Sixth Grade Photography!

Sixth Grade recently completed a photography unit! They learned Kodak's top 10 tips for better photography and ran around the school with a quick scavenger hunt that stretched their creative thinking skills. They now understand how to compose a better photograph! We had lots of fun! They then were introduced to Picasa, which is a free photo editing software through Google. I have the best job in the world - I get to share my love of photography with eager learners, and my enthusiasm combined with their enthusiasm was amazing! Here are some amazing photos by some star 6th graders - I am proud of their artistic risks.

Third Grade Eric Carle Project

Of all the authors out there for kids, I think Eric Carle is one of the best. His creative mind, simple rhythm of words just for kids, and especially his montage artwork that is so colorful and full of texture. Lovely.

We started by drawing an animal in a simple form - no background, no little details, and as simple of an outline as possible. It is tough for some students to draw an animal big enough to fill the paper. Then we looked at Eric Carle's website and his video of how he makes his colorful paper for his animals! I had decided ahead of time that we would be using tempera paint and heavier paper instead of Carle's acrylics and tissue. We looked at what colors the animals could be (real color or imaginary color? I let them decide) and they had fun with mixing colors and making great texture on their paint with rollers, stamps, and the other end of the paintbrush. We will definitely need a few more days to play with color and texture - this is very fun! After we paint we will start cutting and gluing our almost-handmade paper to make our animals come alive. By the way, the kids look unhappy and serious here - trust me, we were having fun! They were happy and intent on creating and when they saw me with the camera, they all clammed up!

Kindergarten Skyscraper Sculpture Project

Kindergarten came into the classroom wondering "What are we doing today?" (A favorite thing for every class to say as they come into the room!) We talked about "What is a sculpture?" and after some thought, they decided as a group that a sculpture is art that has sides and goes up...pretty good for 5K! We also discussed what a skyscraper is, and that they were going to make skyscrapers for ants! Exciting stuff!

We started by digging through some boxes of wood scraps (thanks to a generous parent) and figuring out which pieces would stack well and which ones would not. Some pieces of wood were so cool they used them in other ways, like skateboard ramps, bridges, windows, slides, underground tunnels, and other fun things that every architect should include in a skyscraper.

Right now, we are building and the skyscrapers are gaining height. Problem solving is a big lesson in this project, as students figure out what works and what doesn't. They are thinking about what an ant's-eye-view would be of their skyscraper city. Plenty of sharing of ideas (and wood chunks) is happening too. I will keep you posted as we add paint, glitter, and other important things to make our sculptures fabulous!

Welcome to the Erin School Art Gallery!

In this space, you will find details about what is happening in the art room, as well as photos of projects in progress, artists at work, things to see, and of course artwork. There is always something exciting going on. Stay tuned and watch the artwork grow!