PFAA Senior Student leads acting workshop

PFAA senior student, Chazz DiStefano is leading acting workshops in Expressions classes this week as we begin our Drama Unit.  He is an accomplished actor who is providing our students with engaging and   useful acting tips and exercises.  Students are having so much fun they don't want to leave class!  Great job, Chazz!

Birthday Girls!

A couple fabulous students share the same birthday as me. It was SO fun to celebrate our birthdays together in class!

Clay Gargoyles

I LOVE the creativity and variation of gargoyle designs that students create! Great job, 7th grade! These will look great in the exhibit!

Shed Cleaning? I'm there!

So I helped clean out the school shed last week and discovered fun treasures! Bolts if burlap, tubs of yarn and caddies galore! Sigh... So what do do with these materials? Medieval Burlap Banners, of course! Here are some pics of embroidery in progress.

Gargoyles in Progress

Adding more clay projects to the Expressions Curriculum is one of my goals for the 2015-16 school year. Students love working with clay and the creativity that results from hand-building techniques always amazes me. Here are some pics of gargoyles in progress.

Woven Medieval Shield

Through all the years of sewing and knitting the idea of adding string art and weaving projects to our curriculum was a no-brainer. Kids are challenged and engaged with these fine motor skill tasks and are always very successful. This woven shield project  is an original creation by Mrs. Shane. Major Keeper!

Creating Gargoyle Pinch Pot Body and Head

Students are beginning to build their clay gargoyles in Expressions today. Clay is such an engaging medium and the kids always get really creative with creating their personal gargoyle guardians!

Aluminum Tooled Illuminated Letters

The 7th grade students kicked off their Medieval Unit with Calligraphy techniques and skills which were extended upon when manipulating aluminum tooling to create their Illuminated Letter. Students then created a decorative border using stylized line patterns and with a wax resist water color finish.

Geometric String Art

The 8th grade students manipulated parabolas to create geometric designs in which they strung using thread. This project required focus and skill that will be transferred into their next string art piece, the string-art woven shield project. More on that later!

Vote for Doghouse!

Please vote for LEA Student MathCounts Competition videos! We will eventually post 20 different videos created by our 8th grade students and each video will need a vote every day between now and March 13. Click this link to view and vote for The Doghouse, the first published video from our 8th grade class.

Production class kindness competition

Our Production class stepped up to the kindness door design competition this week with an awesome design concept that reflects "kindness."  I think we have a shot at winning!  Great collaborative effort from the group!

Production students and kindness

Our Production class is filled with some amazing students this year! We have students that love reading, writing, math, sports, art, taiko and are involved as mentors or leadership. Check out the door decoration they created for kindness week! We are lucky teachers!

Blankets Get a Home!

In January, our 13 knitted blankets were among the  880 donated blankets to WIC, Ronald McDonald Home, UC Davis Children’s Hospital, Shriner’s Hospital, WellSpace, Sacramento Children’s Home, the Life Center, and Foster Care Licensing!  The collective effort of our 8th grade students definitely provided individuals with the sense of love and security!