The last day of school with Ms. Speigel and Ms. Navin’s classes inspired by artist Andy Goldworthy. The above instructions were all the instructions they got. We watched a couple of videos including this one and we were inspired!!!!
June 15, 2013
Andy Goldsworthy
Posted by MadisonArtTeacher under 3-D, 3rd grade, Abstract, TeamWorkLeave a Comment
June 12, 2013
I get notes from parents, students create wonderful pieces of art for me and no one else sees it but me. Or no one else pays attention to it because this is the work that covered my bulletin board behind my desk all year. I’ll keep the sweet and supportive parent notes I receive to myself. Many of them end up on my refrigerator. I love to go to school and see all the messages from my kids but then when I go home and I’m tired, I like to be reminded of the supportive and grateful parents behind the children. I always start the year with it blank and by the end of the year, I can’t tell what color I used to cover the bulletin board in the first place! So here it is, my bulletin board, the digital version.
June 12, 2013
Each grade level has one clay project a year. I’ve started a tradition of doing mugs inspired by Bruce Howdle with 3rd grade but with 4th and 5th grade, I change it up every year. This year, 4th graders used their prior knowledge from creating cylinders for the mugs last year to create cylinders for be base of a birdhouse this year.
Usually with clay projects, we spend time sketching and planning beforehand. This year’s 4th graders have had a lot of more difficult projects with a lot more art history. I wanted one of the last projects of the year to be a little more open with a little improvisation (which we also spent a lot of time on this year). So with this project I told them they had to start with a cylinder, they had to have a handle and they had to have a hole for a bird to live in. After that, they could make it their own!
June 2, 2013
Teach Me How to Randall
Posted by MadisonArtTeacher under 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, PBS, SchoolEvent, StudentSpotlight1 Comment
Written by Sugar’s 5th graders and starring Randall students and staff (with appearances by Franklin and Hamilton friends)…. Teach Me How to Randall is done!!
Check it out here.
June 1, 2013
4th graders have worked with many different medias this year: clay, watercolor, mod podge, graphite, wire, yarn. I missed a printmaking project! They have had so many projects this year where we spent a lot of time studying different artists and specific art movements. For one of their last projects of the school year, I wanted to give them the full freedom to choose their subject and only give them the media they must use.
A collagraph is a print from a printing plate made from recycled materials, like cardboard, that creates a collage like surface. Students watched this video to learn about this simple process and then created their own.
June 1, 2013
Randall 3rd graders learned about who weaves and why people weave. They discovered that weaving is a part of many, many different cultures all over the world. Weaving is used for function (baskets, blankets, clothing), for beautiful artwork and for storytelling. We looked at many different weavings from many different cultures and talked about what made them similar and different.
Students then created their own stories and translated them to colors to weave.
Students learned MANY techniques from this video. Their favorite seems to be the Rya!
June 1, 2013
Like many others in the world of education, I have been exploring the new Common Core State Standards. The art standards are not officially out yet but they have released a little information about each of the units. Some of the information they have released are all of the pieces of art associated with each unit. Agree or disagree with the standards, they are here and I must get to know them! So I took the artwork from 3rd grade unit 5 and created my own lesson with them.
The six pieces of artwork include the following:
Helen Frankenthaler, Canyon, 1965
Helen Frankenthaler, Wales, 1966
Morris Louis, Number 182, 1961
Jackson Pollock, One: Number 31, 1950
Jackson Pollock, Number 1 (Lavender Mist), 1950
Sam Gilliam, Red Petals
Students talked about each of these by noticing deeply, something we had just discussed before their trip to the Chazen. Noticing deeply is asking questions, making up stories of their own, noticing shapes, colors, composition and everything else they see in the artwork. We spent quite a bit of time discussing how we thought each artist created their work and what story it might tell. At the end of our discussion, I revealed to them how each piece of art was made and demonstrated how they were going to create artwork in the style of each of these artists.
They spent a class period moving between four stations.
1. Using yarn to create action art like Jackson Pollock
2. Using straws to blow paint like Sam Gilliam
3. Using tape and brushes to create color blocking like Morris Louis
4. Poured paint on paper to create color blocking like Helen Frankenthaler
I am usually really good at taking pictures! But I forgot, each of the five times I taught this lesson, to take photos. But the kids LOVED this art class! Many of them told me it was their favorite. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to explore paint in a way that they may not have ever done before. They ended the class with four paintings each.
The next class, we took a good look at some of Sam Gilliam’s other work.
And watched a video of Sam Gilliam discussing his artwork. He overlaps shapes using positive and negative space. He creates a relief sculpture, which is a type of sculpture that is found on a wall or made integral to a wall’s surface, by cutting canvas that he painted and putting it back together in new ways.
Students cut their four paintings to create a new piece of artwork in the style of Sam Gilliam.
