Week of November 19th thru 22nd

We are quickly approaching the end of another month of school.  There are many different things going on at school and in the art room.

This week we began yet another project for a community event.  Zion's Bank has asked our students to participate in creating decorations for one of their giving trees.  We are making snowflakes from craft sticks.  Students were shown several designs they could copy or could create their own design.  I will the paint and glitter all of their creations.  Zion's Bank will then have us decorate their tree with the ornaments.  They have also invited our students to attend a tree lighting ceremony on December 2nd at 4:30 PM.

This is a week for ornaments.  In addition to making their craft stick ornaments, students also got the opportunity to work with clay and create their own tree ornament.  The ornaments were all made and set to dry.  They will then be fired in the kiln and students when students return after the break they will be painting them.

All of the students were very excited about the opportunity to work with clay.  I am excited to see their final results.

Week of November 12th thru 15th

This week brought with it the end of the first trimester.  Hard to believe we have already finished 1/3 of the school year.

This week students began the week by creating paper snowflakes.  We were asked by Fresh Market if our art students would be willing to help create snowflakes that they could use in decorating their store for the holidays.  The students were very excited for the opportunity.  They quickly made many different and unique snowflakes.

The end of the week students were given a free class period to complete any projects they were missing or hadn't turned in.

Final grades will be submitted on Friday, and report cards should come out in a about a week.

End of October thru November 8th

We've had a few very busy weeks at school and in the art room.  If you ask the students I imagine they would tell you their favorite class time so far has been our Halloween pumpkin carving day.  I really enjoy letting them be creative and seeing how they work together to create their own jack-o-lanterns. 

Our art vocabulary project for the end of October was symmetry.  Students created a symmetrical Halloween or other picture using two different sized papers.  Some of them really got into the project and created very elaborate pieces.

This week we began the week by working on pieces for the hallway display.  Our school focus in November is being grateful/thankful and all of the art students worked to create the feathers for a very large Thanksgiving turkey that is in our display cabinet.  There are nearly 500 individual hands cut out and displayed, each with a thankful thought or idea.  This display coordinates with the grateful box and the slips of paper students are filling our each day at school.

At the end of the week, we combined oil pastel and tempera paint to create an autumn tree painting.  With the addition of blowing at the paint through a straw to create a different texture these paintings turned out really neat. 

I love that the kids are always so excited to come to art class!  I enjoy being with them and seeing how hard they can work and what they can create.  Next week is the end of the trimester.  Please check with your child to make sure they are not missing any assignments.

To end this post, here are some pictures of the Halloween pumpkins:

Week of October 15-18

In art class we have been working on learning/reviewing the essential elements of art.  This week we have just begun to combine different elements and learn additional art vocabulary as we begin doing projects.  This week we have done both a free-style sculpture combining line, shape, and space.  At the end of the week we just did our first watercolor project.  Students learned about resists using crayon and watercolor.  They were guided to draw a series of spider webs on their paper using only white crayon.  They could then choose from any color of paint to paint over their drawing to see how the crayon resists the paint and you can see the image behind the paint.

Week of October 8th - 9th

Because this week was only one day each for my classes, we decided to use this time to work on projects that needed just a little more time.  Most of the students were able to get everything they had half done completed.   

Enjoy your fall break.

Week of Sept. 30th - Oct. 4th

First, I want to thank all of those students and parents who took the time to come and visit me in the Art Room during SEPs.  I hope you enjoyed getting to see a little of what they have been doing so far in art.

This week we finished learning/reviewing color.  We talked about primary, secondary, and tertiary colors as well as learned about complementary and analogous colors.  We talked about colors as they are used to express emotions and feelings.

Because I like to start each month with a fun project for the students, we created chalked pumpkins this week.  We talked just a little bit about texture in their drawings and how using different mediums as well as different drawing techniques can create a different look to what we are creating.  When drawing their pumpkins they were to add texture elements.

They also had the opportunity to do a paper folding activity to create 3-D fall leaves.  These leaves and some of their pumpkins were used in creating the hallway display.

Next week is a short week with Fall Break on Thursday and Friday.  I will only get to see each class once, so I will let students use this last day to work on finishing a variety of projects that they may only have partially completed.

September 10-27th

During the past few weeks we have been focusing on learning/reviewing the essential elements of art.

We began with an "art walk" where we looked at a variety of different paintings and photographs to look for elements of art and use art appropriate vocabulary to describe and compare them.

We studied line and did a fun musical chairs type drawing activity.  We studied shape and form by designing individual triangles that we then turned into a pyramid.  This past week we have been working with the element of color.  4th grade students learned about creating secondary and tertiary colors using primary colors by mixing primary colored play-do.  All students learned about the color wheel, relationships between complimentary and analogous colors, as well as how color can be used in art in evoking and expressing emotion.

Next wee will by SEPs.  I look forward to meeting and talking with any of you that would like to stop by and visit the art room.