Tots on Tour: Elephants

It was a great (and packed) day at Grounds for Sculpture for my two Tots on   Tour sessions. I was a bit surprised because today feels like a day for families to be at the beach or "the shore" as they say in Jersey.

We began by reading 'Elmer' by David McKee

and then dove into creating these awesome elephant paintings.

Every month I do my best to connect the project with a related themed book. It has been one of the best parts of running Tots on Tour for all this time and I've read hundreds of great children's stories.

Elmer is a pretty popular book that is in most classrooms of early elementary level. Art teachers enjoy using tissue paper squares to create the lovable elephant.

I chose to go with a grey elephant and interesting background because it related more to the realistic colors of elephants which was what we were discussing today. We loved the idea of being unique and how special a patchwork elephant is.

I was really happy to see the kids make these elephants their own. One of my frequent students who is a huge shark fan, put the eyes on the ears and before he made mention, I immediately thought his elephant looked like a hammerhead shark. As Picasso said- Every Child is an Artist.

Watching the kids cut and arrange and glue their pieces in creative ways is the best part for me next to how happy they are to have spent the morning and early afternoon creating.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Grade 2: Architectural Prints- Skyline Reflections

Here is a project that we completed quite some time ago that was a ton of fun. 

We read one my favorite stories 'Iggy Peck, Architect" and then explored drawing and making prints of simple city skylines that we created on styrofoam.

I modified this lesson based on one by an Art Teacher named Mrs. Hare who teaches older students. We painted our backgrounds with watercolor and discussed warm and cool color schemes. While the backgrounds were drying, students worked on drawing their cities being sure to cram the buildings in close to each other with as few gaps as possible. 

Demonstrating using the brayers was fun and each table had their own set-up to make the printmaking process a comfortable one with little waiting. 

Sleeves up!! My second graders thoroughly enjoyed inking, pressing and pulling their prints. They flipped their design upside down and pulled a second print to create the reflection on the cool colored portion. 

Celebrating Dot Day

"Make your mark and see where it takes you" is a quote by "The Dot" author/illustrator Peter H. Reynolds.
I love the powerful messages in his books and read his stories each year. This year, we participated in International Dot Day by creating circular shapes with designs on simple construction paper with markers and/or oil pastels. We are now working to collage the designs together for a hallway display.

I love the hand drawn and cut shapes as much as the beautiful, individual designs that my students created as they are a reflection of how individual and special each artist is. So many students and staff members wore dots (or stripes) today as a visual reminder of Reynolds' quote. Being a Monday, I was impressed by how many members of our school community actually remembered. And the funny thing is that this message is a special one for adults as much as children. Have the courage to make a mark and see where it takes you.

Free Giveaway: Celebrating 100,000 pageviews

Marisol loves to paint. So when her teacher asks her to help make a mural for the school library, she can’t wait to begin! But how can Marisol make a sky without blue paint? After gazing out the bus window and watching from her porch as day turns into night, she closes her eyes and starts to dream...

To celebrate Art Rocks! reaching 100,000 page views, I am giving away to a random member a brand new copy of Peter H. Reynolds' book "Sky Color" for you to use in your classroom, to read at home or to (cough, cough) re-gift!

To enter, become a member of this blog and make a comment below...perhaps mentioning a book that you love to read to your child, to the children in your class or another comment of choice. I will message you to obtain your mailing address if you are selected! Open to US addresses only.

Giveaway closes on Oct. 30 at 3:00pm EST. I will post the winner later that evening!

CONGRATS TO LORRAINE (Lucky #5)!!

Please email your mailing address to joslynjohnson@hvrsd.org

I will amazon prime you a copy of SKY COLOR!

The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

Enjoy!

Grade 1: Cats, Birds and Sketchbooks

I just adore my 1st graders. On Friday, with Mrs. Weidman's class,  we had such a nice conversation about a new project we started. The kids really liked looking at Swiss painter Paul Klee's "Cat with Bird". We talked about how silly it is that the cat has a bird on it's forehead, among other things relating to the painting and life as a cat.

 The kids asked if they could draw a bird on their cats forehead or on top of it's head. My answer: OF COURSE YOU CAN...but draw it in pencil first to make sure you're happy with it :-)

I had some really nice scraps of paper left over and decided to make each of the kids a sketchbook to take home. 

Mariella's sketchbook and Aaron's day 1 cat w/ bird

Paul Klee "Cat and Bird"

Logged 20 pages of reading in for March Reading Challenge

The Art of Miss Chew

Add "The Art of Miss Chew" by Patricia Polacco to one of my favorite children's books about art education.
This book is a fantastic story about a girl and the experience she has trying to navigate school with a difficulty in reading. What I ultimately adore is the lovely bond she develops with her homeroom and art teachers because of her learning disability, love for and talent in art and the support system she develops from the passionate teachers in her school. Found at and borrowed from the wonderful Montclair Public Library and I am sure available on amazon.com, I will definitely be adding this book to my collection.

3rd Grade MONSTER MAMA

3rd graders are wrapping up their 'Monster Mama' portraits this week and beginning new projects. 
I love this lesson for a few reasons: 

1. It was shared with me (and the other elementary art teachers over the years) by Linda Bradshaw, Retired Art Teacher from Hopewell Elementary School. I really enjoyed working with Mrs. Bradshaw and find her to be an extraordinary teacher and person.


2. It is a great example of how to blend art and literature


3. The kids love this project!

I started out by purchasing a copy of "Monster Mama" by Liz Rosenberg on Amazon.com. I was lucky and got a copy of this hard to find book at a great price. I couldn't wait for the book to arrive as this lesson MUST be taught AFTER reading, looking at and discussing the story and accompanying illustrations.


Next, we worked on drawing a screaming face of correct proportions followed by smudging the skin with oil pastels. 
The following week we had a blast adding the hair using watercolors and straws to blow the crazy hair. 


Check back for finished portraits!

Blow painting w/ straws @ BT

Ready to create the crazy hair

I love the mouth on this one!

Blow painting

Books about Art

This week in 1st grade we are reading one of my very favorite children's books about making art and the creative process. It's called Ish by Peter H. Reynolds.
Last year, which was my first at BT/TGG (I came from Timberlane), I read Ish to all kids in grades 1-5 to open the discussion on being respectful of each other. 
Today, my 1st graders in Mrs. Mc Cann's class had such wonderful ideas to share about being respectful and were very thoughtful in their discussion of the book. 
Peter H. Reynolds also wrote a nice story called The Dot that I will share with 1st and 2nd graders later in the year.