Classroom Hacks- Thank You Pinterest!

Floral foam at Dollar Tree Makes GREAT Drawing Tool Holders!

Spring break is here which gives me time to assemble some art room ideas I have found on Pinterest for the 2015-16 school year. Pinterest has totally revolutionized all aspects of art room planning and I can't imagine doing this without Pinterest! LOVE! Oh, I also love duck tape, but that's another post for another time!

Just jazz it up with a little duck tape!

Recycled probiotic boxes are the perfect size for project rubrics. Kids always seem to have a hard time finding these...

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Big cereal boxes wrapped with some duck tape will be the perfect size for storing grade level documents.

A visit to the the Thrift Store is worth  50 cents spent to develop a paint brush drying system.

The Dollar Tree has great baskets that when turned upside down will support drying larger-sized paint brushes!

There are some really sweet colored baskets this time of the year!

Monochromatic portraits

I am always amazed at the level of focus and engagement when it comes to this monochromatic portrait project.  I'm not sure if it is the excitement of blending paint to create tints and shades or not wanting to mess up their individual portrait, but this project continues to be a favorite across the board year after year.

The negative space around the portrait will be painted the complementary color of the face.  The final product is a stunning piece of art that leaves viewers oohing, aahing and asking "how did they make that?"  Music to an Art teacher's ears!

Experimenting with Stop Motion Animation

Ever since the AOE Conference I have been inspired to add stop motion animation to the Expressions Curriculum.  Since then I have read many blog posts about ways to incorporate, set up and run this type of project in the art-room. Just this weekend we visited the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley where there was a stop-motion animation lab and my 6-year old son was able to sit down and figure out how to do it within 15 minutes. After he was hooked my 9-year old daughter sat down and really got into it too. both kiddos were so instantly successful I realized I needed to stop thinking about it and JUST DO IT! So, I went ahead and downloaded Stop Motion Studio as a starting point.

Since my daughter and I are home together this week for spring break we decided she would be the stop-motion "experimenter". So I had her read Ms. Novak's Stop-Motion Blog Post first before she decided on what mediums she would use for her first video.  Once she read through the blog post she played around with the app for about 15 minutes creating a simple video in which she gleaned what she needed to know to make her project  plan. The mediums she decided on included a white board and modeling clay. I set up the i-pad on the stand and about two-hours later, with a lot of giggles and cartwheels in between, Te'a produced this video.

Here is what I loved about her first experience:

• She figured out how to use the app on her own, the only thing she needed help with was changing the settings to allow for audio if she wanted it- SUPER USER FRIENDLY!
•  She was totally in control of the entire process creating and revising the itty bitty frames on her own. She did not allow me to watch until she was done!
• VERY engaging. She only took a couple cartwheels breaks. :)
• PRIDE! She was so proud of her video she waited until her Dad and brother came home for a big family "Reveal".
• She wants to experiment creating Stop-Motion animation on her Kindle and Chrome-book. 
• YOU GO GIRL!!!

Fairy Tale Masks

This was the perfect activity to fill a block period and channel nervous performance energy into mask making! The kids really liked the variety of media available to them and did a great job using the principle of balance with mixed media. Here are some pics of 4th period!

Social Issues Collage

7th Grade Upcycle Unit started off on a serious note as students dove deep thinking critically about social issues and their interconnectedness to them. After analyzing the levels of impact of social issues and group discussion, students selected a social issue that was important to them to create a collage. The collage is framed with words that relate to the issue in some way. The symbol in the center of the frame is also made up of small magazine clippings. The final piece was using the App SonicPics to reflect on their choice of Social Issue by explaining what the issue is and justifying the word and symbol choice.
Links to this lesson:
PPT
Romare Bearden Design Element Analysis
Exit ticket
Social Issues Collage Discussion Worksheets
Collage Planning Doc
Rubric

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Fairy Tale Character Masks

So glad to be bring back another mask project this year! This one is themed around Fairy Tale Characters that the students are casted as for their upcoming Fairy Tale performances. Kids will start by analyzing key character elements and sketching their mask design onto a mask template. They will build upon a plastic masquerade mask using paper plates for structure and forming newspaper for dimension. Once paper mached,  they will design their mask using a variety of mixed media. Here is my Granny Example. Will post kids mask next week!

Vocal Workshop

Orlando Cano, a senior at PFAA, is hosting a vocal workshop with the 8th grade class as his Senior Project. This comes at a great time because the kids gave just returned from Ashland where they saw the hit musical performance of Guys and Dolls that really inspired them. In addition to their recent musical experience, the students are in the midst of rewriting modernized Fairy Tale scripts that they will perform next week. The Fairy Tales have a required vocal/musical element, so the students are very receptive to learning about the basic elements of singing. Orlando will finish up his workshop this Thursday! Can't wait to see how kids add music to their performances.

Food Network's Chopped comes to the Art Room!

This week our 8th Grade class is on an out of town field trip and a only small number of students didn't go.  The question of what to do with the "stay behinds" comes up year after year.  As a teacher, I want them to feel special and be involved in a fun and engaging lesson to offset the potential feeling of missing out on the field trip.  

This year, we're going Food Network style!  Today in Expressions, I am challenging the stay behind group to a Chopped show down!  For all of you chopped fans out there, each chef is presented with a few random food items and access to the fridge and pantry.  They must each create a dish that incorporates all the mystery items in their box.  Once time is up and their dish is done, they go to the chopping block to be judged.  

Today, each Artist, not Chef, will enter the Studio, not Kitchen and be challenged to create an original work of art with five random supplies, a limited back counter of materials (the pantry) and iPads for inspiration.  Can't wait to unveil this and see what they create.  The winning prize is a bag of M&M's so I know they will give it their all!  

Renaissance Dance

This week I taught Renaissance Dance to the 7th grade class. Students will have an opportunity to perform at the upcoming Renaissance Faire on March 19th. Here is a sneak peek of the dance!

Teaching Tool: Theater Games

Sometimes teaching can be challenging. There are times when we feel doubtful whether or not we can meet our teaching goals because we doubt our skill or ability to motivate and inspire students to take on the challenges we present to them. In times like these, Theater Games are my go-to teaching tool.

Just this week I presented the 7th grade class the Art of Renaissance Dance. The dance I teach is a simple line dance but with some formalities like curtsies and bows, jester hops and turns, and the classic "Holy-Palmer's- Kiss" (palm-to palm). When the dance was first presented about 50% of the students were amenable, but getting the other 50% to engage was the challenge.

Just so happens, I LOVE a challenge and when considering the faces and body language I could potentially face daily during "dance week" I knew something had to be done! So I pulled out some Theater Games from my bag of tricks as a way to warm-up and motivate the students and it did wonders to win these guys over!

Theater Games are not limited to the performing arts. Theater games can be used as team building activities in any subject area because they are simple, cost nothing and reach all learning styles. If you try them, you will be amazed at the outcomes! New leaders will crop up out of nowhere, kids will want to speak out and share like never before and when done, your class will beg for more game time! So before you present a challenging concept or unit, try warming the kids up with Theater Games!

Here are some pic's my kids in action!

Artsonia Announcement!

Move Over Famous Artists! Natomas Charter artists are taking over the spotlight!  The Expressive Arts Teachers have teamed up with Artsonia, the world's largest online kid's art museum- to diplay the student's artwork!

We highly encourage parents to create an account and grant permission. A student's artwork will not appear on the public website until the parent has granted permission to publish it. Please check your email (or spam) for an email from Artsonia and follow the directions. This program is a wonderful way for parents and family members to be involved with your child's art education! 

Renassaince Faire Art Exhibit

The Rennasaince Faire Art Exhibit is beginning to take shape!  This year we had both 7th and 8th grade create artwork themed around the Middle Ages. Along with the visual art there will be a digital media exhibit focusing on the innovation that took place during the historical era of the Renassaice. The Taiko Drummers will perform as well as our 7th Grade Dance Troup and Fairy Tale Performers. Mark your calendars for Thursday, March 19th-should be fun!