On a personal note.....

Today during Second grade class time, the secretary came in with a VERY confused look on her face,
carrying a bouquet of flowers to me.  It was my son and daughter-in-law's "gender reveal" to me!
I will have a grandson in June! The kids were excited too, that I will be a Grandma! What a fun interruption!!!!!!!

Preschool!!!!!

It is that time of the month for a visit from our preschool classes.
They sat on my carpet for a  book about  snow, " Geraldine and the Big Snow". Then they got the chance to paint and embellish a snowflake made of sticks. I have plenty of sticks in my yard! I glued sets of 3 to make a snowflake for the little ones to decorate. I waltzed around the room as the "glitter fairy" sprinkling sparkles into the white paint while they painted. Too much cuteness!!!!

Fifth Grade Robots

Fifth Graders are finishing their robots. They learned a lot from a slide show about all the uses of Robots in medicine, factory work, etc. They were required to fill the page with their drawing, include 3-D drawn parts,  have a door, and look mechanical and metal.  Metallic watercolors helped with the metal-looking part, as did seams and screws, The finished artworks are heading to Mrs. Wenzel in Media. She has been teaching the students about circuits. Thanks to our Art to Remember Funds, I was able to purchase supplies for the students to actually build a circuit, with Mrs. Wenzel, using led lights on their robots! A battery behind the door supplies the energy for the lights!
Thanks to Dryden art for the idea and examples.

Silberzweig portraits with chalk

Here is the coloring phase of the  Second Grade Portraits.
Thanks to Cassie Stephans for the inspiration.

Second Grade Self Portraits

These self portraits hardly look like the artist. They are styled after the artists, Sandra Silberzweig's primitive, colorful faces. First students studied and discussed slides of her artwork. Then they drew a face on black paper and "drew" over the lines with glue. The next week they learned about choosing Analogous colors from the color wheel ( side by side) and blending chalk with their fingers. The portraits are quite dramatic. This was a very rewarding project!

More Deserts for Third Grade

Now third grade is switching to a desert landscape artwork. We have learned about the art element of space, by using perspective to show near and far. After sharpie, students are working on mixed media. They are doing " quality" coloring with marker and colored pencil. "Quality" means
coloring artfully, with even strokes in the same  direction. No scribble lines....
Thanks to Deep Space Sparkle for the inspiration!

Third Grade Clay Cacti in pots

Third graders have been learning about the desert, and succulents. They drew cacti and then formed them out of clay. Lines and holes were poked into the cacti to add ribs and spikes. After the bisque fire, students painted them with tempera paints. They experimented with types of greens by mixing in yellow or blue with their green paint. They were so proud!