Egyptian Crowns

Third graders traveled back in time to Ancient Egypt where there were a number of different crowns worn by gods, kings, and queens.  These crowns played an important role in the way that royalty and gods were represented in art.  They were never shown without one because it represented their importance.  Students looked at various crowns from Ancient Egypt and described their shape and purpose.  Finally, students designed their own crowns by combing ideas from different examples of Egyptian crowns.

Fairies!!

Kindergarteners read the story Fairy Houses by Tracy Kane.  In the story Kristen uses things she finds in nature to build her own fairy house in the woods.  Each day she returns to her house to see if any fairies are living inside, and to add other ideas and embelishments to her creation.  Finally, on her last day visiting the woods she is visited by the fairies who show themselves to her as a way of thanking her for her wonderful creation.  After reading and discussing the story students set out to create their own fairies using a variety of materials!

Jennie's hat

First grade students began the year by studying how artists approach self-portraits.  The class read the book The Many Faces of the Face and described how all of our faces are different, including their color, shape, and expression. 

        Students then created a collage self-portrait by using a mirror and cut pieces of paper.  The class then read another story by Ezra Keats titled Jennie’s Hat.  In the book Jennie gets a hat from her aunt that she dislikes because it is too plain.  At the end, birds come to decorate her hat with all types of flowers and found materials, and Jennie is left with the most beautiful hat she has ever seen. 

        Following the story students each created their own plain hat.  We discussed different paper sculpture techniques that they could use to decorate their hat and make it as special as Jennies.  Once the hat was complete students added it to their self-portrait.

Ish

In the story, Ish, a little boy named Ramon loves to draw, but loses his confidence when his picture is laughed at by his older brother. Over and over he crumples his drawings and tosses them on the floor and is ready to give up on art. But, his younger sister has been secretly gathering the crumpled drawings and displays them. She teaches Ramon that art isn’t about being perfect, but about thinking more -ishly!

Kindergartners were inspired by all of Ramon’s crumpled papers in the story and made their own crumpled paper art. This is a great process art activity that really gets the kids excited about creating!

Check out our dots!

Here are some of the dot projects we did for dot day!  Each grade studied a different artist- learning how they made their mark.  We then created dots inspired by the marks these artists made so famous!!

Pointillism dots by kindergarten

Kandinsky dots by first grade

 Mondrian dots by second grade

van Gogh dot by third grade

Romero Britto dot by fourth grade

Fifth grade Lichtenstein dots

DOT DAY 2015!!!!

What an amazing day!! On Dot Day we celebrate all the things I try to instill in my students- bravery, creativity and making your mark!

Students showed up to school today decked out in their dots.  I especially liked the outfits students made themselves- like the pom pom necklace, and shirts that were hand painted or decorated with dot stickers.  Students really embraced the idea of creativity!

I wore my own dots and was very excited to see the others teachers getting into it as well!  Mr. LaBruna painted his arms!  Mrs. Keplin had dots on her sweater and nails and Ms. Ryan even wore dot stickers on her hat and her shoes!!

Teachers even did dot day activities in their own classrooms!! (Thanks Mrs. Speziale!!)

So what did we do in the art room today?  Well, I decked out my room with dot streamers and balloons (and even carried around my dot balloons all day)

Every student that entered my room today was asked to "make their mark" on my dot day sign in board.

Students who had me today took a break from our regular activities to create some dot day trading cards.  Following the theme of creativity and bravery, students got creative when creating their own dots for their card.  Students were also asked to put a try statement on their card- something they would like another person to be brave enough to try.

In addition to the trading cards students were asked to create dot day awards.  Students were asked to think of someone that works at the school that has "made their mark" on them.  At the end of the day I placed all the awards in the teachers mailboxes.

I can't wait to celebrate this special day again next year!!

Dot Day is Coming Next Thursday (SEPT. 17th)

Dot Day!

All of our students at the Garfield Elementary created a dot for Dot Day this year!  Dot Day is based on the story The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds.  It is a day to celebrate bravery, creativity, and the self-expression that comes from making your mark on the world.  In the art room we kicked off our year by discussing how some artists are well recognized for the marks they made/make.  The artists chosen for our dots are those whose mark is almost as recognizable as their signature.  Each grade level focused on a different artist or style.

 In Kindergarten, students discussed pointillism and their use of dots to make an entire picture.  First graders discussed Kandinsky’s love for the circle.  Second graders were introduced to the horizontal and vertical lines, as well as the geometric shapes that have made Mondrian’s art so popular.  Third graders turned their attention to van Gogh, describing how he included so much emotion in his paintings through the use of his thick choppy marks.  Fourth grade focused on the cheerful paintings of Romero Britto- who is considered by many to be the artist of joy.  Finally, fifth graders discussed the ben-day dots made famous by artist Roy Lichtenstein in his cartoon like paintings. 

Each grade was inspired by these artists to create a dot of their own using the marks the artists made so popular, and yet they still managed to put their own twist on it! 

How will you make your mark this school year?

Not familiar with the story? Check it out here: