Light It Up Blue!

Autism affects 1 in every 88 children born today.  All my classes discussed and learned about autism in preperation for today (April 2nd) World Autism Awareness Day.  We discussed the role of the organization Autism Speaks and learned about their campaign "Light it up Blue!".  To spread awareness they ask that on April 2nd we change our regular lightbulbs to blue.  At the Garfield School we decided to light it up blue by creating our own lightbulbs.  Using blue glue on sheets of plastic we created our lightbulbs.  Once dry each student demonstrated their support for this day by writing their name in the center of their bulb.  You can visit www.autismspeaks.org for more information or watch this short video to see how people lit it up blue last year:

Ink monsters

One of my first grade classes was a bit ahead of the others so we did this short excercise in creativity!  We started by reading the story Beautiful Oops and discussed how mistakes can be transformed into beautiful artworks.  Next, we looked at an artist who creates daily monsters out of his mistakes.  Check out the video below:

Finally students dripped their own ink on their papers and used a straw to blow it around.  We then used our imaginations and markers to transform them into our own monsters!!

DON"T MISS MARCH ON THE ARTS!!

This is from our event a couple of years ago!

March is Youth Art month.  To celebrate this in Revere, we put on our annual art show March on the Arts!  This is a really fun event that includes a sampling of art work from all the schools in Revere as well as music and drama performances.  Come for the whole event or stop by for just a little while.  Everyone is welcome! Come and show your support for the arts in Revere!

The event will be held at the Whelan/Susan B. Anthony School in Revere:
107 Newhall Street, Revere MA 02151 Tel:781-388-7520




As always there will be a suggested donation at the door as well as a bake sale to help us raise money for the art and music departments.  Please consider giving what you can since these funds go directly back to art and music in Revere.  In fact, this year I was able to use some of those funds to pay for 2 buses so that the fifth grade may visit the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston!


The musical performances are not to be missed!!

Dr. Cammarata (our previous principal) checking out the art on display in the library!

CHIHULY ART IN PROGRESS!!!

Both myself and our students are excited about our sculpture in progress!!  Second, third, fourth and fifth graders have been studying the work of renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly.  Students learned how glass is formed, and how Chihuly relies on his team to help him create his masterpieces. During the course of this lesson we thought about where creative ideas come from.  Looking at Chihuly's work we could see how the artist was often inspired by the world around him.  Nature was a definate source of inspiration in his sculptures known as seaforms.  While examining these works students learned the difference between shape and form and geometric and organic shapes.  After examining his seaforms students then turned their attention to some of the other forms he creates out of glass-- including his twisted horns and goosenecks which he uses together to create large glass installation know as chandeliers (which hang from the ceiling) and towers (which rise from the ground).  Student then set out to create their own tower--but just like the real glassblowers we realized we were going to need teamwork to complete this!  Second graders created their "glass" sculptures by painting the inside of a water bottle and then cutting it into a spiral when it was dry.  Older students created their organic "glass" sculptures by adding tin foil to the end of their water bottles and shaping it into their own gooseneck or twited horn.  Color was added with tissue paper and glue and a glass like gloss was achieved with mod podge.  All of their sculptures are currently being placed together on the large armature I created from a PVC pipe wrapped with foam pool noodles.  This allows me to stick large toothpicks (bbq wooden skewers) into the foam and then add each artwork to the spikes created. The sculpture is located in the main lobby next to the lexia lab.  Check it out the next time you are in the building!!

*Check out the real Chihuly tower located at the MFA in Boston (admission is free wednesdays after 4:45)

Van Gogh Chairs

Third Grade students studied the life and art of Van Gogh.  We learned the difference between impressionism and post impressionism.  Impressionist artists were very interested in painting outdoor scenes where they could show the effects of light.  They are also known for leaving their brush marks showing.  Post impressionism came after the impressionist movement.  These artists also left their marks visible but instead of representing the natural world they were much more interested in showing their inner emotions.  This way of painting was perfect for Van Gogh who is known not only for his great art but also for his emotional problems.  In class we discussed his relationship with fellow artist Gauguin and saw how Van Gogh represented his thoughts on himself and his friend in his chair paintings.  Students were then challenged to create their own chairs.  Each student had to think about what kind of chair would best represent them and how the things in the surrounding space could describe them as well.

*check out the website on how van Gogh made his mark under art games and great sites!

Snowmen at Night

 

Second graders read the story Snowmen At Night as inspiration for this project.  After discussing the story we turned our attention to the illustrations and began to discuss how artists use the elements of art.  Using the smart board we set out to create our own snowman.  Students used the obvious elements of shape and line to design their own snowman.  However, when we compared out snowman to the ones in the story we noticed a big difference in the artworks.  Ours seemed very flat, while the ones in the story were much more lifelike.  It was then that we started exploring the other elements of art- like texture (how things feel), form (3d shapes), and value (lights and darks).  After analyzing each element of art we learned that the artist didn’t just use one element…he used them all!  This is what made his art extra special!  Finally, armed with knowledge of all the elements of art and how artists use them we set out to create our own snowmen.  Students created forms by adding cool colored shadows (value) to the edges of their snowballs and thought about texture as they applied the colors by using the side of the charcoal. 

Ndebele Houses

Kindergarten students used the smartboard to travel to Africa- where they learned about the homes of the Ndebele people.  These houses are beautifully painted with geometric shapes and patterns.  Kindergarten students designed their own houses using shapes and the concept of symmetry.