Artistic Freedom

My Girlfriend shared this quote with me today and I thought is was worth sharing...Thanks MAgs! "We do not teach the arts to create great artists anymore than we teach math to create the next generation of mathematicians or language arts to create the next generation of writers. We teach the arts in our schools to create great people so they are empowered with skills and knowledge to be successful in life… to do great things regardless of the vocational pathway they choose." Steve Jobs As an art teacher, I am a tad bit bias... but the quote is so true and I wish more people saw the importance of the arts in education!

These self-portraits took a long time to make... But well worth the wait! My students learned about foreshortening with this lesson. I wanted the portraits to look as if they were falling through space. I got this idea from a fellow blogger (Thanks). I started out by having my students trace their shoes and hands on the first day. After they did that, we talked about face structure and dimensions. The students learned a lot and I feel as if they were surprised with how well they turned out. They looked at me like I was crazy when I told them that the eyes were in the middle of your head and the nose in the bottom quarter. Since they have been in the hall... fellow teachers can't say enough good things about them. As a first year teacher, I have no idea what was taught the previous years. The previous teacher teacher taught for almost 30 years and did the same project year after year (not that there is anything wrong with that). I do know that the other teachers are loving the new ...

Thanks to a great friend, I got a great idea to do a dinosaur lesson with my first graders that reinforces the horizon line. I read an awesome book "Dinosaurs Love Underpants" to my students and then talked to them about side profile. We talked about how we can only see one of the Dino's eyes and nostrils. After reading the book we did a step-by-step drawing together. After we finished the drawing that we did together, I allowed the students to flip the paper over and draw another dinosaur using what they had learned. Almost all of my students did an even better job on their second drawing, that they did on their own. I love the fact that almost every student told me that they learned something. In all honesty.... I did this lesson because 1. I loved the lesson that I saw from my buddy. 2. I saw my students drawing dinosaurs during free draw and the dinosaurs were always smiling with two eyes (even though the students drew them in side profiles), and they always had five ...

I love how these turned out. I have to give all the props to a fellow blogger for this lesson. I cant remember who (my apologies). My first graders learned about the Horizon Line in this lesson. We talked about the importance of the horizon line, and how without it objects would seem as if they were floating. The students painted light green, dark green, blue, and light blue on a large piece of paper. The next class they tore the paper into small pieces and glued each piece according to is place above or below the horizon line (blue = sky, and green = ground). I loved this lesson, the students loved tearing the paper and learned a ton! Hope you enjoy! Lesson: Landscape With Horizon Line Grade: 1 st Grade Estimated Time: 3 class periods Wisconsin State Standards: A.4.2 Learn basic vocabulary related to their study of art C.4.5 Look at nature and works of art as visual resources H.4.3 Show differences among colors, shapes, textures, and other qualities...

About time... I finally got the time to spruce up my second of my two art classrooms. My "Respect" board that I blogged about earlier was only in one on my two classrooms. I have found that it is extremely hard to balance my time between the two schools. I always feel like I am giving more time to one classroom or school than the other. Well, this weekend I made it my goal to catch up. "We Are All Artists" board... is my attempt to showcase my students artwork in a way that they can be acknowledged for their hard work. It will allow parents and guest to my room the chance to see all the artwork being created in my classroom by the different grades. I love the way it turned out, and how easy it will be to make changes as new projects are created. My hopes are to write down the names of each student shown on the board, and change it up throughout the year. No student will be on the board more than once. "We are all artist"... should represent the fact that ...

http://www.petapixel.com/2011/10/06/how-to-transfer-a-photograph-onto-a-block-of-wood/