March 2014

1^st Grade Rodrigue Dogs

First grade students learned about the “Blue Dog “of Gabriel Rodrigue. After learning about his New Olean’s heritage, we discussed how surroundings and traditions influence artwork. We deconstructed Rodrigue’s Blue Dog in order to better understand what shapes and techniques were used to create his Blue Dog. Students then drew their own dog. They chose their own color for the dog and created its environment. These are currently on display in the front hallway. Rodrigue’s Blue Dog was also the inspiration for 1^st grade’s Benefit Rocking chair! 

4^th Grade Underground Railroad Quilts

During 4^th grade’s Underground Railroad unit, Mrs. Abercrombie and I created an integrated lesson in which students learned about the purpose, use, and importance of Underground Railroad quilts. Students observed and analyzed the symbols used and their meaning. We discussed issues that the slaves may have encountered while on the Underground Railroad and important markers to highlight along the way. Students were then tasked with designing their own quilt, complete with their own unique symbols and a story guide to detail their quilts path. Students used printmaking to create their quilts and created individual printing plates for each symbol. Then they printed their plates together to create a printed quilt that would serve as a map to guides their travelers to safety.

3^rd Grade Monochromatic Paintings

Third grade students learned about value and monochromatic artwork, including the definitions of tint, tone, and shade. They learned how to mix paint to create varying values of tints, tones, and shades, and used them to create an abstract monochromatic painting. Students took their time to repeat and overlap a basic shape and then paint each new space with a different tint, tone, or shade. Not only has this lesson taught art vocabulary, it also worked on paintbrush technique and painting skills.

Kindergarten Matisse

Kindergarten students learned about the life of Henri Matisse. We observed and discussed his abstract paper-collage artworks, including the shapes, colors, and patterns he created. Students then created a long paper-collage artwork inspired by Matisse. They learned several different cutting techniques that would create texture and interest, such as spirals and positive or negative shapes. These creations are currently on display outside of the library.

Kindergarten Spring Collage Birds

With spring in sight, Kindergarten students created birds inspired by the paper collage style of Eric Carle. Students began by painting a whole piece of paper without any imagery or words but purely focusing on the fun of filling the paper with paint. Next class, we observed the shapes used to create a bird and students then cut those shapes from their painted paper. We discussed texture when creating the wings, using small overlapping pieces to give it the appearance of feathers. We hope these colorful flying works of art will motivate spring and bring some sunshine!

3rd Grade Haunted Victorian Houses

3^rd Grade Haunted Victorian Houses

We began our architecture-focused lesson by observing, discussing, and learning about the different architectural elements seen in Victorian homes. We talked about the connection between haunted houses and old homes created during the Victorian era. Students learned about the architectural details on these homes, including dentils, portico, bay window, and dormer. Next, students sketched their haunted house designs using the Victorian vocabulary and architectural elements. We then painted our houses, being sure to not paint over our sketched lines. Once painted, we used a tempera-ink resist technique, where the ink is painted over top of the whole artwork and then washed off. The areas painted with tempera will remain painted while the areas left white become inked and black. To finish, students went back over their houses with Sharpie to add fine detail and add any additional elements that were missed.

Students did a wonderful job incorporating the architectural details into their homes, as well as, incorporating spooky, Halloween inspired elements!

Hundertwasser Weaving Worlds

The first project his year was our Hundertwasser Weaving Worlds. Student observed and critiqued artworks by Friedensreich Hundertwasser. We observed his crazy background designs, as well as his use of shapes, lines, patterns and textures. 

To start, students used 2 pieces of paper in which they utilized pattern and texture. They then created a weaving using one piece as the loom and the second piece as the weaving strips. Once we finished our weavings, students used shapes and lines to create a fantasy world. 

UPDATE!

Hundertwasser Weavings are now hanging in Mrs. Smith's office.

In progress... 

Here are pictures of students during the weaving process. Photos will be posted of the finished project when complete!

Art Is...

This week, students in grades  3rd - 5th talked about why art is important in our school. We talked about not only why it is important to have art in school but also about what art is and how it is viewed in the world. Many students became stumped about why it was important, so we spent some time talking about it. I also thought that since some students here had some trouble with verbalizing why having art is important, I thought it would be a great idea to have all of their art beliefs on display to help others see why art in school is such an asset. 

Here is the "Art is.. " sentence bubble and some individual excerpts.