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Saturday, January 30, 2016

First Online Conference

Super excited to receive my swag box this week. After 3 snow days and (2) 2-Hour Delays this conference is just what I need to jump back into the second semester!




Looking forward to a great day with the art of education!

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Borrowed Totems

My colleague shared a fantastic lesson that my 2nd graders just finished this week. I read mouse paint and the students put a dab of each primary color on one side of the paper and then another primary on the opposite side. We folded the paper to create the secondaries. The next week, we turned the blobs into totem poles.





Sunday, January 24, 2016

Snowflake Bentley Inspired Notan Snowflakes

Tired of students asking to make paper snowflakes? So was I until I incorporated the Japanese art of Notan Design into the lesson plan. We start with the science of the snowflake using the book "Snowflake Bentley" and then do a deep dive into symmetry, learning the difference between radial and bilateral.






Don't you love the way this student used the symmetrical shape of a snowman's silhouette within the design? So clover.




Even the simplest shapes make beautiful snowflakes.

Sometimes they are very excited and want to keep cutting.

If you'd like to try this out, save yourself some time and download the resource.

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Getting Loopy

This week I taught a lesson that I saw last month in School Arts Magazine. The theme was Collaboration. As I've been on the hunt for kindergarten lessons this year, specifically things that can be done as stations or things that don't require a sample, I was excited to try the Paper Loop project. I love the suggested connection to quilting bees and the art of Faith Ringgold. Tangent....I enrolled in the AOE winter conference before the big news dropped today about Faith joining the conference!!



One of my kindergarten classes was a week ahead of the other two and I thankfully had them first. I deliberately stretched out the lesson so it would take two-sessions with them and now I've learned what to do, what not to do and where they need the most help and was able to easily knock it out in one 40-minute session today. 











The article didn't suggest, but I found these three standards fit nicely.


8.1.K.a Interpret art by identifying subject matter and describing relevant details.

1.1.K.a Engage in exploration and imaginative play with materials.

2.1.K.a Through experimentation, build skills in various media and approaches to art-making.


With older grades I would definitely want the color or size of the loops to be symbolic in some way, but for kinders, it was a great activity that enhanced collaboration and gave me a chance to review proper gluing techniques without feeling rushed. They were amazed at the completed sculpture and loved to watch me twist and rotate the pieces. They enjoyed pointing exactly where to place their loop.