I'm Doing the Happy Dance!
A new children's book that finds connections with the science, art and social/emotional curriculum.
Every first grade class that I've ever taught learns about Monet this time of year. Maybe it's because it's staying light later, or the bright colors of the spring blooms after a rain shower, but something inspired me to teach impressionism. Usually we make a giant mural as a group and each student creates their own lily pad. I will post some pics if I can ever find them another day. We talk about reflection and how light effects color (especially on water). This year though, the kids are studying life cycles. The life cycle of the butterfly, the chicken and the frog to be specific. I thought it would be the perfect time to add a character in our Monet landscapes.
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| This is a must have for any art teacher. Not only does it talk about Monet, it also talks about bullying. In the book it shows the bully frogs 'getting what they deserve." They get caught for Frog leg soup. We talked how they would handle the situation. Would you help the bullies if you were Philippe? Only three kids said they would help him. They had very good reason. They thought they could show him how to be good by being good. Our very own little Ghandi's in training. Gotta love kids with that kind of empathy! Their classroom teacher also embodies this kind of empathy and it is amazing to see the development of this group. Philippe finds refuge in Monet's garden and lives happily ever after. |
You can imagine my surprise when the other art teacher at our school brought this book to my attention and let me borrow it. You know this will be on my impulse purchase list.
Here are our First Graders very own Philippe portraits in Monet's Garden.
6 comments:
This book is on my want list now! At my K-3 school they use a bullying curriculum that has to do with "Bully Frogs". I've never had a chance to check out the book and the only time I've ever heard the kids talk about it is when someone (usually the real bully) accuses another student of being a bully frog. So, I guess my point here, is that I definitely need this book, especially since it sounds a little similar to my school's program.
I've loved this book for a long time, Erica. Your students did an awesome job with their interpretations. My favorite is the one doing the backstroke in the pond! Hilarious!
Precious!!! I've never seen this book, but I'm going to recommend it since we have a big anti-bullying program in our school. Thanks for sharing.
Oops - by "precious" I was referring to the artwork!
The kids did a great job! These are really cute! I'll have to look for the book! Thanks!
i got this book as a birthday present a few years ago - i love phillipe! my first graders make a clay frog to live in the pond we paint - we are finishing them this week!
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