Daily Message

i don't know what the trends are at your schools, but here in Nashville, the new trend for classroom teachers appears to be the "Morning Meeting".  This is a daily routine where the students may respond to a message on the board, play a game, or do some other activity that gets all involved, and encourages students to engage for the activities of the day.  I see 100+ kids a day, and cannot possibly have a morning meeting.  But, as I sat in on the "in-service" that it seems we specialists always do, even if it is not geared towards us, I began to think of the possibilities that surrounded a "daily message" where anyone who wanted to respond or participate could.  I have started leaving messages, like the one pictured, where I may clue students in to a new artist, a new activity, or a school event.  I keep it general enough that any student could respond, because I cannot fathom putting up a new message for each group.  Often, I ask for responses in the form of tally marks, or voting, and I am experimenting with ways that I may bring in reasoning skills, math, or language skills.  The more I think about it- the more ideas I get, and the kids are loving it.  It actually helps me that they want to do this first thing, as I am usually putting something away, or getting something out.  It's a nice way for everyone to transition in to the art room. 

Spring/Stamping-Kindergarten

I am starting a lot of sentences with "I saw this thing on Pinterest" lately.  Well, in this case, I remembered I saw it, and I'm pretty sure it was on Pinterest, but I did not pin it (I was sure I had).  The center of the flower is stamped with a cheapo net bath "Pouf" which can be found at Wal-Mart 2/$1.00.  Then, we used Tempera Cakes to paint the rest of the details- the flower/stem, etc.  I had plates set up with some yellow and some orange, that naturally mixed when the kids stamped.  I am trying out the Tempera Cakes this year- other art teachers rave.  I am not so sure- they seem like watercolors.  Any thoughts on helping the kids achieve brighter colors?  That aside- I think these are pretty springy, and a nice attempt by my kids at a project that none of us had ever tried before.  Some may even make their way into the art show.

It's a Jungle in 3rd Grade

Continuing the garden type theme for the art show this year, I did   Jungles with 3rd grade.  We went to the link, we played the interactive (click on the link- NGA has some amazing interactives for art students) on the smart board, and we talked about Matisse.  Then, we began with the sky, and began to build up the jungle.  I taught how to make things "pop out" by using spacers behind, folding, or rolling, and we had an animal day as well, for which I broke out the watercolors and sharpies.  I think the results were good, however I am not sure the idea of overgrowth translated, despite my rallying cry that "no one mows the lawn in the jungle!  Ah well, they are pretty cute.  I  took the students to the computer lab and had them write a response to a couple of questions as an "artist statement" because I feel at the art show especially, that I increasingly need to show the correlation between art and the other subject areas.   Anyway- here's the sneak peek!

Acrylic Paintings- Next Phase

Nearing completion, here are the 4th grade acrylic paintings again.  We used hot colors (most of us) for the next layer, and added details with black and white.  I think they will be a nice pop of color for the art show.

Sneak Peek at the Spring Art Show

Kindergarten "Water Lilies" inspired by Monet



Another "Water-Lily"




2nd Grade- Insect Yarn Painting





1st Grade-Woven houses in a setting that includes a garden setting.

 The kids and I are busily finishing our artworks for the upcoming spring art show, so I thought I'd give you a peek- nothing is finished yet- this is all in progress, but I think it's going to be a great show.  Our theme is gardening, because the music teacher will be presenting a program on the same night, and his program is about gardens. Anyway- this is the little ones- I'll show off the 3rd and 4th graders another post.

Youth Art Month

OK, sometimes I crack myself up.  My lesson for the kindergarten students was that we looked at "Where the Wild Things Are" and then we created our own wild things.  As I assembled them into a monster island, similar to that that in the book, I got the idea that it was Youth Art Month, and that there was an opportunity for advertisement here.  My students had no idea that I would use their wild things to create my Youth Art Month display, but I don't think they'll mind. I created the signs in the hands of the wild things, along with the backdrop for all of the Wild Things.  They were just delighted to get to dig into the wiggly eye box. 

Monets in Training

Years ago, I wrote a grant, and got table easels and canvases for the kiddos.  We went outside and painted, and it was a lot of fun.  Since then, I've made the canvas painting an annual tradition for 4th graders.  They puzzle over the easels as they move from Kindergarten up to 4th grade, waiting for their time to use them.  The project varies from year to year, but the canvas/easel painting has become a rite of passage for my 4th graders.  This year, we looked at the work of Monet, and discussed how he layered his colors, and how he did not draw first.  We started our canvases by using cool colors and white, to fill in a background with brushstrokes, mixed colors, and floral shapes.  The next step will be to use warm colors to add in butterflies and dragonflies- but shhhh- don't tell the kiddos- they don't know yet.  And, hopefully, if we hold it all together and keep up the good work we've started, we'll use black paint to add some structure lines.

Paper Marbling with Shaving Cream

OK- I love the idea of this project.  And in an effort to boost the behavior of my 3rd graders, I held an after school art, to which I invited my best behaved to join in the shaving cream fun.  My thought was that the word would spread, and the other kiddos would shape it up in an effort to get an invitation.  It turned out ok, but not as well as I saw from other examples online.  Did I not use enough shaving cream? Did I give them too much space to draw the marble on?  Should I have limited their designs? Is this how it is supposed to look?  2 kids got perfect marbles, and the rest got mush.  I just wonder if I did something wrong, or if this is just the success ratio typical for a project like this. Or, am I just being picky? Thoughts? Also, any other messy type projects that would be a good incentive?  I'm leaning towards clay for the next time.