ARty Updates

Oh, boy. Keeping up two blogs is hard...and I certainly haven't been good about this one. However, I am making a hugh effort to do better here. I've got a game plan and I'm ready to go. I sure hope who ever is out there reading this will stay tuned....I promise, I will have more posts here.

For now, why not check out the two pages I just created to share. One is crayon cookies and the other is felting. Both are awesome activities and keep even middle school students engaged. Hope you try them. Please let me know if you need clarification. Felting pictures will be coming shortly to make the process easier to follow.

Thanks!

Winter Self-Portraits

First graders created these awesome self portraits that are dressed for some wintery fun! We included shadows since today, February 2nd, is Groundhog's Day! I don't want that little guy to see his shadow for six more weeks of winter but these portriats look rather 3-D with them.

Our winter break is only 3 weeks away and my next project has to move a long rather quickly. I've planned a 3-D Heart project that I've done in the past. Comes out awesome but takes a bit of time to complete with all the details we include. I wish I could invent a way to make paint dry faster!

August is the Beginning!

Well, here it is the middle of August and yes, its time to think about going back to school! I love the beginning of the year. A new batch of students, new supplies and new beginning. Have you begun to think about how you will start your school year in the art room? I sure have but haven't just yet settled on the final idea.........

I have been getting what I can ready here at home such as gathering special supplies, creating letters to parents, and other items to help kick off the year.  My very first step however is to outline my major events and drafted up the needed letters to go home.... I'm big into culminating events to mark the end of special units & to really punctuate all that was learned and discovered.  Thankfully, I did most of this at the end of the school year.

Next, I look at my first BIG event and figure out if there is anything I can do to prepare. YES, there is!! I have a special unit that I will begin the year with titled, "Take a Hike".  I created this unit a few years ago and figured it was time to pull it out again. You'll get more info on this once I get started. But really, its an awesome unit for connecting so many other content areas to ART!......another big thing I like to do.

Tomorrow, if the weather is stinky, I plan on going into school and unpacking my order. Not to thrilling but it has to get done! I'll do a few other little things too but only expect to be there for a few hours.

How do you like to begin the year?

Still Life Stew

Last week I started a still life project with my first graders based around the book, Still Life Stew. Our lesson began by reading this story and noticing all the vegetables students recognized and the colors they saw. The first step of this 3 day project was watercolor painting each of the 4 sections of their folded paper using Analogous Colors. I wanted first graders to be able to locate Analogous Colors on the color wheel an to see how they are used. This step took students the rest of the class period to complete but they already knew that these watercolor paintings would later be used for the vegetables.
This week we will weave a basket. Weaving is a great lesson to help children understand under and over and patterning. However, plain ole weaving can look a little boring so I'm thrilled that I figured out to make the weavings into a basket shape. Check back to see some examples of this step later in the week.

If you would like my complete lesson, please post a comment and I'll get it out to you.

Pinwheels for Peace

September 21st was the International Day of Peace and I thought it would be a great meaningful way to introduce conflict resolution to my 1st and 2nd graders. Now that our activity is completed, Its fun to see everyone coming into school with their Peace Sign clothing and giving the peace sign hand signal to others in the hallway.



Check out the Pinwheels for Peace website and get on board for next year!

The Second Full Week of School

The first week really flew by. My first and second graders have completed their Pinwheels for Peace project and today our school was decorated inside and out with their work. I used this to introduce Conflict Resolution and the strategies students can use to get off the Conflict Escalator. I'm happy to report this kick off activity was a hugh success and already have students thinking peace rather than fighting. Photos will come soon. This display will stay in place until after our Open Houses.

The Start of School....It's almost here!

Hopefully with the start of school I can schedule time to keep up with my blogging here. I do have another blog that I'm a bit better at but having 2 is a challenge. With this blog I want to give you a day by day account of what the day in the life of being an art teacher is really like. Not just all the glamour and what is thought of as "easy" but the little known facts of report cards, assessments, orders and the incredibly fasinating....behavior issues! Stay tuned. There will be lots to share I'm sure.