How do we LOOK at art? - Critique in the elementary classroom - Part 1

This question is a good one, especially on critique days.  It is important that students know how to look at a piece of artwork, albeit their own, or someone else's.  Here is where the journey begins with some simple language to share with your students.  Emphasis on simple--stuff they can remember...er me too!  

While getting my master's degree, during my final class I needed what is called a "Transformative Event" or in my language, something that you feel very passionate about within your content area.  I happen to be one of a couple of art educators going through this program, so it was helpful to use them as a sounding board.  I felt it necessary to educate young people about how to look at art...along with the world around them.  This transfers to just about anything...can you say cross-curricular!  I suppose we could ask the question, "How do we LOOK at the world around us?"  Little long, but you get the point.  Hopefully, students will subconsciously use these tools---if we use it enough in the classroom.  

A beginning exercise would be to show a piece of art, on the smart board, or poster and pose these questions to the students.  Each bulleted point allows them to focus on a specific area of the artwork and to dissect each area allowing them to collect data.  The importance of this data collection is to help students create an opinion and understanding of the artwork deeper than the "I like it" or "I don't like it" surface opinion.  Try it, see what happens.  It is a nice mini-lesson that may allow you to help your students look deeper into not only their own artwork, but others, looking for a more authentic meaning and journey to understanding the artwork around them.    

1st Grade - Andy Warhol Soup Can's

I am sure that every art teacher has their favorite artist to study.   I do have many likes, but none hold the torch to my favorite, Mr. Andy Warhola.  So for the 4th and final quarter, I have decided to share him with many grades, partly because, hands down, I am obsessed, but because his artwork shows unity and variety perfectly!  For many grades, our curriculum leaves variety and unity, not to mention emphasis for the end of the year, so instead of dread these lovely, albeit sometimes difficult, concepts to teach, I choose to have fun and plus, talking about Andy and his crazy hair is always a fun classroom discussion!

When we start with the end in mind for our lessons, I have something like this imagined... (yes, our display will in fact be on a bulletin board, under less that fantastic lighting, however, I believe it will be very powerful!)

'Campbell's Soup Cans' by Andy Warhol, Museum of Modern Art, NY

I have my 1st graders twice a week for 30 minutes a pop, so my lessons are quick and effective.  Day 1 goes something like this.  Students walk in and sit down, we watch a couple clips from a movie on Andy Warhol...it is a cartoon and it explains Andy in his voice and with really funny puns...those are more for me.  I get a laugh, the students get a quick version of Andy in their terms, for the most part.  They are exposed to images of his artwork, a little history, and a cool story for them to associate with.  Then the real fun begins.  We do a step by step drawing of a cylinder.  Mind-blowing no, exciting for them, yes.  We add the can details such as, fancy "Campbells" lettering, the line (that looks like a smiley face) in the middle of the can, a circle for the symbol of flavor, the can texture lines at the top, the favor, (I let them choose from real flavors, no unicorn soup in this art offering!) and the word soup and fleur symbols (we used stars--much easier).  We started in pencil and then outlined in sharpie, the artroom's best friend.  Lovely sampling of Day 1.  

Day 2 looked and sounded something like this.  You have to paint the background yellow, but you can paint the soup can any colors you want.  In order to emphasis the concept of unity, I had them create a soup can that was similar, additionally, I had them paint the backgrounds yellow.  They had their choice on the rest of the colors to help them understand the concept of variety.  Not only was I super excited about this project because it was Andy Warhol, but the kids have enjoyed finding their artwork and celebrating their collaborative bulletin board together.  Here is the finished product.  I still have students that haven't finished, along with a small stack that won't fit on the wall.  I will fill up the rest of another bulletin board with the remaining.  I think Andy would approve.  

1st Grade - When Pigasso Met Mootise - Day 2

 

For the second day of Pigasso and Mootisse in the art room, the 1st graders learned about abstract art in a different way.  We watched the clip of Matisse clipping away at his colored paper and arranging free-form shapes in his artwork.  Students were challenged with something similar.  Supplies that were given:  black constuction paper 6x18 rectangle, multicolored squares 3.5x3.5 and scrap construction paper for cutting.  Instructions included choosing 4 background shapes, glueing them onto the black background.  Then students could choose what colors they wanted to cut shapes out of to glue onto their colored squares.  We talked about movement and space while cutting these out and arranging them as well as reviewed abstract art.  Pictures are coming shortly...while they are in process. 

1st Grade - When Pigasso Met Mootisse - Day 1

For the last couple years, I have struggled with 1st grade lessons.  I am not sure if it is the time limit that I have with them or the structure of mixed classes that has given me the challenge, nonetheless, I have struggled, until this year!  This year we have rocked in first grade, we have had so much fun this year and created so much amazing art this year, and I from what the 1st grade teachers have shared, I think they have learned quite a bit too.  (I am beaming about this!)  We are at the part of the year that I dread, the end, and I am wanting to keep our lessons very meaningful, but short and sweet, due to end of the year activities and such.  So this is a weeks worth of fun wrapped into a fun story! 

After we watched the story being read, we talked a little about abstract art.  We talked about it being something that doesn't look like anything in particular, mostly unfamiliar.  I drew an example on the board of an apple (that looks like an apple) then I drew an abstract apple (that has all of the apple parts, stem, leaf, but were in the wrong places on a different shape.)  I told them that this was an apple too.  We discussed that sometimes we need more information about a piece of artwork for us to learn about what it is, or what it is about.  This allows us to look further for meaning within artwork we do and see.

When we were done discussing, I gave students a 6x6 square of paper and allowed them to create something abstract using oil pastels.  Each one explained what they were drawing when I walked around and inquired.  They took these home and I asked them to show their artwork and explain it to those at home.

Here is a sampling of day 1's take home artwork.