2nd Grade Contour Line Drawings

How can we use line to capture the basic details of an object?

Mrs. LaVangie's second grade class is exploring contour lines, or the outline of an object. They watched a fun video from art teacher Tricia Fugelstad to truly discover what a contour line is.

2nd grade artists then learned that practice makes perfect. They experimented with drawing many different objects in the art room; scissors, glue bottles, ink brayers, paint brushes, and more. I was so impressed with how they were able to capture the objects with simple lines. Take a look! 

December Mystery Artist and Why Children Should Participate!

I am so excited to announce that there were 57 guesses for the November Mystery Artist, Eric Carle. This is by far the most we've had to date.

Enter a guess for December, you might need to do a little research to get this one!

December Mystery Artist Facts: 

I was born in 1894, in New York.

I was an American Painter and Illustrator.

I lived in Stockbridge, MA where I have a museum named after me.

My artwork appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post for almost 5 decades!

I’m most known for these magazine covers that showed everyday American life. 

 * Why should our students participate in the Mystery Artist? *

Researching art from the past and the artists who create it gives a snapshot into what life was like. Art history provides a history lesson in a unique way.  So many of our students are visual learners. What better way to learn about history than to view works of art. This article from the Metropolitan Museum of Art talks about the importance of this! Click on the icon below to read the article.

 Going to a museum offers a an opportunity to view these mini history lessons.  If you can't get there then the Mystery Artist could be the next best thing!  

Massachusetts Visual Arts Frameworks PreK–12 STANDARD 10: Interdisciplinary Connections Students will use knowledge of the arts and cultural resources in the study of the arts, English language arts, foreign languages, health, history and social science, mathematics, and science and technology/engineering.

November Mystery Artist

We just announced October's Mystery Artist: Faith Ringgold.  We had many correct guesses.  I'd love to see more for November.  I'm hoping that this month's artist will trigger many happy memories! Take a chance! Make a guess!

November Mystery Artist Facts:

I am a picture book author and illustrator, and have won many awards.

I use collage techniques with hand painted papers.

My book themes demonstrate my love and knowledge of nature.

I was a long time resident of Massachusetts and I even have a museum named after me.

An Art Teacher's Halloween

I'm always on a quest to find a relevant simple school costume. Last year we were paint brushes. When we saw these glue bottles on Pinterest we couldn't resist! We also made one to welcome Ms. Smullin, who will be covering for Mrs. Wichell, into the art room.

Howe Manning Celebrates Montani Day!

It was a bitter sweet day at Howe Manning as we bid farewell and happy retirement to our beloved P.E. teacher of 37 years! Everyone dressed in their favorite sports attire to celebrate the day and applauded Mrs. Montani each time they saw her in the halls. 

At the end of the day the entire school came out into the halls for one final goodbye to Mrs. Montani. Students applauded, gave high fives, and cheered and cheered.  There has even been a request from students to hold a yearly Montani Day every Oct. 29. You can clearly see how loved she is by both students and faculty!

Happy retirement Mrs. Montani - 

you will be missed more than you can know! 

Kindergarten Monster Madness

Kindergarten artists have been constructing monsters over the past 3 weeks in art class. We started out by reading a few great books for monster inspiration and to advise on the hazards of glue! Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberly and Too Much Glue by Jason Lefebvre

  

K's created symmetrical heads using an "smoosh and spread" technique with paint inside a folded paper. Students then tore and cut scraps of paper to finish their monsters with faces and accessories. The finished products are great. I love the individuality of each monster!

Centers are Open in the Art Room!

5th grade artists are diving into their first choice-based art lesson.  This is proving to truly be an important process for my students. These artists are gaining essential planning, goal setting, and project management skills. They are guiding their own learning.  Click on this link to see a wonderful article on the benefits or student centered learning in the art room.

If you visit the Howe Manning Art Studio you will see our first open centers; drawing, painting, and collage.  Student artists are challenged to explore all the possibilities each center has to offer.  I have been enjoying seeing all the creative ideas that students are developing.  

I can't wait to see their finished projects!

2nd Grade Windy Trees

How can we use colors and textures to create mood in art. 

Mrs. LaVangi's 2nd grade artists have been exploring abstraction and value in their artwork. They created abstract backgrounds using brush strokes, watercolor wash, and primary colors to create secondary colors. Artists used these techniques to create the feel of a windy day. Next they learned how to use highlights and shadows to make their trees have form.  Finally they are having a blast using collage to finish their perfect fall trees.  Take a look!

What do you think of their fall artwork? Did they capture the look and feel of a windy day?

PreK–12 STANDARD 2.1 Elements and Principles of Design: Identify primary and secondary colors and gradations of black, white and gray in the environment and artwork. Explore how color can convey mood and emotion For example, students mix light and dark values of colors or predict the results of overlapping and blending primary colors. 

TAB: Teaching for Artistic Behavior

This year we are bringing Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) into the Middleton art rooms.  This choice based approach to teaching art helps students to gain learning experiences where they can feel like real artists and guide their own learning. Our goal is to bring more choice into the art room and create more excitement for learning.

5th graders are getting their first sense of choice based learning through pumpkin observational drawing.  5th grade artists had to make decisions about what materials they were going to use to carry out this project.  Look at all the possibilities they are exploring! 

 

How many different materials do you see students using?

Mass Visual Art Framework 3.4: Create 2D and 3D representational artwork from direct observation in order to develop skills of perception, discrimination, physical coordination, and memory of detail.

October Mystery Artist is Here!

Our first month of the Mystery Artist is coming to an end.  We had many students submit guesses this past month, and hope to have even more next month. A lucky 3rd grade student had the correct guess!  September's Mystery Artist was Katsushika Hokusai.  Follow this link to learn more about his intricate wood block prints. 

The Great Wave off Kanagawa

                                   

October Mystery Artist

I was born in Harlem, NY in 1930.

I am an artist and an author.

I am most famous for my painted quilts used to tell stories.

My artwork has many important political and social themes such as civil rights.

All guesses need to be submitted by the end of the month!

Fuller Meadow Kindergartners Celebrate International Dot Day!

Fuller Meadow kindergartners made their mark.  Mrs. Murphy and Mrs. Halligans K's started off their first art class reading the The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. International Dot Day is celebrated each year all over the world on September 15th -ish Each student had the opportunity to show off their creativity and design their very own dot.  I can't wait to see how much these budding artists will grow this year!

What do you think of the beautiful gardens they created?

                             

                             

                                             

Howe Manning Artists think about the meaning of art!

Art means so many things to so many people! I saw this idea first on the Penn Wood Art Room blog, and it got me thing. I wanted to start the year off giving students a chance to think about what art means to them.   They were tasked to describe art to someone who had no idea what it meant. It could be something they do, a way it makes you feel, or a way of expressing yourself. Their answers were exactly what I was hoping for; meaningful, creative, funny, touching and so much more.  Please stop by our art room to see what your budding artists had to say!

 

September Mystery Artist

September Mystery Artist Facts:

I am Japanese.

I lived from 1760 - 1849. 

I am a painter and printmaker.

My work is mostly landscapes.

One of my most famous works is 46 views of the same scene, Mt. Fuji.

I inspired the Impressionist movement.

Research and discuss with family and friends and submit your guess by the end of September!

Welcome Back!

  

Welcome back to Ms. Nasser's art room, I hope you had a wonderful summer! 

Great things are in store for this year and a few changes.  This year I will be teaching Kindergarten again, I'm excited to help foster some young budding artists.  I'll be at Howe Manning teaching 4th and 5th grade as well.  Our curriculum will cover the elements of art, a wide range of media, and of course the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks.  The art curriculum spirals from year to year to ensure that children are building on their skills from year to year.   Middleton artists will be drawing, painting, sculpting, collaging, and much more....get ready for a Creative Year!

Summer Art Reading!!

Summer is the time I catch up on my reading.  I try to cram as many books in as possible. I have been thinking about all of my favorite art books from when I was young.  I just ordered one of my favorites The Big Orange Splot for my classroom library as well as my son's.  Here's a list of some great children's art books (both new and old).  I'll try to update throughout the year as I discover (and rediscover) more.

 Happy Reading!!

Beautiful Opps

The Dot

Ish

You Can't Take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Linnea in Monet's Garden

Harold and the Purple Crayon

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

The Big Orange Splot

The Day the Crayons Quit

6th Grade Puppet Pal Myths

This project was the result of a great collaboration between Mrs. McCarthy's ELA class and the art room! Students used their Javanese Shadow Puppets created earlier in the year to illustrate one of their final writing lessons: myths.  We hit a few glitches as they learned to use the Puppet Pals iPad app, but their final products were so creative!  I'll post a few pictures of the process soon!
Click the video links below to view the Puppet Pal Creations.

Bubbles Bubbles Everywhere!!

I recently saw this lesson on a few blogs ( The Lost Sock and Smart Class). It seemed like such a fun activity to try. 4th grades spent last week creating individual bubble art. This week they joined their art with their tablemates and then joined up with an addition table. The groups worked so well together!!

Getting Ready for Next Weeks Art Show!

We had a small but dedicated group of 6th graders helping prep work for next weeks show!