January sure was cold but that was a good thing! Why? It was a perfect opportunity to have students study the colors of the winter sky. With bright blue skies during the day, students were able to see how the sky really does touch the horizon. Remember your child’s early drawings with a blue line at the top of their paper and the green grass line at the bottom? Hopefully we are all learning that those two lines meet! The sky just before sunrise and after sunset has yielded vibrant pinks and purples and dark blues. There were days that I wished I traveled with a camera in my car … the sky was that amazing.
Several grade levels took this past month to study the Solar System and night skies. Students in Mrs. Bliss, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Baker and Mrs. Dollard’s classes rubbed chalk lines to create skies filled with the northern lights. We then sponge painted new fallen snow along the bottom edges of our papers where we placed cut out drawings of winter animals or penguins depending on what they were studying in their classrooms. Kindergarten students continued their study of winter by creating clay mittens or penguins depending on which class they were in and the focus of classroom studies. These should have come home within the past week.
Jan Brett’s books The Mitten and The Hat were inspiration for several grade levels. Kindergarten students created a pair of mittens learning about matching pairs. Students learned the difference between right and left mittens and how to be sure they match their mittens in color, shape and design. Second graders used The Hat as a connection between Art, Language Arts, and E.L.F. Students designed a hat they would like to own using cut paper. They then drew and cut out an animal in winter to hide inside their hat. They had learned how animals migrate, hibernate, stay active or are dormant during the winter months. Ask your second grader what animal they chose and what level of activity they are in winter!
Students in the multi-age classes learned how to fold paper to cut out six sided snowflakes. Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley of Jericho, Vermont discovered that all snowflakes are different and are six sided or have six points. These can be a little tricky to fold and cut but the results are beautiful once you figure it out. Students used tissue paper for their snowflakes and glued them on drawings of winter activities. Click here to make your own snowflakes on the web!
Third grade students used wet on wet watercolors in reds, blues and purples to create their winter skies. The final touch was sprinkling salt over their papers while they were still wet. When dry this created the illusion of fine blowing snow. Students added cut paper silhouettes of people skiing, walking, etc. to depict an activity at dusk. Minimal color was added with colored pencil. Some of these are hanging by the gymnasium.
Students in Miss Dattilio and Mrs. Belisle’s classes have been studying the planets and the Solar System. With the modular landings on Mars recently, this has been a great time to be studying this topic. We spatter painted dark blue and black paper to create the illusion of galaxies and the Milky Way. These became the backgrounds for drawings of planets, space travel and space beings. Most of these are hanging just outside the Art Room. Take a peek at our results. They are quite striking.
First graders have been studying Chinese arts, geography and culture in their classrooms. I was fortunate to be part of a group of Vermont teachers selected to travel and study in China for six weeks during the summer of 1988. While we were in Beijing, we received lessons from a calligrapher. He taught us how to write/paint some Chinese characters and simple brushstrokes for ink painting. I taught our first grade students how to hold their bamboo brush in the correct positions to create the strokes for bamboo, leaves, flowers, grass, and dragonflies. They caught on very quickly and created beautiful ink paintings of their own. These are hanging in the cafeteria and outside their classrooms.
During the late Ming and early Ching Dynasty (16th- 18th centuries) Chinese scholars were held in high regard. They believed that beauty and happiness could be found in nature and the simple things of life. They would often have a scholars set on their desk or workspace. It is a simple bowl with small items inside that reflect their values. First graders made pinch pots from pottery clay then fashioned small items from bits of left over clay that symbolize things that make them happy. Some students made hearts for family and friends while others made soccer balls and hockey sticks to represent the sports they enjoy. These student scholars’ sets are almost like an autobiography.
Second and fourth grade students have completed a self-portrait for their portfolio. This is one of our benchmark drawings done each year. We measure our faces to see where our eyes are and are amazed to find that they are in the middle of our face. We discuss the lines, shapes and textures found in our faces and even talk about color. We all experimented with a variety of colored pencils to achieve the right color for our face. Many students found they needed to use at least three different colors to get the right one for their skin. They also discovered that using the point of their pencil gave them great lines for the strands of their hair but then they needed to use the side of their pencils to get the soft, smooth texture they needed for the skin. They also drew a background for their portrait that indicates a place they like to be. These are now serve as the back cover for their portfolios.
Fourth graders are taking this annual assignment one step further. We will be looking at four different art periods and creating our portrait in each of these styles. They have completed their realistic portrait and after break will begin one in the Impressionistic style of Vincent Van Gogh. I had asked for computer paper in a past issue of Art Bits and someone brought in a box of the carbon type. There are 5 sheets together so students drew on the first sheet and now have copies of their original self-portrait. We will be using these copies as the basis for our study of the different art periods. Completed work will have four very different versions of themselves.
A favorite project in fifth grade is our mask making unit. It incorporates a lot of skills and techniques that we have studied over the years. We watched the video “Masks of Many Cultures” to understand the history of mask making and how many cultures around the world continue to use this art form in their celebrations, entertainment, and parades. This year we took particular notice of the masks of Africa and the materials and shapes they used. We talked about the similarities we saw between these masks and the cubist portraits drawn and painted by Pablo Picasso. Students designed their mask incorporating some of the ideas they had seen and their knowledge of the elements of Art.
Students chose their own partner to make a mask of their face. This activity is a test in trust as they communicate to their partner what parts of their face should be covered, then they lay back while their partner places the plaster gauze on their face. They don’t see the result until the mask is off their face. Do you have someone you would trust to do this to you?
Once this basic form is done, students can form ears and horns to add to their mask. Painting is the next step and the last part of the process is to decorate them with raffia, shells, beads, glitter, feathers, etc. I always love seeing what they come up with! I’ll have this process on the website so you can see how the mask is made along with photos of completed ones. I always try to have students leave them here to be displayed but they always want to take them home.
Have
a safe and relaxing winter break!
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