Shape Monsters on Facebook

One of our earlier projects was to create monster collages using a minimum of 3 geometric shapes and 5 organic shapes.  The kids had a lot of fun designing these creative creatures. I was proud of how hard they worked on their collages.

They did some really great things...

I love how this monster has only one arm... just like the student who created it!

I love that they used tracing paper to make their monster look like it was under water.

this is a close up.. had to share the fringe detail on this coat!  

and one flying  a 3-d plane!

When they were done talking about shapes we moved onto forms.  I had them redraw their monster as form... focusing on using shading.  They did this by creating a facebook profile for their monster.  I loved reading all about their monsters facts. 

Here are some side by sides...

Tackling the Clay!

I won't lie... I have a love and hate relationship with clay.
It is a magical and it is messy.
It is amazingly fun and absolutely tiring.
It is everywhere but everyone loves it.

So once again it is time to tackle the magical medium.  This year I am super excited to use the slab roller I was able to purchase using artsonia money from last year's snap my art fundraiser!

And since I am all about giving kids a little bit of choice... I showed them how to create a clay

pinwheel 

or 

trivet

I demo'd in class but some of the kiddo's were gone and others may have questions so I made this video demonstration that will play in a loop during class tomorrow.  I won't win any Oscars (and the music will drive you crazy... hit the mute) but it will serve my purpose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmktpULhr70

Makes my day!

I love studying living artists as it helps students realize that they really can make a living doing what they love.  It makes me think of students like Baden who told me, "I am either going to be a professional football player or a professional artist." Students see professional football/basketball/soccer players all the time but rarely see a professional artist.  I also love that you can interact with them.  A while back we looked at Ben Heine's work and chatted with him via email.  Today I sent an email to Bruce Gray and heard back from him!  (insert giddy face here)  I can't wait to tell the kiddo's on Wednesday.

I also love days when you see a special kid who has made HUGE progress blossom.  When Alex started in my class he spent most of the time bent over under the desk.  The iPad was the only way I could get him to interact with me.  Fast forward 2 years to today when he was able to handle a class demonstration, music during work time and come up to share with me his clay project sketch.  Gotta love this smile!

One Awesome Kiddo!

and a close up of his sketch...complete with wind!

Inspired by Bruce Gray

I saw this picture by Bruce Gray online last year...

and thought it would be an great inspiration for a paint project on the computer. 

So I looked up Mr. Gray and found he has a website filled with images.

He also has an awesome video tour of his studio.  

We start the lesson by watching his video and talking about what we see.  We talk about what sorts of artwork we see and we look for his paintings.  Focusing on his paintings, we discuss his use of unity and variety (repeat one shape but change the colors).  Then I demonstrate how to use the paint program on the computer to repeat a shape over and over.  Then we discuss filling the shapes with different colors.  Then they get to work and I love how they turn out...

check out more at artsonia

  

  

Harold take 2

My schedule is a really nice teaching schedule for a working mom of 3. 

I teach all 600+ kids in our school every week so there is lot of paperwork/grading to keep up with, but since I am able to teach the same lesson for a week at a time there is a lot less prep.  Sometimes the school calendar kinda messes with that plan.  For example, with the Harold and the Purple Crayon project there was one group of 75 kids that I only was able to see one time, versus twice.  So I have to adjust...

For this assignment I just had the kids draw one picture of what they did this summer vs. creating a whole book.  

They were all so much fun to look at and I loved reading the stories behind each one.  Plus this was a great drawing project to get us started... simple but also enough for me to gauge where everyone's skill level's are.

Harold and the Purple Crayon

If you are an art teacher you know about Harold, his purple crayon and his great imagination. 

 If you don't know take a few minutes to watch this video (http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=147571)

This year I decided to use Harold as an intro. for my 5th graders to line.  We watched the video and then they created books about their summers... using nothing but lines.  

I love that this student made his book goes vertically!

 For each book they had to create a cover.  I love this one... CEO of AWESOME!

They also had to write a 2 paragraph summary of what they did the summer that they will be typing up during keyboarding class.  They had to write them during art/study hall but Mrs. Polodna is awesome enough to work with them on typing them up and using google drive to "turn them in to me."

What have I been up to...

a whole lotta moving and a shaking!

Last weekend we moved our family of five from our awesome home

where everything had a place and everything was in it's place to...

Our new home...

where there is space for everything and nothing is in it's place.

My husband owns his own professional painting company and this moved was spurred mostly by his needs (notice the 3 car garage, it is double deep for his business.)  Well we knew we were moving into a "project" house that had good bones and just needed a little updating.  We were going to go slow and take the projects one at a time.  

Well that didn't last very long.  The plan was for my son to "live" in the front living room until his room was update (it was the previous owners office).   So we started that project.  Then I spilled spaghetti sauce all over the horrible kitchen carpet (yes I said carpet in a kitchen) but we found wood floors underneath.  Soooo that means we are already in the middle of two projects... Bedroom renovation and floor refurnishing!  Bear with me, I will post more art stuff but I have a lot on my "to do list" right now :)    

So I am off to sand the wood filler yet again... 

and don't be afraid to pray for my poor hubby. 

Awesome new addition to Artsonia!

I have to say THANK YOU to Artsonia for their newest way for students to upload artwork.

We just finished using it for the first time and it was AWESOME!

The students logged into artsonia.com/class and entered the code I had written on the board.  They found their name, uploaded their image, gave it a title, wrote an artist statement and then clicked save.  I then was given access to check the image, proof the title and artist statement and provide feedback.  It couldn't be easier and I LOVED reading my kids thoughts on their projects.

Thank you Artsonia for making a good thing even better!

check out our newest exhibit here!

Going to give it a try...

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my Artsonia account.  It does take a little time but it also pays off big time.

I love getting things for my room with the money earned... like this clay roller with the money we raised doing snap my art last year!

I love seeing parents and grandparents who tell me how much they LOVE ordering things with their kiddo's images on them.

I love how my kiddo's feel like super stars when their stuff is "on the internet."

Well today I am going to allow my students access to upload their stuff to Artsonia on their own... pray this goes well.  I am thinking that it will but I always get so nervous about doing something for the first time.  It will help them understand the importance to their artist statements and allow me an easier way to grade their computer images.

stay tuned for the update!