Gearing up for the Fall Festival

As an art teacher, I have to share how thrilled I get when you visit the art studio and share stories of how your child is inspired to create and is exploring art outside the class room. One parent even shared how her son referenced Van Gogh when he feared he would get his ear ticked during a hair cut.  Yes, this makes me extrememly giddy. Another brought her Dad in as he was "wearing" her own art. He had her sun drawing tattooed on his arm. ART IS EVERYWHERE, in mathematics, english, science, life skills, and in this case, representing the love, dedication, and committment to one's children. I think Jadera's smile says it all :)

Jadera and her Daddy, Robert, of Undead Ink Tattoos and Piercing in Sparks

How we have seen the school-home art connection in class. Students have been encouraged to share the work they are creating at home in front of the class. Public speaking is a difficult task for many adults so why not start at an early age to build their confidence to share their ideas and thoughts with others in a public forum? I offer extra credit for this and beyond the class points, the pride they clearly feel is worth millions of life points. My own daughter loves art but is very shy to share publicly. She is working her way up to feeling "ready". Encourage your little ones to try. I will always stand up with them or they may have a friend come to the front of the class to help calm those nerves. Once they do it, they'll realize it wasn't that scary afterall.

Fall is here and the autumn art projects have begun!
We've been working hard on many art projects as we gear up for the Harvest Festival. I don't want to give too much away as I know you would rather see the childrens' fabulous creations in person when you visit, but here are a few enticing peaks...plus I get to try out the new Panoramic option on the iphone camera!
The "Hall of Bulls" made by 2nd and 3rd grade Paleolithic Cave Artists

The Colorful Culture Mural

Titled by Evan King, Writings by the 3rd and 4th grade, Dimensions guessed by Sonja Boettcher and Ruby Snyder

Visit SmART blog, the blog that inspired the mural,  or our First Art Blog for detailed lesson plans.

This is the very beginnings of our architectural art lesson. The spatial learners rocked this lesson and became wondeful teachers themselves as they assisted the others who were struggling with this..maybe, just maybe, they helped me too ;) They will be adding the architecural features and landscape design over the next week. The houses will be on display during the Harvest Festival.

The Kinders are learning about Nevada rock art and will be creating a piece of varied lines and shapes that celebrates Nevada's ancient artistic roots.

SEMI-FINALISTS for the ART SHOW

Additionally, the K-4th Culture drawings have been completed and the first round of the selection process has been completed. Congratulations to the following students for creating intriguing art pieces that stood out and told a story. The next selection process will be completed by a panel of professional artists and will be hung for display in The Mixed Blessings Art Symposium at TMCC. Good luck semi-finalists!

KINDERGARTEN

Amadeus M

Sterling J

Grace O

India R P

Emma V

Sahara D

Keagan M

Andrea 

Portia A-C

Sehaj T

Baljeet J

FIRST GRADE

Joshaya S

Jed L

James P

Sage V

Taryn K

Dominique C-T

Austyn J

Eric O-G

Amaya G

SECOND GRADEAustin Reif

Mehul P

Kayla S

Ava G

Lisa K

Meleyna V

Andrew A

Sofia B

Tyler F

Jackson F

Nate Y

Bansari P

Jaxon G

Sydney 

Bella P

Maya S

Olivia J

Ruby S

William M

Audre M

Madison H

Kaston B

Ginger S

THIRD GRADE

Allen C

Giovanni S

Annika W

Kailey F

Mitchell B

Ana S

Sophie D

Linda K

Shae J

Yasmin T

Kenny H

Kari S

Genevieve D

Ankush J

Dominic S

Katie A

Willow V

Daniel R-S

Julia K

Monica S

FOURTH GRADE

Emre D

Angelina B

Reyna C

Mary P

Jammie V

Mackenzie C

Micaiah M

Guiseppe C

Soha R

Tyler H

Leigh S

Ethan S

Sean S

Juliana T

Samantha H

Reese W

Connor A

Mckayla F

Megan M

Gavin V

Grace Y

HARVEST FESTIVAL

Finally, I will be hosting an arts and crafts booth at the Harvest Festival. To continue our culture theme, I chose to highlight Dia de las Muertos ( Day of the Dead) by making plaster skulls for the children to paint. Magnet strips can be purchased at any craft store and added to the back for fabulous magnets to hold all that artwork on the fridge! We will also be making decorative goody bags to hold all the kids' winnings from the evening's games.  If anyone is interested in helping me out with my booth, half hour here or there, it would be greatly appreciated and a lot of fun. Leave a comment below or email me at skye@skyesnyder.com.