Reminiscing

As I begin this new blog with the 2012-13 school year on the horizon, I can't help but think about the wonderful first year teaching I had last year. I learned so much about myself as an art educator and really got to know all of my students and their abilities as well. Therefore I am dedicating this post to the first art project we did together last year.

I wanted to do something collaborative to teach the students that wonderful things happen when we all work together. I also wanted to give them a little art history at the same time to get them used to my style of teaching.

Our school theme for the year last year was "Beaverdam is on a Quest for Learning" so I wrote out block letters for the slogan "Lets Quest to get Art Smart!" and cut them into puzzle pieces. I talked about patterns with kindergarten and first graders and then gave each student a puzzle piece to color with different patterns.

Second graders learned about the artist Andy Warhol and we talked about cool and warm colors. I had drawn the outline of Warhol's famous Campbell's Soup can and cut them into puzzle pieces. Each child got a piece and had to find the warm colors in their markers and use them to complete their puzzle piece.

Third grade learned about Pablo Picasso and the still life genre through his "Bowl and Pitcher" still life artwork. They also learned about cool and warm colors and had to pick out the cool colors in their oil pastels to fill in their puzzle piece. 

Fourth grade had it a little more difficult because with theirs I did not do a pre-drawing. They learned about the artist Vincent Van Gogh and his famous Starry Night painting. I cut up their puzzle pieces as well as the famous artwork and they each got a piece of the artwork. They had to look at their piece of the artwork and carefully replicate it onto their paper puzzle piece. This taught them the importance of observation and planing. 

Fifth grade learned about Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa". They also had a piece of the artwork and had to replicate it free hand onto their paper puzzle piece. I taught them how to blend oil pastels to create skin tones. Again, they learned the skill of observation and careful planing. *A student was absent that day so I demonstrated the facial part of this piece... can ya tell?  ;)

This first project of the 2012-13 year was very successful and fun! Within 45 minutes I was able to introduce myself as their new art teacher and teach an actual lesson with a wonderful outcome! I am looking forward to the collaborative art project that I have planned to kick off the 2012-13 school year!