12-15-11 Drawing D is for Dalmatian in P.E.

Friends:

Today was Day 9 of my residency at Bissonet Plaza Elementary in Metairie, Louisiana. Today, I was in P.E. with Ms. Lombardino, Ms. Tammie, Ms. Kelly, Coach Eric, and Coach Mark. It was such a fun day. I saw all the grades in groups and told draw and tell stories that they had not yet heard.

12-15-11 W is for Whale in P.E.

I love the P.E. staff. They are zany and fun to work with! Check out Coach Eric, who became a part of my story, “A is for Alligator,” literally! hahahaha

12-15-11 Drawing A is for Alligator - the end of the tail ended up on Coach Eric's head!

The students were fun and also had the opportunity to hear stories of my travels around the world, and my life as an author.

12-15-11 An embellished B is for Bear in P.E.

I loved being in P.E. with the P.E. staff. They are fabulous to work with!

12-15-11 We <3 Coach Eric at Bissonet!

It was a great day and I look forward to my last day at Bisonet!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

12-14-11 T is for Turtle in final by a student in Ms. Penton's Kindergarten class

Friends:

Today was Day 8 of my A is for Alligator: Draw and Tell Stories from A-Z residency at Bissonet Plaza Elementary in Metairie, Louisiana. It was my last day to work with the students in the classroom and finalize their books for publication.

Because there are so many activities going on in the school during the holidays, my schedule was crazy today. I had to rearrange four classes but everything worked out. My first visit was to Ms. Muller’s and Ms. Joy’s Pre-K babies. I had to combine the classes but the students were amazing. They drew their final “B is for Bear” in markers and the illustrations came out gorgeous! We were all so happy with the results!

12-14-11 Ms. Muller's and Ms. Joy's PK classes create their final pages for B is for Bear

Next, it was on to Ms. Lambert’s third grade class. They worked on the final art and stories for “L is for Lion.” I love how the title page and cover came out! Great job, guys!

12-14-11 L is for Lion final book art for cover and title page in Ms. Lambert's 3rd grade class

Then it was on to Ms. Penton’s Kindergarten class. They did a great job with their words and their “T is for Turtle” illustrations! Yay!

12-14-11 A student in Ms. Penton's Kindergarten writes her T is for Turtle words

My next class was Ms. Vizzini’s second grade classs. The class finalized their art for “R is for Rooster.” These students did a fabulous job and I love their Rockin’ Roosters!

12-14-11 R is for Rooster final book art for cover and title page in Ms. Vizzini's 2nd grade class

For lunch, Ellen Miller, the awesome librarian, treated me to a dine-in lunch of Thai food, our annual tradition. Delish! Thank you, Ms. Miller! After lunch, I visited Ms. Bonanno’s first grade class and they worked on the final illustrations and stories for “X is for X-Ray Fish.” They had so many great artists that I had to choose three: one to illustrate the dedication page, one to illustrate the title page, and one to illustrate the cover. How eXciting!

12-14-11 X is for X-Ray Fish final book art for cover and title page in Ms. Bonanno's 1st grade class

My last class was Ms. Vegas’ 4th grade class. I had to see them during their P.E. period because of all the scheduling challenges. While many of them managed to finish the final art for “Q is for Quail,” the class as a whole was wound up and disruptive. Their stories and illustrations were wonderful, however, their behavior needed work. There were a couple of phenomenal students like Savannah and Logan, and they made me smile!

12-14-11 Q is for Quail final book art for cover and title page in Ms. Vega's 4th grade class

Tomorrow, I hang out with the P.E. gang and see all the students during their P.E. period. I look forward to telling lots of draw and tell stories!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

12-13-11 E is for Elephant art in Ms. Tonguis' 1st grade class

Friends:

Today was the 7th day of my A is for Alligator: Draw and Tell Stories from A-Z residency at Bissonet Plaza Elementary School in Metairie, Louisiana. My first class was with Ms. Anchissi’s Kindergarten class. The class worked on the final pages for their book, creating final words and pictures. Ms. Anchissi’s class had “J is for Jackrabbit” and these little ones remembered all the steps of the story!

12-13-11 J is for Jackrabbit book cover in Ms. Anchissi's Kindergarten Class

My next class was Ms. Frechette’s third grade class. These students are so industrious and created wonderful stories and art for “O is for Owl.” I can’t wait to see their final book! I’ll have to come back for a special visit, just to see how amazing their book comes out.

12-13-11 O is for Owl title page in Ms. Frechette's 3rd grade class

After third grade, it was time to head over to Ms. Morrow fourth grade class. Although my time with them was shortened, I was impressed with the amount of work they did. They had some fabulously fanciful stories about unicorns.

12-13-11 U is for Unicorn story and art in Ms. Morrow's 4th grade class

Then it was on to Ms. Chieffo’s second grade students. When I walked into the classroom, the students gave me a rousing cheer. When we were going over the illustration for “I is for Iguana,” I was impressed with how these students recalled all the details of the draw and tell story. They created their own imaginative stories about the iguana and fantastic artwork as well.

12-13-11 I is for Iguana book cover in Ms. Chieffo's 2nd grade class

After lunch, I ambled over to Ms. Tonguis’ class. Ms. Tonguis has a tremendous sense of humor and we are always laughing up a storm. I just love to see that much joy in the classroom. It’s infectious! The students were so excited to show me their work on “E is for Elephant.” I was proud of both their awesome art and their stupendous stories.

12-13-11 E is for Elephant book cover in Ms. Tonguis' 1st grade class

My last class of the day was Ms. Daignault’s 5th grade class. What a talented group of kids. This class has both a mixture of writers and artists. It was so difficult to choose the book’s cover and title page illustrators. The jobs went to Dairon and Bennett, respectively. “M is for Monkey” is absolutely marvelous!

12-13-11 M is for Monkey book cover in Ms. Daignault's 5th grade 6th period class

Wednesday is my last day to work in the classroom with the students. On Thursday and Friday, I see them in P.E. for group work and performances. It goes by so quickly!

I look forward to my traditional Thai lunch with Ms. Miller, the librarian. I also look forward to another day of remarkable classes!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

12-12-11 D is for Dalmatian book cover in Ms. Arnett's 2nd grade class

Friends:

Today was my 6th day of my two-week A is for Alligator: Draw and Tell Tales from A-Z residency at Bissonet Plaza Elementary in Metairie, Louisiana. My first class was in Ms. Naugle’s 4th grade class. She is such an amazing teacher! Congratulations on graduating with your masters this past weekend, Ms. Naugle! Woo hoo for you!

12-12-11 The ever awesome Ms. Paula Naugle, 4th grade teacher

Ms. Naugle’s fourth graders worked on their final versions of their “Z is for Zebra” stories for the class anthology. Look at these zippy zebras!

12-12-11 Z is for Zebra in Ms. Naugle's 4th grade class

Next, I went to Ms. Fury’s third grade class. They worked on “V is for Vulture” and putting their stories in final form. There were some really great artists and writers in the class!

12-12-11 V is for Vulture art and stories in Ms. Fury's 2nd grade class

Then it was on to Ms. Johnson’s Kindergarten class to work on “G is for Giraffe.” The class is so well-behaved and talented. Just look at the front cover of their book, created by Juliette. G is for GORGEOUS!

12-12-11 G is for Giraffe book cover in Ms. Johnson's Kindergarten class

In Ms. Arnett’s second grade class, there were so many amazing stories and artists. Armin was chosen to embellish the book’s cover and I am in love with Nicholas’ story, “My Dog is a Hero.” I mean, how can you not love a dog in a tuxedo?!

12-12-11 Nicholas' story, My Dog is a Hero, in Ms. Arnett's 2nd grade class

After lunch, it was a whale of a time in Ms. Hadley’s class. This first grade class students with great art skills, fabulous penmanship, and incredible creativity. “W is for Whale” and “W is for Wonderful!”

12-12-11 W is for Whale final book cover in Ms. Hadley's 1st grade class

My final class of the day was Ms. Brumfield’s fifth grade class. My time is so short with fifth grade that it is difficult to really work with them. Nevertheless, I have been impressed with the quality of the stories and the art that has come out of these classes.

12-12-11 Final art in progress for F is for Frog in Ms. Brumfield's 5th grade class

This year at Bissonet has been such a pleasure. The students are well-behaved, considerate, and respectful. And, as usual, it’s been a rewarding experience to work with such fine faculty. All around, it’s been such a joyous time. I look forward to two more days of working with my classes, then it’s working in groups for my last two days this week.

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

12-9-11 Dianne de Las Casas takes a photo with her iPhone of Z is for Zebra in Ms. Naugle's 4th grade class

Friends:

Friday was Day 5 of my Bissonet Plaza Elementary A is for Alligator Draw and Tell Residency. Since most of the school was on a field trip to see The Wizard of Oz play, I spent the morning with fourth grade. My first class was with Ms. Vega, who was a teacher at Strehle Elementary, another school I’ve done residencies with, so we were old friends. The students were assigned “Q is for Quail.” I loved how excited they got when I told them my writer’s secret… That really spurred some creative stories! Want to know the secret? Sshhhh. I can’t tell you… or it wouldn’t be a secret! But the fact that the Bissonet Plaza students are talented is definitely no secret!

12-9-11 Ms. Vega's 4th grade class works on Q is for Quail

My second class was Ms. Morrow’s fourth grade class. They did “U is for Unicorn.” They had so much fun inventing stories about unicorns. “U is for is or Unicorn” is the only story in my A is for Alligator book that is a mythological beast and not a real animal. Only this unicorn is definitely not a beast… so cute!

12-9-11 U is for Unicorn in Ms. Morrow's 4th grade class

Then it was on to Ms. Naugle’s fourth graders. I just love Ms. Naugle and how technologically savvy she is. She creates videos, Skypes with schools around the country, blogs, and Tweets! In fact, we were tweeting each other in class. Ms. Naugle’s group was given “Z is for Zebra.” There are so many great artists in this class!

12-9-11 Z is for Zebra in Ms. Naugle's 4th grade class

After lunch, I went to see the itty bitties in Pre-K. Because of the field trip, Ms. Joy and Ms. Muller had to combine their classes into one. I thought it was going to be more challenging but the kids were AMAZING. They worked on “B is for Bear” and did such a fantastic job! I was astounded by these kids. It just goes to show you… never underestimate the power of imagination!

12-9-11 B is for Bear in Ms. Joy's and Ms. Muller's Pre-K classes

Next it was on to Mr. Boone’s third grade class. They worked on the final copies of “S is for Shark.” I had some really great stories like this one:

12-9-11 S is for Shark story in Mr. Boone's 3rd grade class

There was some equally stunning artwork as well in Mr. Boone’s third grade class.

12-9-11 A final drawing for S is for Shark in Mr. Boone's 3rd grade class

My last class of the day was Ms. McLeod’s 5th grade class. They worked on their final stories and art for “H is for Horse.” This class is definitely a class of writers! I was so impressed by their story writing.

12-9-11 Working on the final story book pages for H is for Horse in Ms. McLeod's 5th grade class

I look forward to my upcoming final week with Bissonet Plaza Elementary!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

12-8-11 G is for Giraffe in Ms. Johnson's Kindergarten Class

Friends:

Today was Day 4 of my Bissonet Plaza Elementary A is for Alligator Draw and Tell Tales residency. My day began in Ms. Duhe’s class, working on the final of their “C is for Cat” book. This is the beautiful title page created by Melvin, one of Ms. Duhe’s students. He is in gifted and talented art.

12-8-11 Ms. Duhe's C is for Cat book title page by Melvin Avila

I had a break between classes and then visited my second class, Ms. Johnson’s Kindergarten class. They worked on “G is for Giraffe.” Just wow! These kindergarteners did such amazing work and were so well-behaved.

12-8-11 Ms. Johnson's Kindergarten Class Draws a Giraffe out of the letter G

Then it was on to second grade to visit Ms. Vizzini’s class. They did fantastic renditions of “R is for Rooster.” I loved their imaginative story ideas!

12-8-11 R is for Rooster in Ms. Vizzini's 2nd grade class

My last class was Ms. Bonnano’s first grade class. They were assigned “X is for X-Ray Fish.” They had a lot of fun. Not only did they tell fabulous tales, they also eXecuted eXcellent and eXtraordinary X-Ray Fish!

12-8-11 X is for X-Ray Fish in Ms. Bonanno's 1st grade class

My last class was supposed to be Ms. Lambert’s third grade class but they had play practice so I didn’t get to see them. I hope I have time to squeeze them into my already tight schedule! I look forward to working with fourth grade tomorrow!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

12-7-11 Students in Ms. Penton's Kindergarten class work on T is for Turtle

Friends:

Today was Day 3 of my Bissonet Plaza Elementary A is for Alligator draw and tell residency in which the kids are going to be published authors through a program called Student Treasures. My first class was Ms. Presser’s second grade class. It was my second visit with them and they had to work on finalizing their illustrations and stories for “K is for Kangaroo.” I love the illustration below- look at the detail work! There is a ceiling fan with light bulbs! Fantastic job, students!

12-7-11 A student finalizes K is for Kangaroo for Ms. Presser's 2nd grade book

My second class of the day was Ms. Frechette’s third grade class. Working with Ms. Frechette is like working with sunshine. She is always cheery and happy to see me. Her students did “O is for Owl” and I loved their illustrations and stories!

12-7-11 O is for Owl in Ms. Frechette's 3rd grade class

My third class was Ms. Penton’s kindergarten class. These little sweet peas did a terrific job on “T is for Turtle!” I was so impressed by their drawing skills and ability to sequence. Yay!

12-7-11 T is for Turtle in Ms. Penton's Kindergarten class

My next class was Ms. Chieffo’s second grade class. As soon as I walked in the door, the class simultaneously erupted into cheers and clapping. How sweet! They worked on “I is for Iguana” and did an “INCREDIBLE” job with their illustrations and stories! I loved how the Iguanas came out!

12-7-11 I is for Iguana in Ms. Chieffo's 2nd grade class

After lunch, it was on to Ms. Tongui’s first grade class. The whole class began cheeering, “She’s here! She’s here!” What a reception. I loved doing “E is for Elephant” with these first graders. They were so awestruck by how the letter “E” turned into an animal. They drew “EXTRAORDINARY” elephants and wrote descriptive sentences.

12-7-11 E is for Elephant in Ms. Tongui's 1st grade class

In Ms. Dagnault’s fifth grade class, the students were ready to work. They learned “M is for Monkey” and didn’t guess the monkey until the very end of the drawing. It was so cool! There were some marvelously imaginative students in this class!

12-7-11 M is for Monkey in Ms. Dagnault's 5th grade class

Thursday is going to be another great day filled with magical moments, I am sure. I just love visiting Bissonet Plaza Elementary!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

12-6-11 Ms. Hadley's 1st grade class works on W is for Whale

Friends:

Today was my second day at Bissonet Plaza Elementary School in Metairie, Louisiana. My first class was my first “repeat.” I went to Ms. Whiteman’s Kindergarten class and they worked on their “P is for Penguin” for their book. I can’t wait to see how these books turns out!!

12-6-11 P is for Penguin in Ms. Whiteman's Kindergarten class

My second class was Ms. Fury’s third grade class. Their letter was “V is for Vulture.” First, I taught them how to draw the vulture. Then they began writing their stories. It was fun to see their stories come to life.

12-6-11 V is for Vulture in Ms. Fury's 3rd grade class

My next stop was Ms. Anchissi’s Kindergarten class. They had “J is for Jackrabbit.” I drew and told the story. Afterwards, I taught them how to draw the jackrabbit. We did it twice to practice. Then they colored their jazzy jackrabbits.

12-6-11 J is for Jackrabbit in Ms. Anchissi's Kindergarten class

After Kindergarten, I skidoodled over to Ms. Arnett’s second grade class. They did “D is for Dalmatian Dog.” Not only did their dogs come out uber cute, but their stories were equally engaging. They had some amazing stories in this second grade class!

12-6-11 D is for Dalmatian Dog in Ms. Arnett's 2nd grade class

After lunch, I went to Ms. Hadley’s first grade class. The students learned how to do “W is for Whale.” The funny thing is that their class was studying the “wh” sound and had “wh” vocabulary words. My story map with “who,” “where,” “when,” “what,” and “why” fit in perfectly! Ms. Hadley was “wholly” excited and “whooping” it up with joy. This class had a “whale of a tale!”

12-6-11 W is for Whale in Ms. Hadley's class

My final class of the day was Ms. Brumfield’s fifth grade class. They had “F is for Frog” and had fun drawing the frog. The last class of the day is always a shorter period so they began work on their stories but didn’t complete a rough draft. I look forward to hearing their stories!

12-6-11 F is for Frog in Ms. Brumfield's 5th grade class

It’s going to be a great day tomorrow and I LOVE how the stories are coming out. These students are going to create some fantastic books!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

12-5-11 P is for Penguin by a student in Ms. Whiteman's Kindergarten class

Friends:

Today was my first day at my annual artist residency at Bissonet Plaza Elementary in Metairie, Louisiana. The residency is sponsored by a grant administered by the Arts Council of New Orleans through the Louisiana Division of the Arts.

I am excited about this year’s project. The students are learning draw and tell tales from my new book, A is for Alligator, illustrated by Marita Gentry. The book teaches students how to turn every letter of the alphabet into an animal. After the students learn to draw the animal, they are writing stories using the animal as a character in the story. Each class will then compile their stories and we will send them to get published through Student Treasures.

My first class was Mr. Boone’s 3rd grade class. Their letter was “S is for Shark.” After learning how to draw the shark from the letter S, they created some fun stories.

12-5-11 S is for Shark in Mr. Boone's 4th Grade Class

My second class was Ms. Lambert’s third grade class. These students produced amazing drawings from “L is for Lion,” and their stories were equally charming.

12-5-11 L is for Lion in Ms. Lambert's 3rd grade class

Next it was off to Ms. Whiteman’s Kindergarten class. I taught the students “P is for Penguin” and was so impressed by the imagination of these little students!

12-5-11 P is for Penguin in Ms. Whiteman's Kindergarten Class

Then it was on to Ms. Presser’s second grade class. The students did “K is for Kangaroo.” They loved drawing the kangaroo and came up with some interesting story ideas.

12-5-11 K is for Kangaroo in Ms. Presser's 2nd grade class

After lunch, I visited Ms. Duhe’s first grade class. They worked on “C is for Cat” and did such a wonderful job drawing their cats and coming up with cool descriptions of their cats.

12-5-11 C is for Cat in Ms. Duhe's 1st grade class

Finally, my last class of the day was Ms. McLeod’s fifth grade class. They did a fabulous job with “H is for Horse” and I had so much fun brainstorming story ideas with them. I loved their idea of a snow-boarding horse being chased by an abominable snowman down a hillside!

12-5-11 H is for Horse in Ms. McLeod's 5th grade class

I look forward to my classes tomorrow!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

Rapperella's Magic Microphone

The Winner for the Twisted Tales fractured fairytale writing contest was a team from Ms. Dagneault’s 5th grade class. The story is based on the original tale of “Cinderella.” The winner was chosen by the fifth grade students. It was also voted “Best Twisted Tale Overall.” Congratulations to Jacob, Lance, Joshua, Brenden & Destiny!

Rapperella
By Jacob L., Lance W., Joshua P., Brenden B. & Destiny S.
Ms. Dagneault – 5th grade

Once upon a time, Ella was walking down the street. She ran into a rap crew. They started singing,

“Rapperella, Rapperella, Rapperella.”

She loved hearing the crew rap and she wanted to become a rapper herself. So she went home and asked her evil stepmother if she could go to the Royal Rap Battle.

Her stepmother said, “No, you must finish all your chores. Besides you don’t know to rap, not like my beautiful daughters!”

Ella’s mean stepsisters started rapping,

“Your rhymes are weak
Your rap is whack
Don’t talk smack
You better step back.”

Ella was so upset that ran to her room, crying. Suddenly, Fairy DJ Nonstop appeared with a magic turntable.

“Wiki wiki fresh.”

The fairy DJ said, “Why aren’t you at the Royal Rap Battle?”

Ella sniffled, “My evil stepmother and stepsisters said that I can’t go to the battle because I can’t rap.”

The fairy DJ said, “No problem. All you need is a magic microphone!”

So the fairy DJ scratched on his turntable and a diamond covered, gold microphone appeared in Ella’s hand. The fairy DJ scratched the turntable again and Ella was suddenly in a rhinestone-studded leather jacket, high heel boots, and stunner shades.

She stepped into a pimped-out hummer limo. When she arrived at the Royal Rap Battle, everyone asked, “Who is that star?”

She stepped into the crowd and watched as the other rappers took the stage. Ella’s stepsisters began rapping. The crowd cheered. Then it was her turn.

Ella stepped on stage with her magic mic and said,

“Everyone from the 504,
put your hands up, put your hands up,
Everyone from the 504,
put your hands up, put your hands up.”

The crowd roared and chanted. She started singing…

“Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh eh eh”

Then she started rapping. The crowd went wild and started screaming. She won the battle and the crowd sang her new name….

“Rapperella, Rapperella, Rapperella.”

Rapperella was offered a record deal that very night by Prince Diddy. Rapperella became a huge overnight success. She won the best new artist of the year award at the Grammys and her magic mic sparkled.

“Wiki wiki fresh.”