Weeks of 8/18/25 and 8/25/25 - First rotation with 2nd and 3rd grade

 2nd and 3rd graders had their first art rotation - this year we are able to have both grades twice a week during their rotation!

I read the book "That's not my name" by Anoosha Syed - I love this story for its simple yet powerful message. In this story, the main character Mirha is so excited for her first day of school! She can't wait to learn, play, and make new friends. But when her classmates mispronounce her name, she goes home wondering if she should find a new one. Maybe then she'd be able to find a monogrammed keychain at the gas station or order a hot chocolate at the cafe more easily. Mama helps Mirha to see how special her name is, and she returns to school the next day determined to help her classmates say it correctly--even if it takes a hundred tries. We had a great conversation after the story where a few students shared how their name gets mispronounced as well. 

Each student received a 9"X12" watercolor paper on which I had pre drawn 12 boxes with pencil. Students arranged the letters of their first name or nickname - one in each box using a pencil. They traced it with a chisel tip black Sharpie and used warm and cool color markers to echo the lines. We used the markers sideways to create thick lines. In the blank boxes, they created line patterns again using warm and cool colors.

When done, each student wrote something unique about their name on a piece of white paper as an exit ticket.

My name is Valentina - I was named after a hot sauce!

                                    My name is Maverick - I was named after a movie!

2nd graders also worked on a book cover design that they started and will finish next rotation. We discussed the purpose of a front cover, spine and back cover in a book. We looked at how the title is written the biggest on the front cover as this is what we first see when we pick up a book. We also discussed how the summary on the back cover tells us what the book is about that helps us make the decision to check out/ buy a book!

We read the story "The big orange splot" by Daniel Manus Pinkwater and filled out a planning sheet with sketches for the front cover and a summary students wrote using a sentence frame I created.

3rd grade students created works inspired by the Pop art movement using their name as an onomatopoeia! We looked at pop artist works, discussed what we noticed/ wondered. We used organic shapes with triangles in different colors incorporating overlapping to create these.

Students also had the opportunity to present their work in front of the class and answer questions on the new presentation stool - something new that I’m trying this year!

Students also worked on a digital art lesson using Chrome Canvas website on their chrome books. 

Students learned how to - 

1. Add a class code and join my art Google classroom 

2. Get familiar with the tools on Chrome canvas

 3. Create a pattern using different lines, tools, and colors and 

4. Submit their works on Google classroom.

Here are a few examples.

Inspired by artist Jae Yong Kim, 3rd grade students had a class discussion about the donuts the artist creates - the different shapes, patterns, and colors.

We then turned a chunk of clay into a sphere, created an opening, shaped it into a circle/ square/ heart or like a mochi donut. Students added details by slipping and scoring clay coils to their donuts. I will let the pieces dry for a month before firing them since they are THICK!

Whew! We got a lot done in two weeks!!!

Week of 8/11/2025 - First week back

Welcome back to another of creating, learning and collaborating!

Staff returned to work on Wednesday, 8/6/25 and students returned on Monday, 8/11/25. Our week 1 flew by and we finished our beginning of the year collaborative art!!!

We completed this over three half days and two full days of school. There were 18 classes that participated, approximately 430 students in grades 2-5. This is the largest collaborative work I have installed at Zamorano!

This year we were inspired by the art of Peter Bynum, a contemporary American artist who creates organic shapes on large pieces of glass using acrylic paint and uses LED lights to illuminate them.

With each class, I talked about my classroom expectations and then we had a class discussion about what we notice and wonder in the work above. Students shared that the work reminded them of coral reefs, fingerpainting, the brain, germs, trees and veins among many other things.

Students created a large organic shape on the transparency using a black Sharpie marker. They then cut 3 pieces of cellophane paper to create organic shapes, glued them using overlapping on the transparency and then created lines using the black Sharpie. Once done, they cut along the black line of the organic shape they initially created to complete their work. Different classes worked on different color.

We illuminated the installation in our auditorium using LED strip lights - a great way to start the year and build community!

Week of 4/21/2025 - Celebration of Art

 Celebration of Art - the biggest event at Zamorano we all excitedly wait for is here!!!

From the first week of school, Ms.Kathi and I start saving, mounting and creating labels for student artist works and this is the week they are ALL displayed in the auditorium! 

I am so grateful to have an amazing set of parents that helped us get the display cubes from storage, panels from the auditorium room and help us put them together. Ms.Kathi and I had 4 1/2 days to display ALL the works in the auditorium. 

In addition to the artwork display, we also have an art walk where every classroom teacher displays a set of artworks from each student in his/ her class in the south campus. Every grade level also hosts an art activity - students purchase an activity bag for $5 to participate.

Here is the website I created for the event :)

There were also food trucks, a cake walk and this is was around a GREAT event!!! 

Here is a great video that captures everything about this spectacular evening :)

 Celebration of Art 2025

 

 

Weeks of 4/7/2025 and 4/14/2025 - Last rotation with 4th and 5th graders

 This week 4th and 5th grade students returned for their last art rotation for this school year!

4th graders created embroidery and block prints on burlap over two classes. My sister had sent me wooden blocks from India traditionally used to create motifs on textiles and I have been eagerly waiting to use them! Students first learned how to thread a needle, create a knot on both ends to create a running stitch along the sides. Once done, they used a block of their choice and created 4-6 prints on the burlap fabric.

Next class they returned to add more embroidery using the running stitch and incorporate beads if they wanted to! This was a high engagement lesson and I am so happy the works turned out fantastic!!!

 5th graders returned to paint their bisque fired coil pots they created a few weeks back. I had a lot of paint remaining from the mural and had students use this to paint their works. There was so much variety in colors and patterns!

 

Students also finished the weaving they started during their last rotation! I explained and demonstrated the different steps like threading the needle, tying the knot and connecting a new piece of yarn to the one already existing in the loom. Students that finished weaving had the option to add beads to their work!

 

 

2025 National Art Education Association Conference, Louisville, KY

This year the National Art Education Association Conference was held in Louisville, KY from March 20th-22nd. The call for proposals were sent in summer of 2024 and I was thrilled to have four sessions accepted!

The key note sessions were brilliant with presentations from artist Nate Powell, the Guerilla girls and the past president of NAEA Dr.Wanda B.Knight. I attended several wonderful sessions and excited to implement those ideas at Zamorano!

 

My first session was titled "Podcasting in the Elementary Art room" and it was great to present to a room full of enthusiastic educators!!! It was great sharing the Elementary Art Talk podcast at Zamorano!

 

My second presentation was "Stop Motion Animation in the Elementary Classroom" where there were groups of participants that stopped by to see my presentation every 10 minutes! It was great sharing the work from Zamorano's 5th graders!

The third presentation was titled "The Art of Motif Making" and was a make and take session. It was great to share my love for saree motifs, the meaning behind each and teaching participants how to weave paper, design their motifs and repeat them in their work.

Presenting in Elementary Carousel Make and Take was amazing! We were six elementary art educators from different parts of the country presenting a make and take project! I taught participants how to create Explosion books and loved the energy and enthusiasm in the room!!!

 It was also great to see 5th grade Zamorano student Mila Vila's artwork published on the back cover of Davis publication's 2025-26 advocacy planner and 3rd grader Samantha Guilas's art that won fist place at the San Diego Youth Art Month!

 

Week of 3/17/2025 - 2nd and 3rd grade - Week 2

It was another great week with 2nd and 3rd graders!

2nd graders worked on a Kolam art! Kolam is an art form from India where traditionally dots are created at the door steps of homes using rice flour every morning. Dots are connected with lines and color filled inside the shapes. Kolams are symmetrical in nature and believed to bring good luck and prosperity to homes! An interesting aspect of Kolams is that once created, the critters would eat the rice flour during the course of the day and a new Kolam would be made the next morning focusing on its ephemeral quality and teaching people to not get too attached to what they were creating!

Each student was given a 12" brown card stock with 5 rows on 5 dots traced with a black Sharpie. I also gave each student a white paper inside a sheet protector that had the 5 rows of 5 dots. We practiced how to create a Kolam with a dry erase marker together incorporating symmetry. Once done, students erased what they had created and created their own unique Kolam. This step is crucial in building confidence and skills. Students then created their Kolam on the brown paper by looking at the white paper. They used red, blue and yellow tempera paint to color their shapes incorporating symmetry. We let works dry during the 1st class.

Students returned later in the week to use white tempera paint to outline their shapes using a narrow paint brush, add a border and details to complete their works.

I love hOw everyone started their work with the same 25 dots and yet every work in UNIQUE!

  3rd graders painted their cupcakes using acrylic paint and followed up with a written component where they came u p with a name for their cupcake, flavors present and cost for their cupcakes!

 

 

 

Week of 3/10/2025 - 2nd and 3rd grade - Week 1

 This week 2nd and 3rd graders returned with a new schedule with 2nd graders receiving an additional hour for art during their rotation!

2nd graders looked at the works of artist Alma Thomas and we had a great discussion about everything she did to pave the away for future African American artists to proudly create and display their art in museums!  "Ablaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas" by Jeanne Walker Harvey was a great book to read for this lesson!

Students first created several curved and wavy lines on a 9"x12" water color paper using a pencil. They then used paint sticks to color the shapes that were formed. During the next class, they used tempera paint and narrow paint brushes to create marks inside the shapes using contrast.

 3rd grade students created art inspired by artist Ruth Asawa. We looked at her sculptures and had a great discussion about what she used, how she created the art and what it reminded us of! I read the book - A Life Made by Hand ": A story of Ruth Asawa which talks about what inspired the artist to create works that became her trademark.

Students used 9"x1" paper strips in different colors to practice a variety of fold, curls and cuts to create sculptures incorporating symmetry.