THE AIM OF ALL MY OF CLASSES IS TO HAVE THE CHILDREN GET A BETTER APPRECIATION FOR ART, TO HAVE FUN AND TO UNDERSTAND THE COMPONENTS OF A TWO OR THREE DIMENSIONAL WORK OF ART.
EVERY PROJECT IS MADE UP OF ALL OR SOME OF THE ELEMENTS OF ART: COLOR, LINE, TEXTURE, SHAPE, FORM, AND VALUE. WE EVALUATE OR LOOK AT THE WORK USING OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN: RHYTHM, BALANCE, DOMINANCE, VARIETY, PROPORTION, UNITY, AND MOVEMENT.
AFTER EVERY PROJECT WE HAVE A CRITIQUE WHICH IS WHEN THE STUDENTS LOOK AT EACH OTHER'S WORK AND LEARN TO USE THE TERMS EXPRESSED ABOVE.
KINDERGARTEN
Our Kindergarten students started off the year making NAME PLATES with different line designs (zig zag, curved, straight, diagonal, wavey, squiggle etc.) -
We then made beautiful posters for the WEEK OF RESPECT which are hanging in the front hallway of the school.
LOOP DESIGNS came next. The students crisscrossed a continuous line making various shapes. They colored in each shape a different color. When they were done we stood back and were able to see different animals or objects in the picture. Fun was had by all trying to guess what the hidden design was.
HALLOWEEN GHOSTS appeared in late October. We gave each of our ghosts a different expression like sad, happy, excited, scared, shocked, loving etc.
Thanksgiving brought lots of TURKEYS. We traced our hands and made them into lovely turkeys.
Our latest project was making ROBOTS. We discussed geometric shapes, circles, squares, rectangles, triangles etc. Each student was given different shapes to trace with. They were to create a robot by putting the different shapes together. Then they were to decide what that Robot could do for them to make their life easier. We had a lot of fun coming up with ideas.
Students finished EYE HAND COORDINATION DRAWINGS of a BEAR, CLOWN AND FISH. I draw and then they draw. It is an exercise in being able to see something on the board and then transfer it to their own paper.
Spring has come early and our Kindergarteners are just finishing their SNOW PEOPLE. We had lots of fun dressing them with lots of materials we found in the art room.
FIRST GRADE
Welcome to the First Grade classroom where children have fun while learning.This year so far has been very busy. We made a chain of good character words forTHE WEEK OF RESPECT, filled our names in (NAME DESIGNS) with all kinds of different lines, shapes and colors and finished our FALL TREES. We learned that our trees could be traced by using our hands, wrist and arm as a template.
Our next project was all about GEOMETRIC SHAPES. The children made robots out of various kinds of paper using circles, squares, triangles, ovals etc.. They were to decide what their robot could do for them that would make their life easier. Example: Pete the Robot could do my homework, take out the trash, make my bed. Each child was to make an environment for their robot depending on what it did. The results were wonderful and imaginative.
EYE HAND COORDINATION is very important in the younger grades. The ability to see and observe takes lots of practice. The first grade is now drawing with me. I draw then they draw - step by step. They are very excited when they realize they can draw a TEDDY BEAR, FISH, AND CLOWN.
Students just finished making beautiful CLAY BOWLS using the slab technique. Each student rolled out their clay, added textures to it and then draped it over a bowl. Once fired the children painted the bowls with very bright colors, rubbed off some color so the texture could show and then gave it a coat of mod-podge so it would be shinny. The bowls will be displayed in the hallway.
SECOND GRADE
Second grade started the year off with NAME LINE DESIGNS.
We then participated in the WEEK OF RESPECT. Mrs. Quackenbush's class drew "BEES" with sayings like BEE KIND, BEE NICE, BE FRIENDLY. Our Bee drawings were fabulous and the children enjoyed creating their little friends. Mrs. Majowicz's class made a large TREASURE CHEST OF CHARACTER putting good character words on construction paper coins that they cut out and glued to the treasure chest.
Our next project allowed us to drop in on VINCENT VAN GOGH. We saw a very interesting and informative movie on his life and his work. Our project was to make a picture of sunflowers using Van Gogh's SUNFLOWERS as our model. We talked about how he made the petals dance with lots of movement. We learned about composition, balance, rhythm, dominance, unity and variety, all Principles of Design.
We are now working on SNOW SCENES. We talked about perspective using terms like foreground, middle ground, and background. The children will be making up their own composition which will include anything they love that reminds them of "fun in the snow".
THIRD GRADE
We started off the year with the WEEK OF RESPECT. Mrs. O'Hara's class theme was HARVEST OF GOOD CHARACTER. The students drew pumpkins in a pumpkin patch with scarecrows. Each pumpkin was labeled with words of good character. Ms. Shackil's class wrote large bubble letters of good character words and then filled them in with various line designs.
After reading "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak the third grade had a discussion on different kinds of facial expressions and what they might mean. The students chose an expression like, happy, sad, excited, shocked and ILLUSTRATED their own MONSTERS. The monsters were rendered with craypas on black construction paper.
The third grade is now working on a story book. We read "HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON" and learned about Harold's adventures as he drew them.
Our imagination is taking us to many places as our story and drawings unfold.
FOURTH GRADE
We started off the year with the WEEK OF RESPECT posters. Each student made their own individual poster with good character sayings and words. There was a lot of discussion on Bullying and how we could best express it in a poster. We had a lot of fun sharing our ideas and using various media to illustrate our thoughts.
Our next project was making a LINE DESIGN creating values from white to black with just using a black pen. The students drew an object or design and then filled it in with various types of lines. The closer the lines the darker the value, the further apart the lighter the value. The challenge was to create an interesting design with pattern, symmetry, value and rhythm.
The students are working on their FAMILY OF ANIMALS. Each child chose an animal they wanted to sculpt out of clay. Along with a mommy or daddy they were to make at least one baby animal. Students are to write a story that the mommy or daddy animal can tell the baby animal before it is going to bed. It would start off "Once upon a time.........". The story has to be one that has a happy ending and shows good character. The children also had to investigate what kind of environment the animals live in and then create it out of various art materials.