Chuck Close

Hey Third Graders!

If you want to check out some portraits by Chuck Close, head to the Chazen Museum in downtown Madison. 

Click HERE to go to the website! 

Let me know if you go :)

3rd Grade - Russian Buildings - Quarter 3 2013

Third graders recently finished up a project about Russia in the art room. Since students will study Russia later in the second quarter, this was a great cross-curricular project. During this project, students learned all about the traditional features of Russian architecture including domes, onion domes, arches, arch windows and spires. We looked at St. Basil's Cathedral in Russia for inspiration. Ask your third grader to point out the different features on St. Basil's below. 

After getting inspired, each student was asked to create his or her own building using features of Russian architecture. Students drew, traced and then finished their buildings with watercolor paint. Look for some of these pieces to be displayed in the All School Art Show! 

                              

  

  

2nd Grade - Chinese Writing - 3rd Quarter 2013

In addition to making dragons to celebrate Chinese New Year, students also tried out Chinese writing. Students used traditional bamboo brushes and spent time practicing different brush strokes before choosing three symbols to write for a final copy. During this project students also learned how Chinese writing and English writing are different. Ask your second grader to tell you what he or she learned! 

 

2nd Grade - Chinese Dragons - Quarter 3 2013

To compliment their study of Chinese New Year in their classrooms, second graders made these awesome Chinese Dragons. We looked at both traditional lion dances and dragon dances used in the Chinese New Year celebration for inspiration. Awesome!

  

Kindergarten - Mini Mondrians - Quarter 3 2012

The kindergartners have recently finished a fun unit about famous artists. First up was Piet Mondrian, a Dutch painter that worked primarily in the early 1900s. He developed a painting style that lends itself to teaching students about horizontal and vertical lines, as well as the primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. Students began by creating a composition of lines using strips of construction paper. Then, they filled in a few boxes with tempera paint in primary colors. Simple and beautiful!

Kindergarten - Snow Globes - Quarter 2 2012

Kindergartners have been busy using their imaginations in the art room. To start this project, we read the book The Snow Globe Family by Jane O'Connor. It's a fun story about a tiny family that lives inside of a snow globe. Then, students were asked to imagine what they would do if they lived inside of a snow globe. This project is cross-curricular, as students had to write down what they would do before they drew a picture. Glittery snow was added as a final touch. Thanks to Mrs. Jump's Blog for the great idea!

If I lived in a snow globe I would build a snowman.

If I lived in a snow globe I would have a snowball fight.

If I lived in a snow globe I would open presents.

Kindergaten - Winter Houses - Quarter 2 2013

Recently, kindergartners created these fun winter houses. We read one of my favorite books, Snow by Uri Shulevitz for inspiration. It's a fun story about how an entire city gets covered in snow. Each student was challenged to create a building for a city using collage techniques. Details were added with construction paper crayons and homemade puffy paint was added as a final touch! If you'd like to make your own puffy paint, mix equal parts of white glue and shaving cream.