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.

Almost there...

Ahhh...the smell of school. Don't you love it? Well, I do. Nothing like the smell of crayons, freshly sharpened pencils, and construction paper to get you going in the morning. (And a cup of coffee with a shot of more coffee.) Pre-planning is fully on its way. I have been writing my first lesson plans. I have my office all set up and my school bought me a lovely "art cart." Tomorrow is my last day of pre-planning and Monday is the first day of school. I'm a little nervous, but I'm also excited to start. I can't wait to see what my little children produce. As soon as I get my first work of art, I'm taking a picture of it and putting it on this blog.

I'm so proud of my office and my art cart that I took pictures of it:

Supplies don't come easy...

Today was the Teacher Supply Depot Giveaway day. The Depot is a warehouse full of reusable materials donated by companies and community members. The materials are free for Duval County Public School Teachers.

I woke this morning at 6am to fight for supplies for my students. I got in line with 5oo other teachers. I was number 273. Not too bad...considering there was 500 people and more were coming while I was waiting in line. They initially let about a hundred people in. As people left, more were let in; about twenty at a time. When I finally got in I immediately ran to the arts and crafts room. I snagged cds, wire, egg carton, plates, puzzles, magazines, paints, and other containers. My second room that I ran to was the paper room. Here, I grabbed TONS of white and cream paper. My school definitely needs some paper so I knew here was my chance to grab some. My third and final room was the matte room. I grabbed lots of pre-cut mats which I can then frame my students work.

After I stuffed three huge bags, which weighed about forty pounds each, you then are supposed to stand in line to put your items in the loading dock. Not me. I carried my bags to my car, melting away in the heat. It was tough, but ultimately it was not waiting in line for another hour.

Now I have think what to create with all these wonderful finds...

Working it out...

Today I made a trip out to Whitehouse Elementary to check out their art supply situation. It is dire. They definitely could use some supplies!!! I cleaned out the supplies that they had and organized it as best as I could with the time I had. Hopefully when I come on Monday or Thursday next week, I will have some more time to organize it a little better. I would love if people would donate some supplies. I saw where people have donated some supplies, but we need some of the basics:

1. Glue

2. Markers

3. Colored Pencils

4. White Paper

5. Construction Paper

6. Tempera Paint

You can drop these off at Whitehouse Elementary personally or you can just donate them to any school supply drive! Any help would be awesome.

In the meantime, I will have to work with what they have! Luckily they have BOXES of flesh colored crayons. Time for a lesson on self portraits!