Wednesday Project #1

This year we have our PLC meetings on Wednesdays.  That means I get to see every 6th graders for a "bonus" quarter on these short days.  This is much better than last year when I saw random kids for a quarter. 

For our first "bonus" class meeting we were lucky enough to have two days back to back (I am seeing my Thursday classes this quarter) since I had covered the "get to know" you stuff the week before.  So we decided to enjoy the beautiful weather and head outside.  We started by looking at the artwork of Julian Beever, the Sidewalk Picasso.  I assigned each group an artist and artwork and we headed outside and got to work creating.  It was a lot of fun to see them work together (and it was great that Walgreen's had a clearance sale on chalk because they used a lot of it).  Check out our Monet's, VanGogh's and Dine's... 

We were hoping they would last through the weekend but a surprise rain shower on Thursday night finished them off.  At least the kids had a great time making them...

Schools Days...

Well we are up and running...

I love this time of year for so many reasons.  The weather is getting much nicer, my life is getting back to a routine and all my school kiddos are super excited to be here. The things I don't like include the non-stop talking I have to do and not being able to snack all day :).

These first days are always filled with "how-to's" and "get to know yous".  I always cover a who I am, how the artroom works and what my expectations are with an powerpoint.  I share with the kids that for listening to me now, they will get to work on artwork next week.  It pays off big time to be thorough in my expectations from the start. 

Summer Break

School starts next week... already? Like always summer goes really fast.  As teachers the "end" of summer is bittersweet.  I will miss the time I have to spend with my three kiddo's but I am also excited about heading back to school and meeting all my new kiddo's. 

Here are my "at home" kiddo's...

 

This summer we caught some caterpillars

and are waiting for them to come out of their chrysalis.  It has been so much fun.  I am thinking it is fitting as this time of year fills my stomach with "butterflies."



I can't wait to meet my 300ish new 5th graders and to see the returning 300ish 6th graders.  The classroom is slowly coming together.  This year they stripped my floor and so it has taken longer than usual for me to get back at it.  I have spent the last few days laying out my plan for this year.  I started a storage system for all my ideas and I am thinking it will be a good thing. 

In the past I have tabbed pages of my magazines and printed off websites.  This year I am tearing the pages out of the magazines and writing on them with sticky notes.  Then I am filing them my subject/concept.  Hopefully I won't loose them and will be able to find them quickly when I need them.  :)

Community

Today my kiddos are working on two totally different projects that both deal with community.  My 5th graders are making "Houses for Haiti."  These are small houses that you make and sell.  The profits then help rebuild Haiti.  They are having fun and enjoy the idea of impacting the world's "community."

Meanwhile my 6th graders are printing the house we started carving last week.  They must print one copy for themself and then print one as part of our "community."  We are also creating a large artwork of their images.

I hope they will appreciate all the "communities" they belong to... our classroom, our school, our town, our state, our country and finally our world. 

Some of my Favorites

I have many things I love about being an art teacher... Today I thought I would share some of my favorites about my classroom.

My desk area... filled with artwork from my students, our bottle fish, sammy the art snake and a fun bird decoy courtesy of my awesome janitor (who thought the bottle fish looked like turtle doves when they weren't painted).  I love it most when it is clean but that doesn't happen all that often.

My Dot walls... To start the year, each student made a dot drawing (after reading "the Dot" by Peter H. Reynolds).  I love the color and creativity.

My Smartboard... enough said.

My new table and storage racks... These were both built just for me.  The storage racks were built with my dad's help for my last room and can store a TON of projects.  My big table was built by a good friend Mitch.  I love that is is strong, tall and moveable.

Another great reason to love art...

Last week I gained a new student who speaks NO English.  She is catching on but many classes are a struggle.  However, she is excelling in art.  Last week her still life painting was great and today she is rocking the Picasso portrait.  I love that she can have such success in this class, even with the language barrier. 

It is proof of the power of art to communicate!

Lesson Plans 3-14

This year I have a ton of fun posting my kids finished projects to artsonia.com but I wonder if parents really know what their kids are learning.  Starting today, I am going to challenge myself to always post my lessons to this blog...

5th grade:  Picasso "Paint" Portraits
    Students will examine the portrait work of Pablo Picasso to learn how the cubists would draw multiple views of the same object.  They will identify the profile and frontal views Picasso used in his portraits.  We will then practice using the Paint program to create our own "graphic design Picasso Portraits."  Students will be required to create a portrait that reflects the work of Pablo Picasso and shows mulitple views of their face.

6th grade: Line Drawings of Houses as Prints
   Students will explore printmaking.  They will be create a line drawing of a house of their choice.  They will transfer these to safety cut and carve away the "pencil lines."  We will then complete the process of printmaking with each student printing an edition of 3 house drawings.  They will also print once as part of our community project, creating a representation of our "town."