Week of 2/17/2025 - UTK, Kinder and 1st grade - Week 1

 This week UTK students created art inspired by "Dhurries" which are rugs from India!

We looked at a few examples and had a great discussion about what students noticed. It is always nice to hear students using  art vocabulary confidently at this point in the school year. There is more engagement with multiple students raising hands to answer which is lovely to see!!

 We first created 3 vertical and 3 horizontal lines on a 11" X 14" brown poster board using a pencil. Students then colored each shape that was formed in a variety of colors using paint sticks. They then cut construction paper of different colors and glued them inside the boxes.

 

Kindergarten students created art inspired by the story "Go Away Big Green Monster" by Ed Emberley. We read the story first and I love the simple text and the  bold illustrations! Once done, students cut the ears that I have pre-drawn for them with pencil. This step usually takes them about 8-10 minutes as the poster board is thick compared to construction paper or card stock that we typically use. Once done, students draw a variety of lines using a pencil and color the areas using paint sticks. Then they cut circles and add 1-4 eyes using white construction paper and a mouth using black construction paper. After this, I give students white paint to add patterns on the monster's body and triangular teeth to complete their work.

1st graders created book illustrations - I love this lesson as it incorporates writing with art!

I first pick out a book and ask students what they notice on the front cover - title, author and illustrator name and an image. We talk about why this information needs to be included on the front cover and then the purpose of the spine and back cover. I read the story after which I tell students they are going to become book illustrators and if they could design the covers and spine, what would that look like?

I give each student a poster board that has the spine drawn with pencil. We first use a chisel tip black Sharpie to write the title bold as this is what people first look at. We then illustrate the front cover after we discuss who/ what was the main character(s) in the story. Then we write "By" followed by the students name. Students also write the title on the spine, illustrate the back cover and use color pencils/ crayons to color their work to complete it.

 

5th Grade Legacy Mural

 It’s 5th grade Legacy Mural painting this week!!

We have a beautiful design created by our awesome 5th graders!! I am so proud of how students responded to the prompt “what has been your favorite memory of Zamorano?” using the Sketchpad website.

14 images were selected, students created 3 final designs in small groups out of which the final design was selected.

I stayed back after work the Friday before until 7:30 and traced the design 6 pm on wards. I am so glad it gets dark quick and I can use the projector.

A few things I have learned the last 3 years -

1. Giving myself enough time for students to work on the individual and final design.

2. Submitting the paperwork to the school district for approval (this is a requirement) at least 2-3 weeks in advance.

3. Requesting our custodian to clean and hose down the wall.

4. Checking to make sure the projector is working, getting the extension cord from the supply room and making sure it reaches the wall where the design needs to be drawn, making sure the multiple plug outlet is working and keeping admin and custodians on board about when i am staying back after school to draw the mural design.

5. I use a fine point Sharpie to trace the design and also have my phone to look at the design to give me more clarity.

6. I have a large cart to carry supplies including paint, brushes, a container with soapy water for used paintbrushes, rags, wipes, paper towels, paint rollers, tarp, painter's tape, pencil and eraser for any corrections of the design.

7. I also send out a schedule to the 5 5th grade teachers about 3 months in advance just to make sure there are no conflicts and if they do, I work around it. Teachers send 5-6 students per group for 30 minutes. 

With each group, we look at and discuss the final mural design - I make several color print outs so students can see what the area they are painting needs to look like. I also add dots in the color the wall needs to be painted. 

 We discuss the paint which is exterior semi-gloss house paint and how students need to wipe their fingers on a wipe/ paper towel right away. Each student is given a section to paint. I first demonstrate how to dip the paint brush into the paint, hold it sideways and move it to create outlines and then fill in the inside areas. I instruct them to step back every few minutes to see what areas of the wall the have missed and go back to fill it in. We talk about only moving the wrist to paint and cover small areas at a time and not the arms that most students want to do!

 We talk about safety - students that get up or down on a ladder do so with their hands free so they can hold on to the sides and climb. I give them their paint and paint brush once they are up and I hold it when they come down. They also need to be mindful of who is painting near them and not wave their arms.

Here are photos and the progress from day 1 to completion on day 5!

 

 Annndddddd here is the finished 2025 5th Grade Legacy Mural!!

 

 

Week of 2/10/2025 - 4th and 5th graders - Week 2

 This week 4th graders worked on their art submissions for Outside the Lens's media arts show Voice Out - this year their theme is "Change". Students had a table talk about what the word change meant to them. Some said quitting baseball and moving to basketball, changing the world to have people produce less trash, being more kind and so on. We then did a quick write on a white board of all the words that come to our mind while hearing the word change. Next, students, used a Google search to come up wit 2-3 simple drawings of the words they wrote.

Once done, each student took a photo of themselves with their face showing, hands in the shape of a heart etc. and we used the website remove.bg to create a transparent background and add a solid color. Students then imported this photo on Google Chrome and used the different tools available to create illustrations from their white board. Here are some examples - it was interesting to see how each student interpreted the same word in different ways to create their work! 

5th graders finished deigning their work on Tinkercad for their 3D printing - after receiving student feedback on what they can design, I gave the option of designing either a pendant or a trophy using just 3 forms. It was nice to give students options this year. I will print their works for them and they will have the option to paint it using acrylic paint! Stay tuned!

5th graders also started their weaving lesson. This is one of my favorite projects to teach as I am able to bring in so much of what I learned while pursuing my Masters degree in textile design! We look at fabric, discuss what weaving, warp, weft and a loom is and how there are weavers around the world to weave cloth. I show students weaving examples from Ghana, India and Mexico!

Each student was given a cardboard loom and a long piece of yarn. They learned how to loop the yarn around the notches to add the warp on the loom. Next, they threaded a needle, knotted the yarn around the needle and on the bottom right warp. They used an over under movement to weave their yarn. Once there was just a small amount of yarn left, students tied a knot and cut off the weft. They then repeated using a different piece of yarn. We will continue working on this next class to finish.

 

Week of 2/3/25 - 4th and 5th grade

 This week 4th graders returned to create a flyer for Celebration of Art, Zamorano's annual art show which is on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2025  from 5-7 p.m. We started this lesson by discussing the purpose of flyers, how to organize and align text, use a variety of fonts, change font size,

use Google to find images and add a background color. Every flyer turned out unique and below are examples.....we will use flyer #3 as the official flyer for the event!!

5th graders created a pot using a pinch and coil technique. They learned how to create a sphere from a block of clay, use their thumb to make an opening and push and turn the clay to create a pot. They then created coils to slip and score them to the pot to make it tall. Some students chose to keep their work simple while others challenged themselves to make it complicated. Below are examples.....

 

 

 

Week of 1/27/2025 - 2nd and 3rd grade

 2nd graders this week looked at the book "Matisse's Garden" by Cristina Amodeo and Samantha Friedman. We noticed how the artist used organic shapes, bright colors and was inspired to use what he saw during his travels to other countries. We used the app Free Form on iPads and students learned how to create organic shapes, change the colors and overlap shapes. This is the first time I have implemented a digital art lesson with 2nd graders and the results have been great!!

 

3rd graders returned to complete their Digital Fantasy fish lesson- this was based on the Birch aquarium visit in November here students learned about different habitats, fish body shapes, teeth and coloration. They used a planning sheet to determine which of the above their "fantasy" fish would have. They drew a fish and colored it in last week. This week, they used the camera in their Chromebook to take a photo of their fish, used the remove.bg website to upload the photo and get rid of the paper in the background. They then used the background option on the website to search for the habitat, added it to their fish and uploaded their work on to my art Google Classroom.

 

Week of 1/20/25 - 2nd and 3rd grade

 2nd and 3rd grade students returned for another 2 week rotation!

 2nd graders looked at the works of elementary art teacher and artist Molly McFee and noticed how she uses organic shapes, bright colors and patterns in her work. We also noticed how she cuts shapes out of a piece of paper and doesn't throw away the paper out of which the shape was cut - she uses it in her art! Students were given scrap booking paper in different patterns and colors in a variety of sizes. Students drew the shapes they wanted, arranged it on a 12" card stock and glued their pieces to create their work. They also used markers to add patterns to complete their work!

 

3rd graders created clay cupcakes using a pinch and coil technique. This has been a favorite among 3rd graders when I started this 2 years back - I have often wondered if I should change the lesson for this grade level and decided to keep it as students live creating these!!

Students first created a pinch pot to create the cupcake "liner"  and then use a coil technique to add the "frosting" by slipping and scoring the coils one on top of the other.

 

Week of 1/13/2025 - UTK, Kinder and 1st grade - Week 2

 This week UTK students returned to create owls based on the book "Little Owl's Night" by Divya Srinivasan. The sweet story is about a bay owl that enjoys a lovely night in the forest visiting his friend the raccoon, listening to the frogs croak and the crickets chirp, and watching the fog that hovers overhead. The illustrations are beautiful and as I read the story I pointed  how the owl has large circular eyes, patterns on its wings and the colors of the night. Once done reading the story, students traced the body of an owl using a template provided with a pencil. They then traced it using a white Prismacolor pencil, added the face with eyes, beak, wings with patterns and a tree branch. They used oil pastels to color the owl by blending colors.

Kindergarten students created a still life of  mug with a handle. We looked at several example of still life artworks by various artists to understand what qualifies as a still life. Students created line patterns on a piece of card stock using markers and then folded the sides. On a larger card stock, they created a table line, glues the mug by curving it and pressing the sides. They folded and glued a paper strip for a handle and used white paint stick to create steam. They also added line patterns on the "table" in their work.

1st graders create artworks combining organic and geometric shapes inspired by the work of artist Reggie Laurent! They were given scrap booking paper in different patterns and colors in a variety of sizes. Students drew the shapes they wanted, arranged it on a 12" black card stock and glued their pieces. They also used a silver marker to create a line around the shapes similar to what the artist creates in his works to tie in the shapes together.