Strange Schedule Week 1

First, sorry for anyone who checked last week for an update and did not find one. I did not arrive home until late last Sunday night from a fun filled Thanksgiving break and was unable to get a post created.

As the title of this post implies, this is the first of some odd scheduling affecting the Art Room. From now until this upcoming Thursday, I will not see the 2nd graders. They will be practicing for their music program. I also missed a third grade class this week (Mrs. H) because of a field trip to see the Nutcracker. Where you might think that there would not be a lot to post this week, I actually have a ton!

This is what we have been up to...

Kindergarten:
Students have just recently started their newest project focusing on shape. This week, students learned about my very favorite artist, Charley Harper!!! Harper uses very geometric designs in the creation of his paintings and prints, typically of animals. Students were able to analyze several of his artworks and identify many of the shapes he used, including circles, triangles, and diamonds.
After looking at Harper's art, students colored different shapes that will become fish for a fish tank collage.

Students also practiced creating plants that would typically be seen under water. When students return to Art this week, they will be working on creating their backgrounds (water, sand, plants, and tank features).

1st:
After learning about the primary colors and of the works of Michelle Forsyth, students have now began creating their artworks! Students began by tracing 3, 4, or 5 circles onto a large piece of paper. After drawing designs inside of the circles, students drew lines to create the background. Students then traced all of their marks with a black crayon (a key step to creating a crayon resist). Some classes have even started the painting process! Using only primary colors, the students are painting the inside of their circles with watercolors.

2nd:
I was lucky enough to see two second grade classes this week. They have continued working on creating their self-portraits. They are really coming along! I am really starting to see the resemblances!!!

3rd:
Third grade students are continuing to do a little prep for their cityscapes. After creating a watercolor wash for their background using two different colors, students practiced drawing their cities. Students considered what buildings to include, sidewalks, roads, signs, and other elements. The word for the day was definitely "variety"!

4th:
I cannot even explain how excited I am about the bird collages! This is why I am surprised that I have no pictures to share with you this week. :( Good news is, collage is a slow process. Students have not created any major changes to their artworks, just minor touches. But, these minor changes have been completing amazing! I am so happy with how these are turning out and promise to have LOTS of pictures next week!!!

Strange Schedule on the Way

This week, I spent the beginning of most of my classes reviewing the calendar for the next month. I wanted to show students that, for some grades, they may only have two more Art classes before Christmas Break begins on December 20th. Yes, two classes! It's hard to believe. We have a ton of events coming up, starting with Thanksgiving Break next week.

So, with this full week before Thanksgiving behind us...what did we do?

Kindergarten:
After finishing our "Line Carpets" last week, students have moved on to a new Element of Art...shape! Students began class by looking at several examples of how shapes are used in famous and well-known artworks, including several by Piet Mondrian and Paul Klee. Before we moved onto our discussion of shapes, I wanted to see what students knew. Students followed step-by-step directions, coloring different shapes to see if they could identify them. These shapes included hearts, rectangles, squares, stars, triangles, and circles. They did a great job and breezed through our discussion! I know they are ready to start creating our project next week :)

Additionally, kindergarten students started new centers this week based on shapes. For our first center, students are using stencils to create a number of shapes and images.

In the second center, students will be exploring cube blocks. Students are using these blocks to create shapes (like the triangle below), as well as arranging them into different architectural designs.

Lastly, students are using connectable foam shapes to explore engineering. Many students are building objects like flowers, bridges, towers, and roads.

1st:
First grade students are also beginning a new project this week by learning about the primary colors. Students began by exploring the term "family" and comparing their own family to color families in the Art world. After learning about the primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) and understanding that these colors are used to create all of the other colors in the world, students acted as scientists hypothesizing the outcomes of mixing primary colors together. It was a really fun week! Students will be using this knowledge next week as we begin creating our abstract circle designs.

2nd:
After creating their backgrounds last week, students were ready to begin creating their portraits. To start our portraits, students and I worked together to create the head and hair. Students began by drawing and cutting out a large oval for their head. Afterwards, students drew and cut out their hair. We concluded class by gluing these two elements to our backgrounds.

3rd:
Third grade students continued to work on painting their value scales for our cityscapes. We will be sketching elements for our cities next week and will be putting everything together soon.

4th:
As promised last week, I have taken several photos of students creating both their backgrounds and their birds. I love how these are turning out so far! Students have developed some awesome ideas!!! We will be continuing to work on these for the next several weeks.

Moving Right Along

Things are moving right along as we get closer to the holiday season. I have stressed to students during the last few weeks that because of everything coming up, it will be really important to do their best as they work on their projects....and boy have they! The kindergarten and 1st graders have finished up their second projects and will be starting their third this upcoming week, and the 2nd-4th have finished the planning stages of their artworks and are finally beginning to create their second project.

Here's how things are looking...

Kindergarten:
Because of the immense difficulty to take a good photograph of these projects, I have chosen only a few of the finished artworks to share with you instead of all students' work. These photographs really don't do the artworks justice. I can't wait for everyone to see these at the Art Show in April!

1st:
See my post below to view all of the finished Mixed Media Chickens! Awesome!

2nd:
This week, students worked on creating their backgrounds. Students started by using scissors to cut a zig-zag border around a piece of construction paper. They then glued this to a piece of black construction paper. Lastly, students applied a smaller piece of colored construction paper in the center of these papers. With this complete, students are now ready to begin working on creating and applying their self-portrait next week.

3rd:
Third grade students are continuing to work on creating value scales using tempera paint. They are looking good!

4th:
Fourth grade students have started working on their backgrounds as well. Funny thing is, I don't have any to show. I was so excited about how they were looking and so busy helping students sort through ideas and executing them, I never took any photos. Don't worry though...next week will be photo heavy with lots of awesome bird artworks :)

Some Long Awaited Photos

My apologies on this one. Mrs. M's class (2nd) and Mrs. A's class (3rd) finished up their first project a couple of weeks ago. They are apart of my Monday group that is a few weeks behind everyone else. I realized as they were working this week, that I had not shared pictures of their finished artworks with you. Great job everyone!

Taking Care of Business

We are getting a lot taken care of in the Art Room! It is amazing to see how much we can accomplish in one week. Here's what we have been up to...

Kindergarten:
We are putting the last touches on our faux "Line Carpets". Last week, students practiced using scissors to cut fringe for their artworks. This week and into next, kindergarten students will be attaching the fringe to their paintings. Mrs. B's class was able to assemble their carpets on Friday. It was great seeing their excitement as their paintings transformed into what they dubbed "magic flying carpets"!

1st:
First graders just finished their Mixed Media Chickens!!! I cannot wait to share them with you! They are wonderful!!!

2nd:
This week, the second grade students practiced creating their self-portraits. Students carefully study their facial features and then tried to draw exactly what they saw in the mirror. Next week, I will be sharing some tips and tricks with students on drawing self-portraits before we create our collages.

3rd:
Third grade students began creating value scales this week using tempera paint. Students began with one color and created tints and shades by adding either white or black. Students will be continuing to make at least three more value scales next week.

4th:
Fourth grade students spent this past week researching the bird they decided to use as the subject of their bird collage. I was very happy with how this went! Students had to study the physical characteristics of their bird (color, types of feathers, beak, legs...), but also researched habitat and diet. On the back of their research paper, students were asked to sketch ideas for their collage. I am really excited about what students have shown me so far.