12:45 dismissal (half day for ALL students)




Michaelmas field activities
Each class must stay together. Most of the activities are for a group. Cheer each other on and encourage group camaraderie Your class must wait till everyone is done with one station before moving to the next.


Station 1 Hay bale maze
Station 2 /3 Obstacle course
Jump Rope run through ropes always going

Station 4 Potato sack race (
Station 5 Tug of war
Station 6 Hula Hoop Marathon.

Station 7 Marble Toes.

Mark with lime or paint an area on the grass a foot or two in diameter. Cover the area with marbles. (You could set up several areas so groups of students can do the activity at the same time.) Students take off their shoes and socks and attempt to pick up marbles using only their toes. How many marbles can each student pick up in 60 seconds?


Station 8 Shoe Kick.

Have students loosen one shoe so their toes still are in it. From a marked starting line, students kick that shoe into the air. Record the distance the shoe travels. Students might take a running start, or not; they are disqualified if they take a running start and kick from the wrong side of the starting line.

Station 9 Froggy Finds a Pad.

Give each student five beanbags; each beanbag represents a frog. Spread over the game area a dozen lily pads. (Upside down Frisbees might represent the lily pads.) How many frogs can each student toss onto a lily pad?

Station 10 Balance Beam/BeanBag Walk.

Students get into a close caterpillar line, all students have bean bags on their head. They start to walk on the balance beam (several children are on the balance bean at the same time…no gaps in the line) if your bean bag falls off your head, you have to stand out. If you walk across successfully you go back to the end of the line and do it again.

I need penpals

OKay Handwork teachers.....we are looking for pen pals for my 5th and 6th graders

Anyone want to be our penpals?

we have 20 6th graders and 20 5th graders


come on.......I know you want to write us!

As a Handwork teacher is really interesting reading the penpal letters...you find out who are the kids who struggle with reading and writing and are these the same kids who do really well in your class....meaning are they more left or right brained.

Kids just love mail!

Email me if you are interested full moon tea at hot mail dot com all one word

4th grade waldorf steiner water coloring painting

the fork tail and the rams....story from Hay for my ox

Here are some paintings seen in the 4th grade class.
Hay for my ox is a great book for getting pictures of animals from and good stories for before painting. If you have a beginning reader...it is a good book for them to read too

more black board drawings from other schools

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13302414@N04/page2/

check out this site!

Handwork teacher training summer 2009

we did a lot of laughing!

Breathing into week 5

yep we have already been in school for a month!

The children can feel the rhythm of their day, the teachers aren't forgetting the new children's names as much.

My 5th grade advance group are on their first cuff....
we plant dyed yarn, chose colors and made a soap bag to help them remember how to knit/purl
They need to finish one cuff by next week.

Basically I am giving them 2 weeks per cuff(4). 1 week per heel(2)
3 weeks per foot(6) and 1 week per toe(2)

that is 14 weeks.

after that they are on winter break and they need to be finished!

Dowels on demand

I received my dowels on Friday......only a month and a half after ordering them!
So in the future I need to order them in May!

Here is the issue!!!!!!!! I adore these dowels.....I just get no communication from the people making them....like I never got a final price on how much they would be until I had the bill in hand. I now have a price list.....so I just know that is the way it is......but you see I would never go any place else....the price rocks and the wood is amazing! the kids love these dowels, they don't break or splinter.

Looking at them now I think next year I will order only the Cocobolo wood, that is the brown one. its is much heavier and stronger than the other two. the yellow one is called zebra wood and is light weight, looks cool but is also 75 cents a dowel instead of about 47 or 50 cents a dowel.....not a reorder for me
actually Purple heart will also do for next year, I ordered that last year and really liked it.

needing suggestions for 5th and 6th grade books

I like to read to the children for half of their lesson with me. In the older grades their parents don't read to them anymore and I think they truly miss it....plus I can read them things they wouldn't necessarily read on their own....but like hearing.


SO!!!! any suggestions?

we were reading Harry potter the other day....but they all know it by heart!

I'm trying to think of what we have read already......
I brought the "choose your own Adventure" books last year....they LOVED those....but they are hard to find.

detroit teacher training painting and a classroom

this is someones flicker pics....not mine
but I enjoy looking at them and will bring some of the pics to faculty......We do an artistic every week
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16831982@N00/sets/72157594556114527/


And here is her class.....absolutely wonderful!....just look at the whole album

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16831982@N00/2327517014/in/set-72157602575379599/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16831982@N00/2246310005/in/set-72157602575379599/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16831982@N00/2247104788/in/set-72157602575379599/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16831982@N00/2247103746/in/set-72157602575379599/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16831982@N00/2151179455/in/set-72157602575379599/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16831982@N00/2089463324/in/set-72157602575379599/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16831982@N00/2084025309/in/set-72157602575379599/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16831982@N00/2089463324/in/set-72157602575379599/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16831982@N00/2084024457/in/set-72157602575379599/

8th grade industrial revolution artist

Water color painting by LS Lowry 1887-1976




8th grade industrial revolution artist

I just came across this artist and am completely taken by his work.

The last 2 days were challenging

Challenging as the heat is 110 in our city....HOT HOT HOT and that means HOT headed kids

I had a child today tell me "send me home or I will kill you" and from that point layed on the floor and a full on temper tantrum......movie style

yep! wow ! we had to stop handwork and I took all the kids back to their class and I had another teacher be with that child ( I didn't send that child home)

While in their classroom I told them a pedagogical story about a mouse who's heart was very big and who wanted to go see the great owl. All the animals of the forest warned the mouse not to go because owls EAT mice, but the mouse told the animals that his heart was big enough and he cared for all animals in the forest. The story went on to talk about how he had to find the owl....and finally finding out that the owl lived in the deepest...darkest part of the forest where all the love had been squeezed out of it AND this is where the mouse wanted to go....to call out owl and make him love again. Etc.....the story went on, I made up this story on the spot for the kids.......to help them see that some times we need to love those who are reealllllllly angry.....and help them grow.

Once the child calmed down, the child came back to class and interesting enough, the whole class told this student that it hurt their hearts to hear such words coming from him, the student who was upset apologized to the class .

WOW! and the funny thing is....this child was upset because other students were finishing their project and this student wasn't done yet.

7th grade felted slippers in a waldorf school

Here is a preview of what 7th grade will be making this year .....along with a felted ball for their felting needles and 2 felted people....if we have time they will make a felted picture or landscape for the auction.

This is the tutorial again
http://rayreynolds.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/felt-slippers/

and I used white wool batting from west earl (where Ray in the video talks about some place in the UK...but since I am in the US....I went with West Earl...I love how the batting at west earl felts!)

8) wool batting and roving. they only do phone orders...there is no web site....$5.85 per pound! West Earl Woollen Mill, Ephrata PA 717/859-2241

and colored wool from Harrisville Design (they have great fleece for wet felting and needle felting)
http://www.harrisville.com/categories.php?cat=20

random this week

7th grade wet on wet painting of the dome in Florance. The Duomo

Star Child story I did for 1st grade....felted on a thick piece of blue felt
we plant dyed cotton and had some "not so good" results on about 10 skeins..... so my older daughter and a friend are over dyeing with food color (thank Teresa for the idea:)

form drawing in a waldorf school

we had a very successful plant dyeing session today. They LOVED chochineal and wanted 3 skeins of it.

I also found a link to form drawing ....

http://www.waldorflibrary.org/Journal_Articles/NZJournalvanjames.pdf

5th grade socks and letter

So I asked my husband look at my letter to the advanced 5th grade group....and he made the letter all funny....thought I would share it with you.....I won't end up sending THIS draft but it's still amusing. THe bottom part is the part changed not the top

Fifth Grade Advanced Knitting Group
Dear Fifth Grade Parents,

This letter is to inform you on that your child has been placed into the advanced knitters group. This year our advanced knitters will be taking on a knitting task that has never been done before at our school, but which has always been a goal for our fifth grade students. I feel confident that this fifth grade group will be able to take on the incredible craft of plant dyeing wool yarn and then knitting socks from this wool!
Part of the agreement for the advanced group, is that the children need to make sure they do their handwork homework every week, keep diligent notes on where they are in their knitting, and be willing to take out rows when they miss a stitch.
If your child forgets their Handwork project at home you will need to coordinate bringing it in to them before class starts. Fifth grade has their handwork class every Tuesday at 11:00am so please work together with your child to make sure that no extra trips are required.

Dear Fifth Grade Students,

As all you nosy children who read the Parents section now know, this year a select group of Fifth graders will be assigned to an advanced group. This advanced group of knitting fiends will be the first at our school to have the opportunity take on the incredible task of plant dyeing woolen yarn and proceed to make some small semblance of a dwarf’s sock from it. If there is time left over from your slave labor, our school will put to work in the gem mines of Moria to raise money for the school. Oh and I guess you can also make some boring other items like a hat and a horse.
Any whipper snapper assigned to the advanced group is required to make a commitment to keep on schedule with your work, mark down after each knitting session their current stitch and row and maintain a focus on finishing your projects before the end of the semester.
If you forget your work home you will need to call your parents to bring it in.
Student’s Name:______________________________
Parent’s Name:______________________________

it's a plant dye yarn sunday

I am getting ready for plant dying with the 3rd and 5th grade.
I have to test out my methods of plant dying before working with the kids.

so here are some results

I HATE Alkanet.....if someone knows how to use it....please let me know....I only got gray
I LOVE LOVE LOVE- Brazil wool (no longer available due to deforestation) but I had a bag from last year...that is the blue I have hanging
I love- Cutch, Madder, Cochineal, Tuneric, red onion skin, and Nettle

My new Handwork room

1/4th of the 6th grade finished their mice on the first day.....this is the introduction to gusseted animals. You just take 3 pieces of felt...all equal shape (shape is like an oval but the 2 tips are not rounded but pointed so that all 3 points can meet) do the blanket stitch.

No chairs.....at the moment my chairs are in the 2nd grade. I will get them back but I am not sure they can all fit..... I am actually thinking about having chairs only for the older grades where I get half the class and having the younger grades sit on the floor with cushions.


rose ceremony

I have to fit 26 kids in this room......very tight but we just manage

1st day of school

Its the first day.....I am up at 6 AM just checking emails...cleaning and thinking about my first few classes

I just made an order with Dharma Trading company for my Plant dyes. I compared prices with Earth Guild and over all they are a little bit less expensive.

I will be plant dying with 3rd 5th and the kinder teachers

Wish us luck on our first day back :)