grade 1 - · web viewwe celebrated johnny appleseed’s birthday, by creating picked apples in...
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Art Newsletter October & November 2014
The creative juices have certainly been flowing in the Fiske Art Room, since the start of school! All students worked on an “Eric Carle” like collage, which illustrates fall leaves with students’ goals. The also created the texture of the sky and the bark of the trees using a variety of art materials. This collaborative project can be viewed on the two boards outside of the gym. We have so many exciting projects slated for this coming year. Please visit all the many amazing creations by our students throughout the school, when you can! Here are just some highlights:
GRADE K - Students are starting to settle in to our route. Children, this year will learn about the Elements and Principles of Design and how to use them to create art. We have been working on pieces dealing with shape and texture, using a variety of different materials. This week the K students made piles of leaves using leave rubbing and leave stamping. Some are on display outside of the library. They are so eager to grasp these concepts and are a joy to teach. Volunteers are always welcome!
GRADE 1 - Children have just completed their unit on texture. During October, we observed the work of Vincent Van Gogh and noticed the texture he used in his paint. We created our own sunflower painting, which involved color mixing. We celebrated Johnny Appleseed’s Birthday, by creating picked apples in basket scenes. Eric Carl’s, “Very Busy Spider” will inspire us to create spiders and their webs.
GRADE 2 – Ask a 2nd grade student, “What does asymmetrical mean?” They will first tell you what symmetrical means and that the “A” in front makes this word mean the opposite. Symmetrical is when you cut something in half down the middle and both halves are equally the same. Some examples are the human body, animals and butterflies. Butterflies went home, with organic shapes on the wings. Faces, pumpkins or other opposite symmetrical work was done last week. Woven pumpkins were worked on this week, again dealing with a symmetrical shape and opposites. Next, our students will use shape, line, pattern, texture and color, in their asymmetrical self-portrait, inspired by Pablo Picasso. Picasso came along and started painting people and things that didn’t look like they were supposed to. He shocked people when he would put eyes, the nose etc. in the wrong places. His work became very important in the art world. We will soon start our unit on African Art. The objectives for this unit are to familiarize students with Ghana symbolism and animals of Africa.
GRADE 3 - We have been learning about, architecture and the details involved in constructing a “Victorian” house. Although you may notice some spooky surprises, I am sure you will be able to appreciate the characteristic qualities of this particular period through these detailed drawings. Students will look at the work of Picasso, and created their versions of “The Three Musicians”. We used geometric shaped pattern blocks and shape templates to create these cubistic compositions. We are also working on a music mote project with Mr. Hart and Ms. London.
GRADE 4 – We will soon to look at ancient civilizations, basically the Mayan, Aztec and Incas. We will be designing masks, using plaster sheets, paint and found objects. Also in November, we will design fine china and display our favorite foods, using our knowledge of complimentary colors and shading. Students will illustrate art tools again with shadows and the use of complimentary colors of the color wheel to color them. This work can be used as the cover for their optional sketchbook challenge.
GRADE 5 – After our gargoyles have been sculpted, fired and painted students will talk about the values and shades of color. We will first create an interesting abstract composition, looking at the work of Frank Stella. We will mix black and white to create at least three different grays. We will also be looking at the work of Pablo Picasso. We will observe his “Blue and Rose” Period. We will discuss how certain colors make us feel or how they remind us of certain events and things. We will first do a color study of the color that interested them most and paint its scale from light to dark. Using a digital black and white photo, these students will mix the shades of their color to create a self-portrait. We will discuss what objects give off energy and what energy might look like. They will use their knowledge of color mixing and drawing to create these paintings.
OTHER INFO: The Mural Project will still be on-going this year. We had a great start last year collected thousands of plastic caps. Volunteers are welcome, to work on this project with our students. Please have your child ask for a volunteer form to take home. Continue to be good recyclers! We also use other recycled materials like: clear egg cartons, 16oz. yogurt containers, plastic coffee containers, foil-type containers with peel off labels, yarn, ribbon, discontinued wallpaper books, empty spray bottles, magazines, paper and plastic bags and paper towel tubes.
Just a friendly reminder, MANY 4th and 5th grade students have taken on the optional sketchbook challenge! Please review your child’s work. In most cases, they should actually be observing what it is they are drawing.Thank You, Creatively - Mrs. O’Leary, Ms. O’Connor and Ms. Christie ValihuraAlso feel free to email:[email protected] Mr. Halfond’s class:[email protected] Ms. Greiner’s class:[email protected]