The Trolls went marching two by two... Hurrah!

The trolls are coming!  The trolls are coming! 

My third graders have been very busy creating clay trolls and decorating them for an upcoming celebration here in Stoughton.  In our city we have a very rich and long Norwegian history.  Stoughton WI is home to the largest Syttende Mai celebration (pronounced set-tin de my- translation 17th of May) outside of Norway.  This marks Norway's Independence day.  It's a huge deal here in Stoughton, a four day celebration.  And as part of our school's curriculum the third grade students do an intensive unit on all things Norway!

In art every year we create clay trolls and display them in local businesses downtown so they can be viewed during the celebration.  Trolls were a integral part of Norwegian folklore.  It was a lot of fun and they turned out soo wonderful!

After firing (we used red clay) the students painted the trolls.  The theme for this year was Trolls on Parade so we used lots of bright, fun colors.

Then the students got to add fake fur, fabric and flags to dress up their trolls even more!

All ready to go on display!

To learn more about the Norwegian Constitution Day and the Syttende Mai festivities click to view the link below.  If you scroll down to the "Celebration Abroad" you will see Stoughton, WI mentioned as the 2nd largest celebration in the world!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Constitution_Day