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The weather lately has been beautiful and spring-like! It has made it seem like winter is really over, even though the forecast calls for cold weather again soon. But to celebrate the nearness of Spring, and to tie in with Black History Month during February, we made paintings inspired by artist Alma Woodsey Thomas. Alma Thomas got her inspiration from the natural world. She was born in Georgia, but spent most of her life in Washington, D.C., where she worked as an art teacher. She missed the green grass, sunshine, and trees, but could look out the window of her apartment and enjoy the garden planted below. The natural world was the inspiration for most of her paintings. Her painting style was unique. She built shape and form out of small dabs of paint, almost like puzzle pieces that fit together to make the image. Her works are abstract- meaning they don't look realistic. It's sometimes hard to tell what the painting is supposed to represent, but her descriptive titles help the viewer interpret her paintings. Here are some of Alma Woodsey Thomas's paintings, along with what inspired them- For our own art-making, I asked students to think of something in nature that inspires them- something they feel strongly about and can remember in detail. It could be a happy spring day with birds singing, or the way the air smells after the rain, or maybe a scary, loud, thunderstorm! I gave them lots of ideas, but wanted them to choose for themselves. Their task was to represent their idea using only dots and dabs of color. We used oil pastels first, then painted over it with tempera cake paint. They did a great job!
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My younger students spent last week practicing drawing geometric forms. It teaches them to draw from observation- to notice the length of lines and the overlapping of shapes. It teaches them to draw what they actually see. We started by drawing cubes. It was interesting that in almost every class, a student told me, "But we already know how to draw cubes!" They meant this type of drawing: I explained to them that this was a "math-style" cube. You draw it the same way, every time, without having to look at an actual cube. You are drawing it based on information from your BRAIN, rather than from your EYES. I asked each student to pick up one of the foam cubes and hold it in front of them at eye-level. Then we lifted them higher, and lower, and twisted them to the left and to the right. We observed how the lines and angles and shapes changed depending on how we looked at the cube. To start the drawing practice, I had students draw just the cubes to begin with. I set a timer for five minutes and asked them to draw the cube over and over until the timer stopped. It was not a race or a contest to see how many they could draw- instead, I wanted them to focus on drawing it more realistically and accurately each time. At the end, I asked the students to look back at their first cube and compare it to their last- most of them agreed, the more they drew it, the better they got! a second grade example a first grade example a kindergarten example Next, students chose a variety of shapes and arranged them into an interesting composition. At the beginning of the week, I let each student pick from the whole tub of shapes, but as the week went on I made bags of shapes to save time, and just let them pick the color. This drawing task was a challenge for kids- some of their brains were just not quite ready to grasp transferring a three-dimensional shape into a flat drawing. But some of them really got it! It was interesting to see the varying ability levels in each grade level. Some of the kindergarten students were more successful than some of the second graders! It just depends on how ready their brains were. But, it was a good exercise for all students. It helps them begin to look at objects like an artist. I tell them all the time, "You use your brain to make art just as much as you use your hands!" I worked very hard to keep it from being a frustrating lesson for the students who weren't quite ready. I made sure they each knew that I just wanted them to TRY this drawing, and that it was just practice and we wouldn't be hanging them up in the hallway. second grade first grade first grade kindergarten second grade first grade first grade second grade The next step was to introduce kids to the concept of shading- showing the darks and lights, the highlights and shadows. Again, some kids were not quite ready to grasp this, but some did great! first grade kindergarten first grade kindergarten second grade I am interested to see if this drawing practice makes a difference in the observational drawings we'll do in the future!
One of the things I like most about teaching art is using it to teach real-life skills. Art teaches kids how to make a plan and follow it, how to take a mistake and turn it into something good, how to be determined and see something through until the end... and lots of other good things! One real-life situation I wanted my kids to experience was having to work within a budget. Second graders are in the middle of an IB unit with economic themes- topics like good and services, and how supply and demand are related. To support this learning, I made my art students pretend to buy the supplies they wanted to use! But first, they had to earn some "money". During their last project, I passed out plastic gold coins as rewards for any good thing I saw students doing. They earned coins for things like staying on task, following directions the first time, and helping with clean-up procedures. I made sure everybody earned at least a few coins, and most students ended up with about ten. Several students had fifteen or more coins! At the end of that day, students turned their earned "money" back into me and I wrote down their total. We compared this to putting money in the bank- it's still your money, you're just letting someone else hold it. This week, they got to "spend" their money at our pretend Art Supply Store. I gave each student back the number of coins that they had earned, and they could use them to purchase anything they wanted. I tried to offer some unusual or special items that they don't normally have access to- like glitter crayons, colorful paper, metallic markers, neon oil pastels, yarn, buttons, beads... along with the typical scissors, glue, markers, colored pencils, paint, etc. To make the math easy, each item cost one coin. But first, I had students make a plan and write a shopping list. I had them write their total number of coins at the top, and then number that many lines down. They needed to think about the project they had in mind and carefully plan what they needed. I wanted them to avoid spending all their money on glitter crayons, only to realize they forgot to buy paper to draw on! It was important for them to think all the way through their project and predict all of their needs. This is a hard skill, but an important one! Of course, students ran into some problems. In one situation, there was no more red paint left and a student really wanted some. She learned she could barter with another student who wanted her gold sharpie, and they made a trade! In a different situation, a student wanted yellow paper, but there was only one piece and another student had already claimed it. The student offered his classmate TWO coins and was able to buy it from him! I wanted these types of problems to occur, so that students could explore some problem-solving skills. Students had complete freedom over what they made, so there were some interesting creations! Here is some of their work: This lesson was a one-day skill-builder activity before we start our next big project. The goal was for students to increase their understanding of color relationships and how intermediate colors are created. In addition, the intricate painting process helps students develop their brush-handling skills. In the first step, students used a black crayon to draw a continuous line spiraling out from the center of their paper. They could use a simple round spiral, or different shape- some students chose triangles, rectangles, or hearts. Students painted their spirals by beginning with one color in the center, then blending into an adjacent color. In doing the blending, intermediate colors like red-orange and blue-green were created. When students had made a full revolution around the color wheel, they continued into another round. Students needed to use careful brushwork to avoid the colors mixing into a muddy mess!
Second grade artists have recently completed these beautiful portraits of their families. These paintings will be featured at second grade's Art Show next week. This is always a favorite project, and one that I love sharing. We've done family portraits in second grade for several years now, and it's a special tradition!
This is a really special project that I love doing with our kids. It's a great way for students to connect to their heritage and learn more about themselves and their family history. It's a great connection to second grade's current IB unit, which focuses on relationships, communities, and culture. Here are our "Heritage Self-Portraits": In their current IB unit, second graders have been learning about how authors express themselves through their writing. In Art, we explored how making art is also a way for people to share their thoughts and feelings! I asked students to think of a memory that was tied to a strong emotion. They made oil pastel drawings illustrating that memory. The drawings didn't have to really be a scene showing the event- instead, they could mix up the objects they drew and make it look kind of dream-like, like when a memory is kind of hazy or confused. I told them it was kind of like taking apart a jigsaw puzzle- all the pieces are still there, but they are not arranged in a way that makes sense. The next step was to include the emotion of their memory. We looked at some paintings that communicated feelings, and discussed how the colors and the energy behind the brushstrokes described the emotion. For example, look at this painting and imagine how the artist's arm would have moved when making these scribbling lines- you can almost feel the anger! Now compare that painting to this calm, dull, sad one- it's a completely different feeling! And this painting has a happy, joyful, excited feeling- it's almost like the colors and shapes are dancing! Students took what they learned about expressing emotion and applied it to the backgrounds of their memory paintings. The colors they chose and the brushstrokes they used all work together to communicate the mood of the memory. Look for lots of blues in the sad memories, reds in the angry ones, and yellows and pinks in the happy memories! "I was at an orca show. There were orcas there. There were trainers helping the orcas do tricks. It was exciting. Then there were orcas in a small pool. I loved to see the orcas." "Today was my cousin’s birthday! My cousin is turning eleven! My cousins live in North Carolina. Thousands of people were there. All of us jumped on the trampoline! Then I almost fell off the trampoline! We came back inside. While we were inside we watched Fuller House. After that it was time for cake! I waited until it was present time. But we spent the night with them. She opened the presents in the morning and she loved mine!!! But then it was time to go! I cried all day! I was so mad and sad I had to go! " "Today I had to clean my room. It was cold outside today. I had to clean my room by myself. I was very mad and kind of sad because I didn’t want to. My room was very dirty. " "I had dance and we ate cupcakes. We danced and danced. It was fun and I was happy. My friend Emma was there too. " "I was with my daddy and mommy and grandma and my papa and Graham and Anna and Uncle Tim and Aunt Leslie. We went to the beach. It was so much fun. It was on the Fourth of July. It was fun watching the fireworks. We were outside. It was so hot. I was yelling because it was too hot for my feet. It was really sunny. I loved it outside. It was so beautiful. We were happy. It was a fun time. " "My uncle and my dad and my mom were with me. We were watching a great movie It was good. But we saw a red and blue light outside. The weather was cold. It was night. It was scary. And my mom was scared too. The police were in my neighbor’s yard because they always have a party. The police went past my house. They went to my other neighbor’s house. We had to turn off the TV and the lights. And I couldn’t find my dad. He was hiding. It was scary. And my cat was walking outside all night. " "It was fun at the beach. We got to eat. On the last day we went to the water park. I went on the slide. I got seashells and then we went home. " "My mom, Gigi, Papa, and sister were with me. I fell off my scooter. It was the afternoon. It was hot out. I was feeling sad and hurt. " "Today I am so delighted because I am going to the movies! I went with my mom, my sisters, my brother, and my dad. We are going to see the Star Wars movie! They have popcorn and soda. It was so much fun. When I got home I went right to bed. " "This is my mom. She got pulled over and I was scared. The cop came and he was smiling. He came and asked my mom for license and registration. He said please though. My mom was scared because she couldn’t find it and I got scared too. " "I remember when I went to the dinosaur zoo. I felt unsure if it was safe or not. I was with my mom and dad and Anna. I was nervous about if it was safe! It was exciting. " "This story is about my mom and my stepdad and my grandma and the police and the old lady and her two kids. My mom was backing out of the driveway and looked left and right and the old lady came! We couldn’t see her so we got hit. It was in the morning. It was outside in the front yard. My mom was mad and I was crying and that old lady was mad too. But no one got hurt. " "In New Jersey I met Jake Paul and Messi. We played soccer in New Jersey and I played basketball. We went to New Jersey for my birthday. It was a pretty place and we wanted to travel. I went with just my mom. "
This year Hendrix participated in International Dot Day 2017. On this day each year, artists all over the world celebrate the creativity and inspiration found in Peter H. Reynolds' book The Dot. The Dot is the story of a young artist named Vashti who thinks she can't draw. Her teacher tries to help her by saying "Just make a mark and see where it takes you!" Vashti angrily jabs her pencil into her paper, leaving a black dot behind. The next time Vashti comes to Art, she sees her black dot hanging on the wall! She says to herself "Hmmph. I can make a better dot than that!" And she does! Her teacher's encouragement and support was all Vashti needed to be successful. By the end of the story, Vashti has taken on the role of teacher, and the book ends with her helping a little boy learn to "make his mark!" The book has inspired artists all over the world, and each year in September, International Dot Day is celebrated! This year over 10 million artists in over 170 countries were part of the celebration- and our Hendrix artists were included in that number! Hendrix artists celebrated by making their own dot-inspired artworks. These paintings will be on display at our school during the month of September. I am looking forward to this being a new tradition for our school! After we finished our paintings, students loved hearing this message of inspiration from The Dot author Peter H. Reynolds! It was almost like getting to meet him ourselves! We are already excited to celebrate International Dot Day 2018! I wanted to take a minute to explain the behavior expectations for when your children are in the Art room. I always express to students that the Art room is a shared space, and about 700 students use it each week. This means we have to make good use of the limited time we have together and make each class period as productive as possible, as well as take good care of our materials and equipment so everything will be ready for the next group of kids! Each classroom in our school begins the year by developing a list of expectations called an "Essential Agreement." This is IB terminology for behaviors each member of our class agrees are necessary for a functional and pleasant place to learn. I ask each student to sign their name to our Art Room Essential Agreement. This signature creates a contract between each student and the other members of the class. I explain to the students that it's like making a promise. When misbehaviors occur, I can remind each student of the promise he or she made to follow our expectations. In each class session, I select one student to honor for doing a particularly good job. Their reward is a cupcake sticker. Let me explain what cupcakes have to do with making art! It's all based on this rubric: I explain to students that making Art is like decorating cupcakes. Sometimes students turn in work that is like the first cupcake on this poster- it's not even finished. The next category is what we call the "sloppy cupcake". The student made minimal effort and did not take pride in their work. I describe the third cupcake as being "fine". It's finished, all the requirements have been met, but it's nothing special. This represents artwork that's good, but not great. The final category on the rubric is our "fancy cupcake." THIS represents the kind of work I'm looking for- work that goes above and beyond expectations! This quality of work is what I reward with a matching cupcake sticker. So if you see your child bring home a sticker like this, understand that it represents a job very well done! It's important that children understand that this reward is NOT based on talent or skill, it's earned through EFFORT. All students, even those who struggle with Art and may not have a lot of natural talent, will earn a cupcake sticker at least once each year. I make sure that every student in the class is honored one time before any student earns a second sticker. As you may know, Hendrix participates in the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports program. The "PBIS" philosophy encourages good choices in our students. PBIS supports the use of a common language between all areas of a school. That common language is evident in what we call our "PACK expectations". We ask students to be "Part of the PACK" here at school. PACK is an acronym for being principled, appreciative, cooperative, and knowledgeable. Each area of our school has a system of expectations using this vocabulary. Our PACK expectations for Special Area classes are described in this chart: Each time students attend a Special Area class, the teacher records their behavior on this chart and returns it to the classroom teacher. This helps us all maintain high standards for our students' behavior in all areas of the school. Each Special Area teacher tracks the points earned by each homeroom class, and the classes work toward earning reward days. In Art, our reward days involve fun activities like playdough, painting with shaving cream, or drawing outside with sidewalk chalk! Occasionally students fail to follow the expected behaviors in the Art room. When that happens, students first receive a warning. I keep cards with a stop sign picture on them, and if a student is making a bad choice (such as talking when they're not supposed to, or mistreating supplies, or not following directions) I place a stop sign card on that student's desk. This is a visual reminder that they need to "stop what they are doing and make a better choice," as the card reads. Usually this is all it takes to get a student back on track! If the problem behavior continues, that student will lose the privilege of making Art for the remainder of the day, and will instead complete one of these "Better Choices Sheets." This form is designed to help a student think about what happened and realize why it was a problem, as well as give them a chance to explain what was going on and how the problem started. I have two versions of Better Choices Sheets- one for older students, and one for younger kids with pictures to circle instead of writing a sentence. The form has a place for me to describe to parents what happened, and asks the parent to sign the form and have their student return it to me the next day. Fortunately these Better Choices Sheets are not a common occurrence here in our Art room- students would much rather be participating in making Art! Parents, if you ever have a question or concern about our routines or expectations in the Art room, please let me know! Second graders are finishing up an IB unit called "Kids.gov". This unit deals with leadership and how a leader's decisions impact the citizens and the community. The students learn about the responsibilities of leaders and the rights of citizens. In the Art room, we talked about how artists form a community of their own. People who love and appreciate Art have a responsibility to inform others about why Art is important in a society. We learned that this is called being an advocate for the Arts. To begin our lesson, I asked the kids to imagine what our world would be like if Art didn't exist. This video really brought that idea to life - Our students were amazed to realize just how much Art is present in everything we do. From the fashion designers who make our clothing, the architects who design our structures, the product designers who make machines and equipment, the interior designers who create the spaces we live in, the packaging designers and graphic artists who design the things we purchase, and even the media artists who create our entertainment, Art is EVERYWHERE!! I asked students to think of something that happens in their daily life. I asked them to illustrate that activity in two ways- one WITH the influence of Art, and one WITHOUT. Students had the opportunity to share their ideas with their classmates. While the first part of the lesson was designed to increase appreciation for the Arts, the second part was geared towards teaching advocacy. Now that students understood WHY Art is important, I wanted them to feel the responsibility for sharing that importance with others. This was the connection to the IB unit- as members of the art-making community, we have the responsibility to help others see why Art is needed in our society. This is advocacy! I shared with our students that there are children all over the country, and even in our own state, who don't get to go to Art class in their schools. Our kids were so sad to hear that! One second-grader even asked if it was because they didn't have art supplies- he volunteered to donate his extra crayons from home! (THIS is the kind of action we want to see in our students!!) I told them that in these situations, the leaders of the schools probably felt that it was important to put the school's money towards other things- likely reading and math. Students were thankful that we live in a part of the state where our leaders see the value of including the Arts in educating our kids! Our second activity was to make these mini-posters stating why Art is important. (These small artworks are actually called Artist Trading Cards, a new activity we are starting here at Hendrix. A separate post on these "ATCs" is coming soon!) Students were to design a card and then trade it with a friend. When trading the cards, they were to tell one reason they felt Art was important for kids. In having these conversations, students are being leaders in the Arts community and advocating for something they believe in! Even the Art teacher made a card to trade!! If you're interested in more information about why advocating for the Arts in schools is a good thing, check out this video! Here's a link to one of my favorite articles encouraging Arts Education, and an infographic full of support for the Arts! |
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