Hello once again ladies and gents! Sorry that I am a bit late this week in writing in the ol' blog. It's been a crazy week so far. Tuesday we celebrated my husband's birthday and Wednesday I went to see my mom for dinner. This weekend my brother is getting married! I am very excited for him and his lovely fiancée.
At school this week we have started our Post Impressionism unit. The older grades are working on a oil pastel landscape. They were required to use lots of color and swirls. Van Gogh is the artist that we are featuring, and he loved to use movement in his paintings. The students were fascinated by the fact that Van Gogh would paint so fast! It is said that Vincent Van Gogh was able to do at least one painting a day, which is incredibly fast! Our project will take us through next week.
The younger students were able to explore using sponges for painting. Van Gogh liked to use different techniques to see what kind of textures he could get, this is what I was trying to show them with this project. Next week they will be painting sunflowers using sponge brushes. It should be a blast.
On a slightly different note, you will see that I did not include pictures this week. I am waiting to get waivers from parents so I can include pictures of their students on this blog. I am hoping that they all say yes and I can go back to showing examples of my student's work as well as their smiling faces!
Thanks again for reading!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Paper and Pastel
In the chaos that is the art world there is no greater joy than to see color splashed across a page. This week we were able to explore color in new ways with materials that were messy and fun! The older grades learned how to layer tissue paper to create beautiful landscapes while the younger students got messy using chalk pastels.
3-6th grade were able to watch the PowerPoint on Impressionism that they were not able to see last week, which gave the students added insight to this movement. Unfortunately this also made it so they had less time to work on their projects. Many students were able to get about 85% to 90% finished, but there were a few that were not that far. I have decided to table this project for a couple of weeks until the designated catch up day. (I will post the tentative schedule for any parents/followers who are interested) I do this partially because there are many students who only need a couple of minutes to finish, and I am anxious to devote another day to this project when we have so many more to get to; and partially because I want to keep the whole school on the same movement at the same time and the younger grades were able to finish their projects. Here are some in progress pictures:
3-6th grade were able to watch the PowerPoint on Impressionism that they were not able to see last week, which gave the students added insight to this movement. Unfortunately this also made it so they had less time to work on their projects. Many students were able to get about 85% to 90% finished, but there were a few that were not that far. I have decided to table this project for a couple of weeks until the designated catch up day. (I will post the tentative schedule for any parents/followers who are interested) I do this partially because there are many students who only need a couple of minutes to finish, and I am anxious to devote another day to this project when we have so many more to get to; and partially because I want to keep the whole school on the same movement at the same time and the younger grades were able to finish their projects. Here are some in progress pictures:
Next week we will be starting on the Post Impressionism movement. The students will be working on another landscape, but this time they will be using their imagination to create it instead of using a visual aid. I am excited to do this next project especially because one of my good friends does it with her 4th graders at her school and they turn out wonderfully.
The kindergarten through 2nd grade group worked on the color portion of the 2 part project they started last week. They were supposed to paint a small area with white tempera paint and then used moistened chalk pastels to create simulated brush strokes, but it wasn't working the way it was supposed to. So, half way through the kindergarten lesson I changed what they had to do. The pictures still turned out beautifully. The 1st/2nd grade group LOVED the chalk pastels and they did an absolutely wonderful job on this project. I started taking pictures of them working and then nearly all of the kids wanted me to take pictures of them! They were all saying "I'm gonna be famous, I'm gonna be Some Pig". They then told me that Ms. Geis is reading them Charlotte's Web and then it all made sense:
P.S.
The page for the sketch book notes may not be printable at the moment, I am hoping to get my husband to help me set up a link that allows the page to be printed. This way the students can just staple the notes into their sketch books. These are required for the 3-6 grade sketchbook check. At this time please just write them in to the sketch book!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Hello Monet
We started our study of Impressionism today. For some of the students, this was kind of a review because they have studied this movement in past years. I hope that I helped them understand it a bit more and didn't bore them!
The day started out a little rough; the PowerPoint that I had created as an introduction to both the movement and the projects was not opening on the laptop. So I just had to "wing it" and work without visuals, which is hard to do but I think it went OK. Eventually I was able to get a reader downloaded and the afternoon classes were able to see the PowerPoint slide show. Next week I will be showing the slide show to the 2 morning classes that missed out. I would like to say thank you to my wonderful husband for the help getting this problem solved. You are the best!
The older classes also received their sketchbooks today which is very exciting! They all seemed to be happy to have them. Each week they are required to do 2-4 drawings in these books. This will help them practice the skills they are learning this year. The sketchbooks are also a way for the students to have all their art notes in one place, which will help with learning vocabulary!
I was pleasantly surprised with the level of retention that the students showed when I was reviewing with each group at the end of their class. Every classroom was able to name the movement, focus artist and basic idea behind the Impressionistic movement, not to mention some other details that I did not think they would pick up on - like that the artists focused on painting time and light . I am proud of them for this!!
As I stated before, we are studying the Impressionistic movement, which was at its height between 1880 and 1890. In all the classes, we are focusing on Monet for multiple reasons:
1. He was one of the movement's most influential artist (the movement was even named after one of his paintings: "Impression Sunrise")
2. His use of color and strong brush strokes are something that the students will easily respond to
3. I really like his style
The older classes are using the painting "Impression Sunrise" to create their own landscape based off of a picture that they brought in to work with:
The younger kids are creating a piece based off of Monet's Waterlilies:
I also was able to prepare and hang my bulletin board today. It is located in the front hallway and has an interactive magazine portion. The students can learn a bit more about the movements or artists by reading the information on this board. They can also see examples of the paintings or works that the artists we are focusing on created. The board will change with the movements. It also has an area in the upper right hand corner that lists what will be needed for class that the students might need to bring from home. I think it turned out well!
The day started out a little rough; the PowerPoint that I had created as an introduction to both the movement and the projects was not opening on the laptop. So I just had to "wing it" and work without visuals, which is hard to do but I think it went OK. Eventually I was able to get a reader downloaded and the afternoon classes were able to see the PowerPoint slide show. Next week I will be showing the slide show to the 2 morning classes that missed out. I would like to say thank you to my wonderful husband for the help getting this problem solved. You are the best!
The older classes also received their sketchbooks today which is very exciting! They all seemed to be happy to have them. Each week they are required to do 2-4 drawings in these books. This will help them practice the skills they are learning this year. The sketchbooks are also a way for the students to have all their art notes in one place, which will help with learning vocabulary!
I was pleasantly surprised with the level of retention that the students showed when I was reviewing with each group at the end of their class. Every classroom was able to name the movement, focus artist and basic idea behind the Impressionistic movement, not to mention some other details that I did not think they would pick up on - like that the artists focused on painting time and light . I am proud of them for this!!
As I stated before, we are studying the Impressionistic movement, which was at its height between 1880 and 1890. In all the classes, we are focusing on Monet for multiple reasons:
1. He was one of the movement's most influential artist (the movement was even named after one of his paintings: "Impression Sunrise")
2. His use of color and strong brush strokes are something that the students will easily respond to
3. I really like his style
The older classes are using the painting "Impression Sunrise" to create their own landscape based off of a picture that they brought in to work with:
These projects are going to take multiple weeks to finish but I am looking forward to the end results!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Day one, all done
Today was the first day I was actually at school to teach. All the students were super sweet and good listeners. I felt like the day went on very well and that the students enjoyed themselves. I also found out that I get to have a bulletin board in the front hallway, which is so great!
I was able to get some pictures of the older grades while they were working. I have to work on taking more pictures, but it's kind of hard to do when there is paint being used! The 3rd/4th grade class was able to mix the secondary colors and put them down on the color wheel along with the primary colors. We started a little bit later than planned so they were not able to mix the tertiary colors, but we did get to talk about them. The 5th/6th grade class was able to do all three sets of colors but they did not get to mix a tint and a shade as planned. The younger grades (K-3) were able to complete the entire lesson, which was good. I was even able to get them to mix their own colors instead of using the pre-mixed like I originally thought I might have to!
So, next week we will start the actual art projects; today's lesson on the color wheel was to help me find out the levels of understanding for each grade. If each lesson goes as today's lesson went then I think I am in for a GREAT year! Check out my lesson page for more info on what we are doing in class!
NEXT WEEK: Impressionism and Claude Monet
I was able to get some pictures of the older grades while they were working. I have to work on taking more pictures, but it's kind of hard to do when there is paint being used! The 3rd/4th grade class was able to mix the secondary colors and put them down on the color wheel along with the primary colors. We started a little bit later than planned so they were not able to mix the tertiary colors, but we did get to talk about them. The 5th/6th grade class was able to do all three sets of colors but they did not get to mix a tint and a shade as planned. The younger grades (K-3) were able to complete the entire lesson, which was good. I was even able to get them to mix their own colors instead of using the pre-mixed like I originally thought I might have to!
So, next week we will start the actual art projects; today's lesson on the color wheel was to help me find out the levels of understanding for each grade. If each lesson goes as today's lesson went then I think I am in for a GREAT year! Check out my lesson page for more info on what we are doing in class!
NEXT WEEK: Impressionism and Claude Monet
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Before the Madness ensues
I have been hired on this year to be the art teacher at Mountain Peak private school located in Longmont, Colorado. It is a one day a week position on Tuesdays starting next week (September 6th, 2011). I am very excited to start - so much so that I actually wrote out all of my lesson plans for the ENTIRE year!
During the summer months I have the honor and privilege of working with some wonderful people at the Longmont Museum and Cultural Center. That job ended this year on August 5th. Both St. Vrain Valley and Boulder Valley School Districts did not start school until the 18th. So, being a substitute teacher for both districts, this meant that I was out of a job for about 2 weeks. I decided to spend my time preparing a curriculum for my position at Mountain Peak. It is a 16 unit plan, set in (roughly) chronological order on what can be considered art of the Modern Era. We will be starting with the Impressionists and working our way through the years up through Pop Art of the 1960-70s. This blog will chronicle that journey.
While I was looking for lesson plans to help me develop my curriculum, I noticed that there were very few choices for projects from some of the movements that I wanted to cover. It was then that I decided to start this blog to help art teachers who are in need of some "spicing up" of lesson plans, or some really fun sub plans that I have done in the past 3 years as a district sub. I hope this helps some and entertains many of you.
Best Regards
During the summer months I have the honor and privilege of working with some wonderful people at the Longmont Museum and Cultural Center. That job ended this year on August 5th. Both St. Vrain Valley and Boulder Valley School Districts did not start school until the 18th. So, being a substitute teacher for both districts, this meant that I was out of a job for about 2 weeks. I decided to spend my time preparing a curriculum for my position at Mountain Peak. It is a 16 unit plan, set in (roughly) chronological order on what can be considered art of the Modern Era. We will be starting with the Impressionists and working our way through the years up through Pop Art of the 1960-70s. This blog will chronicle that journey.
While I was looking for lesson plans to help me develop my curriculum, I noticed that there were very few choices for projects from some of the movements that I wanted to cover. It was then that I decided to start this blog to help art teachers who are in need of some "spicing up" of lesson plans, or some really fun sub plans that I have done in the past 3 years as a district sub. I hope this helps some and entertains many of you.
Best Regards
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