A Full Moon Rising

How could a tell today was a full moon? By the wonderful odd children that poured into my classroom today. Here are some of our full moon characteristics:

• My classes produced beautiful work today....actually more beautiful than normal.


• A child was stung by a bee today...while in the art room with windows and doors closed. When I asked if he was allergic he responded, "I don't know. I've never been stung before." Excellent.


• A kindergartner strolled into my art room 20 minutes late because he was "lost". (He wasn't actually lost. He was in the bathroom when his class left for art. So he decided to wander the school to look for his class.)

Everyday is an adventure as an art teacher.

Dias de los Muertos

4th graders at Whitehouse Elementary are enjoying creating skulls in honor or the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead. We are learning about distortionl, symmetry, line, and colors. This is one of Whitehouse Elementary's first paper mache projects. I think these are turning out beautiful. Check back for the finished result.

Texture Burgers

Mrs. Stoker's 3rd grade class created "Texture Burgers". This was a great lesson to teach about texture and color all in one lesson. The students had a great time making this project too.

1. Pass out white paper. Have students paint 3/4 one color and 1/4 another.



2. Next, pass out brown paper. Have students trace a circle the cut the circle out. Next, cut the circle in half.



3. Paste the half circles on the painted paper. Now in between the half circles, have students find different textures and paste in between.

Fall Leaves

Last year I did the same lesson with Kindergarten and it came out great! We are create fall leaves which will be displayed as one large tree in the cafeteria. This year we are only using fall colors and the shape of our leaves are different per class.

1. Pass out leaf template. Have students trace around. Cut out leaf.



2. Next, pass out colored tissue paper. Have students tear the tissue paper and place the pieces one by one on their leaf until there are no white spots.



3. Finally, have students use watered down liquid starch to make the tissue paper adhere to the leaf.

Mr. Mondrian

Every year I love teaching about Piet Mondrian. One reason is because I love his artwork. Another reason is that almost every grade is capable of creating a beautiful Mondrian. Last year I taught Mondrian to 4th graders and we painted. This year first graders are discovering Mondrian. Instead of painting, we are using colored tissue paper. Our vocabulary words are:

• Primary Colors
• Squares
• Rectangles
• Vertical
• Horizontal
• Outline

For our black lines, we used big fat black crayons. These always look greate displayed as a large cluster.

Open House 2010

This year I welcomed parents to Open House in our brand new art room! I was very pleased to meet some of the parents. Those that stopped by the art room were able to discover what their children are working on and what type of donations the art program is looking for. (i.e. bottlecaps, plastic bottles, liquid starch, newspapers, etc.) It is going to be a fabulous year!

Teacher of the Year

Hey everyone! I was elected Teach of the Year for last year! Who gets it on their first year...but I did! Thank you Whitehouse Elementary for my award!

Project Board

In the front of the room on our whiteboard, I post our current projects and my examples. One of my favorite parts about being an art teacher is I get to create the examples and what it is each class is going to do! Some projects our classes are working on are:

• Kindergarten: Watercolor Landscapes
• 1st Grade: Primary Colors = Piet Mondrian Collage, Underwater Fish, Tissue Collage Windsock
• 2nd Grade: Warm and Cool Colors = Abstract Hands, Gyotaku Fish, Warm Sun / Cool Moon, Leaf Printing
• 3rd, 4th, and 5th: We are all creating portfolios to store our work for the year

Art No No's

Now that school is bang in swing, I thought I'd share my new board in my room. This is our art "No No's". I'm sure as art teachers or even if you are a classroom teacher, we have all encountered these. When I first put this up, most of the children did not understand what was wrong with these drawings, but after we went through each one and explained what was right and what was wrong, students now have a better understanding about what to do in art class.

Tour of the Art Room

This week the kids are back at school. Wednesday is our first class of resource. I am so excited to start teaching again. I have many projects, almost all brand new, planned for this 2010 - 2011 school year.

This summer and last week I have been working hard to set up my brand new art room. I was so excited how it was turning out, that I recorded a video tour of the room. This video is mostly up to date with what the room looks like.

Enjoy!

Cultivating a Community of Excellence

Today was my first day back at Chets Creek Elementary. This year's theme is "Cultivating a Community of Excellence". Once again the school looks beautiful. Everywhere you turn, you see a teacher's touch of decorations such as giant butterflies, caterpillars, six feet sunflowers, and cows. I feel that adding a theme to the school year to year not only excites the students, but also motivates the teacher to remain active and enthused year to year. Today, I loaded up my art cart with goodies and also did a bit of decorating. My cart this year fits the farm theme. It is ants at a picnic, but instead of stealing food they are stealing art materials.

Another thing that is different this year is that I will be displaying student artwork. Last year, I would let students take home their artwork as soon as it was complete. This year I will select a few of the best works of art to display on my apple tree in front of the art room. Students will still be able to receive their artwork, but it will be displayed first. Displaying student artwork rewards the students for their hard work and their creativity. It also motivates other students to strive for the best. Here is a look at my apple tree:

Goodbye Summer, Hello Art Room!

This week my husband and I worked to get the art room up and running for the new school year. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done, but right now it is starting to look beautiful! Makes me wish I was in kindergarten again! Here are the updated pictures:

I can't wait to see the students' faces on August 23rd!

Beginner Art Room

This year Whitehouse Elementary has an art room! This week I have started to re-locate all of our art supplies to our new art room. I still have a lot of work to do. I am very excited to have an art room this year because it allows student to explore new media, work larger, and it provides more safety. Here is your sneak peak at the art room!

Egyptian Names

Although school is over, I am still posting things from the 2009 school year and things to come for the 2010 year. Before we left for summer, 3rd graders were learning about Egyptian culture. For this lesson we learned:

• Hieroglyphics
• Profile
• Proportions
• Frame
• Outline
• Texture
• Symbols

3rd graders loved to learn about Egyptian culture. We found out that Egyptian culture has similarities to American culture. We also learned that symbols are an important way that artists can represent something without writing it. Here is our video:

School Is Over

Well...it's official. My first year of teaching is over. What a year I've had! I've learned more this year that I've learned in any other job I've ever had. Teaching elementary students has opened up my heart and has show me how much I truly care about art education. On the last day of school me and Ms. Padlan had some fun dressing up and going around the school and having fun with the students.

Here is Ms. Padlan dressed as an Indian Queen:



I hope everyone has a great and safe summer. Check back for more posts about art lesson plans.

Green Landscapes

Students at Chets Creek created landscapes using their crayons. I did this lesson in kindergarten and first grade. We studied color and how artists don't just use one color. Our art words were:

• Value



• Shape



• Line



• Harmony

Students worked hard to color their entire paper in. Some students work really hard and colored their paper two or three times so that they did not show any white spots. The results: BEAUTIFUL!

Here is the video of our work:

Way to go Chets Creek!

Picasso Portraits

Students at Chets Creek this week learned a little bit about Pablo Picasso. Students were to create a portrait in the style of Picasso. For this lesson we learned about:

• Art History



• Line



• Outline



• Background



• Abstract



• Portrait



• Visual Texture

Here is a video montage of our work on Picasso! Great job Chets Creek!

Counting By Numbers

Here is the final video of our "Number" project. These turned out really great! While finishing these, students also participated in our Art Game Show in which the class was divided into two groups. The group with the most correct Art answers won.

Here is the link on YouTube:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFC67KaoG4o

Mexican Yarn Landscapes Video

Here is the final pictures of our Mexican Yarn Landscapes. Here, I've pieced together some of the completed works of art into a video for YouTube.

Here is the link on YouTube:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvBL6jZOT54

Mexican Yarn Landscapes

4th graders are working on their Mexican Yarn Landscapes. Our vocabulary words for this project are:

• Perspective



• Depth



• Outline
  


• Landscape



• Visual Texture



• Visual Movement



• Line
  

We are also learning that there are six trick to create depth in our artwork:

1. Overlapping
   


2. Size



3. Placement



4. Detail



5. Color



6. Lines

First, students are to paint a landscape that they might find in Mexico. (We looked at pictures.) After it is dry, we then apply yarn with Elmer's glue around the shapes in our artwork. We fill our entire work of art with line. Students are to create visual movement in areas with large negative space. The results of these are amazing! Student made theirs better than mine!

Paul Klee City

2nd and 1st graders at Chets Creek Elementary are creating cities just as Paul Klee created his. Our vocabulary words are:

• Shape


• Geometric Shape


• Color


• Value


• Blue Print


• Architect

First, we talk about who an architect is and what a blue print is used for. Then, we pass out rulers to create our geometric shape. I tell the students to image they are building with Lego Blocks. Once our cities is drawn, we color them in. 1st graders use markers and 2nd graders use oil pastels. These look beautiful once they are complete.

Number Fun

1st graders are starting a new project. This is their first project where they use their rulers. This is great practice for 2nd grade. For this project, students are to think of a number between one and 20. They then draw their number large in bubble letters in the center.

They then outline their lines with a black crayons. Next, they color in their number with one color. All of the lines they have made with their ruler has created lots of different shapes. They are finally to color in their shapes with different colors.

We are using rubbing plates to create different textures. Our vocabulary words are:

• Line


• Texture


• Shape


• Center of Interest


• Outline


• Dark Colors

Natural God's Eyes

5th graders are creating God's Eyes. First, we created a small practice one. Once they got the hang of it, we learned how to change colors. This week, we went outside to look for sticks. Outside, we created large God's Eyes. This was a great lesson to teach:

• Weaving



• Form



• Pattern



• Color Scheme

Students are able to take them home after one art class. I have kept some of the best ones to display in the cafeteria in the next week. They will get them home the following week.

GREAT JOB 5th Graders!

(Above is a picture of our display of God's Eyes in the cafeteria. These were wonderful. Great job to each 5th grader!)

Go Away Big Green Monster!

Kindergarten is reading "Go Away Big Green Monster!" by Ed Emberley. (Thank you Ms. Reed for providing me this book!) Afterwords, we are creating our own monsters. Kindergarten is learning:

• Color
• Blending
• Outline
• Shape
• Space
• Background

Some of these are turning out great! Students are really getting creative and learning which oil pastels blend the right way to make beautiful colors.

1st Grade Money!

1st graders are starting a new project. For this project they will be making and designing their own money. They start with a large sheet of paper. On this paper, we begin by drawing either ourselves or someone we would like to be on our money. Then, we create frames and borders around the rest of our money. We can make our money worth as much as we want. For this project we are learning about:

• Symmetry


• Balance


• Border


• Frame


• Outline


• Wash


• Value

We are outlining with a black marker. Then, we will paint our money with watercolors using only one color. I know this will be difficult for first graders, but we are going to try our best.

Maud Lewis Cats

For probably one of their last projects, second graders are creating a painting / project that resembles work by Maud Lewis. Maud Lewis is a female artist from Canada. She created folk art with images of cats, cows, and boats. We are creating cat pictures. We are learning about:

• Balance


• Symmetry


• Painting


• Collage


• Overlapping

First we paint our background one color, either yellow or green. Then, we dip our brush in purple to create our branches. Next, once our art is dry, we then use construction paper to add flower, leaves, and petal to our background. Then, we use oil pastels to draw our cats and add any additional details. I can't wait to see how these turn out!

Spring Flowers

Whitehouse Elementary has begun creating flowers for spring. In honor of Earth Day, we are using recycled plastic water bottles. We create them by cutting off the bottom and then cutting petal. We use tempera paint to create our different colors. I know that this is a popular lesson with a lot of art teachers and when the retail store Anthropology recently created these flowers for their window displays, I had to do it! It is a great lesson for 2nd grade and up to learn about conservation, how to paint, using colors in real life, and about form. So far these are turning out great! I'm not sure what I will do to put these all together. ....I am think about chicken wire and turning these into wreaths....

Here are the pics from Anthropology:

Discovering, Creating, Learning...

What a great first year I've had. I have learned so much about teaching, art, and children. Thank you Whitehouse Elementary and Chets Creek Elementary for an amazing first year.





Let me talk a little bit more about what my students are learning right now:

• Kindergarten: Kindergarten is learning about creating self portraits. I am really trying to push them to use crayons the right way. Using crayons the right way involves pressing quite hard to achieve maximum color results, staying in the lines, and covering the entire shape so that there are no visible white spots. We are also learning about proportions. I have guided them to create a portrait the places objects in the right area. We are also discovering how we illustrate emotions. This is a project, but also an exercise for them. This is the first time that I have really pushed them about their coloring techniques. Some are taking it quite well, as others are struggling with the notion of "I'm DONE!". (Students are always quick to be done.)
  
  
  
• 1st Grade: 1st graders are creating an abstract portrait. We are learning words such as abstract and visual texture. Students have a fairly easy time learning about texture, but have a more difficult time understanding the word "visual." We drew our abstract portrait first, used crayons to color it, then we are applying colored tissue all around our face. When you apply water to the colored tissue, the colors bleed together to create a different effect. In our previous project, students learned about warm and cool colors. For this project, students were challenged to recall their warm and cool colors and had to create their portrait using one or the other. We have had great success with student memory. Our muse for this project is Paul Klee.

• 2nd Grade: 2nd graders are learning about architecture and balance. We have just started, but it has been difficult for them to learn the difference between balance and symmetry. Slowly we are understanding it though. They are designing their own buildings and landscapes. They are then tracing their drawings with crayon. Finally, these will be painted with watercolors. Giving students the freedom to design their own buildings is inspiring for them. I tend to give students K - 2 a lot of boundaries, but now that it is the end of the year, I want them to be a bit more free. After all...it is ART!

• 3rd Grade: Third graders are going to start learning about masks from Mexico. Our inspiration is Day of the Dead masks. We will be learning how to manipulate paper to make it fold, bend, and curl. We will also be learning about culture, masks, exaggeration, and formal balance. We will also be drawing design and patters to fill our mask. The challenge for them is to not scribble, but to actually make small designs. They have a tendency to rush art. This is when the scribbling takes place.

That's it for now. Check back for more updates.