Q3 Week 1 in Review

GRADES K-3 DAILY "BELL WORK" FOR  QUARTER 2 WEEK 1

The Great Wave 

Katsushika Hokusai

Katsushika Hokusai

Whaling off the Goto Island

View of Honmoku off Kanagawa

Katsushika Hokusai 

All students complete "bell work" at the start of each class before any other instructions are given.  As soon as students are seated, they are to immediately put pencil to paper and begin drawing the image projected before them;  no questions, no comments; no distractions.  

During this second semester, I have started class by asking students to sit completely silent, resting chin in hands, looking/gazing at the artwork projected before them.  I set my watch timer for one minute.  All that I ask is for one minute of complete and total absorption of the image before them.  

It is proving a great way to calm and center them for the start of class, and I enjoy not talking as well!

During Bell work, all attention is focused on looking carefully and recording what students SEE.

This is SILENT work time.  Students are working independently, although I often interject with some guidance and state simple parameters.  Students are graded primarily on their efforts and participation, not entirely on the outcome of their drawing.

After drawing, we have a brief class discussion to learn more about the artwork.  We make some guesses at to what the work may be about; what the story may be behind the work.  We THINK about how the artist used line, color, shapes, etc. to communicate meaning and emotion.  We discuss how we may not all respond to the art work in the same way.  

The final step in our Bell Work exercise is to ask ourselves more questions about the art work.  We WONDER what the artist intended to communicate.  This is where Ms. Northway may need to do some research to share what she learned about the artist and her/his life experiences.  

 I typically show students three artworks by the same artist.  In this way, they become familiar with the style of a particular artist, and often can recall the artist's name. All of the children's drawings will be glued into small weekly/bi-weekly books to bring home.

PLEASE KEEP YOUR CHILD'S WEEKLY BOOKS IN A SAFE PLACE (in a BIG 3 RING BINDER) SO YOU CAN SEE GROWTH THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. 

UPCOMING "BELL WORK" FOR Q3 WEEK 2:

Paul Cezanne

Detail of Four Apples (1881)

 Paul Cezanne

The Bay of Marseilles, Seen from L'Estaque

 (1885)

Paul Cezanne

   Mont Sainte-Victoire with Large Pine (1887)

K-3  PROJECTS:  Q3 WEEK 1

KINDER

Elements of Art - Shape, Color

This week students finished their self-portraits and we began learning about Paul Cézanne.  I read the children's book Cézanne and the Apple Boy.

Students worked in pairs to begin making a paper maché apple.  Brown lunch bags were smashed into balls and taped into circles with masking tape.

In the upcoming week, students will be using paste and paint to complete a collaborative still life of paper maché apples. 

Project: Copy of Van Gogh's Sunflowers

Elements of Art - Color, Texture



Students are nearly finished with their Sunflower oil pastel drawings and will begin creating a drawing (with chalk pastels) based on the image below:


Ambrogio Lorenzetti | Allegory and Effects of Good and Bad Government

GRADE 2

Project: Greek Vessels
Elements of Art - Line, Shape

Corinthian Period of Greek Pottery Design

Students are finished with their Greek vessels and are "framing" on black paper, in preparation for Fine Art Night in May.  

We are beginning a relief printing project, with Texas fish as our source imagery.                  

Rio Grande Cichlid

                                       

Guadalupe Bass

          

GRADE 3
The Celtic Letter project will be completed soon!  Students are adding final touches.... This has been an extended project with many layers of color and much time involved in developing original designs. Work has been inspired by close observation of source imagery saved in sketchbooks. 


The students' next assignment will be to copy a Rose Window.  
Since we are at the beginning of a new decade, I specifically chose rose windows to copy that are based on the geometry of a Decagon.

Rose Window Sens Cathedral, France 1140-1164

The Creation Rose Window - The National Cathedral in Washington D.C.
Link:  https://cathedral.org/what-to-see/exterior/rose-window/