1st Grade Owls with Patterns

Personally, I feel that my biggest opportunity to "sell" my program and "hook" students is with my first graders.  When students are kinders my biggest goal is simply for them to become comfortable in the art room and with me.  My second goal for kinders is to expose them to as much as possible.  

Once students are first graders I really want them to feel like "big kids" in the art room and I give them many responsibilities.  (More on that in another post).  I also try to have a lot of short projects so that the kids will have many opportunities to practice these new responsibilities. 

 I want each project to introduce the kids to something new, and this project is perfect.  When I pass out the paper the kids are always exclaiming how big the paper is.  It's really not that big the paper is 12 x 18.

 Before we begin the owls we spend a little time making patterns.  We use a 9 x 12 paper and section it off into a 3 x 3 grid.  We then brainstorm to come up with different ideas for patterns (or as the kids call them designs) that we can use to fill a space.   By the time we finish the 9 squares the kids have a pretty good idea how to fill a space with a pattern, rather than simply coloring it in.

 I then take the kids through a step by step directed drawing process to draw the owl.  Whenever I do a directed drawing I give the kids different places in the drawing where they have different choices.  I want them making original thought decisions as soon as possible.

 Once the pencil drawing is done the kids are able to choose as many different skinny markers as they wish to trace over their pencil lines and then fill the spaces with patterns.

To finish the project, the kids cut out the owls and glue them onto construction paper.

7-Habits & Peter Max (plus color theory and double loading)

I think just about every school seems to have a school wide plan of some sorts.  My schools adopted "The 7-Habits" a few years back, and it has been a great experience for students, families, and staff.  If you are unfamiliar with this practice you can learn more here http://www.theleaderinme.org/  

In a nutshell, this is a lifestyle/teaching style to live by.  This is accomplished by practicing the 7-Habits.  Each habit focuses on something different and the theory is that if you adopt all of these habits and make them an integral part of your teaching/lifestyle you will become more successful.  

 Since the 7-Habits is school wide at both buildings the counselor (from the 4-5 building) and I teamed up over the summer to plan a block of lessons that would incorporate art, counseling, and the habits.  The counselor worked with the kids to help them choose a habit that he or she wanted to improve upon over the school year.  The kids then used a worksheet to map out a year long goal and an action plan to help them achieve that goal.

 Meanwhile in art class I introduced the kids to Peter Max.  I mean does it really get any cooler that he?  We use his bright colors, the L-O-V-E artwork, and super thick paint to create the art.

 Each habit has a "buzz word" (that we assigned) to it.  It is far easier for kids to use just one word rather than the phrase that each habit represents.

 The kids had 3 color pallets to choose from-1 secondary color and the two primary colors that create that color.

 They used oil pastels to write their "buzz word" in bubble letters and were given the option to add geometric or organic shapes to the background.  The letters and shapes were colored in with the oil pastels.  They were to use all three colors when using the pastels.

 Then to finish the project they used tempera paint in both primary colors and white.  I could not believe the "ooooohhhhs and aaaaahhhhhssss" when I demonstrated how to double-load a flat paint brush to achieve different patterns with the paint!  I wanted them to experiment with the paint, and different brushstrokes to achieve different looks.

 When the paintings were dry the kids signed the front with oil pastel and taped their worksheet to the back.

 We then laminated the projects and hung them up around the building.  It will be interesting to see how the kids progressed on their action plans at the end of the year.

 I really liked this project for so many reasons.  First-the kids loved it!! Also it gave me many teachable moments about the power of art.  Right now our building has almost 200 projects displayed for the year, and each project is a goal for each student!  Not to mention, I get to introduce an artist, teach technique, several medias and color theory all at the same time.  Last but not least, anytime you can work with another teacher in the building it will enhance the "public relations" of your program, and you will also get to see lessons from another's point of view.

New Year Resoultions

Every year, around the end of December, or the beginning of January many people make the mistake of making "New Year Resolutions".  Why is this a mistake you ask?  Well, most resolutions tend to be very specific.  "Lose 20 pounds" "Stop smoking" "Organize my life".  What if, instead, everyone on the planet simply vowed to do better than they did before?  And why do we have to wait for January 1st to make this commitment?

What if we all tried to be a better person than we were yesterday? A better teacher/parent/co-worker than yesterday?  Then even if we "slip" for a day or two, it's just as easy to begin again.  For example, if I was to try to exercise "better than I did before" than anytime I take a walk around the block I'm good.  You have to assume (and you would be right) that I basically haven't exercised in years.  So if I'm trying to do better all I have to do is more than I have in the past.

Just for a minute imagine if everyone-everywhere saw each and every day as a new opportunity to do better, be better, live better?  So this is my challenge, to you and to myself-do better than you have before!

Watch Dogs!

Have you heard of the Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads Of Great Students) program?  If you have this at your school you know how lucky you are.  If you don't have this program you should really check out their web site  http://www.fathers.com/watchdogs/http://www.fathers.com/watchdogs/ and learn all about it.  In a nutshell someone in your school (usually the counselor) oversees the program.  Dads, or other male role models, sign up to come to school for a day.  They then spend their time not only with their own student (our Watch Dogs come for siblings, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and so on) but also with other classes/grade levels.

In our schools the "Dogs" spend time in classes with their own student, but also work with other students, eat lunch, go to recess, patrol the perimeter of the school (read smoke break for the Dogs that need it) and get to learn all about the school day.  Since the Dogs have a schedule and do many different things during the day they really feel that they have "made a difference" with the time that they have taken to be at the school.  They also gain an insight to the school-day that many males never see.

Since I have every student in the school in my class, I have an unique opportunity to have many Watch Dogs in my classroom.  I can't even begin to tell you how much of a positive experience the program is not only for the "Dogs" but also for all of the kids that they come into contact with!

If you work with children you should really check this program out and see if you can bring it to your school!

Saving My Sanity With Name Cards!

Every single piece of great art has the artist’s signature on the front.  The signature alone is often what determines the worth of a painting.  Students need to learn that their work is not only fabulous but also worthy of a signature.  The trouble is that many young scholars need a “line” to help them when they wright their name, also most art teachers have hundreds of students which brings up the issue of “which Mary (or whomever) does this art piece belong to?”

My first year of teaching I quickly realized that all of these things were going to be an on-going problem if I didn’t quickly find a way to not only organize the students work, but also a way for each of them to proudly display his or her name on their work.   I came up with what turned out to be the perfect solution.  I print up pages of what we call “name cards”.  These are 1” x 1 ½” slips of paper with three lines.  The first line reads Artist, the second line is for their section (more on this later) and the third line is the date.  I keep these in a small box on the “supply table”.  When a student has finished a project he or she fills out a name card and then glues it to the artwork.    This also solved another problem, that being “is this student finished or not?”  By affixing a name card to the front the student is telling me that he or she is finished and the project is ready for grading. 

I use this method for my 1^st 2^nd and 3^rd graders.   Many kinders are still learning how to manipulate a pencil, and I have found that the small slip of paper causes frustration (read tears) for some of them.  By the time students have entered the 4^th grade I have them sign directly onto the front of their artwork. 

So what is a section?  A section is a way that I identify whom is in which class, without having anyone else’s name (like their classroom teacher) on the artwork.  Since I only see each class once a week I use a number for their grade level and an abbreviation for the day of the week.  Therefore first graders who come on Monday are 1M, followed by 1TU, 1W, 1 TH, and 1F.  The other grades use the same abbreviations and just change the number to reflect their grade.  If you see students more than once a week, just change the abbreviation to an arbitrary letter. 

This method has kept me relatively sane while grading and sorting the students’ artwork!

5th Grade Painted Spheres

     I find that after summer or winter break it is nice to start off with a "short and simple" type of project.   This is one of my favorites as the kids really enjoy watching their paper "bend" as they progress through the lesson. 

I have the kids use compasses to draw the circles,  some can do this totally on their own, some buddy up with another student, and there are a few that I assist.  The biggest obstacle for this is-believe it or not-hand strength!  Personally, I blame all things with a screen.  When I think back to how my own children spent their early years, their days involved many fine and gross motor skills.  The internet was just getting started, I think there was one or maybe two gaming stations, and those VHS tapes took up a lot of storage space!

The part that I find most interesting is that academic achievement, socioeconomic status,  race, sex, or age seem to have no correlation to hand strength in my students.   Hand strength or lack of it seems to simply come from how students spent their time outside of school, beginning with their pre-school years and continuing on.

The best thing about this problem is that it's easy to help kids improve their hand strength.  Coloring, cutting, and painting are all good things, but remember they mainly work the dominate hand.  Playdough, legos, and other things that encourage the use of both hands are also necessary.  The beauty of this is that all of these activities are not only inexpensive, but can become valuable family time as well.