We had Spirit Week at school this week. Since I am no longer the Student Council adviser (I had a few extra classes added instead) I was able to relax and actually think about how I might tie in Spirit Week to my art classes. This year I am having the kids do a 5 minute silent art warm-up at the beginning of class. I write a prompt on the board and the students draw in their art journals that … Read more…
Aren’t the colors of the fall leaves breathtaking? I scanned some of the leaves that I found on the trees here in Wisconsin. Feel free to print these out, color designs on them with permanent or paint markers, make a collage or just draw from the pictures. They would also look good on a bulletin board. Download the higher resolution version here at TPT for free! The book Leaf Man, by Lois Elhert, would be a great way to … Read more…
I have been wanting to make some more permanent artworks to beautify the school grounds. I had pairs of kids working on these stepping stones. This was such a fun project I am planning on making more in the coming years ahead to add to our collection. I have never made outdoor stepping stones before, so I asked for advice several times on the Art Teacher Facebook group. I just want to give a shout out to them for answering … Read more…
Do you use rubrics for self-assessment with your students? I developed this rubric based on others I had seen online. I wanted to get my students thinking more about their artwork and writing a few sentences in reflection. We haven’t done much writing in art class before, so I didn’t want to overwhelm them. What do you think? Do you have any suggestions for my rubric? (Does everything sound right, but also easy enough for little kids to understand?) … Read more…
My third grade students learned about the photography, films, paintings and children’s books by contemporary artist William Wegman. I actually talked to Bill on the phone and had an interview with him, which you can read in this blog post. William Wegman is known for his anthropomorphic photos of dogs dressed in various costumes. Anthropomorphic means giving human characteristics to animals (or other non-human things.) We read his books, watched some of his short films and saw pictures of his … Read more…
Wow, do I have a treat for you today! I had the amazing opportunity to talk with American artist William Wegman on the phone. Bill is well known for his photographs of Weimaraner dogs, dressed in all sorts of costumes and settings. Did you know he has also written and illustrated children’s books as well as created films and paintings? If you’d like to see some of his artworks, there is a wide selection on his Pinterest page. Two of … Read more…
Like many other art teachers around the world, my students participated in International Dot Day. The students dressed up in polka dots, we watched the story of The Dot and sang along to The Dot song. If you have not read the book The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds, it’s a must-have for the art teacher! Two of my classes made the giant 3-d stuffed dots. These were super fun to make. I traced a hula hoop onto a large … Read more…
