Weeks 9/2/2024 and 9/9/2024 - 4th and 5th grades

 4th and 5th grades had their 1st art rotation this week!

4th graders looked at the works of artist Jaume Plensa and engaged in a turn and talk and class discussion. We noticed how he uses text and symbols in his works and combines them interesting ways to create his sculptures.

We created a mind map of words based on prompts I gave students - 3 adjectives to describe yourself, favorite hobby, place etc.

Once done, students were given a piece on 9" X 12" cardboard. They drew vertical and horizontal lines using a ruler and wrote words from their mind map inside the spaces using a variety of fonts with a pencil. Some students even made up their own fonts!

They traced their words with a black chisel tip Sharpie and erased pencil lines.

Students then wrote their name on a piece of construction paper using block letters, cut them out, arranged them in an interesting way like the artist and glued them to complete their work.

5th graders created "All about me" explosion books!!

Students were given multiple prompts and answered them by creating an illustration or text using a variety of fonts in 12 boxes/ triangles on white paper. For example - 4 adjectives to describe yourself, favorite food, favorite sport, hobby etc.

Once done, they outlined their work and added color using color pencils.

We then used 4 pieces of 6” squares in complementary colors to fold and connect them to make explosion books. 

Students then cut out their squares and triangles and glued them inside their books to complete their work!

Weeks of 9/19/24 and 9/16/24 - 2nd and 3rd grades

 2nd graders looked at the front cover of the book “That’s Not My Name” by Anoosha Syed and engaged in a class discussion during our 1st class of what the book was about by looking for clues. 

The main character in the book is Mirha. Her teacher and friends mispronounce her name at school which leads to Mirha wanting to change her name. A conversation with her mom leads Mirha to learn the meaning of her name which is "happiness" in Arabic. She goes back to school the next day with excitement to teach her friends about her name and how to deal with situations where students pronounce her name differently!

After reading the story, students shared an interesting fact about their name - some shared they were named after their grandpa, after a movie or a friend. Some shared the meaning of their name - “the gifted one”, “the loved one” among many others.

Each student practiced writing their name in several ways using pencil, picked the one they liked the best and wrote their name on a white poster board. They used a chisel tip black Sharpie to trace the letters and then used warm and cool color markers to create repetitive lines around their name.

They completed their work during the 2nd class and wrote something special about their name.

3rd graders looked at the comic book inspired works of artist Roy Lichtenstein - we had a class discussion of how the artist used dots similar to how comic books were printed back in the 1950s/ 60s. 

We noticed how the words used were sound words and had an exclamation point at the end, the letters used overlapping and that the colors were bright! We also talked about the Pop art movement, the word "pop" stood for "popular" and looked at several examples by other Pop artists. I introduced the word onomatopoeia to students and let them know we will create an artwork using their name as an onomatopoeia. 

We spent 2 classes cutting and layering paper in different shapes, added dots, name and also mounted our works on black paper. Students also wrote something new they learned in this lesson by filling out an exit slip.

Week of 8/12/2024 - First week back

Welcome back!!

We are off to a great start with 2nd-5th graders creating their collaborative artwork the first week of school!

Students looked at the works of artist Charles McGee and we had a class discussion about how he used patterns, overlapping, organic shapes, and lines using just black-and-white to create contrast in his works.

Each class worked with a different color paper square, added black and white paper strips and patterns with black and silver markers. They arranged and organized their pieces, glued them to complete their work and added it to a large piece of paper.

Approximately 510 squares were put together and displayed in the auditorium to provide a beautiful backdrop for upcoming events.

There are several positives to starting the school year off with collaboration - it teaches students how to contribute ideas for a group and how to compromise. It builds a sense of community as students work towards a common goal. It also improves critical thinking skills by analyzing and synthesizing information from various sources.

Here are photos of the day to day progress and the final install!