June 23, 2014

Mr. E Asks 3: Debbie Diesen (The Pout-Pout Fish)



...OUT JUNE 24...

I hope you all know the joy that is THE POUT POUT FISH!  My students love these books!!!!  Several years ago Debbie Diesen, the author of The Pout Pout Fish, commented on my blog after I had used her book as inspiration for a lesson.  I so appreciated her taking the time to comment....love that she has that kind of connection with her audience!!  Well, I contacted her to see if she would want to be part of Mr. E Asks 3....and she shared that The Pout Pout Fish had another adventure about to take place!!  The Pout Pout Fish Goes to School!!!   I love this...because my oldest daughter will be going to kindergarten this fall, and I can see her connecting with this story!!!  Ok..enough of me going on and on....

I HOPE YOU ENJOY MR. E ASKS 3: Debbie Diesen!!! 
(OH...and read all the way to the bottom of the post for something extra fun!)


Do you have a favorite place to "create" your stories?  
If so where is it & why?



Ideally, I love to be outside when I’m writing, though that’s not always

practical here in Michigan.  But regardless of where I am, I prefer to have

a pen or pencil in hand when I’m writing.  I do use the computer later,

after I have a complete first draft, but pretty much everything I write

starts out handwritten.  Having a pen in my hand helps me tap into the

writing part of my mind.

Were you involved in the arts as a child/teenager?



I loved to write when I was young, and I was very lucky to have parents,

teachers, and school librarians who encouraged me in my writing.  I was

pretty shy and timid back then (something I haven’t yet entirely outgrown!),

but the encouragement I received in those early years gave me confidence in
myself as a writer, then and now.  I am very grateful!


When you first wrote the Pout Pout Fish, 

did you know his story was going to continue? 


When I first wrote the story, I didn’t know Mr. Fish would have more
adventures.  And in fact, I didn’t even know he’d ever see Miss Shimmer
again!  At the time, I imagined the life-changing kiss of the first book to

be a Random Act of Smoochiness.  But after Dan Hanna’s delightful art

brought Mr. Fish and his friends to life, it became clear that Mr. Fish had

more stories to tell.  It has been a joy beyond measure to create and share

those stories with children!


WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE A SET OF 
THE POUT POUT FISH BOOKS?

Leave a comment with a 2 or 3 sentence description of a fish lesson you use in your classroom!  I'll draw a name from those who do this...and the winner will receive a complete set of The Pout Pout Fish Books!  Please "Like" Art With Mr. E on Facebook & "Follow" me on Twitter to see if your name is selected!!! 

Agency D3 is Here!!

        
This is the week of VBS....I will post about the crafts soon!  The stage came together well though!!  

June 15, 2014

Father's Day 2014

                     Thankful & Blessed!!  Father/Dada/Daddy....greatest title I've ever had!  
                                                     Hope you all had a great day!
            




June 14, 2014

What has Mr. E been up to??


    So this is what I have been working on since school let out.....VBS sets!  This year's theme is fun for sets....but not as fun for crafts. Last year was the opposite. The kids will love it all...they always do!  We usually have around 300 or so children. It is a lot of work...but so much fun & totally worth it!!

       

                                 


June 08, 2014

VBS Prep Family Art Night

This year we're doing Agency D3 for our VBS.  Think Spy Kids meets CSI.  This is the second year we've had a family art night(because this is the second year my wife has been directing the children's ministry at our church).  We have projects that families can work on together that we'll hang up at our VBS.  

Painters Tape & I are not friends!!! ha ha  I was taping off a city scape on large canvases for the teens to paint during the family art night!  


I had pre-drawn images for them to paint..because this was a come and go event.  They used a variety of watercolor techniques to paint the images.


      




Fun & colorful!!!


For the teens helping out...I had them paint these large canvases for a photo booth set.  After they finished up..they helped cut out images the kids had painted. 

June 02, 2014

Preview of 2014-2015 School Year

This is my art room sign above my door made from Fun Foam.
So I like to get a few things done for "next year" (which is really less than 2 months away) at the end of  "this year"!  With our special area team all on board for doing a "global theme"...I decided blues & greens would be a great choice for my room! (I change my color theme every year...I have enough fabric so I can have 7 yrs in a row be different if I want to...warm colors..cool colors..primary..etc....and I make all my letters and borders by hand each year to match the colors...oh..and the chair footies too!)  
Last week of school every year I have my students make turtles in my room's color theme...that way I have something to hang up at the start of school.  I was just checking to make sure I had enough..I'll store them for summer way from lights.