The Big Opening

Tonight was the opening night of our art show. The big night. All the artwork hung, the cookies laid out, and the parents invited. What a great turnout. Great fun for all. Though it was a struggle to get the students to finish their work through snow days, sick days, and other obstructions, in the end, the show turned out great, and I was pleased with the results.

Starting to Hang the Show...

I spent the last Friday before our spring break hanging the art show. I did not get it all done, but what is up looks great, and I am starting to think that I may just get this all done!

Working

Been working away at the art show preparations. No pics this post because silly me, I left my camera at home. They'll be up soon. I spent today cutting apart the typed reflections from my students, which I will be hanging with their artwork. Some more descriptive than others. As the day looms closer, I am getting increasingly excited for the parents to see what we have been up to in the art room. Wish we could have had this show closer to the Olympics, but I think the point is still there. I am nervous this year. I am hoping the parents get the ideas behind our artwork, and understand just how much work goes into this job.

My little Techies

Here are my 2nd graders typing away. I try to have each grade level (maybe not Kindergarten) write up some sort of artist statement. Some more directed than others, but all encourage the students to use their language skills to communicate to the viewers about their art. The kids love using the "Neos" to type, and it does make our art show look more put together.

3rd grade- the struggle continues

The third grade and I are struggling with craftsmanship. It is frustrating because I try to encourage them to take pride in their work, but when they decide to be done, they are just, well.... done. They won't put any more effort in, and worse yet, they seem to "tank" a reasonable art effort. So, my first project was an Olympic Mola Collage. It worked for some, but some were just not up to par. One of my classes was given the opportunity to paint a red and blue background, and put a silhouette of an Olympic trick over the top. I then asked each student to pick their best effort, and complete it as best they could. I'm still not over the moon, but, it's a lot better than it was.

Mosaics, by the 1st graders

The 1st graders loved the idea of the mosaics, but some were more successful than others. With short attention spans looming, I allowed the students to use markers to fill in the blank spots after 2 art classes of gluing. We also used markers to make a "picture frame" around the edge of the plate. While I did encourage patterns, some were stubborn, and rebelled against this idea, preferring just to block in the frame with colors.

Rescuing the 2nd grade project

The second graders were to cut their silhouettes out of tissue paper, and then paste them to the snowy background. Oh, the best laid plans. My second graders got lazy, and didn't cut as well as they had drawn and traced their people. So, we ended up with wiggly blobs. After they were dry, I had them trace their athletes with markers, to re-define the shape, and we used some letters that had been donated to the art room to spell out action words. This helped to break up the space of the picture, as well as re-enforced some language skills.

2nd grade in progress

Not sure if I'm on the warpath, or if spring fever has set in here in Hermitage. This step of the project involves tracing their intended actions onto colored tissue, and cutting them out. We struggled with the idea of cutting on the line, and not just around the object. Needless to say, the word CRAFTSMANSHIP has been vollied about this week in the art room. I think we are on a decent path to success however, and the kids will be pleased with the results.

A bump in the 3rd grade road

I couldn't get this child to understand the importance of tracing each person carefully. And, the idea of contrast and visual space elluded him. But, his drawing of his person was terrific.

Pretty Successful If they had turned out like this, there would be no complaints from me.
My Example in progress. I try to show a balance of what I can do, but not be overwhelming in my expectations of their abilities. It's a balance.

So, my plan was to base the 3rd grade project for the art show on the Kuna tradition of Molas, or layered pieces. We were going to make paper collages in this fashion, with the olympic athlete being the point of interest. Well... it flopped. The kids drew their athlete well, but due to some craftsmanship issues, did not see this through as I had hoped. You see my example, and you see theirs. So, I am in the process of revising a lesson that can be completed successfuly in 2 art classes before the art show debuts. Sometimes, the best laid plans just don't pan out.

Olympic Tricks-Kindergarten

I am finding that my kindergartners need some brushing up on their drawing skills, and so, I cooked up this one day drawing project. We began by acting out some Olympic events. We pretended to Ski, Skate, Snowboard, and play Hockey, among other things. We discussed ordering... first to last. Then, papers were folded into 4 sections. Each student drew a 4 part trick, from beginning to end. They loved the unlimited possibility of what their trick could be. I had them use crayons to color their people, and water color to paint the background. Partly to break up the hour, and give them a few shorter tasks (catering to the short attention spans of the little ones) and partly, to give a series of directions and have them follow along. This followed through on our ordering discussion.

They Finally Got It!!!

This group of 1st graders is quite possibly the most stubborn group I've encountered, and they are quite impulsive. When I knew them as Kindergartners, I often calculated my days until retirement, and sighed longingly. But, apparently, they are tactile learners, because they are all OVER the mosaics. They loved sorting out the colors, and filling in their Olympic symbols. Their drawing needs some brushing up, but if they finish these as well as they began them, I'm happy.