I Think I Can

Those of you who have visited my room have most likely been victim to my pleads for kindergarten ideas. Yes, it's true, kindergarten is my littlest big challenge (a challenge from a biggest little city teacher ;) The list below is what we have completed thus far; some successful, some funny, and some left a lot of broken pencils.

1) Drawing Different Lines
2) Drawing a Self-portrait
2) Making Color Wheels
3) Making a Train in a scene

For many kindergartners, this is the first formal art class they have ever attended; for others, the first school environment they'll ever participated in which means there is a lot to learn regarding art materials and expectations. I learned this the hard way--but I'm a quick learner and adapted at warp speed--almost as fast as them.  I learned they LOVE to move more than to draw the lines like I initially suggested. Lines on paper = not so successful. Making lines with our bodies = SUCCESS! Ask your kindergartner to show you a zig zag line, a curvy line, a straight line, a dotted line (dotted lines like to bounce), and a wavy line with his/her body. Now, ask them to recreate on paper. This is the proper order. I did it backwards.

Self portraits turned into a discussion of the shapes on our faces. Have your little one trace the shapes of your face using an invisible pencil and then recite the shape names they are discovering. They LOVED this. On paper, their drawings were much more "abstract" and unidentifiable as people. However, this is an important part of art and the world. They learn so many daily life skills in an art class. They are learning to observe their world and apply those shapes and colors into their art, their writing, etc. They are learning to  respect the art materials and their art studio. They are learning how to share supplies and choosing which material will work best for what they are trying to accomplish. They are learning to be imaginative and creative within some guidelines. Most importantly, they are refining their motor skills. It's hard to color within the lines when one cannot maneuver a pencil well.

Harold and the Purple Crayon

I learned they LOVE to be read to. We have enjoyed the story of a wonderfully creative little baby named, Harold, who adventures into the world by drawing the plot along. They, too, wanted to be creative like Harold and really started pulling out the artist in them by week 3 with their color wheels.

They learned there are three primary colors: red, blue, and yellow. They learned you can make the secondary colors by mixing them and that colors have opposites! Some children advanced their learning by labeling their wheels with the color names.  {english and science connection }

Now, we're really warming up.  Last week, we read, I Knew You Could by Craig Dorfman. It's a take on The Little Engine That Could.  We connected it to art by stressing that you must "Think You Can" in order to draw well. The students listened to the story and took special note of the backgrounds through which the train was traveling. They created their own trains out of construction paper squares and rectangles, practiced their cutting, and glued them onto a piece of paper. They drew their favorite scenes for their trains to run through. We had cities and deserts, big trains, small trains, steam trains.  I hope their art work is making it home--please ask your child to discuss his/her artwork with you. Here are a few that I managed to photograph in class before they ran off to the next great adventure.

I think I can...I think I can... I think I can...and we did!
SUCCESS :)

First Art Project

To kick start the new school year, we focused on a school-wide art project inspired by smART class that would include every student at Coral Academy of Science Elementary School.

The rainbow palette was used to celebrate the many cultures at our school and each child's self-portrait depicts his/her unique role within this one "rainbow".

The classroom was organized with each table as a color on the rainbow and those seated at that table could only use one color to create their self-portraits (monochomatic and exploring value--"How do I color my skin if I only have blue colors?"). The 4th grade was further challenged with adding one analogous ( a "neighbor" on the color wheel) color to their portraits.

For this assignment, I gave very little instruction on how to draw as I wanted to assess the students technique and current abilities. However, I did give them parameters to work within:

1) Self-portrait of head/bust only (one class included bodies for variety)

2) No white space allowed in the foreground or the background

3) Use all three media (artistic tools) in the basket: crayons, markers, and colored pencils.

4) Use the pencil correctly, using very light layout lines and avoiding the use of an eraser.

Art and Literacy

Those who completed their projects early were encouraged to read the selection of art books in the room. A couple of favorites so far were:

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

Looking at Paintings: Self Portraits by Peggy Roalf

I am Marc Chagall by Bimba Landmann

Be sure to come into the school at the end of next week to see the amazing mural on exhibit on the office gallery wall.

Art and Spatial Reasoning

Observation is key in a fine art curriculum. Consider this particular assignment. Are the eyes on the forehead or has the student observed they lay farther down on the face? Are the eyes spaced too close together? How is the mouth really shaped instead of a simple arch? As the students become better observers of their world, they will  become better artists, readers, scientists, mathematicians, and skilled problem solvers in general.  

Art and Fine Motor Skills

Art is one of the best activities for improving fine motor skills and manual dexterity. Improved motor skills equals improved handwriting (communication) and overall feeling of accomplishment. Many of the activities will focus on improving their motor skills with the art tools and following step-by-step instructions.

Art Fun at Home for Primary Students + Kindergarten

• Tracing or dot-to-dot
• Choose pictures with small areas to color.
• Use different sized crayons, colored pencils or even fine-tip markers to color neatly in the lines.
• Play-doh sculptures
• Beading jewelry 

Kindergarten Focus:
This week kindergarten focused on creating faces using shapes: ovals, circles, triangles, etc. They learned what a background was in a picture.