This week in art we created a piece of artwork called People Contours. I  emphasized drawing very slowly and drawing what you see, not what you think you see. During this lesson I introduced concepts such as foreground, middle ground, and background. Students learned about the illusion of depth created by drawing overlapping figures.  Students studied the models very carefully and drew contours without looking down at their paper...they were allowed to peek a few times but overall students concentrate on the subject and don't look at their papers when they are drawings. (Visit our photo website http://mrsmckelvey.shutterfly.com to see them all.)

This month's genre for our Home Reading is non-fiction. I'd like you to try and read at least one non-fiction book that's related to our social studies units on geography and Native Americans or read a book related to our science unit on energy and matter. Here's a few topics you may want to read about:

• California
• Earthquakes and other natural disasters
• Native Americans of California, such as the Kumeyaay
• Sacramento, our state capitol
• Climate
• Conservation
• Solar energy
• Water cycle
  

Then I'd like you to share any fascinating or interesting facts you've learned here on our class blog. Don't forget to include the title and author of the book you read. Also, would you recommend this book to your friends? If so, why? Happy reading and I look forward to seeing your comments.