Paintings, presents, RACKing Oh My!

This week we have been working on our Christmas presents, assessments for the end of the quarter, and going on our first field trip of the year. Oh, and we begin our RACKing adventure.

I saw this awesome painting on Pinterest and I knew I had to try it with my class.  The teacher made a step by step drawing of a deer with her class and then they painted it.  I think they turned out A'deer'able!

The students finished drawing their deer and are getting ready to paint them.

First we painting the background.

The next day we painted the deer and added the finishing touches.  They turned out so cute.  I will have to take a picture of the finished product this week.  I mounted them on black paper and turned them in for laminating.

We began our RACKing adventure this week!  On Monday we talked about ways to be kind and played a game on being kind versus not kind.  Then throughout the week we did Random Acts of Christmas Kindness around our school.  It was very tricky to be so sneaky and not get caught. 

 I put each day in a bag so everyday we open a bag to let us know how we are going to do a Random Act of Kindness for that day.
 
I have really been stressing to the students that being kind does not mean you are going to get a present or even a thank you.  It is just nice to be kind and make someone feel special and by doing things like that it makes your heart feel warm.  
Here is what we have done so far:
Monday: Gave Smarties to a Smart Class.
Tuesday: Left a pop and M&Ms for our principal.
Wednesday: Sang Jingles Bells to the cafeteria staff.
Thursday: Colored nice notes and passed them to 3 different classes.  We went to the classroom when the students weren't there and laid the nice notes on their desks.
Friday: Gave a bag of M&Ms to the custodian. 

The students are looking forward to this each day.  It is SO great to see them be so kind.
Here is a picture of my students leaving notes at another classroom.

Dropping our kindness to the principal.

Our class Elf, Wolfie, has been up to surprise us each day.  Here is where he has been some of the days.

I think he looks like he is on a wrecking ball here.  LOL

Our last week before break is this week.  We have 3 full days and 2 half days.

I hope you have a great week! 

An aDEERable painting Tutorial

A few weeks ago I saw this amazing idea to use feet to make reindeer.   I thought they were so adorable, that I just had to try it out.  I thought if I liked it so much that the parents in my classroom would also like it.  With that thought, I got started having my students make the reindeer.  They turned out so well that then I wanted to have my son make one.  When I went to the store to make the deer on a canvas my creative mind wondered and I ended up getting a bigger canvas to make a family reindeer picture.  Here is a picture of the final product.  I LOVE it! 

What you need:
Brown Paint
Blue Paint (I forgot this)
Red Paint
Paintbrush
Sharpie Marker

What to do:
1. Decide on who's feet you are going to paint.  I choose to have my whole family paint their feet.
2. Paint the bottom of one foot and place it on the canvas.  Be sure to press down on the foot and toes to get a better print.
3. Paint the other foot and place it on the canvas making sure to press down again.
4.  After you get all the footprints on the canvas that you want, let the paint dry.
5. Once the paint is dry, paint the thumb of each person you had make a footprint red.  Have them press their thumb half way on their foot and half way off the foot creating a nose.  (I also think a different shade of brown would look good too.)
6.  Once the noses dry then use a fine tipped paintbrush and create the antlers.
7.  Next use the blue paint (or blue Sharpie) to make a circle for the eyes. 
8.  If you use paint you will need to let it dry, but if you used a marker, go ahead and trace around the eye with the black paint.  I ended up making eyelashes for the girl in my family.
9.  Then add the year at the bottom so you never forget when this aDEERable painting was created. 
10. Last, I added a ribbon around the frame to make it looks more finished.
11.  Enjoy your painting!