Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

My Christmas wish is that my students and their families eat a lot of eggs over the holidays. Preferably eggs purchased in styrofoam egg cartons. Because, Santa, then they might bring those egg cartons in when they are finished and we can use them for paint trays. And Santa, I hope they don't buy the kind that come in cardboard egg cartons, because they make the paint dry out.

Your friend,

Mr. Wales

Lesson Plans -- Week 12

Good art is not what it looks like,

but what it does to us.
In whatever one does there must be a

relationship between the eye and the heart.

Art is literacy of the heart."

- Elliot Eisner

Lesson Plans
Week 12: December 19, 22-23, January 5-7.

Kindergarten.
Colored pencil drawing. Following directions in making basic shapes.
913D. Demonstrate the ability to define objects, express emotions, illustrate an action or relate an experience through creation of works in the arts.
913E Demonstrate the ability to define objects, express emotions, illustrate an action or relate an experience through creation of works in the arts.

First Grade.
Colored pencil drawing. Following directions in making basic shapes.
913D. Demonstrate the ability to define objects, express emotions, illustrate an action or relate an experience through creation of works in the arts.
913E Demonstrate the ability to define objects, express emotions, illustrate an action or relate an experience through creation of works in the arts.

Second and Third Grade.
Reading comic strips from the Sunday newspaper. How can we use the images to provide clues for unfamiliar words? Create an original character. Use speech balloons to give this character something to say.
913C . Recognize and use fundamental vocabulary within each of the arts forms.

Fourth Grade.
913D. Read comic strips. Identify examples of onomatopoeia. Make a cartoon drawing that uses one of these types of words.
913F. Identify works of others through a performance or exhibition

Fifth Grade.
How do artists use sketchbooks? View dvd in which three contemporary artists explain the importance of sketchbooks in their work. Discuss and apply.
913K. Know and use traditional and contemporary technologies for furthering knowledge and understanding in the humanities.

Cinquains

A cinquain is a five-line poem. Fourth graders wrote one to go with their drawings using this simplified pattern.

Line 1: Write a one-word subject

Line 2: Use two adjectives to describe it.

Line 3: Write three very descriptive action words.

Line 4: Make a short statement about the subject.

Line 5: End with a synonym filled with imagination.

The Art of Collage

Since our living history theme this year is 1930's, we're giving special attention to artists who were active during that time period. One of the milestones of 20th art is the combination of collage in paintings by artists like Picasso and Braque.

A collage is a work of art made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. An artistic collage work may include newspaper clippings, ribbons, bits of colored or hand-made papers, portions of other artwork, photographs, and such, glued to a piece of paper or canvas.

The World Book encyclopedia says,

By arranging the materials in a certain way, an artist can create
strange or witty effects not possible in traditional painting.

Second and third grade art classes are working on paintings using these techniques. As they finish up, I'll begin posting some. In the meantime, here's an example of this kind of art by Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948).

Pointillism Projects

Pointillism is a technique which involves adding very small dots or dashes of color to a drawing surface.

Perhaps the most famous example of Pointillism can be found in the painting Sunday Afternoon on the Island La Grande Jatte (below), painted by Georges Seurat in the late 1880s. Pointillist works are quite distinctive, and optically they are very interesting because they rely on tricks of the eye and mind.

When we use this technique, we are mixing colors -- not by blending them together -- but by placing two colors side by side. It's called the optical mixing of colors. For instance, we may place clusters of red dots and surround them with yellow dots. Up close we will see red and yellow, but from a distance, we will see orange.

By separating paint into small dots of color, artists break their paints into their most basic elements. Up close, a Pointillist painting can look slightly confusing, but as the viewer backs away, the picture comes into focus. This is because the eyes and mind work together to blend the dots of color into a smooth picture, much like people interpret pixels on a computer screen as a single image. In fact, Pointillism is very similar to the CMYK printing process used to produce many printed materials; try magnifying a page in a magazine to see the individual dots of color which your eye has smoothed for you.

Fourth graders have been applying these concepts in the creation of their own pointillistic drawings. Most students are finishing up this week. Here are a few of them.

5th Grade Poster Projects

5th Grade classes have been working on artwork based on an ocean animal. The painting above is Caitlin Correll's. She was artist of the week for this. I really like the sylized wave designs.

Next, everybody gets a big piece of posterboard. They will attach their painting to that and make a slogan "advertisting" their animal. Most students have already researched some facts about their animal. Their assignment is to take these posters home and somehow in a creative way "show what they know". They can write, draw, paste -- anything they want. Parents can help too if they want. The goal is to present interesting information about their animal -- things that when a viewer sees it, they say, "No way!"

Below is my example. Mrs. Puff from Sponge-Bob presents information about her real life counter part the white-spotted pufferfish (or, arothron hispidus). I have further decorated it with drawings and photos.

Here's a close-up of some of the information I learned while researching this fascinating animal.

These will be on display when we have our big art show/family fun night in March. However, I'd like to have them when we come back from break. No pressure -- I'd just like the kids to have fun using their creativity to do this.

Lesson Plans -- Week 11

Week 11: December 10-17.

Kindergarten.
Christmas Tree Collage Project. Cutting skills, decorating with glitter and metallic paper.
913H Handle materials, equipment and tools safely at work and performance spaces. Identify materials used. Identify issues of cleanliness

First Grade.
Drawing seasonal drawings with pencil and marker.
913D. Demonstrate the ability to define objects, express emotions, illustrate an action or relate an experience through creation of works in the arts.
913E Demonstrate the ability to define objects, express emotions, illustrate an action or relate an experience through creation of works in the arts.

Second and Third Grade.
Finish collage/paintings. Acrylic painting techniques.
913C . Recognize and use fundamental vocabulary within each of the arts forms.

Fourth Grade. Pointillism. Finish writings about the drawings and arrange together as display. Students are writing cinquains.
913D. Use knowledge of varied styles within each art form through a performance or exhibition of unique work.
913F. Identify works of others through a performance or exhibition

Fifth Grade.
Each student will be given a piece of colored poster board. They will mount the paintings they’ve made of underwater animals on the board. They will fill the rest of the space with images and information related to that drawing. The goal is to make a poster that informs the viewer with facts about the animal.
913K. Know and use traditional and contemporary technologies for furthering knowledge and understanding in the humanities.