Artistic Freedom

One semester has passed and this first year teacher has made his first purchase order. It isn't a large order, but it will make a world of a difference. Last week I opened my last package of white paper, opened my last bottle of white paint and have been out of red and yellow paper for over 2 months. I felt like it was my birthday... never thought I would be so happy opening a box full of white paper. Stay tuned to see what my students can do with these much-anticipated supplies!

I saw this idea on another blog (can't remember where). The teacher did the lesson with tint making the ice cream cones only. I thought to myself, why can't we make snowman for winter and ice cream cones for those students who wish they didn't live through a Wisconsin winter. The students loved making the extra large ice cream cones/ tall snowman. I loved how well they caught on to the concept of tint and adding white to a color. The flash from my camera doesn't do these imaged any justice, but the students did a great job creating a gradual scale from light to dark. Love how they turned out. I love the students individual touch on each ice cream cone or snowman. The student that put the eyes on the ice cream cone... why not? Love the differences in every piece!

My students just finished their lesson on Polish paper art. The lesson was a great review on symmetry and cutting skills. We looked at a bunch of examples from original Polish folk paper cutting. I talked to the students about how the Polish started making these designs. I explained how the Polish would take hides from animals and drape them over the window opening. Because of the depressing nature of zero sun light, the Polish cut out designs in the animal hides. Hundreds of years later the designs have become extremely complex and are now made out of fabric or paper. The students started by folding the paper and drawing their symmetrical designs along the fold line. My only requirements were to have an animal somewhere on the design ...and have fun! After they finished their design, the students shaded the area they wanted to keep. A lot of my students thought this part of the lesson was two elementary for their 5th grade level. When the students started cutting, several students ca...

Jackson Pollock Inspired Weaving (Great Artdoors Blog) Art with Mr. E. helped me get a ton of followers to my blog. All of you that are checking out my blog because of Mr. E. thank you so much and I hope you continue to enjoy my posts. One of my best friends is another first year teacher in Wisconsin and just started a blog. Please check it out... GREAT LESSONS, GREAT EXPLANATIONS, GREAT PICTURES. The Great Artdoors http://greatartdoors.blogspot.com/ I have a link to it under my "Other Great Blogs" list. Hope you all enjoy!

I will be visiting my old university in a couple of months to talk to some Art Ed. student teachers about my first year of teaching. When I go, I want to have a large list of blogs that they can use as a resource. I have my favorite blogs shown on the side of my blog... as do many of you. What I want from you if you choose to help is the blog or blogs that you CHECK EVERYDAY... the blogs that you RUN HOME TO CHECK. When I was student teaching, my cooperating teacher and I stumbled across a couple of art blogs (Thanks Deb). This was the greatest thing that could have happened to me. I struggled finding age appropriate ideas at the time. Art blogs allowed me to see lessons that were successful for other teachers at each grade level. I was able to take ideas and make them my own, or take a technique and attach it to a lesson I created. I learned so much... blogging has allowed me to see and share ideas at the tips of my fingers. I love the art blog community! My two blogs that I check da...

I was just informed that one of my most talented students will be leaving at the end of this month. To say I am sad is an understatement. This students is one of the most creative students I have ever come across, and he is in 3rd grade. This is an example of his artwork from the lesson I posted below (This is unfinished... he is still working). He created this self-portrait incorporating line like no other student... I want you to look at his genius with the pizza, tiger, fishing pole, swimmer, hunting, baseball, paintbrush, and TV. This student got the concept! The way he used line in the whiskers, waves, and steam from the pizza blew me away. I am going to miss him and wish I could see him develop his craft!

This student chose to express her love for the color green by only using green. Other students drew a paint can and labeled it green. Love her creativity! I got the idea for this lesson from another blogger ( elementaryartfun.blogspot.com/2011/09/lines-lines-and-fish-bowls-oh-my.html ). I loved how the black and white photo looks with the explosion of color coming out of the students mouth. I started the lesson with asking the students what a "Self-Portrait" is? (Thanks for the question idea Derek) All my students told me that it was a picture DRAWN or PAINTED of a face. I then asked, "What if the face is a picture taken from a camera... can that be a self-portrait? All my students said no. This is when I brought out a long white piece of paper with their face on the end of it. Time to make this a self-portrait...the looks I got were priceless. After giving them the paper with their picture on it, I introduced them to the idea of "Line." What is line? Where do ...

FIND OF THE YEAR! I was walking around during my fourth grade art class, when I came to a student who had finished her lesson. When students finish a lesson before other students, I have class-made sketchbooks made out of cereal boxes (check out my label for sketchbook) for my students to work on. This students is a favorite of mine, and I can tell she draws all the time. This student asked me if she could work in her notebook instead... I told her only if I could look at her notebook :). They must of just talked about bullying in class because she had drawn this in her notebook with another student at lunch. How awesome is this? She took what she learned in her regular ed. class and felt like she needed to design something. Naturally... I asked her if I could get a copy to put up in my room and post on the blog. She made me a special drawing and brought it down to me at the end of the day. Love it!

My first grade made weaving's that were inspired by the book Elmer. The book is about an elephant named Elmer who is a patchwork elephant. The book celebrates being different and not trying to change who you are to try and fit in. I thought that Elmer kind of looked like a colorful weaving. The students made their own loom using a ruler to measure out inch wide segments. We used as many different colors as possible as we went OVER AND UNDER...OVER AND UNDER. The students were probably saying that in their sleep, I know I was. After they finished the weaving we added the image of Elmer on the weaving, and then we added the shape pattern to the area around Elmer. They did a great job, and I love the finished product!

Wow... I haven't done portraits with Kindergarten before, so I didn't know what to expect... I have to say I am extremely happy with the results! The students started with an oval tracer for the head and after that everything was drawn by their hands. The lesson is covering winter weather clothing. The students drew themselves with hats, scarfs, and they will be added detail to their shirt to create a winter jacket. Please check back to see the finished pieces. I am extremely excited!