BLVisuals @ Stadium Elementary

A few days after BLVisual's visit to my fourth graders - they sent me this video.  It really captures the excitement, awe, and pure awesome from the day.

When talking with my classes this last week many of them said, "If I had to score 1-10, I would say 100!"

Visiting Artist: Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson of Paper Paintings

Her cows are my favorite!

Total awesomeness!  Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson of Paper Paintings came to one of my schools and talked with my fourth graders!!!

Okay, lets back up to before the awesome visit and talk about how we prepared for the event!

A couple of weeks before Mrs. Nelson came I passed out a bunch of pictures (from a calendar) of her work and asked students to look at them - notice them.  We then talked about things they noticed, what the pictures had in common, what was different and even came up with some questions for the artist.



Next we watched this short video:





After the video the kids were pumped and we set off to decorated some collage papers with crayons, tempera paint and watercolor.  I assigned tables a specific color so that we had the correct color combinations when we went to collage later.

The following week we watched a DVD that Mrs. Nelson sent me.  In the DVD she went through her process from beginning to end - making papers, sketching, under painting, and then collaging.  After the video students did their own "sketching" and under painting.  Normally I am against making all the students do the same exact thing, but this time I decided the students needed to focus on the visiting artist along with the collage process - so I decided they would do our school logo.  We have a die-cut of our logo in two sizes, so I made a bunch and let my students pick which size and where to place it on their 6" square pieces of wood.


Back to the amazing visit:

Mrs. Nelson began by talking my students about her love of art, her journey to where she is now with art, and specific techniques to her collage style - and maybe most importantly she explained that making art is her job, she gets paid to make art! After her powerpoint she demonstrated how she works - she impressed the kids with her ability to work on her artwork on planes, in doctor offices and anywhere she can sit for a few minutes! The students "ooo-ed" "aww-ed" and whispered "this is awesome" "so cool" "best day of art ever"!

So, after Mrs. Nelson demonstrated how to directional rip, placing glue UNDER and OVER each piece, correct mistakes, and all sorts of other tips and strategies - we passed out glue, paint brushes, collage papers and their block of wood.

The students TOOK OFF! It was AMAZING to watch them work.  They totally understood and went for it.  Some students used too much glue, others too little - but everyone learned by trial and error and their projects look amazing.  When we had to clean up all I heard were complaints and moans - which is always a good sign.

I think one of the best things about the day was how much my students loved her right from the beginning.  They brought paper for autographs and gave hugs left and right.  Hopefully Mrs. Nelson had a great day just like my students and I did.

5th Grade -- Personal Logos

This is one of my favorite 5th grade projects to do - you can read about it's origins here.

Aren't these awesome?

5th Grade Production is a PRODUCTION

Wow - where to start?  I didn't mean to take a break from this blog - it just kind of happened.  October was full of teaching my normal classes, 5th Grade production (it is a production in every sense of the word), collecting and organizing 5th grade production T-shirts (this included a crash course in Adobe Illustrator), finalizing and organizing a Spirit Wear order for the school, contacted a really awesome artist for a future visit, class collaboration art masterpieces for a district auction, grades, and I tried to squeeze in another fundraiser - Young Masters - this ended up having to be postponed...

So, I guess what I am trying to say - is that it has been, well, a bit busy!

Wool Pirate Hair

Let's start with 5th Grade Production.  I love 5th grade production in every single sense of the whole event - well maybe not the extra talking from students during rehearsals or loosing prep time on Tuesdays - okay... so I love mostly everything about production.  Production is hard to describe in words - production is a PRODUCTION.  Organizing 4 teacher visions for a show, with 84 5th graders --- it couldn't be anything less than a production.

Pirate Costume Party

I really enjoy that the students have a voice in our show, they share ideas and we try to incorporate as much of it as we can.  I had four students arrange one of their songs into a rap - we recorded it (thanks iPad).  I think it is super special that the students apply/try out for what they want to do: actor, musician, dancer, set design/chorus.  We are lucky to have a drama and dance teacher at this Elementary school - and they rock.

So, normally production starts in 4th grade with a gathering of ideas and characters.  Then the ARTs (dance, music, drama and myself) and 5th grade teachers mull over the student ideas to try and make a story/plot.  Last year our drama teacher wrote the script - it was AMAZING.  This year there was not time - so we bought a script based on the interest of our students.

Luckily the script stated we could alter the story, add songs, take things out - it was perfect.  We added some songs, took out others, let the musicians re-create some.  Students drew out ideas for backdrops in my room -- I took ideas from multiple papers to create the 3 backdrops for this show, which the students mostly painted.  Dancers created original movements and dances for songs.  Musicians composed original songs and sound effects for the show.  Actors memorized lines and blocking!


Our show this year was Treasure Island - so most of the kids would need some kind of pirate outfit.  I wasn't sure how to get kids to make a pirate-ish shirt, how to collect objects, how to deal them out.... Then, our Dance teacher had a brilliant idea - a costume party.  So, one day instead of having normal 'specials' during our 5th grade time - students went into a creative, surprisingly controlled costume making frenzy.  Students added paint, sparkle glue, buttons, leaves - they cut, sewed, and added bits and pieces to make their costumes all their own.  My favorite part was this awesome wool I happened upon on a donation to the high school - it looked just like dreads.  I cut and glued chunks together for 'pirate hair' - it was wickedly cool.

For the next 8 weeks, once a week for about 30 minutes students split up into their assigned jobs and we created a show.  We had 3 after school rehearsals to mesh all the acting, dancing, musicians and such together.  Then we had a full day TECH rehearsal so my kids could learn when to change the set, spots knew who to follow - what lines were sound cues for music.

Front of their T-shirt - 100% kid designed

Now, while production was happening on Tuesday mornings - during normal 5th grade art time students became Graphic Designers and designed their Production T-shirt.  In the end, the students voted it down to 3.  I combined those 3 ideas because the votes were so close.

It is a SHORT LONG 8 weeks.  In many ways the 8 weeks drags on, but then it never feels like enough time.

Somehow, no matter how far behind we feel, or how crunched for time - it all pulls together for an amazing show.

I am SUPER proud of my 5th graders for all their hard work.

End of the Year Lessons -- Whole School

The end of the year is a tricky time to teach -- the kids are antsy, my patience is generally smaller, it's SO nice out, and the kids miss random classes due to field trips and other events.

I design my last month of classes to highly engaging lessons that lean towards 'fun' while still having an educational component.  This way if I miss a class because they are on a field trip - I don't have to go back and teach the lesson they missed.  I also don't have a stack of papers at the end of the year for a student that missed the last week of school.

4/5 Weeks before End:
Clean out projects.  I spend this time passing back everything that I can find.  This year students 'doodled with Jim Henson' - we talked about how truly awesome Jim Henson is and how he 'doodled' all of his puppets/muppets.  The students then spent time creating their own characters -- students actually loved this more than I expected.  They really got into sharing their creations with people around them.  While they were busy 'doodling' I pass back any and all projects that got stored, put on display, mixed up in other classes.
 
3/4 Weeks before the End:
Origami Paper Airplanes.  Students ask all year to make paper airplanes - so we spend a day devoted to making them.
The rules:
- 3 papers total
- Decorate papers (keeps the kids honest about who's plane is who's)
- Grounded when indoors.
We spend class making airplanes based on prior knowledge and instructions.  We clean up early and either fly them in the room or, better yet, outdoors.



3/2  Weeks before the end: Light Graffiti.  I black out all the windows with black paper, find a tripod, digital SLR, cables to hook up to the tv and lots of flashlights/light emitting objects.  The first time we do this - students just experiment.  My lesson and links are here.

2/1 Weeks before the End:
Light Graffiti again.  This time I have paper with simple objects on them and groups make pictures.  Read here.

If we have one more week left we play art games, clean the room, art videos - generally I have some options and let the kids vote on what they would like to do.  The last week of school I rarely see every class - so it's kind of a relax week.

Personal Logos -- 5th Grade

I would love to say that I came up with this lesson - however, it isn't true.  I did this lesson back when I was doing my first placement for student teaching.  I was in a rougher school in the area, with a room full of 8th graders that were one of the worst groups the school had seen.  I was 5'2" and not really super confident in my ability to teach a crammed room of rough 8th grade students that were taller than me -- so instead of making my own lesson I taught a lesson my cooperating teacher had already set up.  Logos.

I have since morphed her lesson into a unit for my 5th grade students.

Day 1:
I start out with a slideshow of logos that have no words.  I tell students I want them to keep track WITHOUT talking of how many of these logos they know.  We go through the slideshow a second time and then students whisper what each company is.

We briefly talk about what a logo is, why it is important to a company and consumer.  I then explain they will be creating their own personal logo.

:Insert gasps, and whispered feelings of 'cool':

I explain they will be brainstorming today to find their logo.  (I am super against worksheets in the art room - but for this I needed a way to help and guide their brainstorming).  I pass out a worksheet in which they have to write their first initial 10 different ways.  Some students groan at this point, because apparently 10 is a lot -- I quickly show them on the board that simply writing their letter lower case, upper case, and then the same in bubble is already 4, and they all relax.

After 10 of their first initial they do 10 of their second initial.  Last but not least they do 10 different ways to combine the letters they have done.  I of course don't keep them confined to the letter they have done, but it gives them an out if they can't or won't think of anything past what they have already done.

At this point hopefully they find a combination they REALLY like, though sometimes they need a little help to think past the letters themselves.  If they find one they like I have them turn over the paper and try that design slightly different 4-6 times -- ie. changing the thickness of the lines, the angle of the lines, how long certain lines are.  When they are confident in what they want we move to the next step.

Day 2 -- Formatting

The next class time we talk about formatting.  My students have already had practice at formatting in the beginning of the year - so a quick reminder of formatting and away they go. I, again, have created a sheet to help guide their exploration for a final logo.   The worksheet has a circle, triangle, square, rectangle and oval on it.  The students must take their favorite design from the previous class and mold/bend it into each shape.  Most students claimed they liked it in a square until they got to the oval or circle.  Once they did this and decided which shape they liked best they flipped their paper over and drew it 4 more times.  The students then started to work on color combinations for their logos.

Day 3 --  Final Logos

The final day!!!  I printed out large shapes: square, circle, oval, rectangle, and triangle.  The students picked their shape, drew their logo, colored, cut it out, glued it onto a piece of choice construction paper.  I made a HUGE deal out of how awesome these should be.  I told them that a marker that was drying out was not an acceptable reason for why it wasn't colored well.  Poor cutting and glue bulging out the sides was not acceptable.  To really drive home my expectation if there was poor coloring, cutting, or glueing they would need to START OVER.


Their logos are AMAZING!!!  Not only do they look fantastic but the kids are super proud of them!




















Okay, so I haven't figured out how to attach word documents or PDF files for download - but for now here are pictures of my brainstorming worksheets:

2nd Grade - Tints/Shades cylindrical Cakes

This is one of my favorite 2nd grade projects.  I was inspired by another teacher in my district that does this project - though I have modified it a little over the last couple of years.

I start out by showing the students a slide show of layered cakes from Charm City Cakes.  The students 'ooooo' 'awwww' 'COOL!' and so forth.  I like to emphasize that this is a real job - that Chef Duff and his friends get paid lots of money to decorate cakes!  They even have their own tv show.

After the slide show is over, I freeze the slide show on one cake and I explain that they will be creating their own cake on paper.  They will get to decide how many layers, how the cake is decorated, and next time they will get to use paint to finish the decorations!  Often times, at this point students are very excited.  I then explain that even though their cakes will be on paper they will need to look 3-D.  We quickly discuss that we know in real life the cakes are round - but on paper they are flat with the illusion of being round.

At this point I explain that we will learn to draw a cake in 3-D.  I use the cake being projected on the white board, from the slide show, and ask the students what the very top shape is and to raise their hand.  I wait a few seconds and tell them to look carefully and not to be tricked - what shape is on the top.  I wait until most of the class has their hand up and then call on someone.  Sometimes I get a circle and sometimes I get oval.  I don't give them the answer - but instead I trace the top shape.  I ask the students to agree or disagree that I have indeed traced the shape - they agree.  I then cover the projector and ask what shape it is - They say 'oval'.  I then explain that their brain KNOWS that cake is circle - but when viewed at a certain view point that circle LOOKS oval.

I then proceed to trace rest of the cake pointing out key features that make the cake look 3-D, like: There are not corners on it, all the corners are rounded.  The next oval starts up on the edges of the layer above not on the bottom corner. 

After the students have helped me trace the cake I turn off the projector and do one more freehand on the white board having the students tell me what to do.  When the cake is drawn I explain they need to decorate their cake with BIG designs.  Students like to draw small detailed pictures on their cakes and it ends up being too hard to paint, so I emphasize BIG designs.

The next class I introduce tints and shades to the students.  I give them a hint to remember tint and shade -- that when you stand in the SHADE of a tree is it lighter or darker there?!  They reply with darker - that way they can remember that a shade is mixing black with a color and a tint is mixing white with a color.  We also do a quick review of the color wheel and how to use it to get the color you want.

Next,  I pull the students around a table and proceed to show them how I want them to mix colors.  I only give them RED, YELLOW, BLUE, WHITE, and BLACK.  I explain that there are three simple guidelines for mixing paint.  1) No mixing colors in the paint dishes.  2) The mixed color can not be bigger than your hand (if it gets out of control they clean up the paint and use crayons - way not fun) 3) All colors must be a tint or a shade.  I then proceed to mix colors by the input of students.  One student will suggest a color, another will tell me how to make it, and a third student will tell me to make it a tint or a shade.  I have the students scoop a little of the paint they want from the paint dish and put it on the table, wash the brush, and scoop the second color and mix.  I have found that mixing paint this way keeps students from mixing too much of a color.  In three years of mixing paint this way I have only had two students clean up their paint and use crayons.

This project takes 2-3 classes to paint depending on the skill, determination, and craftsmanship of the students.  In the past I have had the students cut out their cakes and mount them on construction paper.


The students really love this project and the cakes are always very interesting and unique.

3rd and 4th Grade Musical -- We Haz Jazz

This is been a great show to prepare for!  The students have learned a lot about jazz and blues.  Tonight is our show for the parents and part of me is excited for the show to be over and part of me is sad.  Ending a show is like ending a good book - you want to know how it ends, but then you miss the characters.

The students have worked very hard and they are doing a great job!  The have learned all their lines, lyrics, notes, and actions in the music room while they painted the backdrop, silkscreened their t-shirts, created a value self portrait, and designed the illustrations for their program in my room.

As they were rehearsing yesterday for the first time ALL together I had goosebumps multiple times and was almost brought to tears.  There is something about the performing arts that is magical.  Putting together a group of people, performing live, having live sound/music, an audience in real time creates something special.  There is a relationship between everyone in that auditorium for the duration of the show -- something that can't be duplicated or even recorded.  It's a feeling, an energy, a connection.   For those 45 minutes nothing else matters - only those kids on stage giving it all they have.



Some of my students may never set foot on a stage after tonight, as all my 4th graders will move onto a new building next year and performances like these become more and more of an extra-curricular.  Those students will always remember this night - the feeling of being under the bright lights, the rush of adrenaline, the sound of applause.  Then some of my students will catch the theatre bug tonight and it will be one of many stages they perform on in their lives.  Actually, one student when he tried out for the show asked for a small, one line part, because he didn't want to be too nervous or stressed.  Today after our dress rehersal he came up to my partner in crime, the music teacher, and told her, "I've learned one thing..... one line is not enough".  He has found the performing arts and will continue.

So, tonight we have our one and only show for families - the music teacher will stand next to me directing them with actions and gestures as I sit hovered over the sound board adjusting levels.  There will be more than families in those seats - there will be love, pride, and I'll say it again -- there will be magic.


::happy sigh::   Have I said before how much I love my job?!

3rd and 4th Grade Musical - We Haz Jazz (silk screening)

The silk screening has begun!!!  The 3rd and 4th graders have started to silk screen their "Jazz" t-shirts for their show!  I could be wrong, but I think they are excited......

3rd and 4th Grade Musical - We Haz Jazz

It is that time of year again where the students and I prepare for another musical!  I really enjoy being apart of their musicals - for a very short time in college I was a theatre/dance major - and even though being an Art major really stole my heart I stayed very involved in technical theatre.  Getting to do what I am really passionate about (teaching art) and then getting to introduce the students to something else I really enjoy, technical theatre,  is truly icing on the cake.

This show is all about the history of Jazz music - how jazz music came to be.  The students have been busy with their Value Self Portraits, along with painting the background, and designing the program covers for their show.

These musicals lend so much room for talking about real life art jobs - being a scenic painter, a graphic designer, advertisement, costume design..... it is a perfect example of real life and the kids get to be each one.  Each of my students are a graphic designer when they design a program cover - they each are a scenic painter when they help paint the backdrop - and they each will get a chance to silk screen their own t-shirt for the show.



We have a lot to get done before April - but I believe we can make it.  I will post again when everything is complete and hung - should be fantastic.

3rd and 4th Grade Musical - A Kid's Life

A Kid's Life was one of the most fun shows to prepare for!  The students and I gathered t-shirts for their costume!  They got to pick the font of "A Kid's Life" for their shirt - I ironed it on and off we went designing their costumes.  The creativity and patients they had to make their shirts the best they could was fantastic - they wore them very proudly during their show.

The show story and songs were a blast for the kids to sing to - but also for their backdrop.  The show was all about how the power goes out and the kids have nothing to do - no computers, tvs, all cell phones are dead - all hand held games are dead - they are in distress.  Grandma and Grandpa come over to watch the kids while Mom and Dad are at work.  The grandparents teach the kids how to play board games, card games, tell ghost stories, make silly instruments to play in a band, make paper air planes, jump rope and so much more.  All these activities made designing the background a lot of fun.

I drew it out, the kids painted it, and I outlined it!  It was beyond amazing!

Students Learned/Reviewed:
- Graphic Design
- Typography
- Backdrop (theatre)
- Problem solving
- Planning Ahead
- Patients
- Teamwork
- Ownership

4th and 5th Grade Musical - Destination America

The 4th and 5th Grade show created a challenge.  Their show was in our districts brand new concert hall - making a background in the traditional sense, impossible.  The students and I worked together to make banners that greeted our audience in the lobby.  The students learned how to use a grid to redraw pictures - going square by square.  It was a great way to enlarge our design and have everyone participate.  The patchwork feeling really connected to the idea of their show, 'Destination America'.  Their show was about taking a trip around America and learning about different musical styles, musical history... etc.







Since the students were performing on stage and not in the lobby we still needed something to connect the audience with their show on stage.  I had gone a tour of the space a few months before their show and was introduced to a very large projection screen.  I knew that was going to be our best chance of having a backdrop.  I scoured the internet for pictures that represented the time period/type of music the students were singing about in their songs and made an imovie to play behind them.  It was a hit - worked great.