Art and books go together like hot cocoa and marshmallows.

Fuller Meadow Kindergarteners have been making up our lack of snow lately with two winter themed projects. Each lesson started with a book and a song for inspiration.

I loved reading Lucky Pennies and Hot Chocolate to my classes, especially when we got to the end! 

This song is from scholastic.com. It went so well with this lesson.

K's created hot chocolate mugs using a resist technique with 

construction paper crayons and watercolor paints. Students even added "marshmallows" to their art to make it authentic!

For their second lesson, they used Jan Brett's The Mitten to inspire their own winter mitten, complete with a favorite winter animal peeping out.
We used the story and this song developed by Nancy Vandenberge to open the lesson.

Next we discussed how each animal can be drawn using different shapes.  The students loved making animals and tucking them in their mittens.

The finished projects were adorable!

What do you think of their winter themed artwork?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.2: With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details

Gnome Homes!

How can a simple form become the base for a unique sculptural work.

4th Grade artists are busy at work hand building whimsical clay gnome homes.  Students learned to use a basic pinch pot form as a starting point for both the roof and base of their clay sculptures.  Students also experimented with different textures to add designs and realistic details to their works.

Mrs. Magrath's 4th graders turning pinch pots into creative roofs.

The next step was to use the same pinch pot technique to create the bottoms of the homes. Students carved in details like doors and windows. They also learned how to attach pieces of their clay using the slip and score method. Students attached door knobs, curtains, benches, and even tiny pairs of gnome shoes waiting outside the door. I loved seeing all of their creative ideas!

Finally they added color.  Fourth graders choose 3 contrasting colors for their tops 

and used the reverse color pallet for the bottoms.  

The finished projects were adorable and the students were so excited about them!

February Mystery Artist

Thank you to all the students that did research and learned about the January Mystery Artist and designer of the Vietnam Memorial, Maya Lin.  

(The winning guess will be announced tomorrow morning)

Didn't submit a guess?

Don't worry, you can participate in the February Mystery Artist.  

Be sure to submit your guess by the end of the month.

February Mystery Artist Facts:

I was an African American painter.

I lived from 1917 to 2000.

My art showed stories of African American life.

                                                                          

One of my most famous works was called the Migration Series, which consisted of 60 paintings!

Art Teachers Make Art Too!

This past Monday we gathered together as a Tri-Town for a professional development day.  I'm sure that many people have questions about what happens on such a day.

Well, what doesn't happen!

We discussed assessment measures and shared techniques for measurable goals.  We reviewed our report card standards to ensure that there is consistency across the towns.  We discussed the latest trends in art education.

And....We made art!!

Take a look at the Tri-Town art teachers exploring and creating. 

Middleton's Mrs. Smullin exploring her own version of a tunnel book. 

 It has been so wonderful to have such an experienced teacher filling in for Mrs. Winchell

Boxford's Ms. Dalton testing and trying out watercolor techniques and brushes.

Topsfield's Mrs. Lang working in mixed media.

And here's what I did...

I learned a new printmaking technique from Mrs. Lang. Its a monoprint process (makes just 1 image) that allows you to use pencil and pressure to transfer your image or drawing to your paper.

This is my finished piece - I love working with maps in my art!

I loved this technique and I can't wait to bring it to my classes at Howe Manning.

What a great day!

Gong Hey Fat Choy!

We're celebrating Chinese New Year in Kindergarten Art! 

Kindergarten artists are learning about the upcoming Chinese New Year.  Students compared and contrasted Chinese New Year to how we celebrate the New Year in our culture.  This year is the year of the monkey.  Most students also discovered that they born in the year of the Tiger...Roar!  Click on the monkey image to learn more about the Chinese zodiac signs.

Kindergartners are spreading good fortune and luck with festive coin trees.  They traced hands and then crumbled paper to add bark texture.  Hands were then painted to create trunks of gold and fortune.  

During week 2 students cut and glued their hand branches.  

Printmaking techniques (stamping different round shapes) were then used to add coins of all sizes.  

Have a prosperous and good year!

Contour Lines in Complementary Colors!

How can we use planning or drafts in art to influence our final work?

Second grade artists are building on their contour line skills to create bicycle drawings from observations.  

In the process, they discovered it all starts with a plan! 

Their challenge was to zoom in on a section of the bicycle and draw that using contour lines.  View finders were a huge help for this task.  

These budding artists honed in on their observation skills - it was so fun to watch!

Students also learned to use planning sheets as a tool to brainstorm their ideas and practice sketching first.  

These thumbnail sketches then were developed into their final drawings.  

Its visual brainstorming at its best! 

Finally, these 2nd graders had a lesson in complementary colors as they had to choose 1 pair to use for their final artwork.  It was tricky creating different values of their two colors to make sure their paintings had interest. I think they did great!

What do you think of their final work?

January Mystery Artist

Happy New Year Everyone!

The January Mystery Artist is up and ready to go.   Make sure to do your research and enter your guess:

I am a Chinese American Sculpture and Landscape Artist. 
At 21 years old, I designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Landscape is the main inspiration for my work. 
I design my art with the goal to “make people aware of their surroundings”.