Monday, October 22, 2012

Already mid-October!

Now that we are a few months into school, things are in full swing! Miss Tripp (My student teacher/ co-teacher) is using these next few days to take over the classroom completely, which means I have a chance to update my blog. :-)
Having a student teacher has been very rewarding. I am normally the only art teacher in the building so it has been great having someone to bounce ideas off of. Although she is on her own for the next few days, we have mostly been co-teaching. This has allowed us the opportunity to occasionally split the class in half so we can give more attention to individual students. Sometimes we have taught the same lesson, sometimes we have taught different lessons. We have also been able to really help struggling kids since there is two of us in the room. With both of us in the classroom most of the time it has also allowed us to learn more from one another. In the co-teaching model I am supposed to be there most of the time, but we both felt that I would be doing her a disservice if I did not give her any time in the classroom by herself as that is how it is in the "real world"! So, she is getting 2 rotations (8 days) by herself, then I will go back in as more of a helper until near the end of her time here. So far Miss Tripp is doing GREAT!

Below are a few of the projects we have done so far this year!


Title: My House/ Grade: Kinder/ Time: 2 classes
Students used line and shape to create a house. Students used glue with control.
This is one of the first projects I do with Kinder because it focuses on line and shape. I start with the Popsicle stick house on the first day. First we have a discussion about proper use of glue bottles (dot, dot, not a lot! And I call the white stopper on top the glue's "belly button"!) so that there are less questions and less mess. We go step by step one stick at a time and I do not tell them what we are making until they recognise it at the end! We start with the bottom stick, then make an "L", then a "U", then a square. Then we add diagonal lines to make a triangle on top of the square and all the kids recognize what we are making at the same time... "A HOUSE"!! I let this dry until I see them next time.
The next day we use sharpie to draw lines (we learn vertical, horizontal, diagonal, bunny hop, zig-zag, curly, and spiral) and shapes to create the details of our house. I do a draw-a-long with them, then give them about 5 min. to add any other details they would like. The students used crayon to color. Notice the more woodsy/mountian scene Miss Tripp did with them at the top, vs. a beachy scene at the bottom!



Title: The Frame/ Grade: 1st/ Time: 2 Classes
Inspired by Frida Kahlo's painting "The Frame", students used pattern to create a decorative frame around their self portrait.
On the first day I introduced Frida Kahlo to the students and showed her painting "The Frame", and we talk about self portrait. The students got a card stock rectangle pattern to trace to make the "frame" around the edge as the students are too young to use rulers effectively. Next we learn basic facial proportions and draw our face with pencil in the draw-a-long style. The students also pick a pattern to put in their border that is made up of things they like so that we can get to know each other.
The next time the students trace with sharpie and color with crayon. The more coloring the better!

Title: Garden Gnome/ Grade: 2nd/ Time: 2 classes
Students used basic shapes to create their Gnome. Primary color watercolors were used to paint their Gnome. Students listed things in a garden that could be secondary colors, then drew a garden with those things in it. Last, they cut and glued their Gnome into their garden!

Title: Van Gogh Flowers/ Grade: 3rd/ Time: 2 classes
Students looked a Van Gogh's Sunflower series. They drew their own vase and flower, then traced it with a glue line. The next class, the students used chalk pastel to color it in. Some students also experimented with color mixing using the chalk pastel.

 
Title: Northwest Coast Native American Paintings/ Grade: 4th/ Time: 3 classes
My art teacher friend Mrs. K. originally did this project. Students learned about the natives of the northwest coast. These Native Americans had very specific types of art they created using ovoid and u-form shapes. Students chose an animal that they would find in Alaska or Canada and filled it in with the ovoid and u-form shapes using tempera cakes. The students then got to travel to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City and see some authentic NW Coast Art!

 

Title: Value Self Portrait/ Grade: 5th/ Time: 3-4 classes
Students learned about basic facial proportions, and we did a draw-a-long of a general face in their art journals. I also went around and took a picture of each student. (I printed them in black and white on the school's printer.) The next class the students drew their own face with pencil while looking at their photograph.  We talked about value and shading to make their face look 3D. During the last class, we cut our portraits out and glued them to colored paper. We talked about things we value in life, and wrote those things on the background of our paper. The students learned two different meanings of the word value!

Thanks for visiting! Hopefully it won't be 3 months until my next post... :-)

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