Drawing a dancing Gerald is actually very good practice for thinking about the proportion of a moving human figure. Some students even tested their moves so they could look at how their legs and arms bend. Perhaps some of the emotion about summer arriving is being expressed in these joyful giraffes.
The youngest Kennedy artists are having fun with the book Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae. Gerald the giraffe is feeling down about his dancing skill, but gets his confidence back with help from a friend. Drawing a dancing Gerald is actually very good practice for thinking about the proportion of a moving human figure. Some students even tested their moves so they could look at how their legs and arms bend. Perhaps some of the emotion about summer arriving is being expressed in these joyful giraffes. Second graders are learning all the fancy art names for watercolor techniques as they paint these sea turtles. watercolor paper- paper that is thicker than drawing paper and is textured like a sponge to soak up water wash- a smooth area of color blended wash- a smooth area of two or more colors that were mixed resist- using a waxy drawing tool like craypas so that it resists, or pushes away, the watercolor salt- creates a speckled effect when the salt absorbs wet watercolor rubbing alcohol- creates a spot or "bloom" when it evaporates the water from the paper at a faster speed The salt and rubbing alcohol techniques were a big hit as students created speckled skin on their turtles and rubbing alcohol blooms became bubbles in the ocean. Audrey adds some salt to her watercolor to make speckles in the ocean. Above: Audrey H. Below: Josie G. Below: Griffin
Kindergarten will be enjoying Hey, Little Ant by Phillip and Hannah Hoose, as they work on their ant picnic collages. In the book, an ant argues with a child about why he should not be squished under a shoe. The ants in our collages have gotten past the shoe and are carrying away a picnic! We worked very hard on using an ABAB pattern of "over and under" to make the weaving on the side of our picnic baskets. Our thumbprints became the little ants who are carrying off pie, fruit, cookies, and pizza! This project let us print (thumb prints), weave, cut, glue, and draw. It has kept our little Kennedy worker artist ants busy indeed. Each year third grade does a big paper mache project. I have been waiting for the right size group to try castles. First we built armatures, or a structure that would be under our paper mache. Paper towel rolls became towers, paper towel became hills, and scrap tag board became walls and turrets. Some students loved the gooey paste that helped the paper layer stick over the armature... and others couldn't wait to be done. Once the layer of paper and paste dries it forms a smooth tough shell that held everything together and was easy to paint.
Then it was time to let our imaginations run wild. I was so proud of this group... I gave them access to lots of materials and options, and they handled it so well. Some students spent a lot of time painting details. Others really enjoyed adding 3D flowers with tissue paper and flags with toothpicks and paper. Students were adding bridges crossing rivers, lily pad ponds, and vines crawling up towers. Seeing these students be able to handle more of a studio setting with lots of choices makes me so excited for their 4th grade year! |
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