2014-2015 School Year

The 2014-2015 school year was a blur. I was on maternity leave for the first 8 weeks of school as we welcomed little Miss Q into our family. She's the best but it was an adjustment balancing work and parenthood for the first time. What an exhausting year!

Here are some of the things that happened in the art room.

Pretty solid start to the year with this Texan Still Life Lesson for 5th grade using oil pastels and chalk. My sub, Mrs. Bussie, started them while I was gone and had the wonderful idea to use orange paper. I adore them!

First graders read When Pigcasso Met Mootisse. I've read this book before and had students create a cubism pig but this time we experimented with both artists' styles. On the first day we made cubism pigs and on the second we made a cow collage. I think the cows were my favorite!

Kindergarden celebrated Dr. Seuss Day by designed Socks for Fox. Special thanks to our music teacher for letting me take over the wall outside her classroom.

We sold Youth Art Month Shirts again but took a break from Tie Dying. Instead of dying shirts, students who purchased a shirt to support the art program where invited to an extra art activity where they visited art stations. They were able to experiment at Spin Art, Texture Rubbing, Spirographs, Scratch Art, and free choice stations.

Munford 6th Grader, Sarah, was selected a finalist for Birmingham's Fashion Week. Her design was on display at the Birmingham Museum of Art and she modeled it on the runway during Fashion Week. Way to go SARAH!

Due to limited wall space, we had to adjust the way we display the school art show. In the past we have hung it on the walls but this year we had to find another way to display the show. Luckily, Facebook predicted the problem and started covering my feed with ads for Artome. They framed and displayed EVERY piece of art for the school show! It was wonderful! I think I still logged the same number of after school hours but I did not burn myself with the hot glue gun. Everyone had a blast!

We particmated with Crayola's ColorCycle program again this year. We set a new person record by collected 1,163 "dead" markers to be recycled.

So many other magical things happened but 98.6% of the school year my cell, ipad, and camera were too full of this.....

I promise I'll do a better job documenting art next year.... but that face!

Crayola ColorCycle

During the 2013-2014 school year, MES students collected dried markers to be recycled. We joined forces with Crayola ColorCycle to collect and recycle "dead" markers. At the end of the school year, we shipped 774 markers to be turned into fuel.

YOUTH ART MONTH

I got a little excited about 2014 Youth Art Month. We had so many special activities going on in March that the whole month flew by too quickly. 

We began with a Tie Dye Tee Shirt Sale at the end of February. Students who purchased the plain white shirt could return to art for an extra activity and tie dye their shirt. This was the third year I've held this fundraiser and the most efficient dying process yet. With the help of 4 parents volunteers and 6 loaned crock pots we dyed over 350 shirts in one day. 

We used crock pots to keep the water warm this year. It made dip dying so much faster.

The PTA at my school made one of my dreams come true during Youth Art Month. They agreed to purchase 100 plastic flamingos upfront for a decorated flock installation. Students could purchase a flamingo from PTA for $5. They took it home and could decorate it any way they wanted. We displayed the flock in front of the school the week before Spring Break! They were AMAZING!

We also joined Student's Rebuild again this year by participating in their Water Challenge. For every 10 paper beads that students made, Student Rebuild sponsors pledged to provide clean drinking water for one person in Tanzania. During March, MES students made 26,624 paper beads which in turned provided clean water for 1,331 people in Tanzania.

Collaborative Grid Work - 4th

Fourth graders worked together to create a surprise grid drawing in art. I took famous paintings and cut them into 1x1 inch squares and coded on the back. Students used a 4x4 inch square to recreate what they saw on on their image. Then they worked together to put the pieces back together. Do you recognize the work below?

Native American Patterns - K

Native American Patterns

Teacher: Abby Kuhn                                                                                    
Grade Level: Kindergarten
Time Allocated: 30 Minutes

Objective:
Students will illustrate patterns in their artwork.

Alabama Course of Study Standard:
ACOS.1.1         Create works of art using a variety of techniques.

Motivation:

View images of Native American Patterns

Vocabulary:
Pattern

Materials:
Construction Paper                         
Scissors                    
Glue
Construction Paper Crayons

Procedure:

Day	The Teacher will	The Students will
One	Discuss: Patterns Demonstrate: The instructor will demonstrate how draw and cut out a tee pee shape. The instructor will demonstrate a few pattern examples using the smart board.	Create:  The students will draw a tee pee and cut it out. They will use the construction paper crayons to draw patterns on their tee pee.

Assessment:
The instructor will use the following checklist an informal assessment.

Objective	Mastered	Attempted
Students will illustrate patterns in their artwork.

Pumpkin Still Life - 5th Grade

Pumpkin Still Life

Teacher: Abby Kuhn                                                                                    
Grade Level: 5^th Grade
Time Allocated: 60 Minutes

Objective:
Students will illustrate light source with shadows and highlights using oil pastels.

Motivation:
View Images of Pumpkins

Vocabulary:
Highlights    

Shadows      

Light Source

Materials:
Construction Paper
Oil Pastels

Procedure:

Day	The Teacher will	The Students will
One	Discuss: Lights Source, Highlights, Lowlights, and Shadows. View: Images of pumpkins Demonstrate: The instructor will demonstrate how draw a pumpkin and blend colors using oil pastels.	Create:  The students will draw a pumpkin still life. Then they will use oil pastels to add color. They will include highlights and shadows to illustrate light source.

Assessment:
The instructor will use the following checklist an informal assess.

Objective	Mastered	Attempted
Students will illustrate light source with shadows and highlights using oil pastels.

A Lesson that Tanked

Last year, I read one of my new books, Lines that Wiggle, to my kindergarten class. I had seen this lesson on Pinterest and thought it was going to be the perfect combo.

Sadly, it tanked and I hated the projects. Students did a wonderful job creating different kind of lines in each section but the finished piece just wasn't that interesting. So.... we cut them into flowers by rounding the edges of each section. I took pictures of each of them and posted them on artsonia and then hung them together in the hall way. Check it out!