Kindergarten Art
We looked at the differences between imaginary and real animals. We talked about the animals we have seen at the zoo and circus. We read Dr. Seuss' book If I Ran the Circus and looked at the funny imaginary animals he drew. The students then made imaginary animal masks and we had a imaginary animal parade around the room. Students also painted their imaginary animal in a landscape.
First Grade Art
Students compared geometric and organic shapes and learned that organic shapes appear in nature, just like the shapes of leaves. We talked about how funny it would look if leaves were triangles, rectangles, or any other geometric shapes. Students cut squares into other geometric shapes and learned their relationship from the square. Students also made their very own organic shape. They used all of these shapes to make an imaginary animal.
Second Grade Art
We studied the story quilts of Faith Ringgold, a famous Harlem Renaissance artist. Students talked about the word kindness and times they were kind and times when others were kind to them. Students then drew these examples and made a paper collaborative kindness quilt as a class. Students also learned paper weaving and added this to their classroom kindness quilt. Students loved looking at Mrs. Roten's own personal quilt that included photos of her growing up.
Student artwork...coming soon!
Third Grade Art
After looking at self-portrait examples from the most famous artists who have ever lived (like Picasso, Rembrandt, and Degas) students studied the different lines that make up the perimeter of their facial features. Students carefully drew their self-portrait. After they were done they exchanged their art with classmates and had the chance to draw their self-portrait on three other classmates' paper. We talked about how to respect each others artwork. Students came up with different reasons artists make self-portraits and realized that a masterpiece takes time and lots of practice!
Fourth Grade Art
There was a lot of discussion in the art room the day we looked at magazine ads to decode how advertisers use color, texture, and certain objects to compel us to feel a certain way and to eventually get us to buy their product. Students then looked at different work from the artist Paul Klee and saw how he used color to make us feel certain emotions. Students were introduced to Abstract Expressionism in this manner. Students discussed why artists would want to create abstract art. The students then chose an emotion to draw in an abstract way, keeping in mind color choices. After drawing their first emotion, students thought about and drew how their drawing would look like if they had to show the opposite of that emotion. Students saw and discussed the contrasting periods of Pablo Picasso's Rose and Blue Periods and the contrasting emotions Picasso showed in those paintings.
Fifth Grade Art
Students decoded Abstract Expressions and showed contrasting emotions.
