Mrs. Weber's Art Class

As you may have guessed....

2010-11-21T23:19:00.001-05:00

I am unfortunately not teaching art this year... Instead, because of the lack of positions available in my area, I am subbing in my local district. This has definite pros, because I am learning a lot about the nature of the student! I will once again post when I finally get my very own room in my very own school!
Thank you for visiting, and please... browse! I hope you find my posts useful!

-Mrs. Weber

8th Grade Ceramics

2010-08-12T13:13:00.006-04:00

I majored in clay back when I got my BFA and it is my first love! When I had the opportunity to teach clay during my student teaching, I was thrilled! the 8th graders first learned basic slab building techniques as well as modeling and relief sculpting when they created garden leaf faces and 'green men'. After becoming comfortable with handling clay, they moved on to making gargoyles, a really fun lesson for all. They formed their clay around an armature, created expressions while modeling faces and used a finer clay body to achieve better detail. Some of the almost finished products can be seen waiting to be fired. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the finished gargoyles, but they painted them after they were fired with a gray stone like acrylic paint.

Bubble letters

2010-06-08T17:24:00.002-04:00

I promised 1st graders that they could free paint the last day of class (they unanimously agreed this was what they wanted to do!) The more I thought about this, however, the more I didn't want them to have at the supplies with abandon as this often leads to lots of paper in the trash... Instead I had them write their first initial on a large sheet of paper as a bubble letter using oil pastels. They added minimal designs inside their letters with a reminder that white oil pastels could be used also, as it would show up when they paint over it. Then they were allowed to paint their letters however they liked. This worked so much better and their was no waste at the end. Most kids love anything having to do with their names, so this was a perfect one day lesson!

Clowning around

2010-06-08T17:12:00.003-04:00

This lesson was borrowed from deepspacesparkle, another wonderful art teacher blog. First graders learned a little about clowns and clowning around... (so did I!)
And then they all designed their own individual clowns. The following week, they painted them and the last week they cut them out and mounted them on construction paper. All loved this project and we had many giggles and laughs when they were all displayed side by side in the front of the room!

Birds on a wire

2010-06-08T17:00:00.002-04:00

I found this cute lesson on artsonia and decided to try it as a last day for kinder art lesson. I think the lesson is pretty self explanatory, but I will say that you should caution students against adding too many birds (which are simply their thumbprints) because of course they will have to add the details to all of the birds they create! This was the most challenging part for the kinders, but they still turned out pretty cute!

Apples and Oranges

2010-06-02T08:58:00.004-04:00

My other 5th grade class also painted apples, but to switch it up a little, I brought in apples and oranges to create a more complex still life. It was the first time painting a still life for many of the students and they really had a good time!

It took approximately 4 - 45 minute classes for the students to finish their still lifes, so you have to make sure you have a nice cold spot to store your fruit in the interim. Of course they were using their skills learned in the previous lesson about form and outerspace. But I found that this lesson really showed the students how important careful observation is when trying to depict an object realistically. We talked a lot about seeing what is really there, and not what you think is there. I had to remind students that they needed to keep looking at their still lifes and observe that an apple is not just red, but could have green, yellow, brown, and even purple in it.

They also observed that they couldn't see all of the fruit equally. They had to make sure that there was overlap. Many of then came up with creative solutions for their tables and backgrounds. This was a fun lesson and a real eye opener for many of the students that careful observation is the key to depicting what is actually there!

2nd grade weaving

2010-06-01T18:39:00.007-04:00

If you want a nice, calm engaging end of the year project for 2nd (and probably 3rd, 4th or 5th) graders, look no further! I found some pieces of burlap in storage and decided to teach some basic sewing/weaving skills to the students. After discussing basic terminology such as loom, warp, weft, needle, eye of the needle and running stitch I demonstrated how to create a basic running stitch in a 6x9 inch piece of burlap. After the students got the hang of this, they were allowed to add beads, and/or sew their initials or other shapes into their weavings.

The final step of this project was adding a large craft stick to the top and bottom of the back of the weaving along with a hanger so their weaving can be hung from the wall.

Camouflage Animals

2010-06-01T18:22:00.004-04:00

This was a great end of the year lesson with my kindergarteners. I got the lesson from a recent School Arts magazine. The focus of the lesson was on camouflage, what it is and how animals use it to protect or hide themselves. We spent a day discussing this while each table had some pictures to look at and later describe to the class. After wards they each got to choose whether they wanted a tiger or a leopard and they received a quarter sheet of animal print paper. After gluing this down to a sheet of construction paper, they finished the camouflage pattern with appropriate colored crayons.

I made tracers of 'big cat' body shapes which the children used the following class period to trace and cut out their cats. The next period they glued down their cats and began adding the 'habitat', which they made by ripping paper into grass and tree shapes.

The last class was spent putting on finishing touches such as more grass, eyes and teeth or extra stripes or spots on their animals.

I liked this lesson a lot because the students were able to see the great results possible by breaking a project down into smaller pieces. They learned about camouflage, the behaviours of 2 different animals as well as carefully observing the actual patterns on these two animals.
This lesson would also be appropriate for 1st grade.

8th grade name collages

2010-05-27T23:35:00.004-04:00

8th grade just finished these name collages. I was inspired to do this lesson after I saw some work of a local photographer (wish I knew her name) who takes pictures of everyday things and somehow, sees a letter in them. Pictures could be a close up of a flower, but it looks like the letter Y. She then puts these letters together to make words which could be inspirational, a persons name or any other number of things. I loved her artwork, so I adapted her idea so the 8th graders could create their names by using pictures found in magazines. The results, I think, speak for themselves!

Along with having to look at objects in a new way, students were required to neatly mount the letters. This took time, measuring and attention to detail. I love some of the whimsy that came out of this project!

Teacher resources

2010-05-27T11:44:00.003-04:00

Here is a link to the teachers corner. While there are ideas for all subject areas many things could be adapted or used in art class. The page you will see is their printable calendar pages which tell you odd things such as what day masking tape was patented!

http://www.theteacherscorner.net/calendars/index.php

Geninne's art blog

2010-05-26T12:38:00.002-04:00

Go have a look at this inspiring blog by a 'stay at home mom/freelance illustrator' She is wonderful!

http://blogdelanine.blogspot.com/

I will post pictures of some of her work later!

Matisse inspired collages - 4th

2010-05-21T21:25:00.003-04:00

4th graders spent the past few weeks learning about Henri Matisse and the cut paper artwork he created later in his life. They brainstormed different events, places, people, and things that make them happy or bring them joy. Nature, swimming, the carnival and baseball were just some of the themes they came up with. Then they were to create collages in the style of Matisse, by 'drawing' with their scissors and using lots of color and movement in their compositions. This is a great project for your bins of scrap paper, as this is all I had to put out for them to use! Bravo 4th grade!

Relief Printmaking with 3rd grade

2010-05-20T22:57:00.006-04:00

My third graders learned about relief printmaking. First they brainstormed about Spring themes and then choosing their favorite sketch they created plates from 4" x 6" rectangles of styrofoam by drawing their idea with a blunt pencil. The were required to create 4 successful prints with different color schemes and then mount them on a 12 x 18 sheet of construction paper. Below are just a few of the great prints from this talented group of kids!

Pre-historic Art!

2010-05-11T22:21:00.012-04:00

Boy, oh, boy, did the 2nd graders have fun with this lesson. You know you have a keeper when someone tells you that they wish they could do this lesson for the rest of the year...
We spent a whole period viewing images from and talking about the earliest artists, our pre-historic ancestors. We talked about sculptures, megaliths and finally cave paintings, focusing on the Lascaux Cave in France amoung others. 2nd graders learned that pre-historic people existed before the invention of a written language and created some amazing and beautiful artwork.

I handed out a reference sheet with some simple line drawings influenced by images found in different cave art. Students were also given large sheets of brown craft paper. I encouraged them to crumple their paper so they could draw on a rough surface.

Using chalk pastel, students drew
a large animal. I explained that pastels blend nicely and had them use at least three colors in their animal. They also drew symbols that were found in different caves. The last and most exciting part for the students was when I sprayed their hands with red paint to simulate the cave of the hands in Santa Cruz, Argentina.

This was a super fun lesson for everyone that uses many skills, teaches history and opens the door for interesting, educational conversation.

Abstract vs. Non-Representational Art

2010-05-11T21:02:00.007-04:00

7th graders began this lesson by learning the difference between abstract art and non-representational art. I made up a power point that gave examples of both and had a hearty discussion on the differences of each, which ultimately led to a discussion on aesthetics, who likes what kind of art, and finally, what makes something art! Kids love to debate what makes art good/bad/worthy, etc. Personally, I could spend lots of time teaching lessons that center on aesthetics, but the kids usually want to get their hands dirty...

...Anyway, I also focused on one piece of art in particular by the late artist Elizabeth Murray called Painter's Progress (Pictured first here) and we talked about how Murray created paintings using multiple canvases or surfaces that she pieced together. I don't know what she called these pieces but I was calling them 'fractured'. I also said that they were kinetic, in a way, in that her paintings have a kind of movement to them that paintings on traditional canvases do not.

After all of this discussion, the students were given the choice of creating either abstract or non-representational paintings. After they dried, they were to cut them apart and re-assemble them to make a new image. They were given the choice of cutting them apart with some type of logic, or cutting them apart randomly. Some students created two paintings and then reassembled them both together into the one piece of art. Here are some of the creative solutions they came up with!

In addition, I required the students to add oil pastel details to enhance their paintings. They originally painted using dry tempera cakes and I thought the pictures were kind of dull. The oil pastels helped to enhance their original ideas.

Kaleidocycles

2010-05-11T20:24:00.005-04:00

I introduced kaleidocycles to my 6th graders on Friday. (Please see my post on kaleidocycles for links to good websites) They loved them, but here are a few tips. First, expect to have a million questions about how to fold them. And then expect to be asked again how to fold them. And again... (you get the picture)
Next, expect to give mucho individual assistance when it comes to assembling them. They don't go together in a very clear cut fashion and for those who have never folded something like this before (none of my 6th graders), it is far from intuitive. That said, it was a project that they were all interested in, and all wanted to have one due to the coolness factor. I slipped in some math and I don't even think they minded! The only other thing I wish was different, but I had no control over, was I wish I was able to print mine on cardstock and a bit larger. The printer at my school doesn't handle cardstock, unfortunately.

I do believe this lesson would be better suited for 8th grade or above, due mainly to the develoment of dexterity and visualization skills. Otherwise, still a great project.

Overlapping Rectangles

2010-05-11T20:08:00.003-04:00

Kindergarteners made these pictures by tracing a pre-cut rectangle 5 times on a piece of 18x12 paper, making sure they overlapped. Then they colored in all of the new shapes that were created due to the overlapping.

I introduced this lesson by showing Jasper John's painting Zero through Nine, which I showed when they made their "Numbers, numbers, numbers" picture. We discussed how the last time we looked at the painting, we were looking for the numbers. This time I wanted them to pay special attention to how when the numbers overlapped, they made new shapes.

This lesson was simple in concept, yet had the Kinders practicing lots of skills and looking at rectangles and the picture plane in a new way. They were surprised with the results and left feeling proud of their accomplishment!

Kaleidocycles

2010-05-05T22:33:00.003-04:00

Kaleidocycles are so very, very cool...
I just learned about them recently and now it seems I can't get enough.
A kaleidocycle is a closed chain of tetrahedra that can cycle endlessly through a center hole.
What?
Well, go to this website and play around with the awesome java applet.
http://www.kaleidocycles.de/anim.shtml

Then google kaleidocycle and you will come up with many good websites that give templates, explanations and directions on how to make your own! Kaleidocycles are a fun toy, interesting math thing, and a great art project. My 6th graders are getting introduced on Friday!

Here are a few links to get you started...

http://foldplay.com/foldplay.action

http://www.korthalsaltes.com/cuadros.php?type=ka

Mark Mays, Pennsylvania Artist & Teacher

2010-04-28T09:08:00.007-04:00

Yesterday, my family and I adopted a dog from our local humane society. He is a senior dog who has had 3 other owners before us, but is a really snuggly, affectionate little guy. Our humane society is a really caring place and a nice interim facility for all of the critters who don't have homes. If you are looking for a companion, definitely adopt from your local shelter or humane society!!!

Anyway, one of the events they have every month is called Furry Friday which is an open house to view their animals, and in addition they feature a local artist. Last month they featured the artist Mark Mays who creates sculptures from found and recycled items. Take a look at these awesome little robot creations!
I would love to have Mr. Mays come into my classroom to talk to my kids!

See if you can identify all of the stuff Mays has used to build these scuptures...

Apples, apples, apples!!

2010-04-27T22:41:00.017-04:00

My 5th graders finished the planets in outerspace lesson, where they had to shade circles so they gave the illusion of being 3 dimensional spheres and glue them onto a paint splattered background. While they were completing this, I got to thinking, wouldn't it be nice if they could apply their new found knowledge of shading to a totally different subject? I hadn't yet taught them a still life lesson, so I thought, no time like the present!
As students were finishing up, I gave them a 1/2 sheet of paper. I instructed them to draw an apple, the best they could, trying to make it look as realistic as they could. I told them not to stress over this, but to see if they could apply their new skills by drawing an apple from their imagination. We called this their 'before' picture.

The following week, after everyone finished their outerspace pics, I handed out photographs of apples that I had taken. I altered the photos a little in photoshop to show better the distinctions of light and dark. I also handed out worksheets with a pre-drawn apple that had guidelines drawn inside to indicate the different light and dark areas. I asked them to carefully observe the photograph of apples to see how the light hit the surface, where the reflected light was, where the core shadow was, etc.

The last step of this project was of course to draw the real deal!

Pairs of students each got an apple on a plate that they had to draw using oil pastels and then finishing off with water color. Some of the students struggled, and I reminded them that this was their very first still life... relax and enjoy the drawing process! Some of the beautiful results are below. I told my students that they could use their imagination for the backgrounds and the tables that the apples sat on. They did not let me down!

Sea Glass and Sea shell jewelry

2010-04-24T22:12:00.004-04:00

My daughter asked if we could make some jewelry today.. I pulled out some of my tools and wire and an assortment of beads, sea shells, and sea glass and the results were quite nice. It got me thinking that this would be a great lesson for middle or high school aged students. My daughter is 11 and she did pretty good with some guided instruction. (I love having a daughter in 6th grade! She helps me test new lessons and gauge age appropriateness!) The tools needed are few (a pair of wire cutters and needle nose pliers, preferably smooth tipped) and the supplies are easy to come by and relatively inexpensive. I know that a bag of sea glass is under $5.00 at my local craft store and this bag will easily supply a class full of kids. I bought the wire (24 gauge) at Wal Mart and I think it was under $2.00 and 2 rolls of this will easily supply a class. Beads are pretty cheap also, and you can use most anything for the cording.

I have an assortment of pliers, but you can get away with just the 2 I mentioned for beginning projects. With very basic wire wrapping techniques, you can produce some very attractive jewelry. The skills learned include proper and safe use of tools, designing personalized pieces of jewelry, and learning about new materials. You could easily include a power point that gives some history about jewelry making, information on contemporary jewelry crafters and discuss jewelry making as an art form.

When I try this lesson with my students, I will post pictures of their creations!

Gridded Portraits

2010-04-23T15:40:00.006-04:00

I have been teaching this lesson to my 6th graders and they are finally in the home stretch! If I had it to do it over, I would not teach this to 6th graders, but would wait perhaps for 8th or 9th grade when the students have more skills and maturity (and patience). That said, here are some of the results thus far. For those who don't know, drawing from a grid is a great way to enlarge an image and create realistic looking art work with correct proportions. I introduced this project by showing artwork by Chuck Close, the popular artist who works from a grid and creates very large, photo realistic portraits.

I started by taking the student's pictures in a carefully lit room (light coming only from one direction) Then I put each picture in Photoshop, and I adjusted the brightness/contrast, desaturated it, and reduced the number of values to 4 by using the Cutout filter. This gave the students a simplistic portrait of themselves to work from. After printing out the photos on 4 inch x 6 inch paper, each student attached a piece of acetate to the photo and created a 1/2 inch grid on top of the entire photo. Then on a piece of 8 inch x12 inch paper, they created a 1 inch grid. There was a lot of demonstration and one on one explanation on how to create a grid using a ruler (which was surprising, but a learning experience for me... I realized that 6th graders don't have a lot of practice using a ruler, so this was a great lesson to teach some basic measuring and drawing skills) Then the important thing to stress (over and over) is that the key to creating a drawing using a grid is to only look at each individual square as you are drawing. If you attempt to reacreate the image by looking at the picture as a whole, you won't achieve the same results. This by far was the most difficult obstacle for most of the students to over come, as they had never approached drawing in this way before. I will post more of the final results as the students finish, but for now, here are a few that are turning out pretty well!

Celebrating Earth Day

2010-04-22T19:11:00.004-04:00

Let there be peace on Earth.. and let us all recognize the importance of Earth day every day... On this day, Earth day, my 1st graders and I talked about the origins of Earth day, and all of the things on our beautiful planet that need protection. We talked about what people can do to help keep our planet clean and protect all the creatures that live here. Then we created these pictures (I was inspired by a posting on artsonia) to celebrate our earth and serve as a reminder that the future of our planet is in our hands.

First, trace a large circle on a square piece of black paper. Then trace your hand 4 time on the sides of the paper. Draw in some continent shapes (also a good time to discuss what a continent is, because 2nd graders don't really know) My first class used oil pastels, which gave nice results, but then my second class got out their crayola twistables and I have to say, these worked even better and didn't get all over the kids hands. Regardless, the results are beautiful.

Happy Earth Day!

Alien Names

2010-04-22T18:57:00.002-04:00

If you have a class that you need a 'filler' activity, or have some students who finish a project early, this lesson works well. Particularly for second graders who are just learning to write in cursive...

To create these name aliens, first fold a piece of paper in half length wise (we call this the hot dog fold). Write your name in cursive, using oil pastel, along the folded edge. Make sure the bottoms of your letters touch the fold. After writing your name, fold the paper in half so your name is now on the inside of the paper. Using the back of a spoon or the handle of a pair of scissors (something hard and smooth) rub the paper to transfer your name to the other side of the fold. When you open the paper, you will see a light mirror image of your name. Go over this with the oil pastel to darken the lines. When you turn your paper 90 degrees, the image looks like a strange alien!

Now students can fill in and add details to their alien using markers or crayons. 2nd graders have no problem letting their imaginations run wild, and come up with some really amazing results!

Numbers, numbers, numbers!

2010-04-21T08:37:00.005-04:00

This was a super fun lesson that lasted exactly one 45 minute period! It is a great lesson to reinforce kindergartener's new knowledge of number writing and counting, introduces Jasper Johns and Pop Art and is a nice watercolor, oil pastel resist project.

When the kinders got settled, I showed the some Jasper Johns paintings and talked about how some artists use every day or 'popular' themes to create their artwork. Some of the images you might want to share are Map , 1971 by Jasper Johns and Numbers in Color, 1958-59 also by Jasper Johns. Another good one to share is 0 through 9. This image inspired a lot of conversation and the children were excited to try to find all of the numbers in the painting.

The project consists of the students first writing their numbers on a large sheet of white drawing paper. The trick is they must write one 1, two 2's, three 3's and so on up to 10. This was fun for them. Encourage them to use different colors for different numbers and turn their paper. Tell them they will be writing 55 numbers total so they must not write huge (as some kinders love to do!)
After they have finished this, get out the water colors and let them paint their papers however they like. And they are done! I think they look nice mounted on a piece of construction paper after they have dried. Have fun!

Nightime sky line

2010-04-15T23:37:00.005-04:00

Kinders Studying Architecture! This is a great lesson to practice cutting skills while at the same time teach a little about what a sky line is and the different shapes of buildings. Students start by painting their backgrounds, then cut their buildings. This takes them to the end of a 45 minute period. The following week they glue their buildings to the background and add windows. Lots of fun with beautiful results!

'Silhouettes'

2010-04-15T23:18:00.003-04:00

My first graders just finished creating their "Cityline Silhouettes" and I wanted to follow up this lesson by teaching a one day lesson about the traditional folk art known as 'Silhouettes'. I created a short Power Point that showed several images of traditional silhouettes (side view images of a girl's head, the side view of a man's head, etc.) We talked about how this form of art was more popular prior to the invention of the camera because it was widely used as a form of portraiture. Now artists create silhouettes as a form of folk art, and many artists have updated this artform to include non traditional colors and subject matter. After the slide show, my students created these great silhouettes by tracing some pre made tracers that I made (gathered from images at this website) and then they chose background paper from a selection of great animal print paper that I have (you can get this paper through supply stores like Dick Blick and Sax). They mounted all of this on construction paper, and then once again on a black background for a very finished look. All in one period!

The Scream

2010-04-15T23:04:00.003-04:00

3rd graders studied Edvard Munch, the expressionist painter who created the famous painting "The Scream" (several versions, actually) My art room luckily has an issue of scholastic art that focuses on this artist and we spent 1/2 a period reading about Munch and his life, as well as his artwork. Then we looked at a reproduction of "The Scream" and discussed what this painting was about and how Munch was trying to express intense emotion through is art. While this was happening, the students were being called out of the room to have their pictures taken, in the classic pose of the man in the painting. These were printed off by our computer tech lady. Then the students began to create their own version of the scream, first by painting the background. (See the first picture above) After this dried, they added the board walk in the lower left corner and then details using chalk pastel. The last step was to glue their pictures to the picture in the appropriate location. These were a real hit with the students!

Pretty Peacocks

2010-04-15T22:51:00.003-04:00

Kindergarteners spent 2 classes creating these cute peacocks. I know I found this lesson on another art teacher's blog, but I can't remember who's at the moment. Thank you!
The first day, I showed the kinders several pictures of peacocks. We talked about the colors in their feathers and how the male is the one who is most colorful. Then they painted. Using 3 different sized sponges cut into circle shapes, they stamped the colors of the upper tail feathers in an upside down U. Then I went around and painted the sides of their hands blue and they stamped their hand at the bottom of the paper for the peacock's body. The following week, they were able to finish their peacocks by adding chalk pastel details for the feathers and the peacock's feet. This project was so successful I had several parents tell me they had their child's picture framed!

Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel

2010-04-15T22:41:00.002-04:00

1st graders had so much fun in this one day lesson where they learned about Michelangelo and his painting of the Sistine Chapel. First I showed the students many images of the Sistine chapel while talking about when it was painted, where it is, the general subject matter, etc. Then I described how Michelangelo painted the frescos, often while laying on his back, up on scaffolding. The students were then given coloring sheets that depict the hands of God and Adam about to touch (you know the image...) and they had to tape them to the bottom of their tables and lay on their backs to color them in! Afterwards, they cut out the image, glued them to a piece of construction paper and wrote some pertinent information around the image. Great hands on lesson that teaches on many levels!

Fall Leaf Frottages

2010-04-14T22:54:00.004-04:00

Many art rooms have some type of texture plates that students can make rubbings from. There are all kinds of possibilities and here are 3 different ways to use them. I did these lessons in the fall, when leaves are top of the list. It is also a good ice breaker for getting back into school.

The top leaves were done by my 1st graders. They traced leaf shapes from leaf tracers, then used the rubbing plates to create texture and color. After cutting out the leaves they glued them onto some gold paper, cut this out leaving a border. They repeated this step choosing a color paper of their choice. Finally they punched holes all the way around and laced yarn around their leaves. The final results are quite nice.

These leaves were done by my 2nd graders. I did a guided drawing of how to draw a leaf. After drawing the leaf, the students divided the backgrounds and added lines inside their leaves. Their job was then to use different colors in the different sections, using warm colors in the leaves and cool colors in the background.

This last project was done with my 3rd graders. They traced leaves on a large piece of paper while over lapping some of the leaves and making sure that some of the leaves went off the side of the paper. We talked about composition. Then the students colored the leaves in using the texture plates. In all of the lessons we talked about how this technique is called frottage.

Tissue paper flowers

2010-04-14T22:22:00.005-04:00

I have seen tons of lessons that use tissue paper so I decided to have a go at it with my 2nd graders. After all, Eric Carle and all of his beautiful art work is hard to argue with. To be honest, this lesson was a learning experience for me as much as it was for my 2nd graders. Initially, I instructed them to simply begin tearing out shapes from tissue paper in the general shape of a flower and 'glue' the shapes down with liquid starch. This proved to be kind of confusing to many of my students, however. They had difficulty visualizing the shapes needed and many of them wound up pasting down squares of tissue in no particular shape.

I didn't want to give up, so the following week I drew some basic flowers up on the black board and told the students that they should draw their flowers first, making sure they fill their page. It was a whole new lesson! The students added the tissue paper like pros and came up with some beautiful flowers!

After the flowers dried, the students cut them out. They chose a color of construction paper and I gave them oil pastels to create patterns and decorations on their paper. They glued their flowers on the paper with elmers and Ta Da! Bright, beautiful, colorful flowers!

Printmaking with kinders

2010-04-14T21:57:00.011-04:00

While kindergardeners and paint ofte creates an atmosphere of complete chaos, the results are worth it in the end...

I wanted to introduce kindergarteners to printmaking so I came up with this cute lesson where the students use found objects as the printing 'plates'. I collected a bunch of recyclables (bottle caps of all sizes) corks, forks, and pencils with flat erasers. I gave a brief demonstration on how to dip the items in thin layers of paint and then stamp them on to their paper. I talked about using a variety of sizes and how to use their forks to make the grass. As a final step they dipped thier thumbs into some red paint that I dispensed and they stamped as many lady bugs as they could with one dip.

I let these dry and in the next class the students added final details with crayons, namely spots on their lady bugs, stems on their flowers and extra petals on the flowers if desired. Some students chose to add some bumble bees to their picture. We talked about what a lady bug looks like and how many legs they have.

The last step was to add a pre printed poem that I found on the net about lady bugs.

Free Printable Zoetrope!

2010-04-11T00:45:00.003-04:00

This is a link to a website that gives a free printable zoetrope.

http://www.slideshare.net/grantthomasonline/free-printable-edweard-muybridge-zoetrope

From wikipedia... "A zoetrope is a device that produces and illusion of action from a rapid succession of static pictures. The term zoetrope is from the Greek word "life" and "turn". It may be taken to mean "wheel of life.

3rd grade fundraiser project

2010-04-11T00:11:00.005-04:00

This was a project I helped out with for the spring gala, the annual fundraiser at St. Ignatius. I think it turned out rather nice!

All of the students traced their hands on grid paper. Then they colored them in with colored pencils by shading only one half of each square. They drew a diagonal line in each square and filled in the bottom portion. This was actually a great project for 3rd graders because it was challenging enough and required attention to detail and concentration. A mother of one of the children in the class finished the project by arranging the hands in a frame and created the blue background using the same method as I described above, inserting the poem and framing it.

2010-04-10T23:58:00.004-04:00

I am planning a lesson on graffiti and street art. Below is a sketch of a variation on my name in tag form.
I was planning a lesson on printmaking. These prints were made using recycled styrofoam meat trays that were "engraved" with the image using a blunt pencil.

2010-04-10T23:43:00.004-04:00

Here are a variety of sketches and collages, some ideas for lessons, etc...

A Tattoo I designed for my sister...

Sketching

2010-04-10T23:22:00.004-04:00

I've decided to start posting some pages from my sketch books. Artists use sketchbooks as a way of working out ideas. Sometimes, sketching is all I can spare the time for with my busy schedule! But make no mistake, sketching is an important part of every artist's work.
You can do anything in a sketchbook, use any medium, try new ideas. Sketching is your place to experiment with your inner most creativity...

Watercolors

2010-04-08T23:03:00.004-04:00

I try to work on my own artwork whenever I get a chance. Going back to school to become certified to teach art and being a mom of 2 busy children doesn't always allow me to create personal pieces, but below are several of my most recent water color paintings.

Altered Books and Found Poetry

2010-04-08T20:43:00.005-04:00

Middle school is such a tenuous age when students are searching for identity, want to express themselves, yet find it difficult to do. This lesson is a wonderful way for middle grade students (and highschoolers as well) to find an outlet. It combines the concept of altered books with poetry, which seems to come naturally to many students this age.

The thing you need in quantity are lots of discarded books. This could be easier than you think. As I used to be a librarian, I know that many books are often discarded after they have sat in the book sale area for too long, or when the used book donations people make to the library are too musty to store. My library donated hundreds of books for this project and believe me, they had thousands more where they came from.

You could take this lesson as far as you like, but when I taught it, I only had one period (I participated in an "art day" in Bethlehem, where the students had art for an entire day, and rotated around the school to different rooms participating in many different lessons. A cool idea in itself!) Here is basically how I taught my lesson:

I showed a power point with many examples of altered books. There are so many things that you can do and I will not go into all of them here. What I focused on was how you can use the text in the book to 'find' poetry. Basically the students scanned the text for words or phrases that stood out to them. They circled or underlined these words. Then, using oil pastels, they colored in/drew pictures around these words so that only those chosen words were visible, or highlighted. The images that they drew, colors they chose etc. were related to the 'found poetry' they had highlighted. This was the lesson I taught. As I said, you could easily extend this lesson where students could keep their book as a journal, a project they work on periodically throughout the year, something they add to, subtract from, etc. I was told by many of the students that this lesson was one of their favorites of the day. This tells me that it was perfect for this age group. They came up with some pretty intense material!

k

City Line Silhouette

2010-04-08T19:46:00.003-04:00

1st graders learned what a silhouette is while they looked at pictures of afternoon sunsets. After painting a watercolor wash on 12 x 18 paper, they cut out rectangles from black construction paper and glued them down. Then they learned how to make symmetrical shapes by folding smaller rectangles in half and cutting the sides. I encouraged them to create many different shapes for their roofs as sky scrapers are different all over the world. Lastly they added windows in their buildings to finish them off.

Ink blown Greeting Cards

2010-04-05T14:19:00.004-04:00

My school has an annual fundraiser called the the Spring Gala where artwork created by students is auctioned off (and usually brings a pretty penny) I have had parent volunteers coming in, soliciting my help with this. It is something fun and different because in most cases the students are working on small pieces of a bigger, final piece (such as a mosaic) This project came into being almost accidentally when a mom came to me and said "I had this project planned out and then the mom donating the materials only gave me the card stock. We were supposed to be creating hand stamped greeting cards... What can we do?" I remembered learning about a cool technique where you drip puddles of india ink on your paper, then blow through a drinking straw to manipulate and move the ink around. We decided that this could be a nice look and went for it. First I had the students use a water color wash technique to create a hand painted background. After the cards dried (over the course of the week) they came back and finished off the details with the india ink. It really is as simple as it sounds. The 6th graders were thrilled to be doing something that feels spontaneous and is undoubtably kind of messy and the results are very Jackson Pollack and abstract. Hopefully they will bring the school a nice donation!

Of course you could alter this lesson to create a bigger painting - I have seen very nice tree paintings done this way, where the students go in after the india ink has dried and added leaves and blossoms with additional water color.

Seeing in 3d

2010-04-05T14:07:00.004-04:00

Planets in Space!

I used this lesson as an introductory lesson to teaching students some key components of creating the illusion of form on a two dimensional surface. My fifth graders were learning about space in science so I thought this was a great way to make those all important interdisciplinary connections! First I brought in a portable clip on light and a playground ball. I turned off the lights in the room (which is always so exciting to students?!) and shown the clip on light onto the ball so students could observe clearly how light is reflected off of a sphere. We talked about core the highlighted area, the core shadow and the reflected light on the opposite side of the highlight. Then I demonstrated how to create this effect on cut out circles using chalk pastels. When glued onto a splatter painted background the results are quite nice!

My next lesson will be for the students to actually draw from life - probably a plate of apples and pears, using the new found skills and knowledge they gained from this lesson!

The other key thing to remember is that all of the planets have to be positioned so the light highlighted areas are facing the same direction.

Books I have read

2010-04-05T11:00:00.002-04:00

Books you might want to add to your art teacher book shelf

Following is a list of useful books for the art teacher and/or for enhancing your curriculum. They are in no particular order and I will try to describe them as best as possible.

How to organize and manage your art room by Charles W. Comstock Jr.

Really good resource that covers all aspects of one teachers method for organizing all aspects of your art classroom. As he states, you learn lots of practical info in college about behavior, child psychology and take lots of studio classes, it is rare to learn about how to organize your classroom. This guy breaks it down into the method he has been using successfully for years. I give it

The annotated Mona Lisa: a crash course in art history from prehistoric to post-modern, by Carol Strickland

If you are looking to hone up on your art history knowledge quickly and painlessly, this might be a good place to start. The product description from Amazon says this: A layman's guide to art history free from bogged down, convoluted theories provides the reader with a basic working knowledge of art and its influence on society, from ancient times to today.

Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes

This book gives a method for teaching anyone (children and adults alike) how to draw by seeing things as made up of a combination of the 5 basic elements of shape as defined by the author. I think this book and method are useful, particularly if you have students with no background in drawing, or are hesitant because they think they can't draw. I do think this method has some limitations, however and could use personalization and certain additions.

Free stuff

2010-04-05T00:52:00.005-04:00

Free stuff is great, especially for teachers.

I found this link to a great website that offers free images that are great for educational purposes

http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/

Have Fun!

http://karenswhimsy.com/public-domain-images/
Another site with tons of free images. Also has an ongoing altered book project with lots of images of this as well!

Terrific Tessellations

2010-03-28T13:38:00.004-04:00

I taught this tessellation lesson to my 4th graders and what a success. I don't know if I would teach it to a younger grade, but 4th seemed to be perfect! I found lots of amazing information on tessellations at this incredible website - www.tessellations.org

I used the method descibed on this page - http://www.tessellations.org/diy-papercut.htm and used the advice of labeling the pieces with NW, NE, SW, SE. The only addition to this advice I would give is that when the students draw their lines on their squares, they go from one side to the other, but not into the corners. Going into the corners doesn't work so well.
The students were amazed at the results and came up with some pretty fantastic and imaginative tessellations!

Great math interdisciplinary connection!

Value Butterflies

2010-03-28T13:21:00.004-04:00

2nd Graders learned all about the element of art VALUE. I made up a poster that had value vocabulary: Tint, Shade, Tone, Hue, Value scale. We also looked at different art prints and discussed how artists use value to create contrast and volume in their artwork. They then created these great butterflies using the principles of symmetry and painting in the different shapes with different values of one hue.

Mask making and identity

2010-03-28T12:55:00.010-04:00

My 8th graders created masks as a way to explore their identity. They were given pre-made masks (paper forms) that they were then allowed to decorate/enhance /adorn/alter with whatever materials were available or materials they brought in from home. The masks were also hot glued onto a cardboard backing which they were to use as a continuation of their mask. They could leave the backing in a rectangular shape, or they could cut it to reflect the theme of their mask. They were told to think about their interests and aspects of their personality that make them who they are. Just a note, this is hard for some students and they need gentle guidance to help them discover what their likes and dislikes are. There are, of course, many mask images available on the net to help spark students imagination as well.

As an extension to this lesson, the students were required to write a poem about their mask using one of 3 different poetry styles: cinquain, acrostic or haiku. I wanted the students to write poems because as they were working on their masks, I learned things about the students that I otherwise wouldn't have known. Just viewing the finished mask, people may not know what the student's different symbolism and use of material stands for. The poems add another layer of meaning to the masks. I also found that the poetry helped the students themselves better understand what they were trying to accomplish with their masks as well. The students were required to write their final poem in calligraphy. The above picture shows a finished mask with her finished poem, an acrostic which spells BUG. As an interdisciplinary connection, this one is tops!

Kindergarten Shape trains

2010-03-22T09:52:00.002-04:00

Kindergarteners have been very busy! We spent 2 classes learning all about line and contour lines. Then we moved on to learning about shape and how artists use shape and line together to create great art! To put it all together, my kinders created these awesome shape trains out of pre-cut circles, rectangles, squares and triangles. To finish their pictures off, they added details using their new found drawing skills and different kinds of lines. The result are some pretty awesome shape trains!

Alternative painting heart bouqet collages!

2010-03-22T09:42:00.003-04:00

3rd graders studied many different aspects of art in this lesson. First they painted white paper with red and white tempera using things like bubble wrap, tooth brushes, combs and sponges. After the paint dried, students cut hearts and vases and glued them down on large white paper. Then they added details with oil pastel. Voila! Beautiful Heart Bouqet Collages!

Kandinsky and Music!

2010-03-22T09:32:00.002-04:00

First graders are in love with abstract art!

My 1st graders just got finished studying the artist Wassily Kandinsky. He was an abstract artist who created art during the 20th century. Kandinsky was also a musician and had great appreciation for music. He related music to abstract art because just like music, abstract art is an interpretation of reality, not a direct representation. My first graders got a kick out of making their oil pastel drawings while listening to a variety of different musical styles. They then painted over their pictures with water color and oohed and ahhed over the wax resist effects.

Molas

2010-03-22T09:04:00.003-04:00

Molas are a traditional artform of the Kuna people of Panama. My fourth graders recently studied Molas and then made their own version of them by layering different clors of construcion paper and arranging shapes on a background. This lesson is great because students need to understand symmetry, composition, have excellent cutting skills, think about their use of color and they learn about another culture and their traditional crafts.

Foreshortening

2010-03-04T22:07:00.010-05:00

I taught this lesson to my 5th graders. I have to say it is an absolutely fabulous lesson that every student enjoyed and got a lot out of. I started with a short powerpoint that showed some clear examples of foreshortening. The students trace their hands and feet, then add the body and. head as shown. I talked alot about how when you draw your arm forshortened, you might not be able to see very much of it. I also stressed that the hands and feet should visually appear larger because of the effect of foreshortening. You definitely need large format paper (at least 24 x 30), preferably good quality, because in the second part of the lesson the students use water color to finish their pictures off. Look at the wonderful results below!

Materials list:
large format paper(one per student), pencils, sharpie markers (to trace over the pencil lines), watercolor paint, paint brushes.

Wax resist kinder sheep

2010-02-21T12:24:00.003-05:00

Materials:

Crayons in white, black, brown and green
Good white drawing paper
liquid water color in blue and green
Sheep coloring page

It is sometimes hard to come up with age appropriate lessons for kindergardeners. They are still learning basic skills and need a lot more time to complete different tasks. My advice is to break the lessons down into it's base components and allow the students to do only one or two things per class. This is a lesson designed to teach students about line, particularly 'bumpy' lines, (the sheep's wool) and about water color and wax resist. The first lesson was spent guiding the students in how to draw a sheep with a little bit of a background. They were given only 4 colors of crayons to draw the sheep, grass, clouds (which were not visible until they water colored over them) and a brown fence if they wanted. This was the first class. We had about 15 minutes left in the end of the class. I had a sheep coloring page with text at the bottom. We reviewed the text and then the students colored their sheep for the remainder of the class.
I forgot to mention that I began the whole lesson by reading the book "Sheep in a jeep" by Nancy Shaw and illustrated by Margot Apple. We talked about rhymeing words while reading and laughing about the sheep and their adventures.
Anyway, during the second class, the kinders painted in the two colors, which took very little time for them and a lot of time for me to prep and clean up. But it is worth the effort for the students to be able to experience painting and colorful results. For the remainder of this class, I handed out lined paper for the students to copy the text written at the bottom of the coloring page. All in all this lesson had many aspects that were tied together by... SHEEP! Look at the cute creations below...

Positive Negative Vases

2010-02-21T11:41:00.005-05:00

This is a lesson I got from another great art teacher website http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/. I taught it to my 2nd graders and it was a big success. First we looked at some artwork that showed examples of positive and negative space (Edward Hopper's House by the train tracks, a photo portrait of Abe Lincoln and others) and discussed what positive and negative space is. Then we did this project. For full instructions, click here. Below are pictures of the happy students and their artwork!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2010-02-18T15:02:00.003-05:00

I havn't posted for awhile. It is amazing how time flies when you are having fun. Teaching is such a wonderful job. It is satisfying to see my students excel, challenging to figure out the best way to teach a lesson, challenging also to try to remember everyone's names!, and so rewarding when a lesson I've taught is successful. I am grateful to be here, teaching k-8, learning so much about different age levels, differernt personalities, learning styles, classes, likes and dislikes and sooooo much more! I will post some pictures of recent projects I have completed or am in the process of teaching to my students soon! We have some good ones!

Geodesic Domes!

2010-01-31T14:13:00.004-05:00

I have taught a lesson on geodesic domes to 6th graders and to 8th graders. I have taught it in several different ways... Where they simply created them out of recycled copy paper... all the way to where they were required to creatively cover them with materials of their choice. At the school I am long term subbing at right now, the 6th graders painted them and we decided to create an installation with all of them stacked together. The display is impressive and I think it will make an impact with students and teachers alike. Below is a picture of the installation with a student who helped me to put it all together.

To see more images of this project along with the entire lesson plan, click here. This link takes you to my other blog where incidentally, I have complete lesson plans for several other upper level projects.

Crayon resist Snowmen and cut Snowflakes

2010-01-31T13:57:00.003-05:00

Here is a simple lesson for first grade. Students drew a snowy scene with crayons. They were to include a snowman and a horizon line. They could add other details such as the sun, a house or some trees. Then with liquid watercolor, they painted in the sky and their details. I only gave them blue and yellow paint so they didn't end up with 'mud'. After their pictures dried, I mounted them on paper of their choice and they cut out snowflakes. At this age, most of them had never cut a snowflake before, so this was exciting for them as well. They then glued their snowflakes to the bottom of their pictures to finish them off. The results are quite nice!

Kindergarten hot air balloons

2010-01-31T13:20:00.004-05:00

I decided to go back to my roots and teach a lesson using a children's picture book as a starting point. Children's picture books offer a wealth of great imagery. They also help to spark the imagination of young minds. Hot air balloons are exciting for young children (and adults as well!) plus they offer the opportunity for kids to learn about shapes. I read the book Hot Air: the (mostly) true story of the first hot-air balloon ride by Marjorie Priceman, which won the Caldacott award for illustrations. It is appropriate for the very young and there are many lessons which could be developed from it. See the pictures below of my kindergartener's awesome hot air balloons that they made!

Students had to trace a circle template and draw a rectangle free hand. They then colored in their hot air balloons however they wished with markers. After this they cut out the circle and retangle. I had pre-cut a strips of colored paper (about 1/2" x 5") which I then helped the students tape to the back of their shapes as the ropes. It was a one day quickie project that the kinders loved!

Toilet Paper Rolls?

2010-01-19T23:29:00.004-05:00

Remember making crafts in preschool with empty toilet paper rolls? I bet you're thinking... How tacky.... Well...
Look at this!

http://www.geekologie.com/2009/08/paper_art_toilet_paper_roll_fa.php

"Junior Fritz Jacquet is an artist that loves working with paper and has created a series of small masks by bending and folding empty toilet paper rolls"

This is amazing and could definitely be developed into a lesson for upper level art classes... Just wanted to share!

Sumo Paint Online graphic program!

2010-01-19T13:57:00.003-05:00

Wow, have you seen this online graphics program? I haven't fully investigated it yet, but it appears to be a fully functioning, free program that combines some of the tools and aspects of Photoshop and Corel Paint!

http://www.sumopaint.com/home/

Tessellation website

2010-01-17T17:59:00.004-05:00

I am researching a lesson on tessellations. The 4th grade math teacher at the school I am long term subbing at asked if I would please do a lesson on tessellations with her students because she never can seem to fit it into her curriculum. Of Course! Here is one of the best, most comprehensive sites I have found on the web so far. Do take a look.
There are lots of images, how tos, galleries, history, M.C. Escher biography, and more!

1971 Escher solves Roger Penrose's puzzle

http://www.tessellations.org/

MoMA interactive activity for kids (and big people too!)

2010-01-14T10:29:00.003-05:00

This is a really cool interactive site put out by the MoMA. While a little alien guy takes you on a tour of the MoMA you can view artwork, learn about the artist, try your hand at creating art and get ideas for making art at home or the classroom. It would be neat if this could be utilized in the classroom. I'm not sure if it would be beneficial as something the teacher presented to the whole class via a smart board or not, but if your students have access to computers, try this out!

http://www.moma.org/interactives/destination/destination.html

Getty Resource

2010-01-11T13:09:00.005-05:00

The Getty, a museum and educational facility in Los Angeles, California has a great website to explore with tons of images, lots of information and great resources for art teachers. It also has complete lesson plans with images, handouts, worksheet and assessments. If you want thorough, well thought out, highly inclusive lessons for your art program, look no further!

http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroom_resources/index.html

Head with Horns, Paul Gauguin, 1895–1897

Click on the picture above to go to the website.

Starting New Job

2010-01-10T12:52:00.003-05:00

I will be starting a long term sub position on January 25th at St. Ignatius elementary school. I will be teaching grades k-8 (!) for about 8 weeks. I am excited and have begun the process of lesson planning. The 2 hardest grades for me to create lessons for are kindergarten and 8th grade. Isn't that funny? I think its because Kindergarteners still are learning basic skills and you have to make lessons that focus on this. And the 8th graders in this school are at the point where they don't want to be there anymore and it is the teachers responsibility to hyper motivate them and show them that there still are new and wonderous things to experience in art class. The budget at this school is low and the classroom is small with relatively large class sizes so you really have to be creative concerning all of these issues. Another great site that gives hundreds of ideas appropriate for very young children and incorporates children's literature is http://www.thebestkidsbooksite.com/

I used to reference this site all of the time when I was a children's librarian and was planning storytimes. It is absolutely fabulous! But again, the ideas are really for the very youngest of children as they tend to be crafty.

I am planning on incorporating lessons on the Winter Olympics, Chinese New Year, Valentines Day, Canada, Pennsylvania folk art (since that is where I live), still life painting, elements and principles, Aboriginal art, weaving, foreshortening and batik. This should take me through the first month if not more because I will be finishing up lessons that the art teacher who is there now is teaching. I will definitely post the kids artwork as they complete their masterpieces.

Links to Art teacher websites

2010-01-05T21:48:00.023-05:00

I will post from time to time particularly special links to other art teacher websites. Here are a few that I know of now.

http://techyteacher.net/artlessons.html
Wow with the sheer volume of lesson ideas listed on this site!

http://deepspacesparkle.blogspot.com/
Many of you may already know this incredibly comprehensive site dedicated to art lessons grades k-6. This woman is incredible!

http://www.artsonia.com/
Online student art gallery. Post your student's work here for the world to admire!

http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/
Self proclaimed - The incredible art department... and it is.

http://www.art-rageous.net/Art-Plans.html
Great site with upper level art lessons

http://linesdotsanddoodles.blogspot.com/
Another neato art teacher blog

http://www.kinderart.com/
Wow. Many ideas for lessons in art, art history, many grade levels and more!

http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/
Many, Many lessons for grades 0-5. Well organized with links to other useful art stuff.

http://www.beacy.wa.edu.au/art/art.htm
See some great artworks and creative ideas grades 1-6

http://www.funartlessons.com/
Lessons for middle school age kids
Complete resources along with powerpoints, worksheets etc. (some of it is for a small fee and some of it is free.) All in all, great ideas and great site

http://artintegrity.wordpress.com/
This site has thorough lessons that give you step by step instructions on many topics!

http://www.taospaint.com/LessonIndex.html
Middle school lesson plans from Woody's lesson plan page

http://studiofoundationspring09.blogspot.com/
I don't know how long this blog will be up since it is class specific, but there are tons of great ideas for an upper level foundations class. It is actually a class blog where the students were required to post according to assignments. Many cool things to think about.

http://blog.grantthomasonline.com/
This blog has a little bit of everything and a lot of art history. If you need information on Caravaggio or Donatello, this is the place for you. Also has links to cool stuff and lesson for different grade levels.

http://artjunction.org/blog/

This website give updated listings of ideas and tools for people who teach art in our digital world.

http://theartclassroom.wordpress.com/
For high school art teachers, this blog shows the day to day workings of an upper level art classroom. Pretty in depth and deals with up to the minute technology and ideas.

http://kidsartists.blogspot.com/
Just found this today. It is described as a site with school tested lessons for the arts and crafts courses. O.K...!

http://artwithmre.blogspot.com/
Everything art: Art ed, art news, art reviews, art supplies and more!

http://artolazzi.blogspot.com/
Wisconsin elementary art teacher (grades 1-5) who posts lessons and has many links to other art teacher websites.

http://elementaryartfun.blogspot.com/
Very detailed lessons, quite sensational art projects...

http://onecrayolashort.blogspot.com/
Nice, original lessons designed for 45 minute class periods

http://artteacheradventures.blogspot.com/
Blog of a first year art teacher. Nice projects for elementary students

http://artlessonsforkids.wordpress.com/
Inspiration for teachers, parents and anyone who loves art!

http://artiswhatiteach.blogspot.com/
Art inspirations for elementary and special needs students

http://kaiteweymouth.blogspot.com/
A Nice art teacher blog with good descriptions and lots of pictures of student work

http://artclassworks.blogspot.com/
Art teacher blog with many links to sites and other blogs that are helpful for art educators

Really big Bulletin Boards

2010-01-05T19:48:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I volunteered with a friend of mine to put up bulletin boards in my daughters elementary school. The boards are approx. 11feet x 8 feet (really big!) and we had to cover them with flowy imagery reminiscent of the stuff on the 2010 Olympic web site. It was a challenge, but definitely a lot of fun! Working big is the way to go!

The boards are in conjunction with a visiting artist that is coming to the school. She will be creating musical instruments with the children and they will then make music to the "Olympic Rhythms" of the athletes. I don't quite get how they will do this yet, but it sounds interesting.

The art teacher is having the students make large drawings of the different athletic figures of the winter olympics (e.g. figure skaters, hockey players, skiiers etc.) and these will then be attached to the boards. I will post pictures of these as they are completed.

Radial Design Printmaking

2010-01-03T23:40:00.008-05:00

8th Grade students designed plates using the principles of radial design. Below are some of the fabulous prints they made!
They saw a brief powerpoint that showed images of relief printmaking and made the connection between relief printmaking and the printing press. Then they sketched ideas for their plates which had to be only a quarter of the final image. We discussed safe carving techniques and used a great material called ez carve. I think Dick Blick sells it. Another big aspect of the lesson included maintaining a clean work area to enable the students to create clean prints. They were required to hand in 5 clean prints in a variety of inks and on different paper.

My family

2010-01-03T23:21:00.005-05:00

I am married and have two lovely children. I also have a Jack Russell Terrier named Ali.
Here are some pictures of them.

Leaf faces

2010-01-03T18:25:00.005-05:00

8th grade students created "green men" out of clay. The object was to try to create facial features on slab of clay that they shaped into leaves. I taught them different methods of building the face up such as adding cheeks, eyelids, noses etc. This lesson was a preface to the gargoyle project. It helped students work through problem solving and get practice working with clay before tackling a more 3 dimensional project.

Haunted Gingerbread Houses

2010-01-03T18:08:00.005-05:00

This was a collaborative
project for grades 7 and 8.
The students were given
boxes, graham crackers,
royal icing dyed orange
and purple and an assortment
of candy. They had to work
together as a team to create
a haunted house. Most of
the students said it was
by far the best art project
they ever made!

Weaving on a Straw Loom

2010-01-02T22:57:00.007-05:00

Weaving on a Straw Loom

Overview:
Lesson Summary: Students will learn about and view different types of woven fabrics. They will learn about different ways of weaving. Students will then create their own weaving using a straw loom and assorted fibers.
Artworks/artefacts: Examples of Kente cloth from the Asante peoples of Ghana, Africa.
Examples of contemporary weavings.

Key Concepts:

Artists study the past and other cultures to gain inspiration for their artwork
Artists study artistic traditions, or customary ways of making artwork
Artists continue traditions by making artwork in traditional ways
Some artistic traditions are continued in the same way for hundreds of years

Sometimes artists change traditional ways of working and create new purposes for traditional art forms.
Weaving is a traditional art form where a weaver places yarn over and under other yarns using a loom or frame to hold the yarn

Essential Questions:

What are some ways that artists gain inspiration for their artwork?
What is an artistic tradition?
Do artists still make artwork in traditional ways?
How old are some artistic traditions?
Can artists change traditional ways of working?
Why would they do this?
What is weaving?

Standards: PA Standards for Arts & Humanities

9.1.5.C Know and use fundamental vocabulary within each of the arts forms.

9.1.5.J Apply traditional and contemporary technologies for producing, performing and exhibiting works in the arts or the works of others.
• Experiment with traditional technologies (e.g., ceramic/wooden tools, earthen clays, masks, instruments, folk shoes, etching tools, folk looms).
9.2.5.D Analyze a work of art from its historical and cultural perspective.

9.2.5.G Relate works in the arts to geographic regions:
• Africa

Objectives: Students will:

Knowledge:
Understand that artists often work with traditional art forms in new and different ways.
Know the meanings of the weaving vocabulary and understand the basic cultural history of Kente cloth.

Skills:
Use a straw loom to create a sash, headband, bracelet, or necklace with patterns of strips and related colors.

Dispositions:
Consider how technical processes can influence the design and pattern of woven fabric.

Assessment: Students will be given a quick question review (Included at end of lesson) that covers the knowledge and dispositions objectives. Straw loom weavings will be assessed on their creation of a straw loom and weavings on the loom and according to whether or not they demonstrate and understanding of the weaving process.

Instructional Procedures:
Motivation: Teacher will begin class with a discussion about clothing. The clothing the children are wearing is made of cloth and the cloth shows many colors and patterns. Ask if anyone has clothing, a bag or some type of cloth that is woven. Show some real examples to pass around. (5minutes) Teacher works essential questions into the discussion. When teacher talks about traditions, she introduces the artistic tradition of kente cloth. Talk about the colors and patterns, where kente cloth comes from and a brief history. (10 min.) Show pictures of Kente cloth or the real thing if available. Ask students to identify colors and shapes they see in the examples. Show students pictures of looms and explain briefly that looms are frames in which sticks called shuttles are used to interlace threads to create a woven fabric.

Studio: Teacher explains that students will weave sashes, headbands, bracelets, bookmarks or necklaces using different colored yarns. Have available yarns in a variety of colors and have each student cut five pieces of one color. (Bracelet or bookmark = 18 inches, headband or necklace = 27 inches) Teacher hands out sheet that shows traditional meanings of different colors as they are used in Kente cloth. Students are to choose 3-5 colors to use in their weavings. They then sketch a design using those colors. Designs could be patterns of color or could be no particular pattern. Regardless, the sketch students make will provide the blue print to follow showing which colors to use and where as they weave.
Students should understand that they can make their weavings any length they want. After cutting 5 pieces of yarn, they push each yarn through a straw and tie a thick knot at one end. You may need to use a shish-ka-bob skewer to push the yarn through the straw. Tie the other ends together in one big knot. Choose a long piece or yarn (about 18 inches is good to start with) and use an over-under motion as they weave. As they progress, they can gently push some weaving up and off the straw ends. If students run out of yarn, they can tie on additional yarn. When their weaving is the desired length, untie the knots and carefully remove the straws. Students may need assistance so weaving does not get messed up during this process. Tie the loose ends of yarn together on either end. Depending on how the weaving is to be used, you can add beads to the loose yarn ends, or untwist the yarn for a decorative look.

Teacher research and preparation: Gather examples and/or images of traditional kente cloth as well as contemporary weaving. Know what a loom is and basically how one works. Create an example of a straw loom and a weaving created on a straw loom.

Instructional resources:
Images of kente cloth and contemporary weaving.

Student supplies: Straws (5 per student), various colors of yarn and different fibers, scissors, long skewers to push yarn through straws.

Adaptations:

Physical challenges: Provide straws with large diameters to use as students make their weavings. Many milkshake straws are wider than ordinary straws. You can also insert \yarn in straws ahead of time.

Gender in Art Education

2009-11-20T16:23:00.001-05:00

Today I attended a conference at Kutztown University in PA. The central theme was "Teaching Art with Gender in Mind" The key note speaker was JUDY CHICAGO! I feel lucky and so happy that I was able to hear her speak about this relevant topic. To find more information about teaching using her famous The Dinner Party as an entry into the subject of women's history and the absence of women in much of historical literature, visit www.throughtheflower.org/
Through the Flower is a non-profit Feminist art organization founded by Judy Chicago in 1978. Our mission is to educate a broad public about the importance of art and its power in countering the erasure of women's achievements.

Good Morning

2009-11-18T02:35:00.000-05:00

Teaching art is one of the best jobs anyone can have because art touches every aspect of our lives, most students come to class motivated to create and learn new things and there are endless possibilities when it comes to lesson planning! Plus, I love to create art myself and consider myself to be on a life long path of learning and self improvement.

2009-11-17T17:25:00.001-05:00

Hello!

2009-11-17T05:14:00.000-05:00

I am currently a pre-service art teacher. I receive my certification in December 2009 and am excited to start teaching students, just as soon as I get hired. Please browse my blog to learn more about me, see some of the awesome lessons I have taught and find useful links to other websites dedicated to art education.