Discovered Poetry and Altered Books

Our middle school students have been focusing on the use of text in art and have been making connections with their work in Ms. Gow's class on their poetry.  This week, they began a challenging project where they will be transforming books into art.  Our first lesson was about "discovered poetry".  They skimmed pages of text, looking for words or phrases that could share a common theme different than the theme of the book.  They then found ways to highlight those words, blur out the other words, and illustrate the theme.  After a day of trial and error and some confusion, they are getting it!  I love what these 8 students have come up with so far.  A few students have gotten into their books and are reading them, which I think is great to see.  I limited their supplies to black and red ink.  Next week we will begin adding other supplies as they gain a more firm grasp on the concept.  Then we will begin other projects in the book like adding pop-ups, collaging the cover, and other creative alterations.  I love this website's ideas:  Go Make Something!

Arion

Isabella

Carmelita

Kalyssa

Avie

Lashonda

Sarah

Mason

Isabella

Juan Karlo

Geno

Maryann

Aliya

Jadelyn

Jackie

Kalyssa

Sara

African Collar Necklaces

Kindergarten is studying Ghana, and we have been making art inspired by the art of Africa.  They began with kente cloths, but this week they are making collar necklaces.  I challenged them to make a balanced pattern, but some of them just focused on using bright colors.  They all looked proud of their work!  I borrowed this lesson from the crayola site:  Lesson Plan

Work by Anthony, Ava, Caleb, and Lincoln in room 103

A Tale of a Busy Art Club

The bench from the playground needed some serious attention.

We sanded it.

We painted it with bright, clean colors.

We decided to add quotes about learning.  They include quotes by Nelson Mandela, Maya Angelou, Malala Yousafzai, Michelangelo, Benjamin Franklin, Helen Keller and Desmond Tutu.

We added 4 stars like the Chicago flag, but we made them represent things we learn in school.

We made a star for art and history.

We made a star for science.

We made a star for math.

We made a star for reading and writing.  Quin picked The Giving Tree as our book!

We are proud of our hard work!

Elephants of India

Robyn, Grade 1

Jose, Grade 1

Giselle, Grade 1 

Maya, Grade 1

Emiliano, Grade 1

Matthew, Grade 1

Jamie, Grade 1

The first graders are studying India, and are doing some amazing work.  We looked at mendhi and rangoli designs, and we looked at photos and read about festivals like Holi, where these designs are common.  In some festivals, elephants are decorated and are part of the festivities.  The first graders practiced designs in the background, and they drew and painted elephants for the focal point of their work.  I am impressed with the quality of the work, and I can't wait to see what they do this week as they finish up!

Fingerprint Portraits

Jadelyn's Portrait:  "I think we put the collection of words in the fingerprint to express that since there are no two fingerprints that are same in the world, to express yourself in that shape means a lot."

 The 6th-8th grade artists at Prescott are continuing to use their own poetry and to use text in their work, making autobiographical pieces this year.  In this project, they studied their thumbprints and drew the lines they found in their thumbprint that makes it unique.  They then cut out words, phrases, and lines from their poetry to fill the space on each line.  They reflected on themes in their pictures, and wrote about what they communicate about themselves through their work.

Carmelita's Portrait:  "My lines include many quotes like, "There's a reason for tomorrow."  I'm very positive about the things that can happen tomorrow, because you receive more and more chances to do what you didn't do yesterday.  These collections of words are like a fingerprint because each one is unique and creative in its own way."  

Celeste's Portrait: "Through my artwork, you learn about my love of fashion and my dreams of travelling around the world someday. I express being original and independent and wanting to be successful."

Juan Karlo's Portrait:  "I put my poem Ode to the Bedhead to show how much I value my hair.  These words are like a fingerprint because, like fingerprints, which are all unique to themselves, these words describe me as a unique person."

Isabella's Portrait:  "I chose a line of my poetry that says "like a snowstorm coming from my heart" because I felt that the line describes how I always have strong emotions." 

Aliyah's Portrait:  "The lines of poetry I chose are from my own poems about being a girl.  I wanted to really capture how difficult it can be.  It's not all fashion and make-up for us!  It also shows my feelings about how I feel it is to be a quiet and unnoticed person."

Discover Artsonia!

Now that we have the beginning of the school year behind us, I have updated the student rosters on our Artsonia site.  Follow the link at the top of this page that says "View Student Gallery" to find your child's online portfolio.  Many families bought merchandise from the site last year.  Student artwork on magnets, key chains, phone cases, coffee cups and other items make great gifts.  20% of your purchase comes back to me in the form of a Blick gift card.  I use this credit to keep our classroom running.  If you did not fill out a photo/video consent form giving us permission to post photos of your child or their work, you will not find their name on the site.  I can activate their portfolio if you simply let me know it's okay.  Happy shopping!

Kimonos and Japanese Gardens

Ian, Grade 3

Christa, Grade 3

Tamia, Grade 3

Ava, Grade 3

Ally, Grade 3

The second and third graders have been learning about the art of Japan.  They made a paper doll with a kimono and obi, and they used bright designs to create the "fabric" for the kimonos.  After finishing the folding and gluing of the kimono, they created a Japanese garden in the background.  They were challenged to include a Japanese bridge, a pagoda, Mt. Fuji, koi and cherry blossoms.  I love how they turned out, and the students did a great job learning all the vocabulary associated with the project.  We have now moved on to trying out some simple origami.