Are We Doing That Too?

My response to the question above...yes. Many of my Art classes this week did a lot of very similar things.

The biggest reason this question was asked was the excitement over creating our annual Christmas Card designs, especially since I decided to change it from a drawing to a collage. The 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 6th all came in for an extra Art class this week to create their artworks. I really like the design this year. Each class is represented by a different color which is depicted as a small weaving in the background.The subject matter shows the Christmas Story of the birth of Jesus. The 1st and 2nd grade cards will show a shepherd and a sheep, the 3rd and 4th is a wise man, and the 5th and 6th are Mary, Jesus, and Joseph. Students have done a fantastic job with this, especially considering they only had one hour to create their entire artwork. I have my examples to show you today and hopefully next week I will have pictures of the 6 artworks chosen for our cards to share.

I believe in having very set routines in my room. Students know what is expected and what to expect. I feel that creating this routine for students helps them to really feel comfortable in my room. Well, as per our routine, after we finish a project we always fill out an art reflection or art self-critique. Students knew that a critique was coming and asked several days in advance if "they were doing that too". This week the 1st and 5th worked on their critiques. The 2nd and 4th will be doing their critique next week. I have changed several things around with my critiques this year. I really want students to deeply reflect on the choices they made when creating their artwork, instead of just thinking about the things the like and dislike. After reading a few of them in the past several days, I believe this new and improved critique is really helping both students and myself reflect and then prepare for our next project.

As promised last week, the 3rd grade has really jumped into working on their Leonardo da Vinci inspired horses. When I decided that I wanted to do a da Vinci project with students, I was not happy with the thought of teaching about the Mona Lisa. I wanted to stay away from his paintings...all my students already know about those. I wanted to branch out and have them explore things that they did not know about him and his work. I shared with students that da Vinci had many different interests including mathematics, botany, music, writing, and engineering. I shared with them several different images of his notes and sketches. I also shared with them his large horse sculpture that was not actually created and completed until the 1990's (Leonardo had created a large horse sculpture from clay, but it was destroyed before it could be cast in bronze.) Students loved seeing all of his horse sketches and were surprised at how large the horse sculpture actually is (24 feet high).

For our project, students are choosing from one of three different templates of varying horse poses. After choosing a pose, students will be decoupaging hand written notes of da Vinci's biography. Lastly, they will be adding details that reflect one or two of da Vinci's interests. This week we started creating da Vinci's biography in order to prepare for the decoupage process next week.

The K4 and K5 continue to work on their own this week. The K4 practiced using scissors and cutting with the correct technique. The K5 chose one color to color the Blue Dog inspired drawing. Next week they will be coloring the background.

Next week holds some exciting things. First, the 1st and 5th will be starting new projects. Second, the 2nd and 4th will be finishing their artworks (look for pics!!!) Additionally, I will be hanging our Romero Britto inspired artworks up for display! Can't wait to see them all together!

What month is it?

This week held a new event every day. It was very busy and kept me, as well as students on their toes.  Needless to say, by the end of the week when I was helping students with Christmas cards and then decorating for the Halloween party, I was a slightly confused about what month it was!

Monday: This past Monday was a 2 o'clock dismissal. I normally do not teach on Monday, but I do try to attend as many faculty meetings as I can when we have our early dismissal days. Well, I was on my way into school when Mr. Chance's truck decided it was not going to work. I was unable to attend the meeting so he could have my car and make his way to the National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. This ended up being a blessing in disguise however. I was able to create an example for the new K4 project that we will be starting next week (super excited about it!) as well as grade all of the finished projects (many of those grades will be coming home in the Tuesday folder).

Tuesday: We did not have school this past Tuesday. All of the faculty attended a technology in-service at another school in town. It was very informational and I have several ideas for the future. This coming week, the 1st and 2nd will be finishing their projects and working on critiques (pictures to come!) and the 4th and K4 will be busy working on hieroglyphs and new projects.

Wednesday: This was the only "normal" day this week. The 3rd grade started a new project about Leonardo da Vinci. I have found that many students have heard about him, as well as his works "Mona Lisa" and "The Last Supper". I decided to focus this project on his horse drawings and statue. Most of the class, this past week, was spent discussing Leo, as well as the requirements and options of this project. Next week, when students have their ideas sketched, I will explain what we are doing in a little more detail.
 The 6th grade worked on redoing their vases. They were able to trace their vase, as well as apply all of the oil pastel. I will be helping students this week by applying the layer of black tempera...that way next week they will be ready to etch!
The K4 listened to the book "Pete the Cat: I Love my White Shoes". LOVE THIS BOOK! After the conclusion of the book, we reviewed color and discussed sketching. Students spent Wednesday practicing drawing Pete. Next week, we will be starting our actual project, which will be a Pete the Cat collage!
The K5 did not attend art this week due to their program practice. They will be continuing to work on their Blue Dog artworks when they come up to the art room next week.

Thursday: Thursday started out with a lot of prep. I spent most of the morning cutting paper.

During the afternoon, I had the opportunity to attend the Hispanic Heritage Celebration program. Students did a wonderful job presenting information, dancing, singing, and sharing their talents! Good Job Everyone!

Friday: Every year around this time, I work with students to create our annual Christmas card fundraiser. For the past 3 years, we have simply drawn our ideas and colored them with colored pencils. Well, this year I decided to change things up a bit. I wanted to teach the students an art skill in addition to creating their card. Well, this year we are doing a collage, as well as a little bit of weaving! Over the next two weeks, students in grades 1-6 will be creating their card designs. This week, the 3rd grade created theirs!

The week wrapped up with our annual Halloween party. We had a blast!!! I love seeing everyone, students and parents alike, dressed up in their costumes! Mr. Chance and I went as the Mad Hatter and the Red Queen from Tim Burton's version of "Alice in Wonderland"! We had so much fun and are looking forward to next year. We have already figured out our costumes :)

Next week should return to normal. Many students will be working on critiques, which I will share a bit about during next week's post, while others will be starting new things. Hope everyone has a Happy and Safe Halloween!!!