Friday, May 30, 2014

Wrapping up the Month of May

It's hard to believe that May has ended.  Students are putting the finishing touches in their final projects in art this week and next.  Here's a look back at this past week.

Kindergarten

Kindergarteners enjoyed a classic piece of children's literature, sharing in a readaloud from The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle.  Then, students painted step by step to create a miniature rock painting of a ladybug themselves.  This is a challenging project as it develops fine motor skills to paint the small, smooth stones.  While we waited for paint to dry between steps, we sang along to a Ladybug song and also read from a ladybug story that incorporates math through subtraction!  Kindergarteners approached this challenge with a great attitude, and our ladybugs are as unique as we are.  Check back soon for photos.

First Grade

First grade completed another step in our Rainbow Fish -- painting the fish and seaweed with tempera paint.  We applied thumbprints full of paint to create the leaves of seaweed waving through the water.  Next week, we will finalize our projects with another collage element -- accordion-folded paper for more seaweed.  As time allows, we will also create a small crab lurking on the ocean floor.





(pardon the blur!)

Second Grade

Second grade worked to create woven paper 2-D baskets.  This coming week, we will add flowers using various paper sculpture techniques, such as the accordion fold, curling, chain-links, and more!

Third Grade

The Friday third grade class met this week and caught up to the Monday class in creating Panama folk art inspired creatures (see last week's post for details).  Great job, third grade!




Fourth Grade

Fourth grade students began painting their recreations of famous masterpieces in art.  Students learned that it is best to paint slowly and gradually, as adding paint is easier than taking it away.  We observed that applying brush strokes in the same direction resulted in a smooth surface, if that is what we desired to mimic the style of our artist.  Otherwise, we might apply small, quick brush strokes (such as in the case of Van Gogh).

Fifth Grade

Fifth grade did not meet this week because of Memorial Day, but we look forward to completing our Art Deco architecture paintings soon!

Sixth Grade

Sixth grade began wrapping up their watercolor backgrounds for their sign language self-portraits.  Then, they embarked upon the challenge of drawing their hands in the shape of the sign language letters chosen.  This is no easy task!  Students began by tracing their hand in the desired position, and then carefully observing their hand to add in details such as lines, wrinkles and shadows using pencil.  Then, they drew over the prominent lines in Sharpie.  Next, they will cut and paste the hands at a bas (low) relief from their paper to create a shadow effect for further definition.  Here are a couple of early finishers:




Seventh Grade

Seventh graders put the finishing touches on their surrealism projects.  These showed a great deal of creativity and openness to new ideas!  Students enjoyed blending the magazine pictures with their own drawing skills.  Some students also opted to use paint, demonstrating an ability to recognize where one medium might be more appropriate than another to convey a certain message.

Eighth Grade

Eighth grade students presented the Glogsters they created in researching a career in the arts.  Many students noted that skills learned in the arts are transferrable to other careers.  Therefore, a student may wish to pursue a career in a different field than the arts, but he or she can still draw upon skills such as problem solving, reworking a mistake, trying new ideas, being patient, and much more learned through the arts.  Students also demonstrated a keen ear for listening as they noted important features of these different careers.  Most of all, students showed their own creativity and enthusiasm and had a meaninful conversation with a professional that they may carry with them as they explore future opportunities.

Art on Sedgwick

Here are a few more photos provided by the Art on Sedgwick staff.  Thank you to Art on Sedgwick coordinators, especially Charlie Branda, for giving our students an opportunity to shine in a community venue!





 

No comments:

Post a Comment