Final Wrap-Up

ArtsBridge was a really wonderful experience for me. I felt like I grew a lot in this semester and that I was more able to find my teacher voice. My cooperating teacher, Mrs. Scharf, was so helpful and taught me a lot about classroom management. She is kind and patient with her students but she maintains a level of strictness in her class directing that allows students to see when they are misbehaving. We did a lot of fun art lessons as a class, and it was good for me to see how there are always adaptations that need to be made. No two classes were ever the same. My students were the best! I will miss them dearly and will always look fondly back at my first official art class.

On our last day of class, students brought in their favorite art work and we went around the room and looked at different projects students had experimented with. Mrs. Scharf brought out a bowl of pretzels and we had each student talk about something they liked in another's students work. The pretzels were a good incentive for the kids to start a discussion and I was really impressed and touched by the thoughtful comments each student made.

The students were very sweet and each wrote me a thank-you letter. Some students wrote how they looked forward to my visit each week and how I helped them see that they were good at art too. This is the reason I love to teach. I hope that I was a good influence for these kids and that they can have confidence in their abilities. I truly believe that all my students had wonderful potential. Any one of them could continue to pursue art seriously. I went around to each student before I left and handed them an art certificate and told them something personal about their art that I enjoyed. I could tell that some of these kids just needed a little encouragement and I hope my positive attitude helped ignite their creative juices.

I'm really grateful that I was able to have such a wonderful teacher and class this semester. Class wasn't always perfect but as we progressed each week, we really learned and grew together.

March 23-Watercolor Postcards cont.

We finished up painting our watercolor landscapes. 

We hung the finished paintings in the hall. 

Didn't they turn out beautifully?

I am so impressed with how far the students have come.

I hope they continue to work on their art and remember that they can always be artists!

March 13, 2012-Watercolor Landscapes

After a lesson about the watercolor techniques, I brought in postcards of painted landscapes by famous artists like Monet, Van Gogh and Renoir.

Each student chose a postcard to try and recreate. 

I encouraged creativity and told the students to pick a place they would want to visit.

The students were so quiet and diligent as they worked. It was amazing to see how thoughtful and careful they were as they painted.

We talked about using the techniques we learned from the previous lesson and implementing them into the landscape paintings. A lot of students liked using smaller brushstrokes to mimic the impressionist painters.

They looked so great!

March 8, 2012-Watercolor Techniques

We started watercolors this day. 

The night before class I drew a 12-square grid on each student's watercolor paper.

It made things a lot easier for class.

As a class we filled each square with a different technique.

I stood at the board and showed everyone an example and the students followed along.

In the top squares we did a flat wash, wet-on-wet, and graded wash.

Next down we did a glaze, mingled wash, and calligraphic line.

Third down we did alcohol [this was everybody's favorite!],

white crayon resist, and salt [another cool one].

The bottom row we did dry brush, splatter,

and then the students had the chance to make up their own technique.

I think watercolor is everybody's favorite thing we've done so far.

A lot of students have their own sets at home and they love practicing these techniques.

Feb 17-Alphabet Photography

Class was so fun on Friday!
Photography is one of my favorite art mediums so I was really excited to teach the kids some tricks.
We sent out a permission slip to the parents asking the students to bring in their own digital cameras.
Almost all the kids brought in a camera but for those who didn't have one, we had a class set of 6 for those students to share.

I showed a short powerpoint about the basics of photography, focusing on some helpful tips.
We learned about the Rule of Thirds, finding unique angles, and checking our backgrounds when we shoot.

The assignment for the day was to find the letters in our name in the school.
We spit into four groups (thanks to the help of Parent Volunteers!) and wandered around, trying to find letters through out the building, inside the classroom, and out on the playground.

It was a fun little scavenger hunt! I think it was a good exercise to help the kids look more closely at the world around them, and to find art in the everyday.

Here's how I found my name, Emily:

We are going to use our name letters for the cover of the Poetry Book!

Feb 10-Self-Portrait Collage

After brain-storming ideas for self-portraits, Mrs. Scharf had the students write an "About Me" to include in a poetry book they are making. All the students typed their bio up and some even tried out cool fonts. 

I showed the students a powerpoint about collages and explained that it's important not to clutter the space, but to also not leave too many blank spots. 

I showed them local examples from the Springville Museum of Art.

This is a painting, but it shows a good example of how to represent yourself in collage.

Channel Three, Edie Roberson

Here are some more examples of collage:

After showing them some examples, we got to work.

Each student went through magazines and cut out images that represented them in some way. 

After laying out the design they wanted, they got the OK to finish gluing.

Some kids chose really fun and creative images.

We'll be doing some more art projects to put in their poetry books and I can't wait to see how they turn out!

Jan 31-A Visit From Frida

I came in dressed up like Frida Kahlo!

The kids though my unibrow was very funny. I showed a powerpoint about Frida's life and her artwork.

 

We talked about how Frida really loved painting self-portraits.

" I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best."

We then transitioned into how Frida used a lot of animals her portraits and how animals can make art too. I used this quiz made by one of my profesor's to see if the kid's could tell if the art was made by an animal or a human. 

Then we watched this video about a REAL elephant painting.

The kids loved it! We had a great discussion about animal art aesthetics. Most of the kids would rather buy a painting from an elephant and they said they would definitely visit an exhibit of art made by animals. I thought that was so interesting.

I finished the lesson by asking my students to brainstorm ideas of what they would include in a self-portrait of themselves that didn't have a picture of them. 

I wanted them to think of things that represented them like sports, books, TV, food, etc.

It was a really fun art day! I'm excited to continue in our theme of portraits. 

January 27-Color and Finish Caricature

I came in and showed a powerpoint to the students to give them a few more ideas about caricatures.

Last time, some students were a little wary about drawing cartoons after trying to realistically render portraits of the presidents. They would rather have a realistic portrait than a cartoon drawing.

I showed them these examples and then I think they got a better understanding.

I emphasized how it's important to exaggerate only a few features so that the President they are drawing is still recognizable. I had them each form their hands like little circles and told them to pretend it was a magnifying glass. They should try to magnify different parts of the face!

 

Here are some examples from the kids:

This student was really pleased with how his turned out. I can tell art is one of his favorite subjects.

I loved seeing everyone working hard on their own portraits. 

I gave the students a hand out with cartoon features. This boy, really used the sheet well. His cartoon eyes look awesome!

Look how great the portraits look in the hallway! I was SO happy and impressed.

The teacher I work with even went into the other 5th grade classes to show them what I had taught the kids. The hall was lined with 5th grade President Caricatures. 

It made me so glad to be an art teacher!

Day 2: Caricature Presidents

On Friday, I taught the kids how to make caricature faces.

We started the lesson doing a blind-contour exercise.

Then we moved on to realistic faces.

I emphasized how each student's chosen President has a different face shape.

No two people look alike!

We practiced drawing a realistically rendering of their President.

Some students really impressed me with their drawings.

They were working so hard to show the unique features of their President.

I could tell that some kids really loved to draw. 

When we moved on to caricatures, I showed the students some ways to exaggerate the features of their President. Surprisingly, the cartoon version was a lot harder for the kids to draw than the realisic drawing.

I think some kids struggled to find the balance between real and silly.

This coming Friday I think we will continue to work on these faces and practice some more.

I am so impressed with my fifth graders!

They are awesome!

Check this out! A few weeks ago they wrote poems and drew pictures of Starry Night.

They did a beautiful job!

I loved walking down the hallway and seeing such amazing art!