An informational and awe-inspiring blog about the wonderfully creative, amazingly talented students at Harmony Elementary!







Sunday, October 17, 2010

5th grade

coming soon........

4th grade

Pop art and Andy Warhol was how we started out the school year. We discussed the Pop Art era of the late 1050's beginning in Britain and then continuing in the United States in the early 1960's. We discussed a variety of pop artists and focused on Warhol's influence during this time in history discussing the mass production of art work he created in his studio called the factory. Students created flower drawings(inspired by the popular flower symbol of the 1960's)and painted their flowers in neon colors that were also influencial during this time.

Fourth graders also worked in clay creating bowls imprinted with a leaf. We took our cue from nature and combined the method of creating a print in a sculptural form to create a functional piece of art.




Art elements and principles of movement, repetition, and space were studied next. Students began this lesson by gesture drawing and then moved on to the lesson of movement, repetition, and space. Students had opportunities to pose and be drawn by the class - boy what fun was had that day! Students will self evaluate their project and will participate in a friendly critic.

3rd grade

Third grade students reviewed texture and discussed textures around us. Students then were able to apply their knowledge of texture in a painting. Students painted textured landscapes and used paint techniques as well as texture making materials such as forks, sponges, and paint combs.

Students then moved onto a sculpture lesson and were introduced to artist Marisol Escobar.
Maria Sol Escobar (born May 22, 1930), otherwise known simply as Marisol, is a sculptor born in Paris of Venezuelan lineage, living in Europe, the United States and Caracas.
(www.google.com for further information on this artist)
Students used rectangular wood blocks to create there assemblage sculptures in the style of Marisol. A variety of art mediums such as crayon, colored pencil, and watercolor paint were incorporated in this lessons and students were encourage to bring items from home to add to their personal piece. Students created their sculptures by first choosing a subject of an important person in their life, then had the opportunity to write about why they chose the person important to them and were allowed to share stories and memories that included that important person. This was a very personal project and the students allowed me share some memories of my important person, too - thanks kids!

2nd grade

Picasso started painting at around the age of 10 and his genius became evident immediately, he was the typical wunderkind. “When I was a child, my mother said to me, ‘If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general. If you become a monk, you’ll end up as the Pope!’ Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.”(www.helium.com)

Second graders were also exposed to the life and art of Picasso. Students created two dimensional and three dimensional works of art with Picasso as our influence. Students worked on a grid and plotted their facial features to create a Picassoesque self portrait. When each class was completed, we assembled the blocks from a variety of students to create funny self portraits using different student's blocks - check it out!


1st grade

First graders have created a print using their finger tips - not fingerpainting but fingerprinting! Along with this introductory method we discussed background and foreground.
Students also reviews shapes with the introduction to the artist Pablo Picasso. Ask your child to tell you something about Pablo Picasso. Check out their portraits!




Students then moved onto a three dimentional project by making a puppet. These were fun and silly and students had a good time creating faces for their scarecrows. Shapes were reviewed and scissor skills were practiced. Thanks to all who brought in paint sticks and thanks to Home Depot, Ace Hardware, and Sherwin Williams for donating paint sticks.

Kindergarteners - rock!

It's exciting when the art room is full of Kindergarteners! Many are using art materials such as clay, paint, and changeable markers, to name just a few, for the first time and they are wide eyed and excited! During one of our recent lessons we painted the table top and pressed a sheet of paper onto the paint to create a print - wow - the wide eyes when the students were ALLOWED to actually paint on the table top! One little girl asked me if I was going to get in trouble - I replied,
If the principal walks in, we'll ask Ms. Chavannes if she wants to paint the table!
What a great gift I have been given to be able to introduce them to the experience of art! These children are fantastic!! We will be studying colors and color groups this year. We will also discuss lines, shapes, and patterns. The students will have exposure to a sampling art material as well as a sampling of artists and we will touch upon and discuss art history. Be on the lookout for us dressing up like a famous artist or two!

2010-2011 school year

Well, it's taken me a while to update my blog. I thought I was going to have to change it, so I was waiting for further instructions and in turn, so much time (about 50 days) since school started has passed. Great news...I will be able to keep my blog the way it is, so...........I have a lot of updating to catch up on!