April 29, 2011

Stealin' from a Thief





You know how in this bloggie world..we see a cool project & we just gotta try it ourselves!!!  Well, one of my best friends, Janet Malone (http://msmalonesartroom.blogspot.com/2011/04/one-point-perspective.html) ...stole the lesson from Mrs. Knight's blog ( http://dolvinartknight.blogspot.com/2011/03/highlights-from-this-week.html )..and I decided to try it out with my students.  Mrs. Knight's were done at the 5th grade level & Janet's were done with 4th grade.  I decided to try it out with 3rd grade.  They didn't do too bad, but the other two teachers' work looks amazing!  Maybe you wanna give this lesson a try.  Everybody's doin' it! :) ha ha

Amazing Birthday Present!

If you have followed my blog for awhile, you may know about my love of turtles!  It started as a child, and has become a running theme in my classroom(the kids always get me turtle things for Christmas or draw turtle pictures at home for me!).  My birthday was yesterday(37..ugh?!?!), and my wife insisted on making the day special for me..even though I was ok with not really celebrating.  One of the amazing birthday presents I received was this little turtle.  He's super cute....but that isn't what's so amazing!

 He's a 4GB flash drive!  My school computer has died 3 times this year...and I did not have my files backed up(LEARN FROM MY STUPIDITY!!!!). So my wife thought this would be a way to get me to back up my files..throw a turtle into the mix!! ha ha  To top it off..she got the tech from our schools to write me a note telling me to back up my files that she placed with the gift.  I'll for sure back up my files now....maybe tomorrow? 


April 27, 2011

Clay Coil Pots ...Step by Step - 2nd

Several years ago a friend of mine went to a clay workshop & they suggested using flower pots as a form for students to build their coil pots in.  At first I wasn't sure, but after trying it....I was a believer!!  I have almost 100% success rate now with coil pots, and before...there were always a few students in the room that just couldn't do it.  The pots also absorb moisture from the clay which speeds up dry time. 

You need to place some tape in the bottom of the pot if they have a hole...if you don't..they will have an outty on the bottom which will set your pots to rockin'!

Students write their name on tape stuck to the side.  This way I can rewrite their names on the bottom of the pot the next day when I pop them out.
Give each child a lump of clay.  I guesstimate it, and let the students know they can have more clay if needed.  After so many years of doing it...I'm usually spot on.

Have the students take a small chunk of clay and squeeze it in their hands into a cylinder type shape.  I feel this is easier than rolling it into a ball, but you do it the way it works best for you & your students.

I have the students start the coil in their hand, but quickly have them move it to the mat(laminated 12x18 construction paper).  I tell them to roll up and down the clay using a flat hand. 

To begin their pot they must make a coil "cookie" for the bottom of the pot.  I tell them to roll it like a snail shell, and then check to make sure it will fit in the bottom of the pot.

They then need to smooth the one side of their coil cookie, and that will become the inside of the bottom of their pot.

Place the smoothed coil cookie in the bottom of the pot.

Repeat making a coil(some kids like to call them snakes), and place it in the pot going around the edge of the coil cookie & beginning to go up the wall of the pot.

Each time a coil is added, students should smooth the inside of their pot till they see no lines on the inside.  I usually encourage my students to push down when smoothing their pot, because when some students pull up...they begin making the walls too thin & flat to the walls of the pot(which will crack if they do that).

Repeat process till they come to the top of the flower pot(or close to it).

Let clay dry over night.

Pop clay out the next day and carve students name into the bottom of the pot.  They clay is still moist, but the form is set.  Allow to dry for 3 or 4 days(depends on humidity, thickness of pot..etc), and fire.  I usually will let my set for a week, just to be safe. 

April 25, 2011

Fun Projects I Found At The Mayor's Art Show

One of the great things about participating in & attending the Mayor's Art Show is stealing...I mean learning from....other amazing art lessons(kind of like our blog world, but in person!).  These were lessons that caught my eye as I walked through the the show.  THESE ARE NOT PIECES CREATED BY MY STUDENTS. 

This is a tissue paper & construction paper collage.  It looks like a great way to have the student experience a Matisse "ish" work.  This work was created on a 12 in. x18 in. piece of paper.

 This mosaic piece was created with "fun foam".  I have a lot of fun foam, but don't really use it much.  I love this idea, and might give it a try. I believe they used a tacky glue(I don't think Elmer's glue would work).

This is a black glue line tempera painting.  I know that it is anything way out of the ordinary, but for some reason...it really caught my eye.  Love the colors(and it did look a bit more dramatic in person..some shading and such)

I'm totally in love with this piece!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It is a glue line on black construction paper with oil pastel.  I don't usually have great success with the oil pastels and glue lines...I've had better luck with chalk pastels and glue line.  Though..I've done this with younger students, and this was done by a 4th grader.  Anyways...LOVE IT!! LOVE IT!!! LOVE IT!!!

This was kind of an Eric Carle type project, but it was fetching in person! 

This is a hodge podge of tissue paper, tempera paint, oil pastel!  I LOVE IT!  It makes me think of Chagall, Spanish art, Mexican art...a little bit of this and that. 

Though this might look like M&M's & Skittles..its dry beans.  I'm not sure how they colored the beens, but they are beautiful! Very sold color & shiney!!!  I think this was 1st?

April 23, 2011

Mayor's Art Show 2011

The Mayor's Art Show is an annual event in Nashville!  They break our system up into two shows(because we're just too large of a district to have everyone  at once).  We are allowed to select two works per grade level.  So that means I can only pick 10 pieces of art to represent our school(not easy to do!!!) I personally like to have a variety of work & styles to send to the show.  I feel this year was amazingly diverse, and I'm very proud of my students.  The show is hung at The Frist Center for the Visual Arts.  At opening night, Mayor Dean walks around to see the work & take pictures with the students, and then addresses the students, parents, and teachers.  I must say, this year I was very encouraged by the Mayor Dean & the others that addressed the crowd.  In these times of cutbacks & focusing on test scores...I felt like they understood the value of what we do & will work to protect us & our programs. 

Kindergarten
(didn't realize till I was working on the lables that the girls are identical twins?!?!)

4th Grade

1st Grade

3rd Grade

2nd Grade

The work on display at The Frist!


Annaliese(2nd Grade) beside her amazing robot! 
Her mom  works at my school & gave me permission to place
her photo on my blog.

April 22, 2011

Reunited & It Feels So Good!

I thought this was pretty amazing....anything is possible!

Two pieces of a torn 660-year-old Chinese painting held by Taiwan and mainland China will be reunited for the first time in centuries at an exhibit at Taiwan's national museum, in a sign of warming ties between the rivals.



April 20, 2011

Tints & Color Mixing with Kindergarten



Kindergarten did the Georgia O'Keeffe lesson I've shared on here in years past.  They start with a dot in the center of the page, and draw six wavey lines coming from the dot.  They then pick a plate of paint that I've already pre-dispensed(I try to have a variety of color combos).  Everyone gets white to create tints.  I showed them how to mix their colors on the paper, and to paint from the center point out to create a "flow".  At the end of class we discussed what tints & shades were, they were given a color & had to tell me what two colors made it, and then just other random color knowledge.