2015-16 in review: 6th grade

I really love our 6th grade curriculum because it seems the most cohesive. It ties directly in with what students are learning in 6th grade social studies at our school- exploring ancient civilizations and the meaning of culture. There are very clear essential questions: What is culture? How do different people in different times and places express their beliefs and traditions? How do cultures influence each other and change over time? Since 11 and 12 year olds are opening up their awareness of their own place within culture, these themes can also help them define identity, critique popular culture, and better understand others. It excites me that art can be the place where so many ideas and experiences integrate. All that said, some projects were better than others and there are definitely changes I would like to make for next year.

• Prehistoric art: Students took a virtual tour of the Caves of Lascaux. They considered several possible purposes for why these ancient tribes would have drawn animals and handprints on the cave walls: perhaps to document their experiences of daily life, perhaps as magical thinking to summon the prey they desired to hunt, perhaps to show gratitude to the spirits of the animals they had killed. After painting a textured cave wall- with thought to what rocks and minerals look like (hello science connection!) Students imagined a story they would like to tell about themselves and their experiences and drew in charcoal and pastel over their paper. The one above depicts a dance competition my student won. We also made a class mural of handprints to represent our "tribe". I like using this as a way for the newly-formed classes of students to begin connecting as a team.

• Sumerian statues: Next we studied the Mesopotamian River Valley, the development of laws (Hammurabi's code), cuneiform as a writing system, ziggurats as public buildings, and votive figures used in tombs to give offerings. This really lays the foundation of what we focus on all year. I showed my students how to work with clay, and they had a choice to make a signature cylinder seal, a cuneiform tablet, or a votive figure showing their "gifts". The student above made her figure hold a cupcake to show off her baking talent. I enjoyed seeing how each student decided what path to take for the project, and hope to continue doing options like this for every unit next year.

• Egyptian sculptures: After finding out what students already knew about Egypt (a lot!), we further explored ideas about the pharoahs, the pyramids, and hieroglyphics using a Scholastic Art magazine on Egypt. I had students vote on which topic they were most interested in, and formed groups according to interest. Each group did further research on their topic and formed a plan of how they would create something together showing what they had learned. We then used papier mache and some plaster to create large-scale sculptures. I had reproductions of the sphinx, Tutankhamen's death mask, standing pharoah sculptures, tomb offerings, tomb paintings,and sarcophagi. It was a very long project because working in groups is always a challenge. However, student interest was extremely high because they were focused on the thing they were most interested in and working with people they liked. My students were so proud of what they had made, they "borrowed" their projects from the hallway displays I'd made to use in their Egypt presentations in social studies class, too. 

• Greek architecture and mythology: For this project my students had to do some homework. They each had to select a Greek god or goddess to research and bring in a picture example and a paragraph story about their myth. We learned about the Parthenon and the various orders of Greek architecture. I showed how to use the rulers to plan a temple structure that included a stylobate (stairs/foundation), columns, entablature, and pediment. Then they had to draw their chosen god or goddess as a statue inside the temple and add symbols and details in the pediment to help symbolize who it was. We know the image above represents Athena, goddess of wisdom and war because of the owl and shield and arrows. 

• Byzantine mosaic: Next we explored the Roman empire, the introduction of Christianity and the split into Eastern and Western empires. We learned about icons and iconoclasts, and the use of mosaics in Byzantine churches. We had a debate about whether it was better to be an iconophile or an iconoclast, which was surprisingly heated! Then students chose to design a mosaic that was an icon, honoring someone they admired, or iconoclast, showing a symbol or pattern instead of a figure. I had done this project as a group collaboration last year, but was displeased with how long it took and how difficult it was to get the students to collaborate.This year I cut 6x6 inch cardboard for each child to make an individual piece, but it STILL took forever to complete, and in the end was voted as the students' least favorite project. I'll have to figure something else out next year.

• Islamic tile design: We learned about the spread of Islam throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean, and looked at examples of Islamic architecture and design like the Alhambra, the Blue Mosque, and the Dome of the Rock. We also viewed a video on how tiles are made in Iznik, Turkey today for inspiration. Students designed a pattern unit using geometric and nature-inspired shapes to carve into foam plates, then printed their design in a repeating pattern across a 9x12 page. When complete, they colored details, considering symmetry and repetition. This is one of my favorite projects all year! I love printmaking and I love repeating patterns in my own artwork, and this is one of those projects where everybody's art looks amazing all displayed together.

• Kano ink and gold: Last year at the Philadelphia Museum of Art was a gorgeous exhibition of Japanese art by the Kano dynasty of artists. I bought the postcard set, which had many scenes of animals in landscapes all drawn in ink with gold backgrounds. I also found a great video on Khan academy that explained how the shoguns wished to show off their power and wealth through paintings of dragons and tigers on screens and doors in their palaces. I let students select an image of their choice to work from and experiment with painting directly with india ink. Some wanted to sketch first in pencil, but I banned the pencils and erasers for this one so as not to lose the freshness of the painted lines. We spent a class period just painting in ink, then a second one to add color details and gold backgrounds. This is another project I really love, for the diversity of images that result and the energy of the lines. I know many art teachers frown on copying, but the students focus so intently on reproducing their postcard on a larger scale and working from images increases their visual vocabulary beyond the hearts and flowers they constantly doodle.

• Navajo weaving: Our final culture study is the Navajo tradition of weaving. We look at how their weavings changed over time as they came in contact with other cultures like the Pueblo, the Spanish, and the American settlers. There's also a Philadelphia connection as later designs utilized yarns spun and dyed in Germantown and traded out West. I taught my 6th graders how to warp a cardboard loom and do 3 different tapestry weaving techniques. When complete they chose whether to finish it off as a bookmark, a bracelet, a pouch, or a headband, and we talked about how some art is functional. Instead of tying knots, this year I ran each weaving through my sewing machine to zigzag the ends from unraveling. It took less time than tying all those knots and looked better too!  I have a few students in 6th grade who are also in fashion design club after school, and they helped their classmates sew on the machines, too.
• I have no pictures of our final project due to time constraints, but we reviewed all the reasons why ancient peoples made art. Then I offered a variety of materials, and had students select their own purpose or intention for creating a work of art that would represent their culture. There were several flags (US, Mexican, Italian, Canadian, and El Salvadorian), many sports-related projects, many dance and music inspired pieces, and lots of telephones an video game references.

I have to admire teachers who are full TAB/choice based classrooms. It is not easy to manage 25 children in the art room doing so many different ideas and materials. I want to create opportunities for choice in my curriculum because student engagement is dramatically higher when they are doing things they are interested in doing. On the flip side, I find our projects taking longer because my students don't seem accustomed to making decisions and plans for themselves. It's much harder for them. However, the more we do this, the better they should get at it. I believe the curriculum I've developed spirals and scaffolds to encourage students to have a strong concept of the purpose of art in culture and a strong understanding of art history. Unfortunately, what is lacking in my 6th grade curriculum right now is observational drawing skills, and that's something I hope to improve upon in the future.

Art is...

I finally got all of the "ART IS" posters assembled and hung around school. Every kid from first through fifth grade made a letter with warm colors inside and cool colors outside. It was a way to have kids jump right into making some art after going over rules the first day. I have a few extra "K's" and "A's" from kids who just copied my example  on the board instead of  doing their assigned letter.... but overall this was a great, quick project with a big result.

Art is self expression

Art is literacy of the heart

Art changes people and people change the world

art is the language of the soul

A work of art is an adventure of the mind

art is exercise for the imagination

Art is finding beauty in unexpected places

Art is not what you see but what you make others see

Kindergarten Dance Party

 The last project my Kindergartners completed was a Keith Haring inspired dance party print. We looked at Haring's work and figures, noting that they were NOT STICK FIGURES. After letting them try out a few dance poses for the rest of the class, I gave the kids foam shapes to cut and arrange into a stamp. They colored in a background, adding details for how they'd like to decorate for a party.

 Finally we printed, and students were encouraged to trade stamps to "invite friends" to their dance party. They did a great job sharing, and were very enthusiastic about the whole project. We had an extra day to fill, so we went back and added "action lines" to make it look more like their figures were moving around.

The pictures are exuberant. They show a little of how we all feel at the end of this year- happy to be leaving for summer vacation, happy to have accomplished so much this year. I have one more week with students and it will all be spent passing back artwork for portfolios. I might do it differently next year- all this artwork is a little overwhelming... I can't believe my first year of full-time teaching is almost over!

African inspiration

My 1st and 5th graders have just completed projects that explored arts originating in Africa. My curriculum calls for study of Egypt in 1st grade, and it took me a while to come up with a good project. Most of the projects I've seen out on the internet seem more geared to 3rd grade and up. But I was inspired by some pictures of Scarab jewelry I found on Artstor. 1st graders looked at Ancient Egyptian art including the pyramids, the Book of the Dead, scarab beetles, and hieroglyphics. I did a directed drawing for the first time and was amazed at both the success rate and the variety among the drawings that resulted:

 I've never been a big fan of directed drawings, but the kids REALLY enjoyed it, and were really confident in their projects. The freedom and individuality I love came in when it was time to color their projects with oil pastels. We talked about how scarab beetles have bright, jewel-like colors that reminded the Egyptians of their sun god.

 Afterwards, we looked at hieroglyphics, and the kids wrote out their names in Egyptian symbols like a cartouche. Finally they carefully cut out their beetles and attached them to the background using pop-up foam adhesive tabs so it looks like the beetles are crawling over the walls of the pyramid tombs. I hung them up, and they're freaking out the teachers left and right =) This is definitely a keeper lesson for next year!

 My 5th graders have just completed a long unit of printmaking inspired by the Adinkra cloth of Ghana. We learned how Adinkra cloth is printed, usually in honor of someone who has passed away, using symbols to represent their character. Students brainstormed 5 personal qualities and copied 5 traditional Adinkra symbols that best matched them, and then combined visual elements from each to develop their own personal symbol. I demonstrated how to carve a stamp from easycut linoleum using a gouge (which some were a bit nervous about- including me). The kids did a fabulous job carving their blocks (no injuries!! YEAH!!) and then printed them on both paper and fabric.

 The prints on paper were cut up, some traded among students, and collaged back together with some patterned paper. Their fabric prints are being turned into pillows with an extension of the project to learn some sewing skills.

This is the last project of the year for my 5th graders, as we only have one more day together. Next year they're all moving up to our upper school... I'm really going to miss them as they were my favorite grade this year. I can't imagine my first graders someday being as big and mature as my 5th graders, but it will happen before I know it. My first year as a full-time teacher is almost over, but hopefully it's the start of a long career!

All is Calm

This week has been overwhelming with great highs and deep lows. On Tuesday I pulled together final details for the holiday concert decorations, and on Wednesday we put them all up and had an amazing concert. My artclub made all the elements for our backdrop panels and made origami stars to hang about.

  I know teachers are all proud of their students, but as a specialist teacher I get to know the entire student body. At first I thought having to go to the concert might be a bit of a drag (It's a school night and I taught all day, put up the decorations all afternoon, and helped manage the kiddos as they lined up for the concert), but then seeing all of "my kids" up there made my heart swell up with joy and pride.
It's also been a week of finishing projects. My 2nd, 3rd, and 5th graders have been working for weeks on paintings, mosaics, and sculptures. We FINALLY got them finished! It's simultaneously satisfying and frustrating to call "Time's UP" on a project. Not everybody works at the same pace. Some are done on time and do well, others could really use another week to make it even better, and still others think they're done when really they could push further.
My 5th graders completed their letter sculptures and worked in groups to plan displays. Some were able to create words to display together, others made acrostic poems. Here's a word I pulled together from a variety of 5th graders:

I offer this word because of the deepest low of this week. After teaching all day and staying after late to hang artwork etc, I got in the car and heard the news on NPR about the shooting in the elementary school in Connecticut. When such tragedies occurred in the past, I felt sympathy as a parent for those who lost their children. But now as a teacher, I imagine what it must be like to be in the shoes of the teachers who had to respond to such an emergency, trying to stay calm and strong for their students while feeling panic and fear. They are heroic. I pray for the children and teachers and parents of Sandy Hook. I hope they find calm and comfort again soon.

Collaborations and Displays

I'm a big fan of collaborative art-making as well as the visual of lots of little things making a big thing. So here are 3 ways I've incorporated those ideas in projects my students have made recently.

 My first graders learned about texture and the parts of a tree. They traced their hand and arm to make a branch, filled it with bark texture by using line variety. Then they did leaf rubbings to use the texture of a leaf to make a rubbing-print. The leaves were cut into an organic shape and added to their "tree branch". Once all 4 classes were complete, I combined all their branches into a huge tree overarching the doorway. I wish I could paint on the ground and add the root system too! All their little pieces added up to an impressive display (note to self- don't use poster putty on the glass in the winter- too cold and it doesn't work!!- this all fell down because of a big temperature drop the day after I put it up, but scotch tape to the rescue).

 The 3rd graders' pattern fish we made a while ago were arranged down the stairwell into what looks like a big fish chasing a little fish. One of the 3rd grade teachers said, "Great! We're just talking about predator and prey in science!" While this wasn't specifically a collaborative project, having a creative way to display the work transforms it into something even more interesting.

The art club finished their "Dale Chihuly" inspired "chandelier" by combining all the tissue-paper papier-mached "snakes" into one splayed mass. I hung it in the stairwell, and have heard all kinds of comments. Usually it's, "WHAT is THAT?!" The only trouble with this kind of collaborative work is that the individual pieces can't be redistributed back to the students to take home.

I think collaboration is a vital part of learning about art. Students feel more connected as a class because they are working toward a greater goal. Every person's contribution is valuable. Contemporary artists often work in a collaborative mode, and therefore students get to experience working methods of artists today in an authentic way. As a teaching artist, I also feel that my own artistic voice is expressed with that of the children, which is very fulfilling.

Kindergarten Cooperation

 Loop-dy-loop-dy-loop! CCCS Kindergartners learned about the colors of the rainbow, made loopy lines, and learned about sharing materials in the art room this week. To get them started we sat in the circle area and sang a color song. Then we practised drawing small, big, fast, and slow loopy lines in the air.

 Some kindergartners have more careful coloring skills than others, but some of them put a lot of energy and enthusiasm into filling up their space. They had to share the crayon boxes, asking for it with a please and a thank you. They also had to share their table space and picture. I put out a giant piece of paper on each table (and a great "wooooow!" rose from the little ones).

 I'm really proud of how well my kindergartners are adjusting to the art room. They work cooperatively and quietly. When their pictures were done, I cut out the loops so they looked like clouds and hung them in the Kindergarten corridor. What I didn't know was that nearly the whole school uses the bathrooms in this corridor during lunchtime- and everyone has been really complimentary about how nice it is to have something to look at there while they wait their turn! Although I think we need a conversation about how to treat artwork in the halls. I saw one girl practically hugging one of the low-hanging loopy clouds.

Hopefully I'll have lots more work to hang up soon. The rest of the grades are all working on "name" inspired works (because I have so many names to remember!!!). Here are my exemplars hanging out on the board. We had art club signups this week, and Art Club starts after school next Tuesday.

Rainbow halls

Tonight was Back-To-School Night! So I made sure we had some art on the walls just in time. I ended up putting the kids' self-portraits up in 4 different spots around the building. The classes are all mixed up (getting the art back to them will be a feat!!). Having them all together makes even the not-so-finished ones look good.

 I loved hearing the kids as they walked by while I was hanging the work- "Hey! There's Mine!!!"

 Three of the installations just have rainbow layouts, but one in the 2nd floor hallway has a hidden message-"SEE".

It's so great having all this bright color around the school. I can't wait till we finish some more projects and I can start filling some more stairwells.

Some of the other teachers even popped by my room to compliment the work-YAY!



A peek inside the table folders

 I thought I'd try out using table folders for collecting and passing back artwork. I've got 5 tables labeled with 5 colors to help students identify where they sit. Even though I took great pains all week to check that ALL artwork had names, I know a few sneaked by me. With all students' artwork tucked inside the folders, I won't waste any time trying to figure out whose work is whose next class. One unanticipated problem with folders..... if the helper table kids don't carry the work carefully, all the work spills out.... We'll be doing some demonstration on how to pass back and collect supplies next week.
While most of our time was spent on going over all the rules this week, we also managed to squeeze in some artmaking time. I'm having the whole school K-5 do small cartoonish self-portraits to fit together in a mural of all our young artists. I sorted some crayons, markers, and colored pencils into baskets for each table. Some kids were upset that they couldn't have another color, but they adapted. Here are some of the Kindergartners' efforts:


from the "orange" table

 I'm really astonished with how well this project serves as an artistic development assessment. Can students follow directions (like draw with the paper in a vertical orientation, and fill in the entire paper with color)? What stage of people-drawing are they at (sun heads, shape bodies, stick arms and legs, or contour lines)?

from the "blue" table

With every class I encouraged students to persevere and fix any "mistakes". Part of my rules explanation included the statement, "We turn mistakes into Opportunities" and "Try your BEST". I explained how crumpled up artwork makes me very sad, and shows me that you're not really trying. It was a tough concept for some kids when markers hit paper, but we're all learning.

from the "green" table

It was fun to watch some kids brighten up when they realized how open the assignment was. I love those questions like, "Is it okay if I use black?" or "Can I draw myself in a dress?" Of course you can! As a result, I have some VERY interesting and creative "self-portraits".

from the "red" table


 I had originally planned on letting kids use pencils to sketch their picture out first. BIG mistake! My first class got way more stressed out about messing up, and got nowhere. From then on I said NO PENCILS! It drove home my "fix the mistakes" idea and worked out a lot better.

from the "yellow" table

 It will be exciting to see these all finished and put up together. Next week we've still got to do fire drill practice, and then we'll have a little more time to add some extra details. Hopefully we'll also be able to start combining the classes' efforts.
It's been an exciting first week!