Week of 4/29/2024 - UTK, Kinder and 1st Grade - Part 2

 UTK students looked at the work of artist Wassily Kandinsky and we discussed how the artist used circles of different sizes in his work and arranged them on top of squares. Students noticed how colorful his works were and that he must really like circles because he created so many of them! It is always interesting to hear what 4 year olds have to say during these class discussions :)

I gave each student a 10" square burlap with a pipe cleaner attached to the top. Students first strung beads, once they were close to the other end, I attached the other end of the pipe cleaner to the burlap to create a handle.

Next, students used a circle template to trace 4 circles on their burlap using a black Sharpie.They used tempera paint to create concentric circles in different color to complete their work.

 

Kinders illustrated the flower from Eric Carle's "The Tiny Seed" and the caterpillar from the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". We first read the story and discussed how each of them could illustrate the flower/ caterpillar. We used tempera paint on poster board.

 

1st graders looked at the book "The Warli People" and we discussed how they drew humans - with triangles, circle, few details and plants with repetition and patterns. Students noticed that there were only 2 colors the illustrator used in the story typical of Warli art.We practiced drawing humans, trees, houses, the sun and moon Warli style and then students came up with a scene that they drew and outlined with black Sharpie to complete their work.

Week of 4/22/2024 - UTK, Kinder and 1st Grade - Part 1

 UTK, Kinders and 1st graders returned for their final rotation with me!

UTK and kinders created flower fields! I showed them a photo of the Carlsbad flower fields below and we had a class discussion of what we see - the colors, houses, trees and the sizes of flowers. We discuss how something appears small when it is far away and something appears big when it is closer. Several students shared they have been to the flower fields! I also show students a 90 second video of the flower fields so they can experience it virtually!

 We started by drawing a horizontal line to separate the sky and the fields. We used oil pastels to create clouds in white - students always tell me it doesn't show on white paper and I let them we will do magic, aka use water colors for them to appear at the end of class :)

We used green to trace over the horizontal pencil line and created short vertical lines for the stems of the flowers. We next used different colors to create 5 rows of flowers starting with XS, S, M, L and XL as they get closer to the edge of the paper. We then use blue water colors over the clouds and I love the reaction students have when they see the white clouds appear magically. We used green over the flowers to complete the work!

1st graders illustrated the front cover, spine and back cover of Eric Carle’s A Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Tiny Seed! We first read the story, identified the main character in the story that the students decided to illustrate on the front cover, then added images to the back cover and the title to the spine and front cover. They made decisions as to how they would write the title - all uppercase/ first letter uppercase, rest lowercase, where to write the title and what colors to use. I added a strip of poster board with lines to create the pages to make a few works look like actual books for our upcoming art show!

 

 

Week of 4/15/2024 - 4ths and 5ths - Part 2

4th graders were introduced to the paper square challenge that I had the opportunity to create at the Blick booth at the NAEA!

I gave each student a 12" square black card stock and  3" paper squares in a variety of neon colors! The challenge was to alter 9 square using a folding, cutting, curling, tearing technique or any other technique they could think of using paper squares, scissors, pencil and glue!!

SO MANY amazing works!!

 

5th graders returned to paint their coil pots with interior house paint - first the pot itself and then details such as flowers, dots, lines, shapes etc.

 

 

Week of 4/8/2024 - Last rotation with 4ths and 5ths - Part 1

 4th and 5ths returned for their last rotation! This year has been a blur!!

4th graders designed flyers for Celebration of art - this is something I started my 1st year here. I wanted to give students the opportunity to learn how to find images, use a variety of text and learn how to organize information for viewers.

Students searched art related images on Google and inserted them on a blank slide. We added relevant information such as the title of the event - Celebration of Art using a large font. We discussed how to align the text, change color and look for/ use a variety of fonts.

Students added day, date and time followed by our school added and a quote/ message if they wanted to. There were so many great designs and I picked the below to send to our families, staff and guests.

 

5th graders returned to create designs for our legacy mural. Our theme this year is California Wildflowers. I gave students photos of a variety of flowers to look at and had them create pencil sketches of 8-12 flowers. Once done, students used the Sketchpad website to create a color drawing of one or more flowers. We talked about the different tools available on Sketchpad before students were given time to work on their art. Each student uploaded their work on Google Classroom. A few students requested to work on paper and submitted their work to me. I will pick 3-4 best works from each of the 4 5th grade classes so we can have 4 final designs to pick from. It's going to be a tough decision with SO many beautiful works!

National Art Education Association Conference 2024

 The National Art Education Association Conference 2024 was held in Minneapolis this year from April 3rd to the 6th. Approximately 3200 art educators from all over the country gathered to present, learn and network!

I presented 2 solo sessions titled "Kolam Art" and "3D Printing in the Elementary Classroom" and co presented in 2 sessions titled "Vibrant Curriculum" with 3 other elementary art teachers and "Empowering Creativity - Creating your own Regional Art Educator Conference" with my San Diego colleagues Alyssa Navapanich and Don Masse.

It was great to see the Davis booth with Zamorano student work on the front cover of the advocacy planner being displayed and handed out to the teachers. I had the honor of meeting Julian Wade, the president of Davis Publications too!

 

It was fantastic attending sessions hosted by Adobe, Blick art, and many others and several other art educators from around the country!

Week of 3/18/2024 - 2nd and 3rd Grade - Part 2

  

 2nd graders returned to complete their artwork from last week - they added color using color pencils. I submitted 40 Zamorano works for the art exhibit with ArtReach! These works will be available for purchase at the Mission Fed Artwalk in Italy April 26th and 27th, 2024!

3rd graders returned to finish their collagraphs. We used a baking pan with print making ink with brayers to roll ink on to the collagraphs and press them on the paper students watercolors the previous class. Once students were done with their 1st print, we reflected/ discussed as to what is something different they could do to create a better print. Students used the feedback while creating their 2nd print. I love the black print against the colorful watercolor background. Students also wrote a reflection about what they learned in this lesson.

 

 

 

Week of 3/11/2024 - 2nd and 3rd Grade - Part 1

 

2nd graders returned to art to create artwork for ArtReach's youth show titled "Dreams in Color". I gave students a piece of paper where they could answer prompts to plan what they see in their dreams. We talked about the different prompts one at a time which gave them the time to think about what they wanted to incorporate in their art.

They then incorporated elements from the prompts to combine them into a sketch on the paper so they would be confident drawing on the 6" square poster board.

 

1. If your dreams had colors and shapes, what would they look like?

______________________________________________________

2. If your dream had a magical object, what would it be?

____________________________________________________________

3. What do you see in the sky when you dream? Draw the sky in your dream.

________________________________________________________________

4. What kind of adventures do you have in your dreams? What places do you visit?

____________________________________________________________

5. What colors do you think of when you imagine your dream?

______________________________________________________________

6. Are there any special characters or creatures that appear in your dreams?

_______________________________________________________

 

We planned on finishing work the following class.

 

 

3rd grade students worked on part 1 of collagraph printmaking!

Students painted with watercolors on 2 sheets and also assembled and glued, corrugated cardboard, yarn, and foam pieces to create their collagraph. I reminded students not to overlap pieces and add a LOT of glue to make sure their piece were glued on well.

 

Next class we will use black ink with brayers to make 2 collagraphs per student. Here are example of what students created.