2nd-5th gr. mARTch Madness- CHAMPION!

rocky

We have a CHAMPION!  Congratulations to the 4th grade!  They have won the mARTch Madness bracket!  Their artist, Stephen Wiltshire, has earned more votes than any other artist we studied.

Winner

 

As an award they will get to paint Thunder white.  Why white?  To prepare him for the annual Spirit Week KPREP kickoff! (Of course, this is not Thunder!)

bulldog-white-1

 

2nd-5th gr. mARTch Madness: Championship Match!

This March, the art room is celebrating a different kind of March Madness.  Second through fifth grade classes participated in mARTch Madness during art classes.  It’s down to 5th grade’s Picasso and 4th grade’s Wiltshire!  WHO WILL BE OUR CHAMPION?

The 4th and 5th grade classes will learn a little about each artist and artwork and then…vote!  Who will be voted off the bracket next?  To learn more about the artists, check out this post. 

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1st grade- Paper Basket Weaving

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:

  • What materials do these artists use to make their weavings?
  • What functional art do they make from their weavings?
  • What makes basket-weaving challenging?

Steps:

 

 

 

 

2nd-5th gr. mARTch Madness: Final Four

This March, the art room is celebrating a different kind of March Madness.  Second through fifth grade classes will participate in mARTch Madness during art classes.  Who did your grade vote to represent you in the Final Four?

In class, you’ll learn a little about each artist and artwork and then…vote!  Who will be voted off the bracket next?  To learn more about the artists, check out this post. 

FINAL FOUR

Kindergarten- Animal Masks

Kindergarten will learn that cultures all over the world wear masks for celebrations.  Masks made for celebrations are a type of ceremonial art.  Students will choose their favorite animals and create animal masks.

Which animal would you like to be?  Why?

Here are some students’ examples:

  1. Write your name and class on the food side of your plate.
  2. Put two dots of glue on the top of your popsicle stick. Press and hold your stick onto your plate. Count to 20 in your head while you hold your stick so it can start to dry.
  3. Using crayons, draw your favorite animal’s face on your plate. Carefully, color it in.
  4. Using tissue paper, gently add texture to your mask. For example: if you created a bird, add feathers around the edge. If you created a dog, scrunch up some tissue paper and add 3-D eyes.

4th grade- African Clay Animal Masks

The fourth grade will be learning about the history of mask-making around the world.  We will learn that, historically, masks were made for ceremonial purposes.

We will learn that the Mukenga Mask, from the Kuba people, is used in funeral ceremonies.  This mask combines different animals to represent qualities that a person would want during life.  Would you like to fly, run quickly, or be strong?  Which animals have qualities that you would like to possess?

This link is from the Art Institute of Chicago.  Click the image to learn about the Mukenga mask and create your own multi-animal mask.

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We will design and create 3-D clay masks that represents animal qualities we’d like to possess. Here are student examples:

**Here’s the link for this rubric.

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ART in ACTION:  The Dogon tribe (Mali, Africa) is dancing a in funeral ceremony. The ceremony is meant to connect the Dogon people with the afterlife and honors people who’ve died.  Music, art, and dance are all visible in this ceremony. What animals do their masks represent?

Clay Rules

Steps (more info below photo steps):

  • Step 1: Choose one or two animals with qualities you would want. Ms. Baird would like to be taller and wise, so a giraffe-turtle combination would be great.
  • Step 2: The modeling clay masks are practice. You need to roll your clay up and put it away at the end of class.
  • Step 3: WRITE your name/class on the back of your mask with a Sharpie. Listen for directions on how to gently place your mask up to dry.
  • Step 4: Paint your mask. Don’t forget to give clues about your animals.
  • Step 5: Write your reflection and fill out your rubric. Hole punch the corner of each. Attach your reflection & rubric to your string. You only need 1 piece of string for your mask. Pull each end through the hole and tie a knot like you’re tying your shoe. Look at the example.

2nd- 5th grades: mARTch Madness- Elite 8

This March, the art room is celebrating a different kind of March Madness.  Second through fifth grade classes will participate in mARTch Madness during art classes.  Check out which two artists your grade will vote on.  In class, you’ll learn a little about each artist and artwork and then…vote!

  • Do you recognize these artists or artworks?  
  • Will your favorite artist conquer all the others?  
  • We love Monet, but will Picasso win it all? Does Wiltshire stand a chance?   

ArtMadness1

Cue the theme music!

Friday 1st grade: Me Sculpture

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?

solidfigures2

 

Friday 2nd grade- 3-D Play Park

The second grade will be learning the differences between 2-D and 3-D.  2-D (2 dimensional) is flat and can only be measured two ways (height, width).  3-D (3 dimensional) is not flat and can be measure three ways (height, width, depth).  Students will use 2-D papers to create a 3-D sculpture of a play park.  We’ll use many types of lines to create different types of playground equipment. There’s a lot of exploration and experimentation in this project!  What would people would want to have in a fun and safe play park?

Here are some examples:

 

 

Art + Career Week + International Book Project

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!

IBP

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. 

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?

Careers

 

American Colleges

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!