December 18, 2009

CHRISTMAS BREAK!!!!!!

Hey all my bloggie friends out there!! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season & New Years!!!! I'm looking forward to the time with my wife & baby girl! Also going to start working on my sketches for my LAST semester of grad school!!!!!! Blessing to you all.

December 16, 2009

Winter Bulletin Board

I had my students create winter collage animals & snowmen
for the main hall's bulletin board. It is just a whole bunch of fun!

December 15, 2009

Snowy Watercolor Pictures

I had my 1st grade students use crayons as a resist. They then did a watercolor wash over top of the crayon & used salt to create texture in their paint. This allowed me to hit several standards & go over material usage.

December 14, 2009

Circle Weavings

I was excited by the pattern work my students put into the background of their weavings! I had them use the same colors that were in their yarn. I think they turned out BEAUTIFUL!

November 17, 2009

CREATIVITY FOR KIDS ....just add imagination!

I'm always looking for products, websites, activities to recommend to parents & students. I came across this site, and thought I'd pass it along. Now, it is kind of art in a box/canned art....HOWEVER....this might take the fear out of some parents having a craft time with their children!!! Some of the products look like a lot of fun too!!!
The parent company I've heard of..and have used some of their products.
CHECK THEM OUT!

November 12, 2009

Kindergarten Tackles Texture

I had the students start by drawing a grid on their paper(This can be a
challenge with Kinderbabies!! ha ha). They then used texture plates under
their paper to create these crayon rubbings.
Students created texture medallions in clay.
They will be turned into necklaces once fired. Students created texture in the grassy area of their pictures by fringing the edges of their paper with scissors. This was one of the first times we used scissors and glue in class. They did an amazing job!!

November 11, 2009

Weaving: 3rd & 4th Grade


It's that wonderful time of the year again...WEAVING!!!! My 3rd graders have always done their circle weavings in the fall. My 4th graders usually do their tapestry weavings toward the
end of the school year(it helps them focus when they are all crazy with spring). However, this
year I moved it to come after my 4th graders social studies unit on TN Native Americans.
I like the idea of having that connection for my students, but not sure I like doing
the project at this time of the year.

Ends & Outs of Circle Weaving


Here is the "formula" you use for circle weaving for warping your loom. If any of you have questions concerning the lesson, please feel free to ask.

November 03, 2009

Crayola Christmas Gifts

Now that I have a baby, I've been looking at all the things Crayola has to offers little learners. They have several toys that I think will make great Christmas gifts for the baby in your life! This one is my favorite.
"The Crayola Beginnings Rainbow Tower develops and delights! This wonderful, light-up play station teaches baby to recognize colors with lights and music. The stacking and nesting activities help to develop a child’s size perception and hand-eye coordination. Special TaDoodles characters light up when placed on the base. They also combine to make new colors when one is placed inside the other."
Check out this and other gift ideas at:
PS.....I bought this for my baby girl!!! I can't wait to play with it...um...I mean....I can't wait for her to play with it on Christmas day!!!

October 31, 2009

A Newly Found Warhol Up for Auction!

Hopefully this link will be up for a little while! I have always found Warhol an interesting fellow!! SIDE NOTE: If you have not seen the "Dropping In On..." series DVD of Warhol, it is worth your time. My friends and I love it!!

October 28, 2009

Sales on Art Supplies

In Nashville,TN....we have a wonderful selection of art, arts & crafts, school supply stores. Michaels, Jo-Ann's, and Hobby Lobby are the national chains that I frequent most for my personal art supply needs. Once and awhile I'll pick up things for my classroom, but that is usually taken care of through district approved catalogs. These stores are also where I"ll point my students to pick up art supplies. However, I always tell them...WAIT FOR THE SALES!! Jo-Ann's and Hobby Lobby always half 30%, 40%, and 50% sales on different iteams every week!! They also have amazing coupons!!!!!! You can sign up for those in the store, or check out their online site and print off coupons! If you do not have one of these stores near you...I think you can online order!! Check it out!!

October 18, 2009

Fall Break....a week up north (nature as art..ha ha)

FALL BREAK IS A GIFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fall is my fav. time of the year, and this year MNPS has a week off for fall break. My wife, baby girl, and I are up in PA right now enjoying time with family & friends! It's a bit chilly, but the colors are beautiful up here!! I'm finding much inspiration for my work!!!!!

October 12, 2009

Tempera Paint Sea Creatures

I use to be very anti-tempera paint. I was trained in watercolor in college, and you know how you gravitate toward what you know. Over the past few years, I've grown to enjoy it more and more. I have develope easier ways of managing it in passing out supplies & cleaning them up. Plus, the results of tempera are undeniable. The colors are so rich! The kids love working with them also. This lesson was one of my fav. The students came up with such wonderful images, and their craftsmanship was pretty good as well.

October 09, 2009

..A Proud Papa Moment..

My sweet baby girl is 7 months old! She's such a joy!!!

..New Art at the White House..

So the Obamas have brought some new art to the White House! There are for sure some interesting choices in the mix, but I am glad that so many contemporary pieces have found there way into the collection! Here are some links that will show you different pieces they've selected. Wish I could have been on the list!!!

October 07, 2009

Scare Crows- Construction Paper Crayons

Lets face it, most of our 1st graders haven't moved too far beyond their Kindergarten abilities yet....they just aren't developmentally ready...YET! I push & push..but sometime forget and become frustrated. WHY CAN'T THEY DO MORE?!?!?! Each fall though, I take a step back and give them a project I know they will find great success with....and get heaps of praise!! These scares crows are great fun for the kids, and give them a chance to try construction paper
crayons(if you have not used these...they are WONDERFUL!). Please notice though..the
pumpkins they create are not Jack-o-Lanterns. This is a fall picture..not Halloween.
I do not do holidays in my room. I do seasons..the art lasts longer that way.
You can keep a fall picture up until after Thanksgiving!

October 06, 2009

Kindergarten Watercolor Painting -Color Mixing

Sometimes you just have to be brave! I decided that I'd do a fall watercolor picture with my kindergarten classes. They have been doing extremely well, and I felt that I could trust them with a little more than some of my classes in years past. Well, after cups of water being spilt daily.....I still feel they did a pretty good job. I did demo the lesson first and show them how to make orange. I use the BIGGIE water colors by Prang that have four large ovals of Red, Yellow, Blue, and Green.

Short Video About Van Gogh

I came across this video today, and found it very interesting. Hopefully the link will work for awhile...sometimes they pull them.

September 22, 2009

TN STATE ART STANDARDS

So I was one of six art teacher picked from across the state to write the TN State Art Standards for the elementary level. We had a two days to get started. It was a pretty good mix of people, and surprisingly we got along well(this was not as much the situation when I was on the team that wrote Metro Nashville's art curriculum!?!?!). I felt we truly got a lot done, and there was a lot of work to do(and still left to do!!!). We'll be gathering together again in January for three days to finish the job!

September 03, 2009

Dr. Ed's Annual Art Drive 2009

Each year Dr. Ed has an art drive during the month of Aug. Members bring in $20 in new art supplies, and the get an adjustment! The art supplies are then divided between Hermitage Elementary & Tulip Grove Elementary! Mrs. Fritz & I are extremely thankful to Dr. Ed & the members of his practice!!! The drive allows our basic needs to be met(crayons, glue, scissors, markers...etc) and we are able to use our supply money that is given by our schools for the other important materials for running a successful art program. It really has freed up a great deal of funds for other supplies! The basics add up & can take a major chunk of our money! This is my half of the take this year(imagine...another table full with to Mrs. Fritz!!!). Plus, we received many gift cards that we're excited to go spend(ok..I already went to Wal-Mart last night and purchased a bunch of items I needed!!!) THANK YOU DR. ED!!!!!!!
Check out his website & if you are in the Nashville Metro area...consider making him your chiropractor!!

August 21, 2009

Art Room Bulletin Boards - Looking, Thinking, & Talking About Art

Last year I finally got a big boy's chalk board!! They had ordered new white boards for about half the rooms(all they could afford)...and where just getting rid of the old chalk boards. I love my chalk boards because I can put stuff on them with magnets!!! I have a magnetic word wall, art posters, and I keep a stock of sheet magnets so I can make about anything magnetic!! Anyways, I asked them for one...and they were happy to hang it on my other wall. They took the bulletin board from that wall and placed it here...going vertical. I knew I wanted to make an area to look/talk/think/write about art!!! My old little chalk board is a great place to hang prints to go with my lessons. And on the right side I have liquid nailed metal sheets up to the wall & that is where my word wall/vocab hangs!!!

This board has prompts for discussing art. I also printed out a ton of words to help the student talk about art. They are mostly adjectives that have a bit more meet to them than pretty or ugly! ha ha I created the boarder from old art text books that were going to be discarded.

My small chalk board is the perfect place to post the large Discover Art prints. I use the fatty clip magnets to secure them in place. I also printed out a sing that says Portrait Art that's up in the top left hand corner.

Please forgive the poor picture, but this is my word wall. I bought four sheets of metal at Home Depot and Liquid Nailed them to my wall. I wrote my words out on index card(the back cause I didn't like the lines showing), and placed sheet magnets on the back. I will grab the words from their and place them on my large chalk board with my teacher examples to reinforce the vocabulary with the art!