Art Integration At It's Best at CRES

In art education circles, we all support arts integration in core subjects so I was thrilled to discover a classroom teacher getting her students excited about writing by integrating art.
I'd like to give a BIG shout out to my collegue, CRES first grade teacher, Mrs. Lisa Bond who fully embraced the concept of arts integration by creating this wonderful display of her students writing.

Central Riverside Elementary School's first grade classes visited two art museums in one week (heaven, right??) to MOCA (Museum of Modern Art) and the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in Jacksonville, FL.  Mrs. Bond took the opportunity to facilitate an amazing "Compare & Contrast" writing lesson, having her students create beautiful opinion pieces describing their experiences at both art museums. 

The highlights included the elevator at MOCA, the Cummer garden and Mrs. Cummer's living room.  The students' absolute favorite was, of course, Art Connections (better known as the play area) at the Cummer. 

I'm so thrilled to have such a creative thinking educator here at CRES!

Mrs. Woodlief's Art Story

So, have you ever wondered how the arts can impact ones's life?  

I am honored to have been asked by the National Art Education Association to share how the arts changed my path and led me to a fulfilling career of teaching children the love of learning about and creating art.  Here is my story.

Art Beyond Sight: EDGE Students Learn About Students with Disabilities Through Art

CRES students learned valuable lessons this week in art class when they experienced how to make and share their art if they were blind.

Blindfolded student creates self portraits using Wiki Stix, strings coated with wax.

These students are showing each other their art by allowing the other to feel the lines of their drawing.

 

 

This video explains to my students how blind students can make art.

Supporting the Arts through EDGE
The EDGE program, (short for Enhancing, Developing, and Generating Excellence) is an enrichment class offered at Central Riverside Elementary School as part of our Magnet Program. 

Start of a Great New Year of Art at CRES

Welcome to the Art Classroom at Central Riverside Elementary School.

This is me, Art Teacher, Mrs. Woodlief with help from my special friend, Arturo.

One of my goals is to give students confidence so they can take their art learning out of the classroom.  I want them to share their art experiences by talking about and teaching others what they have learned.  I want to encourage creative thinking and want them to apply what they have learned back in their classroom and at home.

We have gotten off to a great start this year creating and learning about art.  This year, I hope to continue integrating core subjects into the art learning that takes place as well and teaching students even more about art history and the artists who have impacted it. I want to do my part in educating the whole child.

CRES Girls Learn to be Architects!

A very special group of 2^nd grade girls from Central Riverside took part in “I can be…an Architect,” managed and organized by my fellow art educator, Ayonna Patterson, a community advocate for educational opportunities for girls.

The purpose of this career day workshop was to give a basic understanding of the Architecture profession and to inspire girls to dream about what they can become. 

 

The first stop on our trip was to “Breaking Ground,’ a construction company owned and run by women! The “junior architects” studied blueprints for buildings, learned about “green construction” and visited the roof to explore a rooftop garden.

Reading blueprints

Learning about the rooftop garden

Next stop: the Karpeles Manuscript Museum where students were treated to a day of creative design! Wearing pink hard hats, the girls sat at tables to plan a dream house design assisted by a real architect/volunteer!  Each girl created a floor plan by cutting out room modules and affixing them onto graph paper. After a pizza lunch, they were presented with a bag full of children’s books, creative tools and other goodies.

Much thanks to AIA, a local chapter of the American Institute of Architects, FAMU School of Architecture and Ms. Ayonna Paterson, director and organizer of this fantastic event!

Ayonna Patterson, Event Organizer

PowerupJAX Grant Funds Legacy Project: Self Portrait Tiles-Class of 2016

5th Grade Students from the Class of 2016 created a tile portrait in their likeness.  Each tile was hand painted with ceramic glaze then fired. The tiles were installed  by district staff to serve as a permanent display, intended to last for many years to come. Students can return someday to CRES to see their tile portrait and reflect on their years as a student at Central Riverside Elementary.

The project was unveiled at a full day celebration event, including all staff and students as well as alumni, past teachers, principals and community members.  A new school flag was dedicated, guest speakers reflected on our school's history and a time capsule was created including memorabilia from CRES.

Local Newspaper includes the Self Portrait Tile Project in their story about our annual school event. The article credits the Jacksonville Public Education Fund with making the project possible.

Central Riverside Elementary, is located in the historic Riverside section of Jacksonville.  This project was the artistic focus of our 100^th birthday celebration.   I directed a project that commemorated this important milestone in our schools history and reflects the commitment and spirit of CRES’s Class of 2016. 
During weekly art classes, Seventy-five 5^th grade students created a hand glazed tile, in their own likeness, and was permanently installed in our school’s hallways as a tribute to a century of learning. This was such a positive experience for those students who created this legacy, leaving their mark so one day they can return to celebrate their wonderful years at CRES. 
This project impacted all 400 CRES students as it was introduced to the remainder of our student body as their signature 5^th grade project so they, too, can leave their mark on CRES when they become 5^th graders.  My goal is that students will learn how public art impacts every viewer and serves as a monument, celebrating an institution that has educated thousands of students in 100 years. 
The self-portrait tile project was unveiled at our school’s 100^th Birthday Celebration on May 19, 2016, as well as the The CRES Art Walk, a school-wide art exhibit and concert attracting CRES families, friends and community members. 
This hands-on project impacted the members of the graduating Class of 2016, but will be shared with every student who walks the halls of Central Riverside Elementary School for years to come. Because the tiles are a permanent installation, our students are able to return to the school to reminisce about their years as students at Central Riverside Elementary School. This project will be their legacy.

Successes Experienced:

This project was a huge success with lots of positive feedback from families and community members.

Here are comments from some of the 5^th graders who participated in this project:

Luke

“I'm so proud of Central Riverside and when I come back to our school one day I’ll enjoy seeing my fellow peers from my old class. I will cry when come back to our school and when I do I will run to show my children the tiles.  It will be cool to see and how they react.”

Khiuyna

“I look forward to looking at my tile I made in the fifth grade at CRES in 2016.  When I grow up I want to be able to see how great I made my tile look when I was young. Kids in fifth grade made self-portrait tiles and put it up on the wall for the children to see when they are grown. Hopefully the fifth-graders can show their kids their tile that their parents made and maybe decide to take their own children to our school.”

Jakyan

“Once I am grown I can come back to Central Riverside and see the tile that I made. When I come back I can see my tile from the fifth grade class of 2016. Seeing my face, knowing that it will be there forever. If I have kids someday and they come to Central Riverside they will see me up there in the class of 2016 I will be very proud.”

Timmia

“I enjoyed making the Central Riverside Elementary school fifth-grade tiles so that way when I grow older and have my own children they can see me when I was in the fifth grade. These tiles have so many colors.  Every time I pass them I seem to remember when I made them. It was so much fun making these tiles and making memories.”

CRES ARTwalk: Student Exhibit Fundraiser

Once again, the students of Central Riverside have created beautiful art displayed in the annual student exhibit, CRES ARTwalk.  This time, 100 % of our student body is  represented, each with a drawing, painting, collage or print created during art class -  over 600 pieces of art covering the hallway walls of CRES.  Parents have the option of taking their children's art home opening night for a donation.  Funds collected go directly to the art department for supplies for future art projects. Please view the video at the bottom to see a slideshow of all the beautiful artwork created by the artists at CRES!

 

CRES Student Artists In the Spotlight

Congratulations to student artists at Central Riverside Elementary School for their selection for the Annual Duval County Public Schools Student Exhibition held at Jacksonville’s branch libraries from April 8th until April 27th.  It was such a difficult task to select only seven pieces to represent our entire school.

 This first piece, a collaboration by four 5th grade students, has been chosen to be showcased 7 days a week at the Main Library downtown, then will be “on the road” to another student exhibit, “The Best of Elementary Show” held at Florida State College at Jacksonville, Kent Campus in the Art Gallery on May 12th.  This piece will be displayed as “the best” from CRES alongside entries from every elementary school in Duval County.

"Musical Instruments," Printmaking, Ink, by KyAhnia, Arianah, Amayah and Nicolas, 5th Grade

These six pieces of artwork below will be on display at the Murray Hill Library.  Please, stop by  to see outstanding art from our area elementary schools and especially artwork created by our talented CRES artists.  Murray Hill Library is located at 918 Edgewood Avenue South, and is open on Tuesday through Saturday.

"Greek Pottery Still Life"  Collage by Nazaria, 3rd Grade

Geometric Shape "Cat" Collage by Emanuel, 2nd Grade

Tempera Paint/Oil Pastel "Goldfish" by Sophia, 2nd Grade

Watercolor Painting "Shells" by Evelise, 5th Grade

Tempera Painting/Oil Pastel by Arianna, 2nd Grade

"Very Hungry Caterpillar" Collage by Tadavia, Kindergarten

Arts Integration: Literacy & Art

We were so fortunate get a visit from Karpeles Museum educator, Gloria Elliot with a presentation on Linking Writing to Art. She brought copies of original drawings from the Disney movie, Peter Pan on loan to the Karpeles Manuscript Museum.  She gave writing strategies that included the use of a Thesaurus to enhance our student’s writing. Third grade students were able to make strong connections to the speaker as they were currently reading the story of Peter Pan in their Language Arts class.

  The Jacksonville Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum’s primary mission is the preservation and educational presentation of the writings of great authors, scientists, composers, philosophers, statesmen, sovereigns, and leaders, from all periods in world history. The Museum strives to promote education and literacy within Jacksonville, with an emphasis on the under-served neighborhoods and constituents. The Jacksonville Karpeles is one of nine Karpeles Museums around the country and Museum founders, David and Marsha Karpeles, are committed to providing each of these communities free access to original manuscript exhibits.

 

To learn more about the Karpeles Museum, visit:

 http://www.rain.org/~karpeles/jaxfrm.html

LOVE in the Art Room

Kindergarten students practiced their painting skills and showed their love for painting in art class this month!

What Was The World's First Art?

CRES students asked, What was the first art?” That conversation led to this project where clay was rolled out into slabs representing a portion of a stone wall found in the caves in Lascaux, France. 

The cave drawings in the Lascaux cave originate from the prehistoric era — 15,000 to 13,000 BCE. The many paintings, drawings, and engravings give us insight into the world of these early people. Many of the cave images are of animals such as bulls, bison, and horses. This is very significant, as these early people were hunters. They relied on animals for food, for life itself. These drawings tell us about the lives of the people who made them. The clay slabs were fired then painted with acrylic paint with images of prehistoric man and the animals they hunted to maintain their lives.