ARTY PARTY = Learning Disguised as FUN!

Central Riverside art students who met the behavioral challenge of "straight happy faces" every art class earned a special "ARTY PARTY" during art classes this week before winter break.  Six stations were set up with science integrated art activities for center rotation - in other words, learning disguised as fun!

Kinetic Sand

Wooly Willy & Hairdo Harriet Magnetic Art

Play Dough & Tools

Magnetic Sculpture

Magna-Doodle Drawing and Stamping

CRES Student Artists Thank Our Good Neighbors

Last week, students and staff at CRES held "Good Neighbor Day" to honor those community friends who support and invest in our school.

Representatives from Children's Enrichment Workshop (CEW), Cathedral Arts Project (CAP), The Cummer Museum's Weaver Academy of Art, The District Church and our faithful crossing guard, Mr. Watson. Students addressed each honoree with words from their hearts, thanking each one for gifts they provide for our students. Each honoree was presented with a beautifully framed piece of artwork from CRES artists.  Here are samples of their artwork:

Weaver Academy of Art from The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens

This month we had a visit from our special friend from the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, Mrs. Hause who came into our art classes and conducted art lessons based on the museum's collection. 

These visits are part of the unique partnership we have with the Museum as part of the Weaver Academy of Art.  Students and their families enjoys free family memberships that includes admission and free monthly art classes.  We are so fortunate to be included in this valuable outreach program.  Thanks Cummer Museum!

Back by Popular Demand: Symmetrical Bugs!

5th grade students showed their knowledge of symmetry in their drawings of insects.  After drawing with pencil on black paper, they traced over the lines with glue mixed with black ink. After the glue dried, the students added color with colored chalk, layering the chalk to create the illusion of depth.

 

Go TEAM ART!

We recently had a school spirt day when all faculty, staff and students were encouraged to wear their favorite teams colors and t-shirts.  Since my family supports a variety of teams I chose to support my favorite:  TEAM ART!

(Yes, I was a college cheerleader!)

Kinders Explore Printmaking

Central Riverside kindergarten students explore printmaking using an unexpected material:  bubble wrap! Here is a foolproof way to teach printmaking with these young artists.

Bubble wrap was cut into rectangles the same size as their paper then taped to a table.  Using foam rollers, students applied tempera paint then placed the paper within the tape boarders.  After a good rub, they peeled back their paper to reveal rows of dots.

These prints will be used to create a bumble bee hive collage!

CRES Artists "FALL" back into the new School Year

Wow! It's so hard to believe we have almost completed the first semester of the 2014-15 school year.  Our CRES artists have been very productive these last few weeks. Here is a brief overview of some of the projects they have been working on.

Kindergarten Geometric Hats

Kinders are learning so much now that they are putting in a full days work!  In math they are learning about geometric shapes so it fit in quite nicely to support their learning by making geometric hats in art class.

First Grade Dots

First Graders celebrated the start of a new school year by reading "The Dot" and did an author study about Peter Reynolds. Afterwards, they each painted their own version a dot from the story.

 

Second and Third Grade Self Portraits

Second and third grade students studied self portraits created by famous artist, Vincent Van Gogh then created a portrait of themselves.

 

First and Second Grade Printmaking

Students learn about a new printmaking technique, mono-printing.

 

Forth Grade Studies Outer Space

Forth graders learned about outer space as they created their own solar system using oil pastels.

Fifth Grade Draws From Observation

Fifth graders are becoming very proficient at drawing from observation as they draw Florida seashells then add color with watercolor.

 

One Last Announcement:

October has been a very exciting month!  What a surprise I had when I was selected by my  colleagues at Central Riverside as Teacher of the year 2014-15. It is such an honor for me to teach in a school with such a wonderful, caring staff and amazing students. AND I even get my own parking space!

Welcome Back! CRES Art Program 2014-15

Welcome back to the CRES Art Program at Central Riverside Elementary! I am so excited to serve as the Visual Arts Educator for another year and look forward to presenting instruction for many artful projects that support the Florida Sunshine Standards for Visual Arts!  My overarching goal as a Visual Arts Educator is to instill the love of art in my students as well as encourage creative thinking that carries over into their everyday lives. 

CRES students, Kindergarten through 5th grade visit the Art Room for Art Resource Classes each week for 50 minutes. Within this post you can view the colorful learning space that awaits our students as well as some of the teaching tools that are used to expand their art knowledge.

The Art Library is comprised of "How To Draw" books, biographies about artists and general art books on a variety of elementary reading levels. My goal is that students will use these books as part of their school-wide reading goals in English/Language Arts.  

The Word Wall is divided into sections headed by The Elements of Art and the Principles of Design, the language used to talk about art. These magnetic words are removable and will be placed in the vocabulary box on the main teaching board along with the objective and essential question for each art lesson taught.

Student Gallery and Teacher Workspace

Back View: You can see the table markers hanging from the 16 feet high ceilings, each labeled with numbers, and the parts of the color wheel (Primary Colors, Secondary Colors, Intermediate Colors, Mono-cromatic Colors, Warm and Cool Colors, each with a lantern painted the corresponding colors for better understanding.   Notice the tennis balls that help muffle the sound of active students as they sit and create! This view also allows one to see the large color wheel collage made by students using a large donation of National Geographic magazines. 

View the Art Timeline, an important teaching tool used to help students understand what was happening in the art world throughout world history.  Although the timeline seems far up on the wall, I use a laser pointer ("let's follow the little red dot") to help students understand the vast amount of time covered by this teaching tool. The timeline helps reinforce math skills as well.

Also in view allows the view of technology equipment used to enhance art learning. After a summer of professional development classes, my current goal is to incorporate the use of the interactive white board to enhance art learning.

The world map ties in nicely with the Sculptures From Around the World display. Also, the four images on the cabinets help cue my students when we have conversations about art using the Feldman Method of Art Criticism.  The first (from the left), the students DESCRIBE what they see in an artwork. The second image prompts them to ANALYZE what they see first. The third image asks them the students. "What is the story about?" which is the INTERPRETATION of the artwork and last their  JUDGEMENT or opinion of the art - "thumbs up or thumbs down."

The large display above the board illustrates the meanings of The Elements of Art and The Principles of Design - the language of art. It is an important goal that students learn to use this language. On the right side are designated places for art vocabulary words, objectives and essential questions for each lesson taught.  

CHAMPS: CHAMPS is a proactive and prosocial approach to classroom management.   Classroom behavioral expectations are plainly posted and reviewed periodically. Each of my art lessons are divided into three parts:  Instruction, Studio Time and Clean-up, each with their own specific behavioral expectations. For example, students know they are free to get up for a sip of water from the fountain if desired but only during Studio Time.

Art From Around The World - This display shows my students that art isn't just paintings and sculpture.  We explore the art in clothing, jewelry, architecture and bridge design as well as stained glass windows and kites! My goal for this teaching tool is to open my students minds to the possibilities of what paths they choose in the future. The opportunities for careers for students with the ability to be creative are endless.

Expectations: This Art Project Rubric explains how student artwork is assessed. Student artworks chosen for DCPS district level exhibitions as well displayed around our school and it should meet the highest performance standards as described by the rubric.  Each year we hold an annual ARTWALK with a students artwork exhibited.  The Art Project Rubric is used to assist in creating the students art exhibit.

The Behavior Meter is a communication tool I use to inform teachers the overall performance of their classes when they arrive to pick them up from their art class each. It is directly linked to the Art Room Noise Levels as seen on the left. If students earn a happy face each week, the class with the most each 9 weeks earns an "Arty Party."

Students are encouraged to visit this blog so I have printed the blog address and made available for them as they line up each week to exit the art room.  

This is Arturo, Mrs. Woodlief's special art assistant.  

Central Riverside Elementary Art Walk 2014

The first Central Riverside Elementary Art Walk was a huge success. Over 450 pieces of student artwork created a wonderful representation of the Art Program at CRES. Record crowds turned out for this first of many fundraiser events to fund future art projects. Please view this slideshow of beautiful art created by the talented students in grades kindergarten through 5th grade at CRES.

Marlons's Artist Statement

A big part of the creative process is the opportunity to reflect on one's art and articulate the intent behind the art making process.  One way to do this is to put thoughts into words in an artist's statement.  At Central Riverside Elementary, students in Mrs. Caro's (DHH) class had the opportunity to do this but not in the conventional way.  You see, Mrs. Caro's students are deaf or hard of hearing so they communicate with American Sign Language. Please view this video to see and hear 5th grader, Marlon's artist statement. You will see that his hands do the talking.

Matthew's Artist Statement

Members of Mrs. Caro's DHH (Deaf and hard of Hearing) class created wonderful undersea scenes in watercolor paint then recorded their thoughts about the creative process in a written artist statement.  Matthew tells us about the steps he took in creating his masterpiece but not in spoken English.   Matthew is fluent in another language - American Sign Language and he expresses his thoughts not with his spoken words but with his hands. Watch Matthew explain his strategies for creating this wonderful work of art in this video below:

Reggie's Artist Statement

Every picture tells a story and Reggie has an interesting story to tell in his painting as well as his artist statement.  Reggie is a 5th grader at Central Riverside Elementary Class in Mrs. Caro's DHH class (Deaf and Hard of Hearing.) Reggie shares his thoughts about the creative process as well as how art makes him feel in this video below.  Reggie describes his artwork in words but uses American Sign language to communicate his artist statement.