They Are Here!

The sketchbooks have arrived!  We are thrilled to be apart of the sketchbook project this year.  Each 6th grade class will be completing one sketchbook together.  We will update our progress in posts as well as where our sketchbook has traveled.

Three clicks of my heels...take me home to...the art room!

It has been a very educational three weeks for me.  I have learned a lot about orgainzation, time management and well more about my own teaching style and my comfort zone than ever before.  We were in need of a classroom to house a 5th grade classroom while their modular classroom was being built.  Unfortunately, it took longer that everyone thought and school started and we were short a classroom.  So my art room was borrowed by the 5th graders.  That put me mobile.  I traveled to each classroom to teach them art.  Truely, this is how my own elementary art teacher came to teach us art a couple 25 years ago.  I learned how to be uber organized, taking everything that I needed with me. I that my brain had a very difficult time remembering names even though I knew the students, but I was in a different classroom each time.  I learned how empathetic my colleagues and friends are.  I learned how much we need our own space to do our job well.  It is difficult to occupy someone elses space and feel completely comfortable.  It is difficult to turn a general classroom into an art room in 5 minutes.  Through all the difficulties, I have learned a bunch and am thankful for the experience.  Even more thankful, however, to be back in my classroom.  Now we can make messes...and clean them up---while still making and sharing beautiful artwork!

Bouquets of Sharpened Colored Pencils

To quote one of my favorite movies, You've Got Mail, Tom Hanks mentions bouquets of sharpened pencils and New York in the Fall.  The beginning of a new school year does make me think of bouquets of sharpened, well, colored pencils and brand new glue and beautiful paint brushes that haven't seen a drip of paint anxiously waiting for just a little dip.

My goals for this year have me re-thinking my "big picture."  They include a much bigger focus on the essential questions of our curricula and an emphasis on the experience that it involved with each and every project we do.  The need for thinking strategies and authentic writing has me excited about what we may uncover as artists this year.  Yep, we're going deep!  Head first.

Here is my plan.

Each quarter I plan on doing an assessment that is not only a check for understanding, but an experience that the artist can use to learn more about his/her artwork, themselves as artists, as well as how they can use what they have learned somewhere else in their lives, and hopefully explore!

Stay tuned for examples of my sketchbooks for this year as well as my lesson plans.  I am going to try to use the layout from the template and post each lesson for not only sharing, but for record keeping and reflection.  We will see...

Heres to an amazing year!!

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.    

3rd Grade - Line, Shape & Color Triptych

In the beginning, there was line, shape and pattern...and zentangles!  Almost all of my students have done some form of zentangle, and for most of them it is enjoyable.  My 3rd grade curriculum charges us to cover line, shape and pattern in the first quarter, so we did, and instead of separating it into different projects, we combined them into this beautiful triptych of sorts for displaying.  This project took longer than I had intended, but the quality of work was astounding and therefore warranted the time the students were involved in the process of their creations.  Each square is a 6x6 square and they were glued on a black background for displaying.   

Square 1's instructions were to use different lines after the basic zentangle dots, borders and string were created.  They were asked to use different lines and only different lines.  Square 2's instructions included the same zentangle beginning and uses shapes as the designs.  Square 3 was the combination square of lines and shapes to create different patterns.  

Overall this project turned out incredible and students were surprised by their own work as well, they took their time and worked on their craftsmanship, while reviewing lines, shapes and patterns.  

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.