Edgar Degas Study

Third grade GATE students recently read a book about Edgar Degas' Little Dancer.  Degas was an impressionist artist who loved painting dancers and horses.  He loved to show movement in his paintings.  This summer while in Boston, I visited the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.  I saw Degas' Little Dancer.  The sculpture I had read about so many times was amazing!  I shared photos of this sculpture with the students. We viewed many pictures of Degas' paintings.  The students and I discussed how you can see MOVEMENT in his paintings.

We talked about what other activities involve movement:  skiing, skating, dancing, soccer, fishing, etc.  Students used their creativity and problem solving skills to create a sculpture showing movement out of ALUMINUM FOIL!  It was challenging at times to decide how the foil pieces could be molded together...but the kids did it and the outcome is STUNNING!

Enjoy pictures of our latest art endeavor!

AES Service Learning Project - Winter the Dolphin

GATE students and families are hosting a school-wide AES service learning project!  Who knew that on New Year's Eve a service learning idea would come to be?  That is exactly what happened!  One of our 3rd grade GATE students saw the movie, Dolphin Tale, and was so inspired by the story of Winter the Dolphin that she knew AES students could make a difference.  True service learning is when the students have the idea and are passionate about making a difference.

When the idea of a service learning project was presented to each of the GATE classes, students actually CHEERED!  They were so excited!  Two students asked if they could join the planning committee.  These three students, Ty, Emilie, and Sam, took their idea to Mrs. Sheets who quickly approved the idea!  These students also met with Dr. Ayer, Mrs. Bishop, and Mr. Tidmore to seek their approval.  At the end of that meeting, they asked the students to present their idea to the school board members.  The vote was a unanimous, "YES!"

On Friday, February 24th, AES will host a Family Movie Night.  Tickets are being sold now through THIS FRIDAY for $2 each.  There will be a huge, inflatable screen on the stage in the lunchroom.  We encourage families to bring chairs, blankets, etc. to come watch Dolphin Tale with other AES families and friends.  The doors will open at 5:30 and the movie starts at 6:00.  There will be pizza, candy, popcorn, drinks, and dolphin necklaces for sale.  

All the money raised at AES Family Movie Night will go directly to Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida to "Adopt a Dolphin!"  Please make plans to bring your family for a night of fun and to make a difference!  If you are interested in volunteering for an hour that night, please contact Mrs. Adams. 

Meeting with Mrs. Bishop

Students with Dr. Ayer.

Students with Mr. Tidmore.

Be looking in the Sand Mountain Reporter this week (February 13-17) for an article about our movie night this week as well as look on www.sandmountainreporter.com for video clips!

Presenting the proposal in Mrs. Sheets office!

Kaden reads a book to his class about whales!  He wanted to share another non-fiction book about an ocean animal!  Thanks, Kaden!

Higher order thinking skills - Communication #1 and #3.

Jonathan Stinson from the Sand Mountain Reporter visited our GATE class to find out details about movie night!