Hello and welcome back to the art blog!
It has been a joy getting to know your kids better the first month of school. I am excited to share what we have been working on and where we are headed in art class this year.
I have adopted this year's school theme at Westlawn, "Finding JOY in the Journey" into our art class! We talked about the journey we will be taking in art this year, learning about new artists, art styles, cultures, art making methods and more! Just like any journey though, it will have its twists and turns, ups and downs... but even in the challenges we will make it a goal to persevere and find JOY along the way!
To get us started on our journey, the students created their very own passports! Inside is a self portrait they drew along with some fun personal information (name, grade, favorite place they have traveled, where they would like to travel, and their favorite form of transportation). The students enjoyed starting off with a fun and easy project. We will occasionally revisit the backside of the passport where the students will add stamps from the different parts of the world we will travel to! With travel being our theme this year, I am making it a goal to teach the students more about art throughout the world. There is SO much to see and appreciate!
In combination with our passport making, we played a BINGO game the first couple of classes in which the students learned and reviewed important features of art class and the art room. Establishing those routines and expectations from the beginning is very important, but of course it is MUCH more effective to do it in a FUN way! The students placed markers on the image I was referring to and when they had enough to make a "W" for Westlawn, "T" for Thorson, and "P" for Parkview they got Bingo! They could then choose a silly prop for me to wear (the flamingo hat was very popular ;).
Then we were onto our first project... sketchbooks! This year all students are designing their sketchbooks to resemble a piece of luggage! Our suitcase sketchbooks are turning out so FUN and ORIGINAL! :)
We started with the same design of the body being created from a paper grocery bag (THANK YOU Piggly Wiggly for once again donating bags for ALL of our students)! The students glued the cut pieces together and added 3 features inside (a pocket, a "Golden Checklist" for drawing prompts and inspiration, and a criteria "cheat sheet").
The following class, the students were asked to add COLOR and TEXTURE to the outside of the sketchbook so that it resembled a suitcase they would want to own! They had many art materials available to them (especially our older students). For the younger students, we had fun with texture plates and tempera paints to fill up the space with color and texture! The kids (even the older kids) always love seen the texture appear on the surface by rubbing hard with "naked" crayons (the younger artists especially get a kick out of that term).
The next art lesson, we added a fun feature to the outside of our suitcase! Kindergarten and first grade learned how to add straps and buckles with paper bag scraps, cardboard, paint, and marker caps. The second through fifth graders saw two additional demonstrations of an outside pocket and decorative corners. The students were encouraged to add a feature that would enhance their suitcase sketchbook design, while also making use of recyclable materials! Win-win!
Next art class, we will be designing our own stickers to add to the outside of the suitcase sketchbooks so that the students' personalities can really be captured! I can't wait to see what the students create and hopefully they will cherish these one of kind art pieces for a long time. They will be one of our most valuable art tools this year since we will be using them in so many ways (brainstorming, practicing, exploring, reflecting, imagining, observing, enJOYing... the list goes on)!
Take a look at some pictures from each of the grade levels below. I will do my best to show a variety of students throughout the year, because I know how much fun it is to see your own artist at work! The next art update will picture students creating their first official art project following the suitcase sketchbooks, so stay tuned for that! Although I aim to post on the first of each month, November 1st is my due date, so we shall see when it actually happens!
Kindergarten
First Grade
