up and away.

Last week the first graders blasted into space with a little help from line and an illustration by Clara Mercader.

To start the lesson we talked about how a line is the path of a moving dot and it can be made with anything- markers, crayons, paint, light...

I then showed them 3 things line can make, drawing examples as I explained them. Line can make shapes, patterns, and movement. Line can actually do much more, but these 3 were a good start:)

I then shared this illustration with them, which was created by Spanish artist Clara Mercader for her design company Maria Diamantes.

The kids really liked this illustration. It served as a fun intro to what line can do for you in a drawing.
The rest was pretty straightforward. I walked the students through the drawing steps in pencil. Students were free to add details to the outer space scene that would make it look more interesting.

They then traced their lines with marker to make them stand out a little more and they added white color to parts they wanted to stand out  even more.

The last step was the movement part. Students were allowed to pick up to 3 colors to make a movement trail, so we would know which direction their rocket was traveling.

For a directed drawing, there was a good amount of variety in the student drawings. Way to start of the year, 1st graders!

poppin portraits.

The 4th graders will be making a lot things pop this year to contrast and in their first project they did it in a couple different ways.

We looked at the work of Swedish artist Petra Borner for this lesson. Petra makes some wonderfully intricate works out of cut paper. I love her shape and color sensibilities. While looking at a few of her pieces, students identified the various ways Petra made some parts stand out from others. What they discovered is that they all involved contrast of some sort. It could be dark v. light, thick v. thin line, pattern v. no pattern, or the use of opposite colors.

I talked about the 3 pairs of opposite colors found in the rainbow, and that they would have to pick one of these pairs to use in their painting. As a reminder, I pointed out the my 3 rows of tables were broken down into the opposite color pairs. 

In our practice and project, we focused on her (and their) use of thick line v. thinner lines, and her (and their) use of opposite colors. In order to show contrast proficiency for this project students must have used one pair of opposite colors correctly and used a thick line to separate the face from the background.

I guided the students through the drawing process, emphasizing that they should draw softly so mistakes or adjustments would be easier to make. I also stressed that Petra's image was the inspiration for their project. They were free to change it to make their piece different from hers and their classmates. I showed them how they could alter hairstyles, hand gestures, facial features, and patterns.

Students then traced all their lines, making sure the profile outline was the boldest one. When students were ready to paint, I demonstrated how they could make light and dark colors by adding more water to their tempera paint.

The hand gestures were definitely the hardest part for most students, but they all persevered and did a great job with them:)

There were many interesting individual takes on this portrait assignment. Great job 4th graders!

together now.

The Lea Anderson inspired collaborative project is up! 

And it's a little bigger than I was expecting... 

The individual pieces were mounted on larger circular sheets of butcher paper to make the installation go a whole lot easier. One of the cool things about this approach is that the look of the install could be easily altered in the next few days or later on in the year. Just a couple staples hold each of the larger circles to the wall.

Students in 22 classes contributed individual pattern circles to this project that focused on unity and variety. Throughout the activity, I stressed that no matter what size or color shape the student was working with, they were all as equally important as each other.

I'd have to say this goes for our school community as well:)

I'm into my regular rotation schedule now, so stay tuned for some very striking 1st and 4th grade projects in the next couple weeks!

off to a hot start.

My goodness. Nothing like a solid week of near triple digits to kick off the school year. The heat has been oppressive. That said the kids have done a great job keeping it together in our fan cooled classrooms. Only a couple have actually melted;)

Despite the heat, the art learning is off to a great start in room 18. This year, like the past couple years, I did a collaborative project with my 3rd, 4th, and 4th graders the first week. I meet with each of the classes for an abbreviated lesson that focuses on unity and variety. Each student contributes a piece that will be included in a larger work of art.

This year we looked at the work of Lea Anderson, an artist and educator who graduated from our own San Diego State. Her work is a great example of unity and variety in work. I love the way she plays with natural shapes and the way she incorporates patterns in these shapes. There is a strong sense of connectedness in her individual pieces and her larger body of work too.

I showed the students a photo from her Imitation Organics series and I had the students identify how she created unity and variety. After this, I asked students to draw and cut out a circle or oval shape from the paper that was at their table. They then had to create at least 2 patterns on it with the color sticks and markers. What the patterns were, and how they were arranged were entirely up to the individual student.

Each day of this project I had students work with a different set of analogous colors- r/y/o, b/g/y, and r/v/b. Next week I plan to have students come down during my additional class size reduction times and  assemble and glue these shapes onto large sheets of white butcher paper that have 4' circles drawn on them. Once all the pieces are glued, we will assemble them on the back wall of the auditorium.

I can not wait to see these installed together. 

We have been putting the pieces together on the floor in the front of the room this week to get an idea of what the installation will look like, but there isn't nearly enough room for all the large circles. We have 6 of them that are about 4' in diameter each.

I'll make sure to post pics of the installation process and final install when it's done next week, so stay tuned:)

On a side note, this is the 300th post I have written. Number 200 was for the beginning of the year project last year. Funny coincidence. I am so glad I have kept this blog going. It's been a great reflection tool for me, a great way to promote the success of our students, and a great way for me to connect with so many amazing art educators in the blogosphere:)

Here's to the next 100!

back to school eve.

We welcome students back to our school tomorrow morning:) It should be another fantastic year of learning at Zamorano Fine Arts Academy!

My room change is about 85% complete. I'm pretty excited with the rearrangement of the physical space, the elimination of clutter and supplies I wasn't using, and the addition of a few learning centers for students who finish early. 

I have a lego building center, a choice learning center that will have a few handouts to guide students in a structured activity based on the day's content, a laminated Mr. Potatohead collage center that students can rearrange and use as drawing inspiration, and a reading center. I do have one old Mac in the class that I would like to use as a center too. It will feature links to appropriate art websites that students can work with.

The first week of school I will be on a modified schedule as my rotation partner comes back to the site and gets her space planned for learning. I will be working on an upper grade collaborative installation that focuses on unity and variety. This year I will be using the art of Lea Anderson as the inspiration of this project. In past years I have used the work of Lee Gainer and Georgia Gray.

Here are a few pics of the new setup in my new classroom. It's kind of bare bones at the moment, but it will get a bit more colorful as the weeks progress.

The exit slip area is right next to the door. I'm planning on using post-it notes throughout the year.

I'm going to get a small carpet and a couple pillows for the reading center.

My corner. There is a kidney shaped table between this area and the reading center that has my cutting board and an area for one on one interaction. My word wall is right above this kidney table.

The lego center. This was a big hit at the end of last year. I would like to get some of the lego "base boards" for kids to build on.

The choice center, Mr. Potatohead collage center, and computer center have locations, but are not dressed up yet:)

please stand by.

I have been up to my eyeballs in classroom mess for the past week. 

This is the first time I have moved classrooms. What fun! 

Actually, it was totally my choice. I had the opportunity to move into a classroom equipped with a promethean board, so I jumped at the chance. I'll post a few pics of the new set up tomorrow afternoon. 

Here's a shot of part of the mess before I started to organize the new space.