Line prints with 1st and 2nd

First up we have the lovely first graders learning about horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines. 

They wrapped rubber bands around a hard piece of card board, rolled ink on and made a print. They were encouraged to fill their paper. Some went as far as trying more rubber band designs. They also learned that they can make multiple copies with a print. It was messy and they loved it. 

The second graders had fun make calm and busy lines with paint scrapers. I put paint directly on their table, let them roll it out and then use the scrapers to make calm vertical and horizontal line designs and then busy lines using diagonal, curved or swirly lines. Then they pressed their paper down on to the paint and lifted the prints. They thought I was crazy for putting paint on the table but they loved it. 

Forgive the blurry photo- I was moving quickly 

They all did really well and were pretty independent and patient since only one person could go at a time at each table. 

Hooray for more printmaking! 

Week One, Done!

The kids and  I have survived our first week together. I'm still super excited to get to know my kids better and make amazing art projects with them. Next week is going to be a little tougher, we start our first projects and I will be testing 3rd, 4th and 5th grade. That's right, testing in art. Not something I agree with but it starts this year with a Baseline Test and ends the year with growth score. The state has mandated that districts develop pre and post test for every subject taught and here we are. Makes my heart sad for the students but it is what it is. We will move forward and thrive because thats what artists do, we problem solve and find new ways.

Week two is an exciting week for the primary grades who will explore print making in various forms like mono prints and monotypes. They will learn about lines, line direction and quality. Our curriculum focuses on the Elements and Principles of Art. In order to get through it all this year I have decided to pair an element with a principle. So Line will go with Unity because all the images will be unified by their use of line.

Already excited :)
Have a good week, everyone!!

Art Supplies..

So this is the third time I'll writing this post because my Ipad keeps deleting it...

I always ask art teachers what their favorite supplies in the art room are. I think that you have to find a nice balance between cost and quality.. Last year I had a few things that I swore I would never buy again. Here are some things that I love using..

The newest thing in my room are these crayola color sticks. Bright, durable, great for rubbings. The only bad thing is that you don't sharpen them so it is hard to get in small detail. 

These are bright on construction paper. I buy the chubby ones, they last longer. The only thing is that the red throws the kids off because it looks pink. However on paper it looks petty good.  

My tempera paint last year was terrible, the colors were bright but transparent and it didn't give the effect I wanted. I saw another teacher using Versa and her colors were better. These are a bit more expensive but worth it if the colors are a bit more opaque. 

When liquid tempera isn't an option, this is a great solution. The colors are bright. It can teach the kids about water to paint ratio. The more water, the lighter the color. Less water, brighter color. These are also super classroom time efficient and can be used by all ages. Plus this lasts ALOT longer than the watercolor palettes. (I do buy Crayola semi noise refills for water colors projects)

I wish I had money in my budget to buy Gelli printing plates. There is another way to make Gelli prints but they have to be kept in the fridge and with the busy class schedule that isn't always an option. It would be almost $300 for a class set. 

I obviously use a lot more and always want to try new things but these are my new and favorite supplies.  What are yours? 

Organization is key

So my kids know I'm a little crazy about clean up, but with reason. I see 730 kids a week- I do more dishes at work than I do at my house. So cleaning up is important. I have given all the kids jobs that help out in some way. I even organize the caddies with their day to day supplies. Each color goes to that color table, it is picked up at the beginning of class and returned at the end. Even the spots are labeled. (See I said I was crazy) 

Only thing missing are the pencils. 

I finally came up with storage for the art journals. Only 4th and 5th grade are doing them. They  will live on this shelf 

Each class has a code. 

Hooray for organizing. 2 days til kiddos! 

Lesson plan

I guess there are issues trying to open the lesson plan format I posted a little back so I took a picture of my kindergarten plan for the unit on line. These are all the things required by my principal. I don't do step by step because no one else does my lessons, however I do have a separate file that has the basic instructions and materials. 

Art Room tour.. Pt two

As promised! More pictures. Things are finally coming together. Below is my door. The window was a last minute touch once I realized I had vinyl cling. 

The chart is for when each class receives a star (this is our positive behavior system) for every 9 stars the class gets- we have an art party, which is a free choice centers day. They LOVE THIS and compete with all the other classes. I made my window look like a paint palette. I'm pretty happy with it. I leave happy notes on the white board like "be sweet!" The kids thing it's cute. 

Stole this from Pinterest. I needed a way I direct my early finishers without having to repeat myself 30 times. On the last one I'll add a rainbow board with options including the observation station and writing an artist statement. 

These are paper 3d forms I made that hang above the table and serve several purposes. 1. Color codes the tables. 2. It tells the kids what their jobs are. The jobs are velcro'd on so I can change the jobs every 9 weeks. 3. This should also keep the kids from picking the tape off the table. 

I was at a loss what to do with this bulletin board that's right behind my desk. I decided to use the rainbow chevron pattern to write the essential questions. I may go back and add paint

Splats- just to make it a little more interesting. 

This is a partial view of my classroom from my desk. You can sort of see the cubes hanging. 

Still much to do but I feel like I've got a good hang on it so far. Tomorrow is an inservice for art teachers in the county. It's pretty cool that we all get spend time feeding off each other's creativity. 

4 (week!) days til the start of the school year. 

Mini classroom Tour

So I caved.. I went back early because I just couldn't help myself any more. I wanted to set up my room! 

Here are some pictures of the in progress set up. I have a clear theme this year - Rainbow- which you would think is pretty obvious being the art room. 

I finally inventoried all my glazes. Thank goodness. I had some many that were old, dried up and useless. Sorted by glaze/underglaze. I swear to glaze more ceramics this year. 

Visible supply bins! Now I can direct the kids to get their own things and they don't have to check every cubby to find it. Woohoo! 

For early finishers as described in earlier posts! They can sit and draw the image in front of them. A little bit of extra practice goes a long way. I make sure to tell them to concentrate on line, shape, and value as they only have a pencil to work with. 

I have a shape and form version of this simple poster so I decided to make a simple line one. This will help in the first few weeks because most of my units cover line first. 

This is my semi-done front board. Learning goals are all the way to right and hung. But I don't have the grade level printed off yet. Next to them will be the essential questions. To the left is the art rubric I'm using this year. Below the board are the jobs. I have decided on a nifty way to get the kids to NOT PICK THEM OFF THE TABLE.  Which makes me absolutely crazy! And I'm going to hang them from forms from the ceiling. Pictures on that later.

A closer look at the jobs. 

Here is the rubric a little closer. 

Another early finisher station.. 

I wish I had better wall space to hang awese artwork in my own room. This will do.. For now.. 

Well I feel very accomplished for 6 hours work. Can't wait to officially go back on Monday!