Mixing Paint and Drawing Bugs!

  

This past week I had my kindergarten and first grade mixing the primary colors to create the secondary colors. We watched this fun video from the band Ok Go about the primary colors. By the end of the class, all of the students were singing along and able to name the secondary colors! Not only did the video help the students to name the primary colors, but actually mixing their primary colors on a paper plate to create the secondary colors really solidified their knowledge of color theory. Actual experiences are much richer for student learning and engagement then just talking about the subject.

The prekindergarten students also watched a video book last week, but it was not about the primary colors, it was about bugs! The video was a story book called Bugs, Bugs, Bugs by Bob Barner. It is super colorful and engaging for my young students. At the end of the video the students learn about each type of bug that was talked about in the story. Fun little facts about each one.

Next, I taught the young students how to use observational drawing to create bugs. I showed the students how to hold the bug in your hand while drawing it with your other hand. I was so impressed at how my three and four year olds grasped this wonderful skill so quickly. Their bugs were to interesting to look at and the students really caught all the small details of the plastic bugs! I have a lot of great future artists in my prekindergarten class!

 I also had an extra special kindergarten class this week that was able to experience warm and cool colors whoile painting in the hallway! We had a weird thing happen with the heat in the building and my art room was literally freezing. So, being flexible we moved art class into the hallway!

  

I introduced the students to warm and cool colors and how they can make us feel. Next, we taped large poster paper the wall with painters tape and created boxes and triangles. Inside these spaces we painted warm and cool colors. Pictured here is  partner group of two who experimented with the cool color green and the warm color yellow. The results are so fun and cheery!

Everyday Photos from Around the Art Room

The students, preschool through fifth grade, have been working on a lot of exciting projects in the art room. I really enjoying taking photos of the students working and catching them in their creative process. Here are a few images from around the art room from the last few weeks. Please feel free to also check out our classroom Instagram feed by click on the camera the button on the right side of this page.

 

This is a third grade student working on creating a bird sculpture with Crayola's model magic and feathers. The students and I practiced creating spheres and cylinders with the model magic before letting loose and making a creative bird.  This project was possible due to the kindness of donors through Donors Choose. We loved creating projects with these special materials!

Here is a kindergarten student working on a drawing using only black, white, and purple crayons. We read the book Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson. We learned that Harold could draw anything he wanted to, using his creativity.

 Here is a patten made by a preschool student during exploring time. They used these manipulatives not only to make patterns but to build structures.

 Here is a kindergarten student creating a castle drawing using colored pencils. As a class we spoke about 3d forms, like cones and cylinders, and then made castles from those forms. I am so proud of the way kindergarten has grasped the knowledge of 3d forms.

 Here is a picture of a first grade student also using 3d forms to create a robot. This robot was then completed using colored pencils.

 Another example of a kindergarten drawing using 3d forms. This student used a castle that a classmate had made in another class for their drawing inspiration.

 Pictured here is a second grade student working on their favorite food collage. That large lemonade looks so good!

Lastly, here is an image of a student who has completed their robot drawing. Next to their drawing is the art room rubric for second grade. This rubric helps students to be reflective about their work and how they can improve their artistic behavior for the next class.

Science & Art!

Last week the Kindergarten, First grade, and Second grade students at Langley had an art lesson that tied in with earth science. I had the students already learning about different kinds of lines, so I thought why not find some beautiful leaves outside the school and have the students use line to draw them! The results were great! The students were very focused on looking intensely at the leaves, noticing the smallest details. The room was silent as the students worked on their drawings.

Corcoran Gallery Tour

Today the first grade teachers and I took our students to visit the Corcoran Museum in Washington DC. First graders boarded a bus and headed across the city  to experience a "Five Senses" gallery tour. The students were broken down into groups and then were assigned a tour guide.

The museum tour guide then gave the students a card with a shape and a color on it. The students were instructed to hold up their card when they passed a piece of art work that had either their color or their shape in it. It was a wonderful way to keep the students engaged and looking at lots of art pieces in depth.

The students then observed many different kinds of art work including sculptures and paintings. The tour guide had them do exercises to experience the painting, such as posing like the figures in the painting or guessing what kinds of paint brushes were used to create the painting. They also related the pieces of art work to our five senses (touch, smell, see, hear, and taste) by asking the students what they thought the painting sounded like or how something in the painting might have tasted.

 

Then first grade was walked down to the Corcoran's basement where there was an art studio set up for them to make a hands on project! The students were instructed by a teacher on how to roll a piece of model magic into a ball. Then the students were taught how to make that ball into other shapes. Before we knew it the students were creating boats, birds, and snakes with their model magic!

After crafting a form, the students then used all kinds of special materials to decorate their projects. Feathers, sequins, pipe cleaners, and googlie eyes were used to adorn their sculptures. The end results were so colorful and fun!

 

I can not thank you tour guides enough for hosting us at the Corcoran Gallery today! They were so accommodating and pleasant and really beamed with happiness at the students' work. I am so proud of my Langley Tigers today!

Here is a short video clip of our gallery experience today. Also, remember that many more images can be found on the classroom's instagram: northeastcityart