Hendrix Art
Menu
Classroom Blog
I have been looking forward to this group of projects all year! Each spring, 1st grade teachers begin an IB unit called "We Are the World." The goal of the unit is for students to compare and contrast ways of life all over the world. Many of our students have not done much traveling, so this is a good way to show the kids that although there are many differences in the way people look, speak, dress, and live, we are all part of the same human race and we have A LOT in common! One of the things that different societies have in common is that they all make some form of art! In some cultures, the art tends to be functional, like weaving baskets for harvesting fruit, or making pottery to carry water. In other cultures, art may be used for celebrations or religious ceremonies. Some art is made to record legends or traditions. Many forms of art have been passed down for centuries, while others have developed in more recent times. In our art room, students will experience art-making traditions from a different culture each week for the duration of this IB unit. This year, students will explore art from six different societies- Japan, Egypt, South Africa, Italy, Jamaica, and Alaska. Week One: The Art of Japan- ShiboriShibori is a method of dying cloth that has been part of Japanese culture for thousands of years- since the 8th century! It involves wrapping cloth very tightly with string and then dipping the cloth into the dye. The string keeps some of the cloth from absorbing the color. (This concept is where tie-dye originated!) Japanese artisans wrap and tie the cloth very carefully to make a variety of intricate patterns. Here is a video of the process in action- We made our own version of shibori with paper towels, string, and blue watercolor paint. Step 1: Fold the paper towel in a fan-fold (pleated) style. Step 2: Roll up the folded towel into a spiral. (We pretended we were rolling sushi!) Step 3: Wrap a string tightly around the roll. The tighter the string, the more interesting the pattern will be! Step 4: Drip blue watercolor paint onto each end of the spiral. The trick is to get enough liquid to cover the surface, but not to use so much that all the white space disappears! Step 5: Carefully unroll the folded paper to reveal the pattern! The finished shibori cloths got a little card stapled to them- this is to help inform parents about the traditions behind the project, since students may not remember all the information by the time they get home! With the few extra minutes we had remaining, we enjoyed watching this video of children sharing some information about the Japanese culture. Some classes even had time to learn the names of the colors in Japanese! Next week: We'll be "visiting" Egypt!
0 Comments
First grade students have spent the last several class sessions exploring narrative art- art that tells a story. In our latest project, students chose a painting and used it as the middle of a story. They had to closely study the painting and look for clues to determine what was happening. They needed to make inferences about what could have happened before the painting, and then make predictions to decide what happened next! We did this through drawing and writing. Developing these skills will help students analyze written texts. "First, the man didn't want his food because he was full. Next, he gave it to the dog. Last, the dog ate it all up." "First, she tripped over a rock. Then she got sick. Next, she had to sit in the chair. Last, she felt better after her nap." "First, she gets the milk. Next, she gives the milk to the cat. Last, then the cat drinks." "First, they are back from the Big E. (a movie theater) Next, they are home. Last, they go to bed." "First, she had a fight! Next, she went to the principal's office. Last, she got a spanking with a book." "First, the boy is with his dad the police. Next, they are eating lunch. Last, they are going home. We are eating." "First, he went fishing with his dog and he built a raft. Next, he let his dog ride it. Last, they went back home." "First, the family is eating watermelon.
Next, the boy is playing baseball. Last, it is night time." Hendrix is participating in "The Great Kindness Challenge" this week. Each day students are encouraged to do a kind act for someone at our school or in our community. Students have made cards and banners, created homemade gifts, and collaborated on this beautiful display! These colorful cards were created by several 1st and 2nd grade classes. The students explored color relationships and how new colors are made. Each student used only three paint colors (red, yellow, and blue- the primary colors) and mixed them to create orange, green, and violet (the secondary colors). They were encouraged to try different color combinations. The result is this beautifully unique rainbow! Each class has discussed what it could mean to "be a rainbow" for someone. We talked about how if someone is having a hard day, your kind act could be all they need to turn their day around. Just like a rainbow at the end of a storm! * I can't take credit for this idea- the design is based on a bulletin board I saw online, and we made our own version! Here's the original: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/166773992427772517/ This week's schedule was a little off due to our snow days. First and third grade classes were due to start a new project, but I wanted to hold off until all classes could start the same week. So we used this week for some extra practice with making narrative art- art that tells a story. My favorite master artist to show when discussing narrative art is Norman Rockwell. His pictures are so fun for students to interpret. We began the lesson by studying his painting "Roadblock". "Roadblock" Cover for Saturday Evening Post 1949 We looked at the artwork and I asked them to answer some questions. They had to find clues in the picture to answer each question. First they had to identify the problem in the scene, and describe the main characters. Some of the other questions were really challenging! One of my questions was "What time of day is it in this scene?" and they decided it had to be morning because the kids had their bookbags and were walking to school. I asked why they couldn't be coming home from school instead, and they said it was because the lady on the balcony still had on her apron from cooking breakfast and her husband wasn't dressed in his work clothes yet. What a smart interpretation!! Next, students completed a worksheet with the same questions on it. They had to think of an event from their life and answer the questions based on that event. Then, they had to find a way to make all of their answers evident in their drawing. For example, if it was a hot day, how will you show that? Are people sweating? Are they wearing summer clothes? Could you draw the sun really big? I wanted them to include details they might normally forget about- what the weather was like, the types of clothes people were wearing, even body language and facial expressions. These are first grade examples. We will complete their drawings next week, and if we have time, they will write a paragraph explaining their drawing. I am hoping that by focusing on drawing with more detail, they will be encouraged to write using more detail. And these last examples are from a third grade class. They were able to get more accomplished in one class period, so their drawings are more complete. One of my very favorite books to use in our classroom is Barney Saltzberg's Beautiful Oops. This book is all about taking something that you think is ruined and turning it into something amazing. It teaches problem-solving and creative thinking, which is important not just in the Art room but in everyday life! This video gives you a quick glance through the book . . . I also showed each class this video of Barney Saltzberg himself speaking to a group of students. They loved getting to "meet" a real author and illustrator! I absolutely love the way he explains his creative thinking process- it's definitely worth watching. We spent three class sessions exploring ideas from this book. The first week we used scraps of newspaper to create paintings. Students were encouraged to use the shape of the torn paper to inspire their creations. Making a rainbow. A girl with a ponytail. Purple mountains and a rainy day at the beach. A kitty with a purple nose. (Sometimes we think better on the floor!!) The next week we made animals out of paper scraps. Instead of throwing the crumpled papers away, we used the folded-over parts to make the animals' heads! In the final week of this exploration, students turned drips and splats of paint into drawings. These classes worked collaboratively on large papers-- And these students worked individually to create their designs-- A fire-breathing dragon. A ballerina in a tutu. A baby flamingo. A butterfly in a garden. "I made a beautiful spider." "I made a spaceship. I made an alien." "I made a toothbrush. I made it from a splat of paint." And this one is my favorite- "I made a mug." It's a broken coffee mug with the coffee spilled everywhere! Finally, we put all our creations together into a display to share with our school community. "When you think you have made a mistake, think of it as a opportunity to make SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL!" My first graders absolutely LOVED playing this game! In their classrooms, they've just finished learning about nouns, verbs, and adjectives. So, we turned their learning into a game! Each student had a turn to pick three cards from a bag- one noun, one adjective, and one verb. Then, the whole class had to illustrate that phrase! There were some really silly combinations!
First graders have been learning about different kinds of words- nouns, verbs, and now adjectives. In the Art room, students wrote adjectives about artworks!
Students circulated around the room to look at lots of different kinds of artwork. They wrote describing words on sticky notes. Then we gathered as a group to have a time of sharing and discussion. First Grade's Art Show was a huge success! I have been so looking forward to sharing their work. We spent about six weeks on these projects (about twice as long a a typical project) and that hard work really paid off!
Our inspiration came from the lyrics of the song "America the Beautiful", which was featured in the musical students performed the same night as the Art Show. The theme of patriotism goes along well with first grade's current IB unit. Our paintings portrayed our country's "spacious skies", and "amber waves of grain", and "purple mountain majesties." I think these artworks are absolutely gorgeous! It's one of our most successful projects yet! I am SO proud of the work that these first grade artists accomplished this week. This was an inquiry-based activity we did to explore how colors work together. Each student chose a fall leaf photograph and spent time observing all the different shades and hues of colors they could see. For example- a red leaf wasn't just plain red; it could have spots of orangey-red, brownish-red, pinkish-red, light red, and blackish-red.
Students were given magnifying glasses to encourage them to look very closely, and to help get themselves in a scientific state of mind. If the weather had been cooperating, we would have gone outside to gather real leaves, but the photos worked great! Then, each student was given several basic colors of paint. Their task was to mix and blend colors to make an EXACT match for all the colors seen in their leaves. We discussed how the red paint straight from the bottle was probably not the right kind of red. The students were challenged to figure out what other colors to add to get just the right shade. What color of paint would make the color darker? Or lighter? Or duller? As a final step, students were asked to create a name for each of their colors. I have not yet taught much color theory to this group, so I am so very impressed with the close color matches they were able to make. We'll be revisiting color theory concepts later on in the year, but this was a great place to start! |
Archives
March 2018
Categories
All
|