Welcome back to school!

"Fall is here, hear the yell / back to school, ring the bell / brand new shoes, walking blues ... "

Well, it's back to school time, which means it's time for our ICSJ artists to brush off their smocks and dive into a new year of learning about the elements of art, principles of design, art appreciation and multicultural art!  All grades, after practicing art room procedures, began the year in preparation for International Dot Day.  This is a day to celebrate the lovely picture book by Peter H. Reynolds encouraging all students to "make their mark and see where it takes you."  In other words, this is a book about bravery and taking risks in art in order to accomplish new things!  It's also a book about taking pride in what you do.  Students at ICSJ embraced a variety of "Dot Day" activities.  See The Dot animated HERE, and read below to see our artists in action!

Kindergarten

Kindergarten students shared in a read aloud of Harold and the Purple Crayon.  After reading about Harold and all the adventures on which his imagination took him, students made dots in purple (and other colored) crayons.  We reviewed and demonstrated scissors safety before cutting these unique dots out.  They now adorn our art room!

First and Second Grades

First and second grades drew on coffee filters with vibrant colors in marker before spraying them carefully over the sink, one at a time.  We watched our colors bleed across the paper and mix in spots to make a beautiful mark!  Then, we dried them on paper towels, which sometimes added a new texture/design.  These marks are absolutely stunning!

Third and Fourth Grades

Third and fourth grades did not meet this week because of the Labor Day holiday.

Fifth Grade

Fifth grade drew upon their knowledge of famous artists from last year and made larger dots with tempera paint and oil pastels to hang around the 4th-8th grade art room.  A popular choice was to make a Kandinsky-inspired dot with concentric circles in bright colors.  Other students chose Paul Klee, Van Gogh and Rene Magritte (Magritte is currently on display at the Art Institute through Oct. 13).  See if you can pick out the Magritte-inspired painting below!

Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Grades

Middle schoolers created "trees of life" dots by making concentric circles that, like a tree's rings, tell their age.  For each ring, students wrote a memory or a special event.  (This will be particularly helpful for the sixth graders, who are beginning the prewriting stage of the writing process for their memoir!)  Students also added symbols and decorations before painting their rings carefully in watercolor.  These dots are going to wind around our art room to show our individuality and our spirit.  Great job, Middle School!