We are all so happy to be back in the CLIC Room creating.  Students have been coming to CLIC during the school day. It feels great to see smiles on faces getting hands dirty and learning by doing,. I am looking forward to working with your children before, during, and after school.  CLIC Clubs are set to start in October.  Online sign up's will start next week.

Fourth graders have been in the CLIC room beginning a series of class team builder activities.  We just finished creating class shirts.  Students love this project learning about textile design and the process of dyeing fabric and stenciling and stamping designs.  Using fabric dye is unpredictable and using stencils is predictable so even if the colors were not exactly what was desired the stencils pull the whole design together. The shirts turned out awesome!  I love seeing students proudly wearing their class team shirts.

Since many children from other grades have asked if they can make a shirt, I will make a textile design class before and after school soon.

 ​Hi!  If you would like your child to participate in the Stop Motion Movie Making Class, please submit the form on the CLIC Page in the Specialists at Home Learning Slideshow.  Signing up will allow me to help your child through email check in's and stay connected through optional live Zoom work sessions.  It will also help me in creating an online film festival where Proctor Students can show off their creations.

Artists have been working away at painting our first landscape painting on canvas using acrylic paint, palette knives, and brushes.  Although the subject is the same, every painting is as different as the artist.  We learned how to use the easel, sketch out compositions with vine charcoal, mix custom paints, use thin and thick body paints, and the results are stunning!  Students got to pick their final landscape painting and will painting those for an extended three sessions.

​

Mrs. Boucher's and Mrs. Lampe's Classes are coming to CLIC during their science block to create scientific displays.  They researched specific ecosystems and the food chains within them and are now creating huge murals to share their research.  Students are working on ten teams creating 3-D murals out of cardboard.  Each mural represents an ecosystem.  The students sketched out their plans and are making the animals and ecosystem land and water features using paper sculpting techniques.  We will finish the murals in a muted color scheme echoing the natural textures and colors of the cardboard.  The goal is to have all of the 10 murals work cohesively together to represent the earth's diversity.  

The 4th grade is working on learning about animal adaptations in science.  For this unit, each 4th grade class is doing a unique project related to what they are chosen to focus on.  Mrs. Highgas and Mrs. Maxwell's class are the first to come to CLIC.  They chose to create sculptures of animals and plants from different ecosystems.  The sculptures must exhibit the adaptations that help the plant or animal survive.
Students first learned how to create paper and tape sculptures that were covered with plaster strips. Students then painted their plant or animal highlighting the adaptations.  We are now  learning how to use LED's, copper tape, and button batteries connected to a switch to light up each adaptation on the scientific sculptures.
​

Over the last two weeks, students learned about different pollinators.  We were given some honey bee specimens, (including a queen bee) from a local bee keeper to look at under the microscopes.  We did pen and ink scientific illustrations of the anatomy of the honey bee.  These were companion drawings for the botanical illustrations we did the week before.  Michaela taught the children about the many different ways plants entice pollinators by their size, shape, smell, time of bloom, and color.  Children did matching games and challenged themselves to pollinator fact trivia while they worked on their drawings.  Fellow girl scout, Katherine came last week to get involved in Michaela's Gold Award project.

Our first class was all about figuring  the size of the game surface, adding walls and the slanted base to keep the ball in play.  The second class will involve making the mechanized plunger and guides that shoot the ball up onto the game board.

We began by learning about painting on an easel and on canvas.  Students chose a salt marsh landscape to use as a composition to paint.  We learned how to use vine charcoal to sketch out our compositions and then how to mix paints with the palette knife.  Students also began painting their skies and learned how to paint clouds.  It was an awesome class!

At our first class, Masco senior and Girl Scout, Michaela Dillon introduced herself and the project.  Students learned about the anatomy of flowers and did scientific botanical illustrations.  Students spent time looking through microscopes at pollen as well as plant parts.  Students learned to use quill pens and ink with pastels to create their drawings.

Both Art Club groups had a relaxing class doing Chinese Sumie painting.  This art form uses bamboo brushes to gracefully put expressive brushstrokes of black India ink on the paper.  The ink is then watered down to create washes.  Red is used sparingly to sign the artist's name or emphasize a small but important part of the painting.  We used examples of authentic Sumie paintings of nature.  Students also practiced creating Chinese calligraphy symbols for words such as peace, unity, strength, etc. to sign their work.  

Art Club has been working on thinking of 2-dimensional images as 3-dimensional form.  We learned how to draw animals in terms of shapes to then create our clay sculptures.  We now are drawing patterns of animals and then cutting out each shape to then trace on fabric .  It helps us see two-dimensional drawings as 3-dimensional shapes.  The paper patterns are then drawn and cut out of fabric.
Students then were taught how to layer and sew the pieces together to create stuffed animals.We learned how to tie knots, sew productively, stuff, sew buttons, etc.  Students made a variety of projects and learned a great life skill.

In STEAM Club we are working on a fun unit on rubber band powered propeller projects.  It's all about potential energy, kinetic energy, drag, friction, and balancing all of the above.

It has been super challenging but rewarding to get our projects to move.  STEAM Club is all about problem solving, testing, and redesigning until each student gets their project to perform.  Helicopters are tough to get to go up since the paper body must be just right to create enough drag for the propeller to go up.  Many different styles, lengths, and placement were tried.  

We are now creating cars powered by rubber bands and propellers working with friction with no drag wanted.  Students are building axles and car bodies so that they first roll smoothly.  We then built the rubber band propeller apparatus to be attached to the car body.  We will be racing this week.  

Our unit will wrap up with rubber band powered rockets which will bring in the discussion on mass and momentum.

4th graders are coming to CLIC this week and next week working collaboratively in groups to come up with innovative ideas of how alternative energy sources could benefit Proctor School.  We began this project by first creating models of Proctor School based on aerial view photographs.  We learned how to make cardboard models of buildings using a scoring and folding building technique.  It was amazing to see the students map out and build the buildings.  They then went on to create the surrounding landscape to show area mountains, rivers, and other features that would influence the energy source they chose.  Students are now beginning to build spinning wind turbines , solar panels, geothermal piping, and hydro generators.  I  enjoy seeing the children decide what new materials and building techniques they will use to create impressive models.  

There are big changes happening in CLIC before and after school clubs.  I have decided to change things up for many reasons.  Students are changing their band, sports, and after school commitments so I am going to be offering 5 week block classes. Another big change is I will be having parents sign up online.  

In February, CLIC will be offering the following 5 classes:

Tuesdays at 8 am- STEAM Pinball Machine Design Class
Tuesdays at 3pm- Proctor Pollinators Project 
Wednesdays, 8 am- Chess Club
Thursdays at 8 am- Writers and Artists Workshop
Thursdays at 3pm- Landscape Painting Class
​
You can see full class descriptions and days we will meet on the Class Sign Up Page.

Students 6th graders were in CLIC all week doing a Project based lesson unit on the Mayan's for social studies. Students created historically accurate models and artifacts based on Mayan culture. This includes creating Mayan temples, masks, musical instruments, vessels and burial urns, and codices (books). Students loved working with diverse materials and every class came up with different interpretations of the how they would represent the Mayan artifacts.  Students worked with clay, plaster, leather, styrofoam, ink, paint, and even (cement sonic tubes to make their drums).  Students worked in groups and individually to come up with creative solutions.  These projects were not easy and students worked hard to make their Mayan projects respectful and accurate of Mayan ancient culture.  I was impressed by the intensity and dedication of the students.  They came to CLIC during lunch periods and free time to work on their projects.  We hope to be completely finished next week so we can display their work for the school to enjoy and learn about Mayan culture.