Grades, grades and more grades!

It is that time of year when some art projects will magically start to appear at home. Can you believe that most classes have only had art 14-15 times this year - yet we have really done a lot! Make sure you unroll those treasures brought home carefully and then marvel at their wonderfull-ness! Also, please check the back of the project for a rubric - this will show you what the child was graded on and how they performed on each criteria for that project. It will also state what standard that project falls under.

You will see a point total along with a number in parentheses at the bottom. This number would be a 1, 2 or 3 for first and second grade. For third, fourth and fifth grade you would see either a 1, 2, 3, or 4. This number equates to what you will eventually see on your child's report card for art. A 1 equates to a lack of understanding on many areas of the project, a 2 is progressing to an understanding, 3 is meeting expectations and a 4 is above and beyond.

Please understand that not all projects are graded - with well over 500 students, not all work can be assessed. Also, some grades that come home may be in the form of a quiz or worksheet which usually falls under the vocabulary standard.

Now go check your child's backpack to see if something was brought home today from art class!!

Thanks, Mrs. Johnson

What's Halloween without candy corn?

The 3rd graders made these awesome candy corn bowls out of clay! First they rolled the clay out, then using a template of a candy corn, they cut out the candy corn shape. We lined styrofoam bowls with a damp paper towel and then gently put our clay candy corn in the bowl. We let the clay dry in the bowl. Doing this gave our candy corn bowls a bit of a bowl like shape. They were fired in the kiln then the kids used yellow, orange and white glaze to paint them. Clear glaze was added to give it that shiny, glossy look and then they were fired again. Voila! Ceramic candy corns!
What fun would it be if we didn't eat actual candy corn out of it? So we did! These are sure to be a favorite each and every Halloween!!

3rd grade Picasso

The kids love Picasso! Why? Because his work is silly and unexpected and the kids enjoy seeing art in that way. The third graders studied the life and work of Picasso touching upon his blue period, rose period and then cubism.
The students learned how to draw a portrait the correct way using guidelines. We learned that Picasso was an amazing artist at a young age, drawing everything realistically. After we drew our portrait, we outlined it in Sharpie and drew 5 lines through it. Those 5 lines created sections that were colored using crazy colors and patterns. Then, the whole face was cut out and then cut into 8 pieces. When put back together, the pieces needed to line up but not touch. This gives the look of cubism!

5th grade sketchbooks

In 5th grade we make sketchbooks. The purpose of these sketchbooks is to focus on drawing and observation skills. All drawings in the sketchbooks will be done in pencil only so we can work on value and shading in our drawings.
The first drawing was based off a black and white photo of 2 gourds and a pumpkin. Each student received a copy of the picture and we worked on the basics step by step - getting the 3 shapes right, then noticing details such as the number of stripes on the gourd and how they curved around the circle or the shape of the bumps on the small gourd. We worked on proportion and how the size of one thing relates to another. This was a real test in looking at a picture and drawing what you see...not what you think you see.
Students will be graded based on accuracy, value and effort.

1st grade snails

For this project, the first graders reviewed the various lines we had previously talked about: vertical, horizontal, diagonal and spiral lines. We then focused on the spiral line alone and drew a large snail. The trick was to make the shell large enough to draw different patterns inside. This was a great review on pattern with not only shapes and lines, but with colors too. The entire snail was outlined in Sharpie, colored in using patterns and then the background had lots of spirals colored in. We used one color watercolor to paint over the entire paper.

5th grade square 1

The 5th graders started the school year with their Square 1 self portraits. Not only will parents be able to purchase items with their child's self portrait, but the self portraits will also be put on ceramic tiles that will be hung as a class mural.

We reviewed how to draw a face using guidelines to help us place the eyes, nose, mouth, ears and hair in the correct place. They filled the background in with either a pattern or with pictures of things that represent them. They turned out awesome!