Final Art Museum Visit

Our last visit to the Southern Ohio Museum was on Tuesday, May 10, 2011 to view the "Against the Grain" exhibit. The main gallery displayed works of Midwestern artists from Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and Minnesota. Most of the artists in the show were either undiscovered or largely forgotten; however, their innovative modern art was admired by both private collectors and regional museums. One artist's name in the show that the children learned was that of Thomas Hart Benton. Although Benton's painting in this exhibit is not at all like his regionalism paintings, the style of this painting demonstrates his originality.

After viewing and discussing the paintings with a docent, the children went on a scavenger hunt with a partner to locate certain details in the paintings. Later the children studied their favorite pieces and used them as their inspiration for an art project. Shown above are Grace Ann, Claire, and Ava sketching their favorite pieces.

Celebrating 40 Years

The Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama celebrated its 40th Anniversary during the weekend of April 30-May 1, 2011. Our class helped the law center commemorate this momentous occasion by making two banners for them. One had positive remarks written by each child in class; and the other banner had 36 handprints in differing flesh-tones proclaiming that all of us are special in some way. (Double click on the photo to view the banners.) The banners were visible during a Skype call with SPLC staff and co-founding attorney, Joseph H. Levine, Jr.

Morris Dees, the other founder of the SPLC and lead attorney for the firm, was also scheduled to speak to the class. The SPLC represents the underserved and does not charge its clients attorneys' fees nor does it share in its clients' settlements. It is completely funded through donations.

The children sang "It Could Be a Wonderful World" during the Skype visit and then shared individually how each of them has contributed to a positive atmosphere in both the classroom and throughout the school. Mr. Levine commended the class for its positive peacemaking efforts and encouraged them to continue their positive actions. Teaching Tolerance associate editor, Lisa Ann Williamson, was also in attendance. She wrote a brief article praising the children's kindnesses toward others. View the article by copying the following address into your web browser: http://www.tolerance.org/blog/it-could-be-wonderful-world

2D Science Fair Entries

The school Scence Fair was held on Thursday, April 7 in the church Activity Center. A many children in grades one through six participated in this annual event. Several children in 2D set up and had their projects judged. Second grade topics included determining which robot was the fastest, exploring the color of the sky, what causes dry ice to explode, theories about black holes, and whether children recognized fast food characters more often than they recognized historical figures. You can find the answer to the latter experiment by clicking on the video below and learning the results of that experiment.

No April Fool's Joke

April 1st concluded Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week. Our parents are the most caring and amazing parents in the entire universe. Their creativity is mind-boggling and their food rivals any top chef's creations. The breakfasts, lunches, and desserts/snacks were "to die for". Now add a sense of humor to that combination and you will understand why Mrs. Dengel is constantly amazed at not only the product, but the quality of each year's Teacher Appreciation Week celebration. This year the week concluded with an assembly in the RAC with our parent volunteers hosting a parody of the Oscars. The first video shows one of our parents firing-up the students for the red carpet Oscar "Teacher Awards". The second video was filmed by a student in Mrs. Dengel's class. Ava asked if she could film Mrs. Dengel when she was called forward. Ava assured Mrs. Dengel that she had used a flip video camera before and knew exactly what to do ... and she did. Bravo, Ava! You did an outstanding job. Give our future videographer a pat on the back next time you see her.

L.O.U.I.E. and Friends Visit 2D

As part of the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) program at school, Mrs. Dengel extended an invitation to computer science engineer and former college professor Paul Yost to visit the 2D classroom. Mr. Yost brought to school his robotic creation L.O.U.I.E., as well as three of his mini-robot creations which resemble insects, and thus, named BrainBugs. The goal of his visit was to expose the children to real world applications of engineering and to get them excited about this fastest growing industry in the world today. The children not only viewed these machines with great interest, but they had numerous questions about what L.O.U.I.E. could and could not do. They quickly learned that L.O.U.I.E. could move his head and eyes, respond to questions, and even snore while he was napping. After examining chips and boards which effected how these machines worked, the children explored the BrainBugs, noting the various lengths of their legs. The "bugs" were put to the test in a race after the children predicted which BrainBug would cross the finish line first. If you click on the first video, you will not only see which BrainBug won, but you will also hear the children's cheers that "carried" it across the finish line first. Then open the second video to hear Mr. Yost explain what makes the robots work and even hear L.O.U.I.E. speak.

Stations of the Cross

Lent began with Ash Wednesday. Each week during Lent the children go over to church to recite and reflect upon the Stations of the Cross. This Catholic Lenten tradition retraces Jesus' journey from being condemned to death by Pontius Pilate, to His crucifixion and death on the cross, to finally being taken down from the cross and laid in a tomb. The children retrace Christ's steps and reflect upon His love for us by relating each station to their daily lives. Traditionally, the stations are numbered in Roman numerals. Consequently, not only are the Stations of the Cross a religious lesson; they are also a math lesson in translating the Roman numerals to standard numbers.

The cross that the children carry during the Stations of the Cross was crafted by one of Mrs. Dengel's former students when he was in second grade. The cross looks exactly as it did twenty years ago.

The first video shows the children at the sixth station. The second video shows the children concluding the stations by reciting the Act of Contrition in the sanctuary near the crucified Christ behind the main altar.

Prehistoric Native American Artifacts

Local collectors of arrow-heads, pottery, and other Native American artifacts had their collection donated to the Southern Ohio Museum after they had passed away. Charles and William Wertz had collected more than 10,000 pieces of prehistoric Native American objects from the west side of Scioto County during their lifetimes. This extensive collection became "The Art of the Ancients" exhbit at the Southern Ohio Museum. It is one of two permanent exhibits at the art museum. The collection consists of not only arrowheads, but necklaces, bone fish hooks, tools, games, and effigy pipes crafted in a variety of animal shapes. (An effigy is a likeness or representation of an object.) The pieces in the collection have been dated by the Ohio Historical Society as ranging in age from 1,500 to 8,000 years old. During our visit, the children had an opportunity to view first hand and learn more about the Native Americans who inhabited our area thousands of years ago. The photos above show the children as they are viewing the artifacts and after our visit, just outside the front doors of the museum.