Workshops

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

2nd Grade - Landscapes (SLO lesson) on Art Folders


This lesson might look familiar...  This the lesson I taught my 2nd graders BEFORE the SLO test. The difference??? This was a directed drawing, making sure each student drew a house and a tree in the foregound, middleground and background.  Very simple, they could add anything extra they wanted to that would be appropriate for a landscape. 

We first looked closely at several landscapes, but my favorite we used for our main drawing inspiration was this one below by Gabriele Munter. 


I show my students how to draw a house with two sides, more 3-dimensional. How to add on a garage, driveway, roads.  They all want mountains like the painting, so they add those behind their third house.  This is seriously a fantastic lesson... every kid wants to draw something real, but they often times just simple need to be shown how to.  I have parents who are always so shocked at how well their child is drawing after completing this lesson!  I just got another landscape yesterday from a student who drew one at home to bring me.  It reinforces the success of the lesson when they go home to practice it!








Tuesday, April 28, 2015

1st Grade - Art Folders inspired by Rousseau!



This lesson is inspired by Henri Rousseau's painting, Surprised! Storm in the Forest. I love this lesson for many reasons... First, the results are always great.  Second, it is a great directed drawing lesson for first graders.... they all draw the same steps to complete a whole tiger, but they have no assistance, and feel proud and great at the end!  Which results in my favorite reason I love this project... It is a creative confidence boost!  You know they're proud when they work so hard to make it look fabulous!



Pencil first... We draw a tiger based on Ed Emberley.  U-shape head, long nose... then I showed them how to draw the tiger looking like he is crouching, ready to pounce. To do that we draw 2 paws, (large potatoes) at the bottom of the page, Draw the body from paw, all the way around to other paw. Then hind legs on each side, tail... voila!


Draw the green grass and branches hiding the tiger direct with green markers. 
Color in the leaves with crayon. 


Outline and color in the tiger!






I would like to add... I do not think there is anything wrong with a directed drawing lesson for young elementary students.  They have no strategies of how to draw unless they follow steps a few times.  Once they understand how to look at something and break it down into simple shapes...  And realizing there are millions of ways to draw something, they will have the tools and confidence to do it without directions.  I always say, "YES" when a student wants to draw something differently. A project like this, they usually are not changing much, they want it to look similar.  They drew 100% of their tiger by themselves, which for some, was a huge accomplishment! 

Kindergarten - Art Folders!

Eric Carle's, Very Hungry Caterpillar was our inspiration for our art folders this year.  
It is still a favorite of mine and my students.  We all started drawing them the same, 
but they ended up unique in the end! Gotta love kinders!







On the back of the folder I write the word, ART, large in block letters. They are asked to create designs by repeating shapes, lines and colors. I demonstrate how to approach it, but I let them go... what they create is what they create! They always do a good job!




Monday, April 27, 2015

5th Grade - Shoe Drawing SLO Testing is FINISHED TOO!

What a relief, seriously.  I don't know about you, but I let the State SLO testing get to me. I promised this year I would not, (it was my New Years Resolution!), but stress creeps in as I find students are not scoring as well as I hoped.  But... overall, my students left me in a good position. My results are funny... several of my students who did not pass, drew their shoes so well in the Fall, there was not a enough points earned in the Spring to prove growth!  But the stretch was there, just not reached.  I rather have that problem than a bunch that did not grow at all.  There were still a nice handful of students who did not reach an appropriate growth level by truly struggling with seeing the details, or deciding to be lazy. But that is typical!  While I complain about this process... I am learning and growing as a teacher.... Did I just say that out loud??? 

I have to give that credit to The Art of Education.  I took their class last summer, Showing Student Growth in the Art. Wow... I learned a ton! And it calmed me down.  This is year 17 for me... No one taught me about SLOs in college!  It was a huge shift in thinking for me.  Still is... it is going to take me a while to get SLOs established as a common practice.  So here are the results of 5th grade! 

* I edited my photos, I changed the "effect" to "sketch". I found the pencil was very hard to see. This helps see their details, however the shading looks overly sketchy compared to the real ones.  
Just an FYI...


 This is one above is my sample. I drew it as a demonstration.


The drawing above is the Fall Assessment, the drawing below is the Spring Assessment.







 This is the best shoe... The real drawing looks like you could pick up the shoe! 
The sketch pic flattens it a bit.

An IEP student.  Not the most detailed, but great growth!

Saturday, April 25, 2015

2nd Grade - SLO Testing is FINISHED!

I am so relieved that my state SLO testing is done for the year!!! In Ohio we are required to give the same exact test in the fall as in the spring.  For the second graders, we focused on Landscape as a theme and spacial drawing. Basically, in my district, we are having students illustrate their understanding of foreground, middleground and background in a drawing, 
through the use of size placement and overlapping. 

* I edited my photos, turning them into the "sketch" look and changing the contrast. My original photographs were so pale, this seemed to be the best way to show the details.  


 This is MY drawing. I teach this simple drawing lesson. I have taught this lesson the last 17 years! It is a Judy Bowerman special, (my mother, a retired art teacher of 32 years).  Directed drawing, however, students have a lot of room to be creative. To be sure they understand the concept, we start by having everyone draw a house and a tree in the foregound.  Then middleground another house and tree. And again, the background,  another house and tree.  We draw them all getting smaller as we extend our space.  I even show them how to draw a 3D house, they LOVE IT! I encourage adding anything to make their landscapes unique.  Many times, they are so exited to have theirs look like mine, they are similar. But, they start becoming more confident and changing it up. For weeks, after this,  I get landscape drawings delivered to me in the morning. They are so excited to learn this idea of creating a real 3 Dimensional world, they want to practice it over and over. The best part, they change their drawings to make them more and more unique, they add things we never brainstormed in class. You know it is a good lesson when that happens!

The drawings are assessed through a rubric created for this lesson.


 The top drawing is from the Fall SLO, the bottom is from the Spring SLO.





 This student is all left brain... He is gifted. He made as many landlines and distance as possible! Not as much detail as others, but really understands how to create a 3D world now!


 This is a student has fine motor difficulties. I was thrilled with his finished product! While it is not as neat or detailed, this he understands foreground, middleground and background. Not perfectly executed, but he put in an outstanding effort!




This student has Downs Syndrome.  She was given the test with an aid, however, the aid did not draw or assist in drawing. Only encourage the directions. I am so proud of how well she did!!! She did not get the space, but she was very detailed in the first house. trying her best to create it with a 3D look.



Wednesday, April 22, 2015

1st Grade - Fish Collages with Cloud Clay

These first grade collages were tons of fun! Look how silly and cute! I have to give some credit to Laura from Painted Paper, a few years ago she made a quick one day collage with cloud clay fish on the day of her arts festival, and I helped her throw them up on the wall... I couldn't wait to make my own!  This year, I took it a step further, painted a background on chip board and collaged with painted paper. Then colored cloud clay fish with googley eyes!



When this lesson was being taught, I had a wonderful student teacher who started the project with this book about a fish.  It is a book with a good lesson, do not steal! But any book about a fish is a great jumping point!