Creativity Grows Here: 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.