Projects in Progress: Week of Oct. 17th

6th Grade Paintbrush People:  

Students have painted their base coats on their paintbrush people.  In a few weeks (working on a ceramic project simultaneously) they will complete the paint work on these adorable brushes.  

8th Grade Torn Paper Portraits:

A few students have completed their portraits and more will be completing them in the next week or so.  The results are nothing short of SPECTACULAR!

Proud.

I came into school today, walked into my classroom and closed the door.  There was almost complete silence.  Middle school students were at an assembly and the only noise I could hear was the quiet humming of a leaf blower out on the school yard.  As a teacher, you get very few moments of complete silence.  I savored it.  I walked around my classroom, getting materials ready for my classes of the day and thinking of all that lay ahead today.

I went to the back of the classroom and picked up a few stray pencils off of the floor and as I was standing up I saw the Creative Compassion Project bin.  I paused.  I saw that the bin was starting to fill up.  I started rifling through the projects and my heart filled up with so much pride.

I saw worry dolls that 4th and 5th graders have been making that will some time this year be in the hands of a child, most likely their same age that is battling with cancer in a cancer hospital.  The bright colors and happy smiles drawn on the dolls such a token of hope.

I saw joke books, created with so much love and concern, with notes in the back of them for the recipients of them wishing them well and telling them that they are thought of and loved.

I saw notes to police officers thanking them for their service and for protecting us every day.

In the silence of my classroom, I was nearly in tears.  I am so blessed.  I am so blessed to be surrounded every day with children that understand what it means to be compassionate.  I am blessed to work in a school where parents and faculty instill these ideals in our children daily.

I could not be more proud of my students.

I hope that everyone today gets a little quiet moment to remember how lucky we really are.

It's Getting Spooky in the Art Room...

4th Grade Halloween "Inchies":  

Students are just finishing up their Halloween Inchies project.  This is one of my favorite Halloween projects and the students always seem to have fun making these little adorable squares of Halloween awesomeness.  It also helps that we listen to a Halloween playlist as we work to really get up in the spirit of things.  Next week we will be finishing up the final details and they will be ready to take home to add some festiveness to your home.  **Hint..these look adorable framed.

Art Teacher Find! Terrific Tuesday!

Super excited about my Halloween store find!  Hopefully it brings a little joy to the art room today! 

San Jose Landmark Map: Do you know the Way to San Jose?

4th Graders landmark collage is now gracing the hallway bulletin board.  Do you recognize any of these San Jose/Silicon Valley landmarks?

 

 

Projects In-Progress: Middle School

8th Grade:

8th Graders are in the beginning stages of their torn paper portraits.  Students are having to focus on values within a portrait and create their own "paint-by-number" which is then covered in different values of torn paper.  The project is challenging and time-consuming but the final results are magnificent.  Here are some work in-progress:

7th Grade:
Students are starting to finish up their cities in 2-point perspective projects.  They have put a lot of time into these and their growth from the beginning of this lesson to now is wonderful!

 6th Grade:
6th Graders are continuing to work on their paintbrush people!  Once completed we will begin painting them and bring their personalities to life!

"Who Needs Legs When I Have Wings to Fly."- Frida Kahlo

Ask a 5th grader what that quote means.  It's an inspiring story and one that came from our unit on Frida Kahlo.  

I am absolutely in love with these artworks!   I want to frame each and every one of these beautiful pictures and hang them all over my house!!!!  The students really grasped the essence of Frida Kahlo...uni-brow at all.  From the bold colors, the use of her pets in her paintings, her jewelry and fashion sense, and depiction of flowers and plant life, the 5th graders really show the amazing style of this famous Mexican artists' work.

Doodle 4 Google Contest

WHAT I SEE FOR THE FUTURE...

Starting this week in art class, students in grades 4th-8th will be given information in regards to the Doodle 4 Google annual art contest.  Entry forms will be available in the art room and all students will be encouraged to participate in the contest.

6th-8th graders will be given an added incentive to participate.  They will receive 3 sketchbook credits if they enter the contest.

Theme this year:  What I See For the Future...

Entries will need to be submitted to me no later than Friday, November 18th.  

Here is a link for more information and rules about the contest:  https://doodles.google.com/d4g/
I will be going over all of the rules with students in class this week.

Prizes:

Grand Prize:  The National Winner will have his or her doodle featured on the U.S. Google.com homepage for one day. He or she will receive:

• A $30,000 college scholarship
• A $50,000 Google for Education Technology Award for their school or non-profit organization
• A trip to the Google Headquarters in California
• A Chromebook
• An Android tablet

National Finalists

The four National Finalists who do not become the National Winner will have their doodles featured in the Doodle 4 Google gallery. Each National Finalist will receive:

• A $5,000 college scholarship
• A trip to the Google Headquarters in California
• An Android tablet

State and Territory Winners

The 48 State and Territory winners who do not become National Finalists will have their doodles included in the Doodle 4 Google gallery. Each State and Territory Winner will receive:

• An Android tablet

I always look forward to this contest each year as I am blown away with the creativity and the effort that is put into these by the students!

Do You Know The Way to San Jose?

4th Graders are working hard on creating iconic San Jose landmarks.  These will soon be gracing the bulletin board near the computer lab. 

Creative Compassion Corner: Our First Partnership

Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford has contacted us and would love to accept some of the projects that the students are creating at the Creative Compassion Corner in the art room over the course of the year to distribute to their patients.

The projects that will be designated for donation to LPCH include:

-Student made joke books
-Student designed and collaborative coloring books, and
-Handmade worry dolls

Doing good for others one creative endeavor at a time.  

Tick Tock Crayon Clock

Never give an art teacher 30 minutes to herself.  

The new art classroom clock!

Sneak Peak: Future Project

What do you do when you have a full grocery bag of dollar store paintbrushes?
Make paintbrush people of course!

Can't wait for this to dry to start painting it!

Can you imagine a whole class set of cute paintbrush people all displayed at once?!  

 

6th graders in the next few weeks will get to start creating their own paintbrush people.  I can already visualize a whole wall full of these little creatures!

Fifth Grade Frida Kahlo Frenzy

This week students began translating their rough sketches into a final design.  Some students were even able to start adding oil pastel to their projects.  I know it is early but I can already tell that the final projects are going to be spectacular!!!  And more importantly, even though it has been two weeks (due to Labor Day) since 5th graders have had art class, the amount that they were able to remember about Frida Kahlo's life was remarkable.  Looking forward to posting the final results in a week or two.

Here are pictures of projects in-progress:

Talking to Children About Art

Facilitating a conversation about art with our kids:

It doesn't take much to get the conversation rolling but the lessons can be deep.  Art is everywhere we look.    Here are a few ways to get kids talking about art:

http://tinkerlab.com/five-easy-steps-for-talking-with-children-about-art/