ART for 1170

The third grade studied different kinds of sealife. The completed sketches and then selected one to draw with a dull pencil into our donated foam. We covered the "plate" with printing ink and then laid the paper on top of the foam. It's great if you have old spoons to rub the back. Make sure they don't rub too long or the heat will make removing the paper difficult.

       I have a new student teacher. Her name is Katie Swiderski. I am so excited! Katie is a senior at Western Michigan University with a major in Art Education AND Spanish. As you can see she is an amazingly talented painter. I think the students thought they were in the presence of a celebrity. She is going to be a great addition to our art room. 

Just out of the kiln, this years first batch of clay owls...stay tuned for more!

I was very happy with the results from this year's clay masks. I have over 150 fifth grade students and the variety of styles was clearly evident. Each mask was to have a subtractive quality (clay taken away), an additive feature (clay added to the mask) and texture. The most successful used all three qualtities. We created the patterns using this method http://artfor1170.blogspot.com/2011/04/clay-masks-making-pattern-fifth-grade.html .   I'm also really liking the stroke and coat glazes I purchased from Saxs.

When the kindergarten class from Mrs. Creech's room brought back their pumpkin paintings to their room they shared with Mrs. Creech the "How". I love the way she created a visual thinking poster for their room.  I don't even have to tell you the "How" part because they did it for you, including using a WHOLE lotta Yellow and a little bit of red !  Thanks Mrs. Creech!

At both schools I keep a couple of buckets of books. The favorites are definitely the I Spy books.  I only have 30 minute classes but there's always a couple who seem to finish early.  I also have blocks at PKE but sharing seems to be a tougher skill this year so I had to put them away for awhile.  The books get pretty beat up but I scour garage sales and Ebay for deals.

  A kindergarten lesson I do every year. I decided at one school to have the students fill in the spaces with washable markers and then let the students use water to "Color" the space. At the other school I used Alphacakes and I definitely like the painted lesson much better.   TASTE OF CLARKSTON!!   My Boys enjoying the great food!