ZooPal Plates from Toddlers to Teens

Kassie's Critters

 It's a big advantage as a middle school teacher having a young teen in the family. My sharp-eyed, perceptive, 13 year old daughter helps keep me 'in the know' in lots of ways. She advises me on clothing and hair styles, keeps me up to date on the latest hit tunes and popular singers (we're in the middle of Bieber Fever) and is great at finding my misplaced reading glasses, keys, coffee cup, kindle...
My Daughter has been an excellent teaching assistant for years. As a toddler she was always ready to help me create new Mothergoose snacks for a series of preschool lessons I was writing. Now that she's older I enlist her uncomplaining help every August for a day of unpacking, counting and sorting boxes of art supplies. She also helps me find my way to a more teen friendly class environment: "Mom, don't ever call on kids randomly, we hate that." (Guilty!) "Mom, the best part of Mr. X's class is that we get to sit with our friends." (I always separate friends.) "Mom, group projects are the best!" (I need to remember to do group stuff more often.) My daughter is my best teacher!

So, naturally, I asked her advice a  few weeks ago in creating a new clay project. I wanted something that would really get kids excited. Clever girl that she is, she came up with the idea of making 'zoopal' plates, and I think she hit on a winner. When I announced the project last week, much to my surprise, students in every class burst into spontaneous singing of the 'zoo pals' tune. It was hilarious. Who knew these items from their toddler days would have such a lasting impact?
For those who don't know, ZooPals have been around for awhile. They are animal paper plates, a Hefty brand product (think garbage bags) cleverly designed  with a shape that allows for ears or feet depending on the animal represented. Check out the complete list of 60 here.

Madame Matisse Never Looked So Good!

Students entered the darkened classroom to behold Madame Matisse, projected as a four foot monstrosity on the wall. These young teens, 13 and 14 year olds, first demand to know if "it's" a man or woman; her samurai hair and dense brows confuse them. Study sketches of master works are a great way to get your students to closely examine art work. They make so many cool discoveries.
In preparation for creating their own original drawings with dry pastels I had students make study sketches of Madame Matisse. My 7th and 8th graders found her green face stripe and hair style quite hilarious, but as they worked they began to discover interesting, more subtle details: the blue shapes in her hair, such as the triangle just above the forehead, the stripe of red reflected light at the hairline, the green and cream triangles that form her neck. Efforts at matching line and shape and color resulted in students gaining a deeper understanding of both Matisse's paintings as well as using pastels to create a variety of effects.