week 16 and 17

One more week until Winter break which means we are nearing the semester's end! Grades will go home the second week of January at the end of second quarter. Art club for 5th graders at Grimes will begin in January.

Kindergarten and first grade-students began making scratch paper in the last two weeks. Students will scratch a winter design into their paper once it is finished drying. This project is definitely focused on process rather than the result of their scratch designs. I want the students to learn how to make this type of paper for future use. The materials are easy to come by and this process is much cheaper than buying the "Crayola" scratch paper in stores.
Last week, students colored their paper using their muscles, pressing really hard with their crayons and filled their papers with color. This week they painted the entire paper with black tempera paint mixed with dish soap. Next week they will scratch their design in using the hard end of a paint brush.

                                                               

Second and third grade- students began a painting "Starry Night" paintings mixed with collage. They are learning about landscapes, silhouettes, foreground, and backgrounds. They also learned a little bit about the famous painter Vincent Van Gogh. Second grade students are also participating in a AMVETS poster contest with the theme of, "Why is voting important?" This poster also includes a writing portion in which students must explain the importance of voting and describe their drawing.
Third grade students are also making the "Starry Night" paintings. They have a second project where they are drawing Burlington Landmarks for Midwest One Bank. The drawings will be displayed in the bank this winter.

 Fourth and fifth grade-students are working on bank drawings of Burlington Landmarks and the Veteran's posters. They are doing a great job of capturing the true essence of their hometown. They certainly know way more about it than I do. I enjoy learning about Burlington through their eyes.

***Side project- Students who finish early have been working on a side project of "melting snowmen."
We discussed what perspective means and how different views of things shape how we look at things as artists. Students enjoyed this simple project at all grade levels. It was nice to have student complete a quick project for a change.

Weeks 12, 13, 14, and 15

Whoa...I can't believe 4 weeks have gotten away from me. Finally, I am back on the blogging train. This month has flown by...I'm not planning to skip blogging this much again until Christmas break.

Kindergarten and First graders have completed there robot and butterfly collages and have taken them home.

 They just finished another project which dealt with color theory. Students created trees with construction paper and glue. We worked on sharpening our cutting and gluing skills. If you've heard your student exclaim, "A dot not a lot!" this is our mantra for gluing. They also learned the primary colors of red, yellow, and blue by painting leaves (circles) on their trees. This week (week 15)  they learned how to mix secondary colors (violet, orange, and green). It was amazing to watch their faces light up when they mixed red and blue together. All at once, they were captured by the science of color. When I demonstrated, many of them exclaimed, "She's magic!" They thought that I was making the color change. Color theory is my favorite thing to teach, but perhaps it is because it boosts my ego about my awesome magician skills.  I enjoy watching the amazement in their eyes when a new color is created.

                                                                            

 
                                                                
 

                                                                                  

 

 



Kindergarten students at Corse completed some mono-prints using Styrofoam board and tempera paint. I was amazed at their ability to create such clean prints at such young ages. The results were quite pleasing.




Second and Third Grade- Students completed their pumpkins a few weeks after Halloween, but no matter the season...they were extremely beautiful. I think students enjoyed getting messy with chalk and using vibrant colors to add to their pumpkins. Second and third grade also competed in an AMVETS poster contest which will be judged in January. Students created a poster dealing with the theme of "Why is it important to vote" There were many great entries. Students were also required to write a paragraph on the back of their poster explaining the importance of voting. At this time there was a great deal of political discussion in the art room, and I have to say I'm relieved that is over, as well as the T.V. commercials. Week 14 -students began a new project creating their own "Starry Night" paintings. This project is a mixture of painting and collage. We discussed Vincent VanGogh and the art history aspects of his life as a painter. Students learned about color temperature, cool colors vs. warm and they are also learning about silhouettes and landscapes.

 

                                                                       

 

Third grade students at Corse, created glue line self portraits instead of drawing pumpkins. They glue line portraits turned out very well. Students learned about how to draw their faces with accuracy and scale. I think they enjoyed doing a self-study.

 
 

 

 

Fourth and Fifth Grade- students have been working on a community collaboration project with Midwest One Bank in Burlington. All Burlington Elementary School art students have been asked to draw "Landmarks of Burlington" for a calendar that the bank will release in 2013. The calendar is given out as a courtesy to bank customers. Bank employees will choose a few student drawings to go on the calendar. Not all student drawings will be chosen, however all student drawings will be displayed in the bank. There will be an artist reception at the bank for all students who created a drawing. Third grade is also participating in this community project. Students are learning a great deal about the benefits of collaborating with a community business. Students have been pretty fond of drawing the Great River Bridge, the fountain near the auditorium, and you guessed it...Snake Alley.

Whew...until next month...when we talk sculpture, collage, and painting. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!