red ribbon week

Last week was red ribbon week, a week that promotes drug awareness and encourage students to sign a pledge to be drug free. So, during WOW Wednesday, the two classes that visited the art room made art to promote being drug free: "iTune out drugs". I originally found this idea on Pinterest, found an iPhone template, and the students went to work designing their phones with the catch phrase.

It was really a great opportunity to bring awareness, talk about issues, and make some art with a message! (And of course my "friends" love anything involving iPhones!!)

Miss Miller

free art day: mosaic fall leaves

 

I had a second grade class be the first to be rewarded with a FREE ART DAY. This took place this week, and we had a ton of fun creating some fall leaves to be displayed in the art room windows! I used this free art day project as a precursor for our next unit (color and shape), which will be introduced this coming week (10/14)!

I drew leaves out onto poster board, and each student was given a leaf to cut out. I made sure that I had different levels of difficulty for cutting the organic shaped leaves (easy, medium, hard). A perfect opportunity to really refine our cutting skills!

I set up the tables with pre-cut tissue papers in warm colors (red, yellow, orange, brown), and a glue/water mixture for pasting! I first demonstrated how to work with the tissue paper and glue mixture, and then let the students have at it! This project was pretty messy, but my "friends" loved it!! The results were beautiful, and they truly are a nice fall addition to the art room!

Some classes who had finished early with their unit projects on line were able to make some mosaic leaves as well! Here are the leaves we made, dressing the classroom and front office!! :)

the art classroom door

our leaves adorning the front office windows

happy Fall, friends!

Miss Miller

empty bowls project

I welcomed the opportunity for some of my students to participate in the Empty Bowls Project, a service project put on by the Second Harvest Food Bank. Every year, the Empty Bows Project sponsors a luncheon, where for a small price, you receive a hand crafted, student-made bowl, a bowl of soup, a piece of bread, and a cup of water. Teachers and local artists also pull together to create large scale bowls which are donated for a silent auction at the luncheon! (Of course, I had to make one! So much fun) I had fifth graders, as well as extended day students, help create these bowls! For most of my students, it was their first time working with clay, and I am very pleased with the results! Check them out!

stamping technique

forming the clay bowl

glazing the bisqueware

glazing the bisqueware

finished bowl

finished bowl

finished bowl

Here's my hand crafted bowl...I used sea glass (from my travels) to create texture on the outside of the bowl! Unfortunately I don't have a picture after the glaze firing!

after the bisque firing

outside of bowl

Isn't the kids' work amazing for first timers? :)

Miss Miller

K & 1: "Wild About Lines"

K & 1 Wild Things

Markers flowing, scissors cutting, and imaginations running WILD...this is what's been happening in the art studio these past two weeks! And while my custodian might not be the happiest human right now (due to our developing cutting skills)...I have been filled with joy to have witnessed the creativity sprouting in my kindergarten and first grade classes! I had the students give their "Wild Thing" a name, and create a short narrative about what kind of creature they have created. The names and stories brought millions of smiles to my face!!

Here are a few examples of work in progress:

...and those were all kindergarten examples...WOW!!

I then decided to create the "land of the Wild Things" for our little friends to live, dance, and play in...(a bulletin board) which also showcases our unit on line!

My "Wild Thing"

Hand Painted Background

Land of the Wild Things

We're Wild About Lines

Awesome Craftsmanship

I hope you enjoyed following my artists as we learned about line!

Miss Miller

4th & 5th Grade: Hip Hop Shoes & Contour Drawings

In 4th and 5th grades this week, we have been reviewing types of lines we already know (straight, curved, wavy, thin, thick and broken), and learning about new types of lines such as edge and outline. We reviewed/learned through the interactive game,  The Artist's Toolkit (Edge & Outline). I told the students that our first project would be creating drawings of our shoes using a contour line for the shoe, and using other types of lines to create an interesting and visually stimulating background.

...and this is when the fun began. I introduced the students to one type of art career: design. We headed on over to the Converse Shoes website, where we chose and designed different types of shoes. The students had SO much fun designing! Next week we will be starting a drawing of these shoes using contour lines.

Here are the links to create your own shoes---you can even buy them after designing them...how fun!!

Converse

Adidas Men   Adidas Women

Nike Kids


UPDATE**

We have finally finished up with this unit on line! Here are some great examples!

I think these turned out fabulously :)
...what do you think??

Miss Miller

2nd & 3rd Grade: Continuous Line Drawings

This week in 2nd and 3rd grade we have been learning and reviewing different types of lines: straight (horizontal, vertical, diagonal), curved, wavy, zigzag, thick, thin, outline, and broken. We started out reviewing these types of lines using The Artist's Toolkit. Students were able to come up to the board and practice finding these types of lines within different works of art. We then, as a class, created an artwork using these types of lines. After learning about these lines, we read the book "Follow the Line to School". This is an awesome book that uses only ONE line to create many different images in the book. The line carries us through different rooms within the school, and asks students different questions about each classroom.

Next week, we will be creating our own work of art that will be made up of three images using only one line. Keep on practicing identifying these different types of lines using The Artist's Toolkit (click the link above)!

UPDATE**
We have finished our unit on line. Here are my examples of student work throughout the project!

practice day

work in progress

work in progress

work in progress

I was elated to see that so many of my friends chose art as their favorite part of school!! :)

Miss Miller

K&1: "Wild Things"

This week in Kindergarten and First grade, we have been exploring different types of lines: Straight, Curved, Wavy, Broke, Thick and Thin. We started exploring these types of lines through the interactive Artist's Toolkit using the smart board. Students were able to go up to the board and find these types of lines within different works of art. We then created our own work of art using these types of lines. After we learned about types of lines, we sat on the rug and read "Where the Wild Things Are". This is one of my favorite childhood books, and the students "roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws" along with the book! While we read the book, students were able to point out different types of lines they saw in the book. 

"Find the Line" Activity

Line Design

Next week, we will be creating our own "Wild Things" using the different types of lines we learned about this week! Pictures to come :) 

Miss Miller

P.S. Go play with the Artist's Toolkit  and practice finding and using lines...it really is so much fun!