From: the PTA
To: PreK-5th grade families
Art to Remember order forms will be sent home on Wednesday, April 8th and must be turned in on Wednesday, April 15th. **5th grade families: if your student is going on the DC trip, please have your orders turned in before leaving Simmons on Monday, April 13th.
This fundraiser offers great, one-of-a-kind items AND supports our school. Below is information that will be included with your order form.
First grade will learn that weaving is used to create functional art. Weaving can be used to make many things, like rugs, clothing, and baskets. Students will cut their looms and learn to weave on it. We will use an over-under pattern to weave. We will turn our weavings into a paper basket.
Here is how baskets are traditionally made:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvDTOoDFWa0
Steps:
The first grade is learning that 3-D shapes are not flat. They take up space and create form. We will look at these two sculptures which show movement. Do these sculptures look like they’re moving slowly or quickly? Why?
We will then experiment with making 3-D shapes and use those forms to create sculptures of ourselves. Which 3-D shapes would you use to create yourself?
Career week is coming up and the art room is getting ready for our next project, which combines art, career studies, and the International Book Project!
All K-5 students will create one career/college-themed bookmark to keep and another to donate to the International Book Project. All year, Simmons has been collecting books for the IBP and we’re going to donate bookmarks to go along with our book donations.
Check out what the International Book Project does! We’re going to each donate one bookmark to IBP. Think about what design you’d like to make on your donation bookmark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqfTNY4JjI0
For your second bookmark, you’ll create a bookmark to keep and take home. This bookmark will have a college/career theme. Which careers are you interested in? Which colleges would you like to attend? Why?
Of course, you could always check out the colleges that are near and dear to my heart!
The College of Wooster– Wooster, OH
One of my favorite things about Wooster is the bagpipers, always the bagpipers.
Wait, why does my college have bagpipers? Why do they wear kilts? What’s up with all the plaid? Why did I go to school in a place called Wooster (pronounced Wuster, not Wooooooster)? You can ask me or check out www.wooster.edu to find out more!
While we’re on the topic of music…my other alma mater has a band, too.
The Ohio State University– Columbus, OH
OSU is a great university with excellent academic opportunities and fun traditions, like this. I loved my time there. What’s a buckeye? Why is “dotting the i” such a big deal? Who is John Glenn? You can ask me or check out www.osu.edu to find out more!
All grades (preK-5) will be creating artworks for the PTA’s Art to Remember fundraiser. Art to Remember provides families with an easy way to have their students’ artwork turned into some pretty cool items, such as iPhone covers. If you love your students’ artworks and want to take them with you everywhere, you are in luck, that is exactly what Art to Remember helps you do!
Here’s a full listing of products that Art to Remember offers.
We’re painting our projects now!
The first grade is learning about Cave Art, or Rock Art. We are learning that Cave Art is a very old art form that’s found all around the world. We are focusing on the Cave Art in Africa and Europe. In Cave Art, people used symbols that told stories, called pictographs. Art that tells stories is called narrative art. Today, people still make art to tell stories. We will look at Cave Art from different parts of Africa and Europe and look for clues that tell us what the story is about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3b1sX_WOlA
The Caves of Lascaux, in France
We will also learn that people still use caves to make art. Artist, Ra Paulette, creates beautiful sculptural spaces in caves. These artworks don’t tell stories in the same way that ancient Cave Art does, but it is a new way to use caves.
Steps:
On Tuesday, January 13th, Simmons held our Winter Fine Arts Night. We displayed over ONE HUNDRED artworks while Mrs. Bowmer’s Friday classes performed on their instruments. The artworks are currently on display, so please visit our 2015 Winter Art Exhibition.
The 1st grade is learning about the Caddo Native Americans from Texas. They are learning that the Caddo have a long history of being artists and are still making amazing artwork today.
We are learning that pottery is functional art, which means it can be used or it has a job. The shape of a piece of pottery gives us clues about how it should be used. A mug is shaped differently than a pitcher because they are used differently.
We are creating pottery that has a job and then decorating it with animal forms, like the Caddo.
The first grade will learn how lines, shapes, and color all work together to give viewers clues about artwork. We will learn about Wayne Thiebaud’s dessert paintings. What kinds of lines, shapes, and colors do you see in these artworks? How do they help you know what types of desserts these are?
Student example:
It’s that time of year again! The art classes ALWAYS make decorations for the Snowflake Feast! Classes from each grade level will be participating. This morning the 4th graders had a blast painting the windows. I can’t wait to see the all the decorations coming together!
Ms. Baird's Art Class 
