Thursday, December 1, 2016

December "Artist of the Month" Awards

I forgot to take pictures of this month's art before I put it on my bulletin board! So, please excuse the thumb tacks in the photos (except the clay project; that one is not actually on my bulletin board!).

6th Grade:




5th Grade:


4th Grade:


3rd Grade:


2nd Grade:


1st Grade:


Kindergarden:


Wednesday, November 30, 2016

November "Artist of the Month" Awards

Here are the paintings that have been hanging on my bulletin board all month for November "Artist of the Month" awards. These students did an excellent job! Stay tuned for next month's artist awards, which I plan to post tomorrow.

6th Grade:


5th Grade:


4th Grade:


3rd Grade:


2nd Grade:


1st Grade:


Kindergarten:


Monday, November 7, 2016

Junior Primary Tractors

My school recently added a "Junior Primary" section for students who have completed Kindergarten, but are not ready for 1st Grade yet. It's a small class--only 11 students--so I am able to do some fun things with them! I can give them a lot more individual attention, and I can use costlier supplies, since everything only has to stretch for 11 students, not 80 to 100, as most other grades are.

However, my basic curriculum follows 1st grade standards. But, I can't do any of the exact same lessons as 1st grade, because they will then do it twice, as all the JP students go to 1st Grade next year. My 1st grade students are currently learning about mixing secondary colors. For their green project, they painted a frog. I had to think of something else green for JP; I decided on John Deere tractors! The students loved it! Here are a few of their paintings.






Tuesday, October 4, 2016

"Artist of the Month" Awards

Since I began teaching, I have always displayed a piece of art in the school display case each week, and the student who created it received an "Artist of the Week" certificate. Our current school principal asked if I could display a piece of art from a student in every grade, and make an "Artist of the Month" award instead. This way, art by a student in every grade is always on display. This change makes the awards even across the grade levels, which is nice, because some years some grades have inadvertently received fewer awards than others!

Here are September "Artists of the Month":

6th Grade:

5th Grade:


4th Grade:


3rd Grade:


2nd Grade:


1st Grade:


Kindergarten:


Here are October "Artists of the Month":

6th Grade:


5th Grade:


4th Grade:


3rd Grade:


2nd Grade:


1st Grade:


Kindergarten:


Friday, September 30, 2016

Kindergarten Sunset Sailboats

My kindergartners are currently working through units on the elements of art shape and color. They painted sunsets using tempera cakes, and learned about how artists sometimes find creative ways to add beautiful colors to their artwork, like making a sunset sky instead of a solid blue sky. I gave each table three tempera cakes in colors that would blend well, to avoid having any mud-colored skies.

The water for the sailboat began with a review of lines they had learned earlier (a wavy line is the one we used here), and then they composed the sailboat out of shapes. We used regular tempera paints for the sailboat and water. The students learned to wash their brush in the water cup, and then pinch out the excess water, because unlike the tempera cakes we used for the sunset, the regular tempera paints should not have water added to them.

Next year, I might tie in some J. M. W. Turner art history into this lesson.

Here are some student results from the lesson:











Wednesday, September 28, 2016

5th Grade Sunset By the Water Paintings

My 5th grade students recently learned about Claude Monet's visit to Venice, Italy, where he created the famous painting San Giorgio at Dusk. While in Venice, Monet did not complete many paintings, because he concluded it was a city too beautiful to be painted. San Giorgio is a monastery island in Venice. The city of Venice is composed of 117 islands, most of which are connected by bridges. The monastery is alone, and not connected to any nearby islands. I asked the students why they thought that artists loved to paint sunsets by the water; the students rightly concluded that the reflections multiply the beautiful sunset colors! Then, I asked each students to use a ruler to create a horizon; then they could add any details that they wanted to create a sunset by the water. Their water could be a lake, stream, river, pond, ocean, or anything else they liked! Here are a few finished results from my 5th grade students.