Back to School
Welcome back! It's that time of year again! The art room is coming together. Our supplies have come in and it is time to organize and get ready for the first lesson. Please feel free to contact me at anytime with questions, thoughts and concerns. Here's to a great year!
September 2013
Shapes: This month our project focused on basic shapes. We spoke about how there are shapes all around us. We found shapes in our classroom and also in pieces of art. We viewed "Castles and Sun" by artist Paul Klee. Using this oil painting as inspiration, we created a colored paper collage. We then painted the background using glitter paint.
Skills: So far this year we have learned the proper way to wash our hands in art. We know to listen when the teacher is talking and to raise our hand when we have a question. We have practiced cleaning up after ourselves and can use the "just right" amount of glue.
Literature: "Mouse Shapes" by Ellen Stoll Walsh and "The Shape of Things" by Sale Ann Dobbs
Youtube videos: Shapes are Everywhere (Song for Kids) by Pancake Manor
Games: Shape Match (See Website section)
Skills: So far this year we have learned the proper way to wash our hands in art. We know to listen when the teacher is talking and to raise our hand when we have a question. We have practiced cleaning up after ourselves and can use the "just right" amount of glue.
Literature: "Mouse Shapes" by Ellen Stoll Walsh and "The Shape of Things" by Sale Ann Dobbs
Youtube videos: Shapes are Everywhere (Song for Kids) by Pancake Manor
Games: Shape Match (See Website section)
October 2013
This month we entered the world of colors. We read the book Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh. This book tells the story of mice who discover color mixing. After reading, the kindergarten students explored color themselves. We review the correct way to hold a paint brush and learned how to clean our brushes in between colors. We used the smart board to come up with color formulas. (red + yellow= orange) Then, we watched a fun video about color mixing online. (See website section)
Mondrian Collages
To become better artists, we viewed and discussed Piet Mondrian's Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue. Students notices that this French artist included colors, shapes and lines in his artwork. We used the same elements to create collages. Then, we watched an animated video that exhibited some of Piet Mondrian's other artwork.
November Types of Lines
Recently, we spoke about an important art element:Line! After reading the book Lines That Wiggle by Candace Whitman, we drew imaginary lines in the air. Then, we drew different types of lines across our papers. We said that our lines were "taking a walk". We notices that lines come together to create shapes. We colored these shapes in and made sure to fill in the white spaces. Our projects still needed a touch of color. Watercolors were introduced. Students added a magic ingredient (water) to the watercolor pallets. They practiced making their colors darker by adding more paint and making their colors lighter by adding more water. To conclude the lesson we watched an animation showing how lines come together to create a picture.
Recycle Contest 2013
This week we started to create a project for the Town of North Hempstead Recycle Contest. Read more about the contest here. This year Parkville, E.M. Baker and a few other elementary schools in the district will be submitting a collaborative project. We are recreating Gustav Klimt's Tree of Life. Here is a sneak peak! It was important for the kids to see how something old could turn into something new and beautiful! We talked about recycling and about working together as a team!
Recycle Contest Update!
I am so happy to congratulate Parkville, E.M. Baker, JFK and Saddlerock for winning 1st place in the Town of North Hempstead Recycle Contest! I am amazed everyday by the enthusiasm and talent my students have! Check out some pictures of the finished project below.
December Penguins
This month we created snowy penguin pals. We put our artist glasses on and practiced being really good observers. We looked at a picture of a penguin and spoke about what we noticed. We discovered that penguins are made up of many different shapes. We were great listeners and followed step-by-step instructions on how to draw a penguin.
It is very important to practice scissor safety. We all practiced holding scissors the correct way and using them slowly and carefully. We cut out our penguin parts and glued them together with just enough glue.
Details can make art more interesting. Using the smart board we added details to a picture of a penguin. The snow in our reference picture told us that this penguin lived in a cold place. We added warm clothing to our penguins, the same type of clothing we would wear to keep warm.
Next, we talked about backgrounds. Backgrounds can give a picture space and depth. We experimented with printmaking by adding a snowflake design using pieces of cardboard. To add some sparkle and shine to our backgrounds, we painted over our snowflakes with clear glitter paint.
Stay tuned for our penguin pictures!
It is very important to practice scissor safety. We all practiced holding scissors the correct way and using them slowly and carefully. We cut out our penguin parts and glued them together with just enough glue.
Details can make art more interesting. Using the smart board we added details to a picture of a penguin. The snow in our reference picture told us that this penguin lived in a cold place. We added warm clothing to our penguins, the same type of clothing we would wear to keep warm.
Next, we talked about backgrounds. Backgrounds can give a picture space and depth. We experimented with printmaking by adding a snowflake design using pieces of cardboard. To add some sparkle and shine to our backgrounds, we painted over our snowflakes with clear glitter paint.
Stay tuned for our penguin pictures!
January Events
This month we create Chinese Lanterns and Korean kites to decorate for our Lunar New Year celebration!
Woven Hearts!
Students observed a picture of woven fabric. They guessed what it was made out of and how it stuck together. We spoke about the loom machine. Students had the opportunity to try weaving paper. They then added decorative hearts and fancy papers. We viewed pictures of artist Jackson Pollack's work and added a splash of paint to our own projects.
Parkville School's Multicultural Fair!
It is important to connect art and culture. Students viewed art from different cultures and created a project. We learned about Mexican Sombreros, cherry blossom trees, Ancient Greek vases, and African necklaces. Students were very excited to see their artwork displayed at the mini world's fair!
E.M. Baker Songfest: March 27, 2013
The theme for E.M. Baker's Songfest is "Around the World". The kindergarten students will be singing a song called "Aiken drum." In this song, the character is made out of food. In an effort to connect music and art, students will be learning and creating a project based on the work of Giuseppe Arcimboldo. This artist is famous for creating paintings of people by using fruit, vegetables and flowers.Come back soon for pictures!
Parkville Elmer the Elephant Collage
After reading the book Elmer the Patchwork Elephant (Parkville only) the students designed there very own Elmer the Elephants. We spoke about backgrounds and how they can give a place to our pictures. The students discussed all the places that elephants could be found and drew their own backgrounds.
April 2014
The kindergarten students at Parkville have been creating tissue paper flowers for their Mother's Day gifts. They have also been working on collaborative posters for Songfest! Next up....Pinch pots!
May 2014
Picasso bouquets
June 2014
Pinch Pots!