* Letters from the sixth graders including directions for creating fabric book character puppets

1500 Walker Chapel Rd.                         

Fultondale, AL 35068

        April 5, 2005

Dear Curt,  

   How have you been? I have been fine. Have you been anywhere lately, like on a school field trip? Well, I have. I went to McWane Center. We were learning about Egypt and King Tutankhamen. Then we went to the Tut Exhibit at McWane Center.  I didn’t get a chance to go to Dauphin Island because my parents didn’t allow me go by myself. Anyways, some of my friends went and said it was fun. They got to dissect a squid. They got to go for three days.

So how was your spring break? My Spring Break was great even though I was sick, it was still great. I had to go see a doctor for a check up. I still have a little cold and I hope I get better.

How are you doing at home? Is everybody at home doing okay? I hope they are.

Well, every nine weeks we have a school dance here at school. I got invited to the dance this time and many times too. You can only get invited if you have good conduct and don’t have a U. We had pizza, cookies, and a drink with candy.

In class, we have been working on a puppet that goes with a book we read. Here are the steps to make one.

Book Character Fabric Puppets

1.      Read a book.

2.    Pick a character from the book.

3.    Draw a rough sketch of your character on paper.

4.    Open paint program on the computer.

5.    Use the tools in paint to draw your book character. Do not draw or paint the background.

6.    Save your drawing.

7.    Use the dotted box on the toolbar and draw a box around your drawing.

8.    Copy it and paste it into Microsoft Word.

9.    Stretch it from the corners to fill the page.

10.                       Print in onto inkjet fabric.

11. Cut around your character.

12.                       Run it under COLD water to set the color.

13.                       Sew a back on to it.

14.                       Now you have a puppet that goes with your book.

We did another technology project using four digital pictures of ourselves and watercolor paint. The directions and pictures will be on our Website.

I hope you enjoy this project!

Love,

 Ella

                                   1500   Walker Chapel Rd.                                           Fultondale, AL 35068

                                                                      April 8, 2005

Dear Robin,

        How did you like your Spring Break? I loved mine! It was so jammed packed. I went to the oldest field in America, and it was really neat! I got to hang out with a bunch of my friends and just relax too. On Saturday night, I went to the state fair with my best friend, but we only got to ride 3 rides.   It started raining, so we had to leave. I was so mad!

        Did you enjoy Easter? Mine was pretty cool. I got a big Easter bunny and a huge Easter basket with a whole bunch of neat stuff in it. I also got some new church clothes.       

        A few weeks ago I went to Dauphin Island Sea Lab. It was so fun! We were gone for 3 days and 2 nights. We got to go on beach walks, take fun classes, and dissect a squid, which was pretty gross! We also went to the salt marsh and to the mud hole. The mud hole smelled like rotten eggs! We got to do so much stuff and had so much fun! I took pictures of everything, but most of them didn’t show up because of the kind of camera I had. I was so mad, but at least I still have the memories!

        In February we went to the McWane Center. I got to go twice because I went once with sixth grade and once with the RLC group. It was really cool! We went and saw the King Tut exhibit and Mysteries of Egypt in their Imax Dome. It was awesome! Mrs. Wicker, my science teacher, was holding on for dear life in the movie. It was funny just watching her!

        We started taking the SAT10 and ARMT on Tuesday. I’m a little nervous, but a little excited. I’m nervous about the test, but excited about not having any homework or switching classes!

        Are you going to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania? I am, and I think I have already told you. Right now the four people going are each making a websites. Mine is on Independence Hall. I will let you know when it is finished so that you can check it out.

        We did a technology project called Book Character Fabric Puppets. Here are the steps:

1.      Read a book.

2.    Pick a character from the book.

3.    Draw a rough sketch of your character on paper.

4.    Open the Paint program on the computer.

5.    Use the tools in Paint to draw your book character. Do NOT draw or paint the background!

6.    Save your drawing.

7.    Use the dotted box on the tool bar and draw a box around your drawing.

8.    Copy and paste it into Microsoft Word.

9.    Stretch it from the corners to fill the page.

10.                       Print it onto inkjet fabric.

11. Cut around your character.

12.                       Run it under COLD water to set the colors.

13.                       Sew a back on it.

14.                       Now you have a puppet that goes with your book.

We did another cool technology project using four digital pictures of ourselves and watercolor paint. The directions and pictures will be on our website.

        Well, that’s pretty much all that is going on right now. I can’t wait until I get your response!

                                                                    Your friend,

                                                                   Marlee

                                                         1500 Walker Chapel Rd.

                                                                    Fultondale, AL 35068

                                                                    April 11, 2005

Dear Andrew,

        If you like drawing you will like this project.  You get to draw any character from a book.  Then, you draw your character on the computer and it will come out on a fabric that will go through the printer.  Here are the steps to this project.

1.      Read a book.

2.    Pick a character from the book.

3.    Draw a rough sketch of your character on paper.

4.    Open the Paint program on the computer.   

5.    Use the tools in Paint to draw your book character.  Do not draw or paint the background.

6.    Save your drawing.

7.    Use the clotted box on the toolbar and draw a box around your drawing.

8.    Copy it and paste it into Microsoft Word.

9.    Stretch it from the corners to fill the page.

10.                       Print it onto inkjet fabric.

11. Cut around your character.

12.                       Run it under COLD water to set the colors.

13.                       Sew a back onto it.

14.                       Now you have a puppet that goes with your book.

Our trip to the Mc Wane center was awesome.  We got to watch an I-Max movie.  An I-Max movie is a big dome with a huge screen all around you.  When we were

leaving the theater, I tried to look up at the screen and I almost fell backwards down the stairs.  After the movie, we went into an exhibit.  We got to see all of Tutankhamen’s jewels, but it was artificial.  The whole trip was very fun.

    Now this trip was the bomb.  We went all the way to Dauphin Island.  We had to take a special class for two weeks before we could leave.  I got a lot of different shells including a horseshoe crab shell.  One day Mrs. Ramsay said it was time for Bob.  We had no idea what she meant.  She finally told us that bob meant “body on bed.”  So we had to lie on our beds for a long time.  The day that we left, we had a plankton lab we had to do.  We made these things that were supposed to sink very slow and we had a race.  This trip was the best trip ever.

I hope to hear from you soon!

                                                            Your E-Pal,

                                                                    Albert