The Head and the Heart - Lost In My Mind (and i lost mine after this song)

I think that my heart might be in Seattle, Washington... and this is why...

Artist: The Head and the Heart
Song: Lost in my Mind
Album: The Head and the Heart

are you brave...

Well then have a Jackson Pollock day...

First, I read the first grade the book Action Jackson by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan.This book has awesome illustrations!! I showed certain parts from the 1951 movie of Pollock painting. He has a bud in his month (not appropriate), but I wanted them to see him at work. I choose some sections were they were focused on his feet/ canvas. We talked all about action painting, expression, movement, etc.

We went over Pollock Painting rules...

Rules:
No throwing paint (at eachother)
Aim for the paper
Be flexible (don't worry if you get a little paint on you, share colors, etc.)
Be expressive
Have fun

Before we started I had the kids take their shoes and socks off. This alone made the kids act like it was freaking Christmas...

Kids in actions...

 

I had everything set and ready to go on my back patio... I am not going to lie... it took me a hot second to get everything ready! 

I recruited two upper school students to help out and the classroom teacher was there to supervise. 

We had a few mishaps... one student dropped a cup of paint... and it was like a geyser of red paint!!! It went all over her face, feet and a couple of the other kids. It was hilarious. Of course we ran out of time, and the kids feet were covered in paint. And yes I wiped them off the best I could; put their socks and shoes back on and sent them on their way. I am sure the parents were a little shocked when it was bath time.

It was all worth it when I heard the kids say... this was the best day ever because of art!!!

homes from around the world...

2nd grade learned about different homes from around the world in S.S... In art class we used recycled materials (cardboard, paper bags, popsicle sticks) to recreate these homes! Each student created a different home. I let the student choose the home they wanted to create, so they were very excited about the project. Ahhh, they are so easy to please! I only have six 2nd graders, so it is possible for me to do these large scale projects with the kids. I used the glue guns, but the kids designed, colored, and painted the homes. They did some visual researched from a some books about homes.

They are so cute!! We have a tepee, adobe, apartment, a stilt house, mansion, and beach house (not pictured).

Neato huh?

Photo at the top of the post:
Stilt house

visual journals....

Now this is something I started doing a couple of summers ago and I love it. Reusing an old book to create a visual journal.

Visual journals combined every type of medium imaginable... Plus whatever info you want! This journal I started for my professional development this year...

Here are some of my pages so far...

I think this is a great project opportunity for high school students. It gives them a chance to express themselves while completing written art assignments.

Happy journaling!

tribute to a chief...

Hold on to your hats people... this project is one of my favs!

The 5th grade chooses a Indian chief to study in L.A. In art, we research the craft from the chiefs tribe. Depending on the tribe, the students create either a mask or shield using information they found during their research. They take inspiration from where the tribe is located, important animals, crops, and different designs. We have only just started and I am SO PUMPED! And the kids are just loving this project. I am just tickled pink when the kids get really into projects.

So the students designed their mask/shield and drew it on cardboard. I cut them out and now they are just starting to paint them.

This is what we have so far...

This is not all either... after our crafts are finished... I am going introduce performance art :):):) I will  break the kids into groups and they will have to create a performance piece!!!! AHHHH LOVE IT!

More very very soon...



Artwork at the top of the post:
Edward Curtis, Chief White Shield, 1908

surrounding towns...

For the trimester, the 3rd grade studies three towns surrounding the school and the town the school is located. They take a visit to each town to learn about its history. Students create a poem about each town in L.A. class. In art, we create a different piece of art that is connected with each town.

Davidson - we go into town and photographs the historic building.

Lake Norman - on the field trip, time is set aside to create a water coloring using the lake water! What a treat for the kids to draw what they see and use the environment in their actual artwork.

Charlotte - the students create a tissue paper collage of a statue, the goldrush trolley cars, an interesting building, etc., anything that catches their eye!

Cornelius - this project we have to use our imagination a bit. They create a paper mosaic of the tree of knowledge (which was chopped down years ago to build a gas station - LAME)

Here are some of the photographs the kids took of Davidson...

Lake Norman is coming at you soon!

final apple trees...

 Here they are the final apple tree from the kinder kids! I love these! They are super cute with the "details" they added on!

Enjoy!