Week of 1/23/22 - Clay and weaving

I started another 2 week rotation with 4th and 5th grade this week. A 5th grade parent helped me carry 600 lbs. of clay from Freeform Clay and Supplies in her truck! A staff member at the store helped load the clay in the parent's truck who drove them to school in her pick up truck. As I was unloading the clay from the truck, my colleague, a 3rd grade teacher walked up and started helping me put the boxed clay in my cart and wheeled it to my classroom. All of this from start to finish took less than an hour. Teamwork truly makes the dream work!! 

 I planned 5 different projects for my 5 5th grade classes - this way pieces don't get mixed up and I know which class worked on what project so pieces are easy to separate. My goal for all 5th graders was for them to know where clay comes from, what the words wedging, kiln, pinching and coiling mean and how they can use additive (while slipping and scoring) and subtractive processes.

The 1st class created spoons incorporating a coil method and pinching the end to make the bowl of the spoon! These turned out beautiful and it was interesting to see how the added pieces to the handle or used carving tools to remove clay to create textures.

               

2nd class created owls! Pinch technique for the body with coiling for the eyes, how awesome are these?

 

3rd class made pinch pots and added coils to them. Focus on creating textures using an additive or subtractive process.

 4th class created cacti - bowls from pinching technique with cactus made from coils. I wanted their cacti to stay standing and reminded them several times to do a great job slipping and scoring.

 

The final class created animals using pinch pots for the body. My initial plan was to have them create pigs but some students asked to pick an animal themselves! There were elephants, bees, ducks and several pigs! It was the last class on Friday and I was so happy to see all the different pieces!

On to bisque firing once our kilns are fixed.

4th graders created woven artworks - The purpose here was for students to experience the tactile aspect of art while using yarn of different thicknesses, knowing the difference between weaving and knitting, a class discussion about how fabric is made and understanding the concept of over and under and repeating it. We looked at how weavers in India and Ghana sit and weave at a traditional loom and I shared my handwoven sarees from India. This way students are able to associate this activity with fabric in a broader context and appreciate hand weaving as a beautiful art form.

                 

 

 

Week of 1/16/2022 - Going digital!

This week 3rd graders created a still life inspired by the art of artist Sara Rivka Dahan. I had each student bring their Chromebook to work with Sketchpad which is simple to navigate and user friendly!  

We looked at the works of the artist, discussed tints, shades, tone and value.
I have 6 3rd grade classes -  we observed a different fruit/ vegetable in each class. Students first created a created a black outline with pencil tool, exploring how line thickness affects the area they are coloring, added tints and shades using the crayon tool, created a shadow and finally a background. Students had  the option to add black and white dots if they wished to like the artist!

2nd grade students looked at real life objects and identified textures associated with them, practiced creating them on paper before using a variety of materials to create them on black card stock. 

 

 

 

 

Week of 1/9/2022 - 2nd and 3rd grade

Inspired by artist Jeff Koons, 2nd grade students created a balloon dog by combining ovals of different sizes. We started class by working on a quick write, pair share and class discussion as students looked at the "hook" I had displayed on the screen with prompts to get them thinking.These activities are a great way for me to get a feel for what students are noticing and a fantastic way to have them see the word wall, visual supports and use art vocabulary. 

We practiced creating values with color sticks to give them a sense of how much pressure they needed to add to create values dark to medium to light. Students combined 7 ovals by drawing with their pencil first and then picked a color of their choice for their balloon dog. They added different values and created a background to complete their works. 

                                                                            

3rd grade worked on creating polymer clay miniature mushrooms inspired by Yayoi Kusama. This medium was new to us and we spent time discussing how it feels, how it is different from regular clay and what we need to do to make it soft and workable. I gave students chunks of primary color clay and we mixed it to get secondary colors. - a great way to talk about color mixing! We looked at the 3 parts of a real mushroom and used a different color for each of the 3 parts. After practicing drawing textures on paper, we added textures on the mushroom using toothpicks, popsicle sticks, dots and spirals. I baked each piece after class in the polymer clay oven to make them hard and permanent. There was so much excitement as students received their mushroom back!

 

                                    

 

Week of 12/2/2022 - 1st week in the new year!

Kinders and 1st graders returned to school after a 2 week break - we created sculptures as an ode to American painter Wayne Thiebaud.

Kinder students crushed 2 pieces of aluminum foil into a ball and covered it with tissue paper. They then applied glue to the inside of a muffin liner inside a muffin tin and stuffed their cupcake inside it. They used neon paper to cut organic shapes, glued them to create frosting and sprinkles. Each student then came up with a name for their cupcake by combining 2 words together based off of prompts I displayed on the screen. It was so great to see variety in student works!

 

1st graders created donuts - after a class discussion on Thiebaud's paintings, students wrapped 2 aluminum foils together, bent them to create a circle and taped the ends together. Each student picked dark or light brown tissue paper depending upon a vanilla or chocolate flavor for their donut. It was a challenge for some to create the aluminum foil core and wrap the tissue paper around but we pushed through with gluey hands and made it happen!!

They then used paper to cut organic shapes, glued them to create frosting and sprinkles. They also used 3d paints to create icing. Each student then came up with a name for their donut by combining 2 words together based off of prompts I displayed on the screen.

SO MUCH Variety!

 I also got a chance to display the installations 5th graders created with artist Michelle Montjoy in December. They proudly hang in our school library!