Art is…
The 3rd/4th grade classes thought about what art means to them. We also read the book Art Is, by Bob Raczka. They made a poster that used a slogan about what art can be.
Self Portraits in the Style of Andy Warhol
Self Portraits in the Style of Andy Warhol 2nd grade How are tools properly used in the art room? What is a self-portrait? What is Pop art? These are the questions the 2nd graders explored in their first unit. The students learned about proportion and drawing a human face. They used mirrors to draw themselves and these were photocopied four times. Pop art was discussed and they learned about Andy Warhol by reading a book and watching a video. … Read more…
Elements of Art Exercise– Line Shape, Color and Form
My 5/6 classes just started reviewing the elements of art. We watched a short video online about the elements and then we started a drawing exercise. 1. Divide the paper into 4 sections. 2. Start with line. Draw as many types of lines as you can think of. Wavy, zigzag, dotted, dashed, straight, bumpy, etc. 2. Shapes– Draw geometric shapes and organic shapes. 3. Now, in another section, draw forms. 4. In the last section, show colors. … Read more…
The Dot
Grade K learned about the most very basic marks in art… DOTS and CIRCLES. The class read the book The Dot, by Peter Reynolds. They also looked at a slide show of artwork that uses dots. These are some examples: Aboriginal Art made in Australia Georges Seurat and his Pointillist technique The Kindergartners made a picture using dots and circles as design elements. They focused on drawing circles, cutting and gluing circles and overlapping. The students got their first … Read more…
1st grade Sunflowers
Sunflowers Last year, when the 1st graders were in kindergarten, they planted sunflower seeds in the garden in the back of the school. Over the summer, these flowers grew tall and bloomed radiantly. Each child also brought home a small pot with a sunflower seed in it. Many of the students watched their sunflower grow big and strong. When we returned to school this year, some of the sunflowers were cut from the garden and placed around the art room … Read more…
Making a fabric cone doll
I was playing around with how to make a fun art doll for 1st grade. You will need to get either parent volunteers or older helpers to hot glue. I am lucky to have a K-8 school where there is often study halls in which I can borrow older kids for help. Here is what I came up with. 1. Cut a piece of muslin fabric into a square. Place it in the palm of your hand. Put a ball … Read more…
String Balls
I have this cool idea to make a mobile out of string balls. It’s a project where you blow up a balloon, dip strings in glue and place around the balloon. When the glue dries, you pop the balloon and take it off. Here are 2 that I made. The kids are going to make these next week.
How I organize my paints
I know many people have different ways to organize painting days. I just pour the paints into little cups with lids. I get them fairly cheaply from a local restaurant supply store. The kids share the colors with the kids at their tables. They mix colors directly onto newspapers. When the class is finished, they learn to put the lids back on and return them to the counter. These paints last at least a month in the containers. When the … Read more…
Updating….
The first week of school we decorated our sketchbook covers… went over rules…. Now the classes are starting their first projects.. for example 2nd graders are making Andy Warhol style self-portraits, 1st graders are painting sunflowers… pics will be coming soon! The company that makes Smart Fab sent me 2 sample rolls to try and perhaps share about on my blog. I’m not sure what to do with it yet, but I was excited to get it. I will have … Read more…
Bubble Prints!
After experimenting with several ways of doing bubble prints, I think I found a way that works well. I poured some kids bubbles into small containers. Then, I mixed a few drops of food coloring into the containers. The bubbles were cheapo and weren’t really bubbly, so I added some dish soap as well. Then, I blew bubbles just as you normally would blow bubbles and let them land on the paper. When they popped, they left these splatters and … Read more…
New School Year
Welcome back to a new school year! Clean Classroom Origami Hanging from Ceiling Conduct Contract taped to inside of sketchbook Decorating the sketchbook covers with our names
I’m on Pinterest too…. I know a lot of my art teacher friends have joined recently. I don’t think of it as one more thing online to keep up with, but just to browse through whenever I get bored! It’s a good way to see lots of inspirational photos. Find me: http://pinterest.com/marciabeckett/pins/ Here’s some fun photos from pinterest.
First Week Books
During the first week of school I like to read books to my younger classes to introduce art. I think it is good to tie literature to all subjects and allow them to see connections through storytelling. These are ones that I am going to read this first week: Kindergarten: 1st Grade: 2nd Grade: 3rd Grade:
What to do with all of your kid’s art?
Here is a post that I am putting on my school class website for parents: Children are prolific artists. I have found some interesting ways to document your child’s art journey and display favorite works of art. 1. First, you could create a book! Take photographs of your child’s drawings, sculptures and paintings and use a service like walgreens.com to create a photo album. Many of your child’s artworks are already photographed by me on our Artsonia gallery. You could … Read more…
First Days of School
We start our teacher meetings this Thursday and Friday. School starts this coming Monday! I was looking back at my blog to see what I did last year on the first days of school. I did this creativity exercise. I’m still up in the air about what we’re going to do for the first week. I have some good ideas, but I haven’t finalized anything yet. What are you going to do? What have you done in the past? Keep … Read more…
