CHOICE ART at Bountiful Elementary

2012-02-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

Construction Center

"The hardest part of this was making the hole in the middle for the tube nose. But it worked."

"It's a place where the people live. And this is a tower, and these [pine cones] are the people that live there."

2012-01-31T09:54:00.000-07:00

Second grade potters

"This is for my rock collections, I made different sections to sort the rocks."

"Well, to do this, I used black pastel; oil pastel, and I colored it, kind of hard. Then I did green watercolor on top. The texture is from when I made the snake on the mat, the mat dented it."

2012-01-30T09:54:00.000-07:00

The Human Figure

"They're tube people, those leaves are his mustache."

"She has a little purse, and that's her baby."

"I just cut a face out of a magazine, and found pretty magazine pages to make a dress. It was hard to make her arms stay on."

"The material is the clothes, and then I drew the face and hands and feet."

2012-01-30T09:45:00.000-07:00

"It's a colorful dog! She's a girl dog."

2012-01-09T11:32:00.000-07:00

These snails and matching baskets were made by two second graders, who collaborated on the size of the creatures as well as the color scheme.

Using some ceramic face parts, this second grader made "a funny guy. I drew eyes on him and gave him spiky hair, too."

This tiny quilted pillow was created by a second grader as a gift. "She'll be surprised when she gets it. I know she'll like it, because she likes sparkly stuff."

"This is the beach, there's water, and sand, and a coconut tree. And that's where they have the fire. Hey! Do you think I could put real fire in here?"

2012-01-07T11:28:00.000-07:00

Some ceramic pieces, painted with watercolors, created by first graders.

A second grader created this scene, he worked on it for several weeks. I asked him to tell me about the work, and he said, "Well, you can pretty much see everything that's happening in the story. I don't really need to tell you about it."

"It's a army tank, and those are the guys. Army guys. I painted it camoflauge colors. That's so the bad guys can't see it."

2012-01-06T11:05:00.001-07:00

Uninhibited

"It's a bird feeder. I drew a picture of a bird on it, so the bird knows to go there. I'm going to ask my mom for some bird stuff. Like crumbs and raisins. And hang it from the tree outside."

"I'm drawing a pirate ship. There's bad guys on it. AND ghosts, too."

2011-12-06T10:55:00.016-07:00

Happy Holidays!

Students work hard to create holiday decorations. They come up with their own ideas, or take inspiration from classmates.

"This is a tube, decorated with ornaments, I couldn't glue the star to the top of the tube, so I put this thing [souffle cup] on top, then glued the star on."

"The white stuff is snow, and there are ornaments, and I found a wooden star for the top. 'Cept at my house, we don't have a star on top, we have a angel."

The artist the created this ceramic Santa Claus modeled him after a fabric Santa Claus she'd made in class earlier.

Pastels and watercolor, on construction paper.

An amazing 3-d paper sculpture that includes a Christmas tree, fireplace, gingerbread man, and even a stream!

2011-11-30T10:24:00.000-07:00

Drawing

This artist studied some giraffe figures from different angles. She drew outlines, then filled in details

The above drawing was created by a kindergartner. "It's a robot. No, it's a machine robot! And it's going fast."

Two first graders drew these pictures side by side, giving each other advice and ideas. These drawings are "mostly designs, like a maze."

2011-11-29T10:30:00.000-07:00

Art is messy

"I know what art is for! Art is for being creative, and it's okay if you get messy!"

-Kindergarten boy, talking to classmates

It's true, art can be very messy. Definitely untidy. When the artists get going, there is a flurry of art bits going everywhere. Glue, tape, paper, fabric, and more. And, as an art teacher, I am okay with it. That flurry of activity indicates massive amounts of inspiration and creativity at work. Students are learning problem solving and critcial thinking skills.

A kindergartner experimenting with glue, scissors, and paper.

"Well, first this was going to be a hat, but it didn't really work that way, so I made it into a decoration that you can hang over a baby's crib. So the baby has something to look at."

This creation, made from strips of cardboard was almost as tall as the artist!

"Well, it's a beach, this is the coconut tree, and that's the sand, and there's little shells on it."

Here is a large creation, put together at the construction center. Unfortunately, I've lost the narrative that accompanies this charming piece. I'll try to track down the artist this week.

"This took SO long to make! Do you like the little pom pom guy? He has button eyes!"

"Well, it's a beautiful ornament for the Christmas tree. It was hard to glue the pretty fabrics on, they kept sliding."

2011-11-26T10:24:00.000-07:00

Fiber Arts

Fiber arts include sewing, weaving, braiding, macrame, and more. Because of some very generous fabric and yarn donations, our fiber arts center is well stocked!

"I made a Santa ornament for the tree."

"So, I made a pom thing from yarn. You want me to show you how I did it? I can teach the other kids, too. I made it pretty fast. Then I found these things to make it into a face. His mouth is a feather, but it is the shape of a mouth, right? And it was just like that, I didn't have to bend it or anything!"

"Well, this is a mummy. And I just got some of this stuff, and then twisted it around the wire."

2011-11-19T09:28:00.002-07:00

Pastel resist is always magical to students. It works particularly well with liquid watercolor, on watercolor paper, as seen here. "This is pretty, it's leaves in the fall."

One of my students has created several pieces like this. I find them quite striking. He loves the oil pastels with their full creamy coverage."It's not a picture of something, it's colors and shapes."

2011-11-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

More Fiber

"I made it on the red loom, then after I took it off, I sewed beads onto it with yarn. I had to use one of the big blue needles [a plastic tapestry needle]. It's a decoration, you can hang it."

These two little kittens were sewn by two second graders after seeing similar creations on my blog: http://tabroom.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html

2011-11-14T09:21:00.000-07:00

3-D

"It's a street, these are houses, and I cut out doors for the people."

"Well, I colored it with pastels, then I punched holes with a hole puncher. Then I putted the yarn in the holes for a handle. See? It's for lifting up my hot wheels car and putting 'em in the garage."

2011-11-08T09:17:00.000-07:00

Drawing

"It's a design, made out of curves. But dontcha think it kinda looks like a monster mouth?"

"Circles, and lines, point lines!"

"I drew these mostly with oil pastels, and some crayons, too."

"Yeah, this bad guy skeleton, he's gonna chase that other skeleton, he's a bad guy, too."

2011-10-24T11:00:00.000-06:00

"He's a duck, and that's his house."

"It's my mom, and she's happy."

"I just found all the orange things and glued them on to the pumpkin I drew."

"This is a yarn girl, and here's her house, and her pets!"

I absolutely LOVE this piece. Three first graders spent the better part of an hour working on this, then proudly showed it to me, "This is a dragon. Here's the wings, and there's the tail, here's his head, and there's fire coming out!"

2011-10-24T08:58:00.001-06:00

Fiber Arts

Thanks to some generous parent donations, we've got plenty of fabric to create pillows, bags, stuffies, and more.

"This is a pillow for my bear, so he can be comfy."

"It's a purse with a pocket. I'm going to make one for my sister next."

"The fabric wasn't big enough, so I sewed pieces together to make a big pillow."

"This is a purse for my sister. She loves putting things in bags! It has lining and pockets inside. It took a while to make, about three art days."

2011-10-12T10:07:00.004-06:00

Spooky Art

"This is a spooky race car track. And a ghost is trying to knock some of the cars out. And the fence shoots out bomb ghostes. And the haunted house has ghosts trying to knock the people out of the cars. I made it with paper and glue. It was hard to make the haunted house stand up."

"It's halloween night, that's why it's black."

"It's Frankenstein, I used crayons and watercolor."

"This is a haunted house, but it's not too scary!"

"The skeleton is wearing a hat and he's knocking on the door."

"It's my halloween book!"

"These are two skeletons, playing basketball, one is red, for the U[niversity of Utah] and one is blue for BYU."

This is a sampling of some kindergartner's chalk pastel drawings.

"She's a girl monster, and she's pretty!"

2011-10-05T08:37:00.000-06:00

"It's a cat, only she's lots of different colors!"

created at the collage center

"It's a apron for my sister's barbie, I sewed it, but then I glued on the pocket. She's going to be happy that I made it for her."

"Look teacher! It's a street that curves, and there are cars there, too!"

"Those birds are happy. And it's raining."

"Well, I saw this material and I glued it to be dresses."

"This took me two whole art times! But it's a purse and I can use it all the time now!"

"Well, this is just the paper towel that we were using with the watercolors. And then I found shapes on it, and look: these are seals and baby seals, and clouds. And this is their house."

"I just was drawing, it's a zipline, and it's fun, 'cause you go real fast."

"It was so hard to make the house glue together like that. And there's some glue on the outside, but it's okay, right? Because you told me that when it dries it will be see through. And then I drew the other houses on the street."

2011-10-05T05:58:00.002-06:00

Appreciating children's artwork

"These are pandas, and they have on hats! That one is hanging upside down, from the bars."

It can be difficult for adults (including myself) to appreciate the seemingly random art pieces children create when they are self-directed. We are accustomed to seeing adult-driven art projects assembled by children. But we must not confuse the two distinct activities. Adult-driven projects are fine, in fact, they help children learn to follow directions, and the results can be quite charming, and pleasing to our adult eyes.

The child-created pieces, though, those are my favorite. The younger children, especially, are not burdened with the self-criticism of the older, wiser (?) kids. These younger kids create with purpose, with vision, with joy.

"It's a rocket ship, see? That is the space where the guy, the driver, you know, the space guy sits. And over here is an escape hatch, so he can get a way quick. These things are the drivers for it."

"It's a tower, like Rapunzel's"

"This is a farm! That's me, and that's my mom, or maybe my grandma. Anyway, we're at a farm together, you know the kind with a red building where the chickens live. In kindergarten, I got to see a real farm!"

"Okay, so I made this doghouse, and it was hard to make this part stay up. And look! The dog's looking out the window, but if you turn it around, you can see the back of him through the other window. Only, this doghouse is too small for a real dog, unless it was teeny teeny tiny. Once, I saw a lady at a store, and she had a dog that could fit in her purse! 'cept I think that this is smaller than her purse. But! I have a toy dog that can fit in this little house."

"Ha ha. This is funny, know why? Look, there's a picture of a baby's head right there. So, this is like a big tall guy, only he has a little baby head. Yeah, that makes me laugh."

"Oh, okay, so first I was drawing shapes, like we were talking 'bout today. I drew rectangles, and then those triangles, and I used different colors too. And now, it looks like a castle, almost! But maybe it's a big house. I seen big houses before, have you teacher? Yeah, those live up in the mountains, those houses. No, I think this is a castle, and I can live there and be the king and fight the bad guys. Nope! No girls in this castles, or princesses just boys [talking to the cluster of girls gathered round to admire his castle] 'cept my mom, and maybe my sister. My grandma could come to visit too. But NO OTHER GIRLS!"

"I'm just cutting lots of shapes, and making a design with them."

2011-10-03T10:58:00.000-06:00

Collage!

These first graders were happily gluing for the entire hour!

"It was hard to make the yarn stick, so I pushed it down hard. And that's a picture of a watch like my uncle wears. The pink yarn is part of the dragonfly's tail, and the other yarn is to hang up the picture in my room."

"I used a hole punch, well, different hole punches. A regular one, and then ones that did shapes."

"This is the street, and the green things are houses. I live there, and I put my friend's house next door. 'Cept she doesn't really live next door, I just pretended. And these green poofyish things are the trees."

"I glued, and cut, and I drawed on stuff too."

"Look teacher! I made it stand up!"

"Okay, well, this is a boat, and it's supposed to go on the river, but then a bad guy tooked it away. So then, I made it so the good guys could get it back, 'cause there's a secret tunnel to it."

"I used the pastels to draw pictures of flowers, then I glued them on this paper. This orange paper is like the sun."

2011-09-29T10:51:00.000-06:00

Kinders and wire

The kindergartners worked with wire and drew their creations. It was interesting to see them replicate the

3-d sculpture onto a 2-d piece of paper.

"Mine's a necklace. I think I'll give it to my mom, after i wear it a while."

"I traced around the stuff."

Construction center

"It's a teeny flower in a vase. The vase is a lid from a water bottle. It was hard to make the flower stand, I had to hold it a long time."

Fiber

Two second graders made matching purses, collaborating on the design. "We copycatted each other!"

In the same class, another boy created a wallet, "I made paper dollars and a pretend ID."

2011-09-21T12:04:00.000-06:00

One of the best things about TAB is seeing students create art about the things that interest them.

"This is a family. There's the mom, the big sister, the little sister, and the boy. The little sister is going to swim, and the big sister is going to church."

"I made my name into a picture."

"She's a mouse, with a flower in her hair."

"This is batdog. He's batman's dog. And look! Batman's riding on his tail!"

"Yep. It's a finger puppet, I sewed it, but it needed a stand, so I made this hand out of cardboard."

"It's a ferris wheel, it goes to our amusedment park, and it really turns! The people go upside down, even."

"This is the ice cream stand."

"This is a safe house. It protects you from the bad guys. There's a lock on the doors."

It's hard to see from these photos, but this safehouse shows a great deal of engineering ingenuity. The artist came up with different attachment techniques.

2011-09-14T08:50:00.000-06:00

The 2011/2012 school year has begun!

It's the fourth week of the school year, and most classes have the collage, drawing, construction, and fiber centers available.

I was very impressed by the tower created by a second grader using no tape! Below is a close up of how he attached the flag pole.

The beauty of young children is that they can create without the stifling self-conciousness that the rest of us suffer from. This was created at the construction center.

The first grader that created the two pocket tooth fairy pillow seen here is now a second grader with even more ambitious sewing aspirations. He created this multi-sectioned wallet after drawing up a detailed plan.

Having found a random letter in the collage box, this first grader added details using a ruler, markers, scrap paper, and a "string that was just there on the ground! It was just sitting there, teacher, so I 'accided to glue it on my page! It looks great, dontcha think?!"

I love what this first grader created using only glue, paper, and markers.

2011-06-09T08:41:00.000-06:00

Stuffies and more!

"It's just a creature I made up."

"He's mine, I sewed him, then I glued on his beak and drew his stomach. He's kind of a penguin."

Kids of all ages respond to blocks, the chance to create something three dimensional . . .

A second grader created this 2-d dragon with keva planks. Just one of the many dragons she created in many different media this year.

Another dragon by the same artist.

This first grader found a fun way to incorporate her signature into her drawing.

Created by a first grader, this tooth fairy pillow is quite functional, "The pocket that says 'Tooth' is where the tooth goes. So the tooth fairy takes the tooth from there, and she can put money in that other pocket."

2011-05-03T11:56:00.000-06:00

3-d Creations

"I wanted her to sort of stand off the page, so I folded a paper and put it under her."

"This took me a LONG time to make! Almost two whole art times!"

"This guy can stand by himself, 'cept not on the carpet, 'cause the carpets all bumpy. But if you put him on the table, he can stand up all alone!"

2011-05-02T04:23:00.000-06:00

Authentic Art Making

"It's a new 'vention. A machine, and when you put the thing in here, than it gets mashed up and comes out here."

"Isn't this cool? Here are the steps, and then you go up to this tower, and you can see all the people on the ground."

Small clay sculpture created with modeling clay.

"It's a quilt. I chose the pieces I liked then sewed them together."

"This [figure on the left] was gonna be a dog, but I changed him to a squirrel. He has a tiny pine cone for his nose. And that pink above the cat is a bird flying."

"It's a baby I made out of clay. It's a boy, like my baby brother. And he has a little mohawk, see?"

2011-04-21T08:58:00.000-06:00

More sewing

"It's a little tiny pillow for my head."

Funny creatures made by two fifth grade boys.

"It took me a while, but I made this purse! And I used a ribbon for the strap, so it's soft."

"I made a stuffy! I glued on the face."

"It's a bunny, and I'm making him a house from a box."

"It's a pillow and a creature. I seweded [sic] all the buttons on myself."

2011-04-19T09:44:00.000-06:00

Respecting the artist

This student explores colors, how they change when placed next to other colors. I could have come up with an assignment to teach this concept, but it would have had little impact. Not to mention that that level of color theory is quite advanced for a six-year-old.

This mixed media piece would make a much nicer father's day tribute than some of the pre-designed templates usually created in classrooms.

Can feathers be limbs AND hair? Why not?

These first grade girls, in response to their male classmates statements that, "boys are better at basketball than girls!" created their own basketball team, complete with uniforms (made from butcher paper) and cheerleaders. Pictured here is the team flag. No written curriculum can better teach empowerment. (Interesting side note: the boys wanted cheerleaders for their team, too. "No way!" said the girls. "If you want cheerleaders, you can find your own. We're cheering only for OUR team!")

Blocks. Yes, they do have a place in the art curriculum. Blocks enable artists to create temporary sculptures, to work on three dimensional designs without having to commit to their placement. They are often a collaborative venture, requiring teamwork and negotiation skills. Of course, engineering and balance are important factors as well.

2011-04-18T09:31:00.000-06:00

Construction center sculptures

"It's a little house, and that's the creature that lives here."

"It was hard to get the string to stay in place, and make it strong enough to hold the spider."

"She has sequin eyes, and a feather skirt, plus she has a feather in her hair."

"She's a hula girl!"

"I'm going to put him on my desk, 'cause there's a compartment on the back to hold pencils."

"The hardest part was making the curving part attach to the sides."

2011-04-13T09:13:00.000-06:00

Fiber Creations

This fifth grader used a favorite drawing as a pattern for a stuffy.

Another fifth grader created this pillow using a favorite logo.

"He's a sock monkey! I have a collection of them at home."

"Penguins are my favorite."

"It's for my American Girl doll."

(This student went on to make a full size skirt for her sister! She sewed it by hand, painstakingly, over the course of six weeks.)

"This is going to be a present for my friend. I chose this fabric 'cause she likes pink."

A second grader crafted these simple kittens from a rectangular pillow. (Idea from http://www.kids-sewing-projects.com/stuffed-kittens.html )

Simple felt doll, created by a second grader, "She's got brown hair and blue eyes, like me!"

"It's a present. I think she'll really like this pillow. It's not a pillow to sleep on, it's for decoration."

"I made a whale for my little brother! I sewed the eyes on very tight, 'cause I think he'll grab 'em and I don't want them to come off."

2011-04-03T09:04:00.000-06:00

Kindergarten collage artists

"This is me, 'cept she has pink hair, and I don't"

"I got these different materials here, and found this red shiny stuff for legs."

"Look! A feather! I just glued on things I liked."

I'm fascinated by the symmetry of this piece. Many children create symmetrical pieces, most of them unintentionally.

"Well, I drew it, then I'm filling in the clothes."

I switched to cardboard as a collage substrate with this class; many young children (especially those who haven't been able to use glue at home) enjoy making thick puddles of glue.

"It's a robot. And it's in three pieces, so I can fit it in my cubby."

2011-03-23T09:41:00.000-06:00

Drawing

No matter how many other available choices students have, there are ALWAYS some kids drawing. They work with line, play with scale, and revel in the joys of simple mark making.

2011-02-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

First and second grade artists

"Leprechaun's day is a day of money and greed and choclit."

"This is my clay guy. He's supposed to stand up, but I have to hold him up. Those other things are what my friend made to go with the guy."

This is yours truly standing in front of a section of mural that the second graders created.

"Well, what we did was, she started and then we copycatted her. But it's okay, she said we could. Mostly we painted first, and added collage stuff, but then we painted after, too."

"I don't know what it's called, but I did collage first then painted. It has lots of colors. And I sort of splatted over it."

Block city, created by first graders.As soon as I took this photo, they gleefully destroyed the city!

"It's a grabbing thing," a first grader tells me, "I made it at construction, and you move this part, and the ends move."

2011-01-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

Kindergartners and watersoluble pastels.

"This red guy is gonna fight that other red guy."

"I'm doing yellow and green. But don't use too much water, else your paper gets too mushy."

"I made these circles like you showed us [I started class by showing them several Kadinsky works], and I put colors and water on the circles."

2011-01-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

Fabric and thread

Students have been creating stuffies with fabric, using yarn and fabric scraps as stuffing.

"Isn't he cute? I drew a picture first, then drew it on the fabric."

"She's doll for my sister, I think I'll give it to her for Christmas."

This lizard was created by a sixth grade boy, "I just wanted to make a stuffie, but not something girly."

2010-12-17T09:56:00.000-07:00

Clay creations.

All grades seem to enjoy clay. The older grades tend to want to create functional useful objects, while the younger grades generally enjoy fashioning imaginative pieces.

Two second graders made Christmas decor, "We just wanted to make Christmas trees. It was hard to make them stand up, though."

From left to right: a princess, a cartoon or video game character, a smiling boy, and a bowl of meatloaf chunks.

2010-12-10T10:12:00.000-07:00

Paper and Glue

"It's a decoration for my room, the string is to hang it."

This is the shelf where students put completed work.

These students trying to determine the best way to attach a cone to the top of their rocket.

2010-11-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

The Drawing Center

I'm fascinated by the students who choose to visit the drawing center week after week. Even with paint, clay, construction, and other centers available. Each class has its own core of students that love to draw.

A first grader made a book about his family, "see? here's my whole family."

I've been watching this second grader draw since kindergarten. One of his classmates observed his drawing skills and said, very quietly (not wanting me to overhear), "Wow, I think you might be a even better drawer than Mrs. Dyer." And I'm inclined to agree!

Some of my favorite drawings, the kind I fish out of the recycle bin, are these types of things. Students just playing with lines, patterns, shapes. Not creating a finished product, but joyfully playing with the process. "I'm filling in each of the squares and then it's a pattern, but with different colors. Do you know what pattern this is called? It's AABB. 'Cause it goes circle, circle, square, square."

2010-10-23T11:54:00.000-06:00

3-D artwork

"It's a little puffy creature, this is it's bed and pillow too."

"I wanted to have something for my desk, 'cause it gets messy. This is a pencil holder."

One sixth grader created this articulated puppet, complete with moving limbs.
"I just wanted to make something that was movable, you know."

"This is cool. I made it with yarn and sticks, and it's gonna be a decoration for my house."

2010-10-11T11:56:00.000-06:00

"It's for my dad. I live with him, so I made him this card."

"Isn't this so funny? I love this story!"

"This one is just silly."

"It's just the story, then we'll draw pictures later."

2010-10-05T16:37:00.000-06:00

"It's a dragon. I used little squares from the collage center, then I drew on them, then I made the body. He's breathing fire!"

2010-10-05T16:32:00.000-06:00

"I traced around the modeling clay shape. This is the middle part, that I cut out."

"I made a dinosaur collage, and I even collaged the letters."

"I just saw the lady's head in the collage papers so I made her a body."

"This is like sewing, I did it on burlap. It's a present for my brother and his wife. They just got married! I used the colors she likes."

"We decided to copy the picture, just for fun. We both did it."

2010-09-10T11:45:00.000-06:00

drawing and collage centers

"These are a boy and girl. Not boyfriend and girlfriend, just friends. They like to play together at recess."

"It's a princess. And I wanted there to by sky and ground, so I drew them on the paper."

Two fifth graders created similar collages, "What we did was, we drew a dog picture first, and then we used those shapes for kind of a pattern to cut the colored paper."

2010-09-04T21:03:00.000-06:00

This second grader made a book to put on the back of her book! "It's my pop book, and it has words in it. Words I know."

"We got the idea to draw dragons from a dragon book. And D__ says dragons aren't real. They ARE real, aren't they teacher?"

"It's a girl, her name is 'Roxie', but her nickname is 'Rocks'. I didn't have room to write her whole name, so I just put her nickname on it.

"It's a dog picture. I want a god, but dad says no more dogs. He says we already have three kids in the house, so why do we want a dog too? But I want a dog. So this will be my pretend dog."

2010-08-31T20:47:00.000-06:00

"These are pets that I made, and this is a carrier for them."

Two first graders collaborated on this large creation, "It's a transformer alien. A two-headed alien transformer car."

First graders love using grown up tools, like staplers, and often incorporate them into their artwork. Here, a young artist uses the staples to help create a race track, "I got the idea because I wanted to shock my mom. I knew if she saw it she would be super excited--shocked--about my project. I like my track and I wanted to very very shock my mom three times."

2010-08-31T20:38:00.000-06:00

"I'm just making scary aliens."

"It's a fuzzy brown bear with a baby. I can't wait 'til the fiber center opens up, so I can make my creations come to life."

"It's a covered wagon, made out of paper."

"It's different shapes cut out. I want to make a bunch of these, I think they'd look really pretty."

2010-08-31T10:12:00.000-06:00

"I made this mermaid with paper. I couldn't find skin color, so I used orange."

A second grader created this robot, as a departure from some of the robots he made as a second grader, "This is a baseball robot. That's his bat, and he can hit the ball EVERY time! He has a baseball hat too."

2010-08-26T10:04:00.000-06:00

"I wanted to make a necklace, but then I would have to cut it, so it's a crown instead."

Welcome to the 2010/11 school year!

Things have been going well. We've only got one center running; the drawing center--but that's enough to get the kids' creativity going. Many students are interested in honing their drawing skills, like the fifth grader who drew this dinosaur.

An exciting addition to the art room this year; an overhead projector along with a document camera! Now I can show students images from the computer, as well as do demos that EVERYONE can see.

2010-06-27T10:03:00.000-06:00

My absolute favorite part of my job is when I get to experience the hum of creativity. There's a current of excitement and wonder, an actual tangible feeling, when the students are working together. It doesn't happen every time for every class, but when it does, WOW. That's when I think about what a privilege it is to work with these kids.

"It's a decoration for my room. These loops are so I can hang it up. I have LOTS of art in my room, so if there isn't enough space, I'll give this to my sister for her room."

"It's just a girl, not me or anybody I know, just a happy girl, she's smiling 'cause her dress gots lots of colors, kind of a rainbow."

"Well, this started out as just a picture on this side, but then my friend made one too and we thought, 'Let's glue them together and make it long, like a snake!' so we did. I'll take it home this time, and she'll take it home next time."

2010-05-11T09:45:00.000-06:00

"He's just a guy I made. With paper and then he has sticks for hair. They make him look funny."

"I made this for my friend. It's his birthday tomorrow. And what it is, it's a boat that I made at the 'struction [construction] center. Then I colored with markers, I wanted to paint it, but, we lost paint last week. That's sad, too, I like paint. But then I thought, 'hey! I know! I can put color on it with markers!', so, I did. And see, I made this guy here for the boat. He's laying down, 'cause he's gonna be sleeping on the boat ride. Only, his eyes can't close, so you gotta pretend that they're closed. And that thing in the back, it's a sign, I put a M on it, M for Man, you know, that's the guy's name, Man. Yeah, I thought that was funny, too, it's kinda silly. But that's why my friend'll really like it."

2010-05-10T09:32:00.000-06:00

Kindergartners' drawings

"I drew lots of colors, and there's a caterpillar, see? It's happy, 'cause it's starting to be springtime."

"Look! It's a centipede! With tons and tons and TONS of legs!"

"And here's my centipede, teacher. Only he doesn't got a hundred legs, 'cause he's really more like a caterpillar. But he's smiling. Even caterpillars don't really smile."

2010-05-03T11:26:00.000-06:00

"It's a weaving. It took a looong time, because when you do it, you think you have a lot done, but then you use the comb to push it down and it's not done as much. But you use the comb to make it tight. Else it would fall apart. I'm giving this to my grandma and you know what? She's coming to my house today! After school I get to go get her from the airport. So it's good I finished in time."

Two first graders spent four art sessions trying to make a large piece of pieces (it's about 14 inches long). They overworked the clay on their first two tries. Frankly, I thought they'd lose interest. But not these two. They really wanted to make this thing!

"It's a big piece of pizza. It was hard to make, 'cause the clay got dry, then it broke and stuff. It broke bad on our first two tries! This was our third try, and it only broke a little bit, so we glued it, and finally we can paint it."

2010-05-03T11:18:00.000-06:00

When students don't properly clean up a station, that station is taken away temporarily. Such was the case when a first grade class recently lost construction (the center with cardboard, craft sticks, wire, and other 3-d materials). Of course, lack of materials doesn't stop these builders.

"It's a ship! And those are flames, and I used marker, too."

"It's a HUGE robot! We all made it together; me and him and him and him. Can you take a picture?"

"Okay, well, this is a ship, and those arrows are for the lasers, but this one shoots candy. And that guy is the driver."

2010-05-01T11:04:00.000-06:00

"Okay, this is a land for these guys. They are little cotton guys, and here's the house. We used fabric, and tape, and glue, and paper. We have to take turns having it at our house, 'cause we made it together. This week it's my turn."

"I made this for my sister. She's starting kindergarten next year. So, here's a school I made for her."

"It's a dancing girl. I can dance too, I can dance the hula."

2010-05-01T09:58:00.000-06:00

A guided project. Occasionally, the students do have an assigned project, and this is an example of one of them. After reading the Ed Emberley book, Go Away, Big Green Monster, the students created their own monsters. Teacher led projects are helpful to push the kids to work on some skills, in this case, cutting skills.

2010-04-20T12:58:00.000-06:00

An origami dodecahedron, created by two sixth graders and 50 squares of paper.

"This is for my mom. It's a necklace with a picture of me on it. It's very fragile."

"I made this paper man, so that we can trap him inside the blocks."

2010-04-10T13:02:00.001-06:00

"I'm making a whole land. Green is land, and blue is water, so the green will have land animals on it. Then I'll make fish to go in the water."

"This is spiderman. He's fighting the other spiderman. And look! That's a lizard, or a chameleon, I'm not sure, but--I made it spidermanish, so he helps spiderman."

2010-04-10T12:57:00.000-06:00

"I made this with cardboard at the construction center. Then I painted it. I'm going to take it home later and play with it."

"This ship is super big! It's like the star wars one, but not the same. I can't wait to show my brother!"

This is a piece that a couple of sixth graders worked on last year. I found it in my files. It has an entire family along with their house!

2010-04-04T12:52:00.000-06:00

"No, it's not a backpack, it's a bag; like the one Indiana Jones has to carry stuff. Me and my friends made it with paper from the recycle box. But it looked kinda plain, so we colored it."

"It looks like a mouse, but it's apposed [sic] to be a hamster. I made one 'cause my mom won't let me have one for a pet. I wanted to make a cage for him, but I ran out of time."

2010-04-02T12:47:00.000-06:00

"Look at this guy! He has lots of powers. And I used LOTS of tape. I found all these cool paper scraps in the recycle box."

"He's see through, you can see his different body parts. He's smiling, because he's happy that he knows how to fly."

"Well, I wasn't planning on making it 3-d, but I did. I saw a book that showed how to draw frogs, so I drew some, then I wanted to make them into kind of a family, so I cut them out and put them on these lily pads. And those are flies, 'cause that's what frogs eat."

2010-03-10T12:35:00.000-07:00

"This guy has a rocket on his back. It's called a jet pack. He can go, 'vroom,' super fast! I used the staples to stick the parts together, and also to decorate it."

Three students worked together on this creature, using paper from the recycle bin. "He's gonna have REALLY long legs. When he's done we have to take turns. He can come to my house first, then his, and then that other guy's. After that he can come to my house again. He's like a decoration; he doesn't really have any powers, though."

"This is a ghost. He's saying, 'Ooooooo,' but he's not really scary, he's just trying to scare people."

2010-02-25T12:24:00.000-07:00

"It's a Christmas decoration. We can put it up until we put the real tree up."

There are some artists who LOVE 3-d. Regardless of the medium, subject, or size, these guys will find a way to make it dimensional.

"First I used the tracers [stencils] to draw some creatures, then I put them in their homes."

"This is just a funny guy. He doesn't really have a name. I used the puncher to make decorations."

2010-01-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

A Proud Moment

You need to know that I think of myself as a facilitator more than a teacher. A person who facilitates creative endeavors and processes. Someone that helps young people look inside themselves for ideas and teaches them to cherish and value those processes.

My job is quite wonderful, I have lots of autonomy, and creative freedoms. The classroom teachers I work with are very accepting of the TAB model. Occasionally, I have moments of insecurity when I see traditional classroom art. You know what I mean; matched sets of art "in the style of so and so". These pieces look so polished, that I find myself wondering if I'm doing the right thing.

These doubts go away when I remember what happened last month. I had a first grader approach me at the store, or church, or some other non-school venue. "Mrs. Dyer," she said, "next art time me and my friends want to do an art show. Well, maybe not next art time, because we still have to make all the art, but probably the art time after that." I told her that sounded like a great idea, and that I would be able to help if she had any questions.

The next art time she showed up with a couple hand drawn pictures (one of them was quite striking, an abstract image filled with lines and angles, juxtaposed against a couple of rather cliched hearts and flowers). "These are the first things for my art show. I'm doing more today, and so are my friends. We want to do the art show today, in class, can we?" I assured her that would work well, and that I was looking forward to it. We discussed the set up time, and together determined that fifteen minutes would be enough time to set things up. "Would you like me to let you know when there are fifteen minutes left?" I asked her. "Sure! That's great!" she responded.

She and the other students (three or four girls, with a couple boys) got right to work. I observed her and her friends grab cardboard from the construction center. The leader pulled a monoprint (something that she discovered on her own) and showed her friends. They squealed and began to make their own monoprints. Another student observed that if you peeled off the first layer of paper, it revealed the corrugated cardboard underneath--she quickly made some prints with this. "Ooooh, look Mrs. Dyer! It's kind of a pattern."

With the deadline approaching, I informed the art show group, "Okay guys, you'll need to clean up your centers and start setting up your art show." They quickly divided the tasks. Two would clean up the paint center, one would help select art pieces, and the others would assist the leader with the art display. "You should get to decide where to put them, it was your idea," they told her. "Can we use the whiteboard, Mrs. Dyer?"

They decided on placement of the pieces (of course at this point many of the other class members decided they wanted things in the art show, too. An argument ensued and I had to force myself to step back--I'm glad I did. The art show kids reminded the others that they had been invited to be in the art show at the beginning of class. "And, we had to clean up early to be ready in time," the art show kids said. "It's not fair for you guys to not clean up early, and still put your stuff up." Most of the students begrudgingly agreed that was true. "Besides," the art show kids continued, "you can share your stuff another time during sharing time anyway.") Finally it was time! The classroom teacher arrived early as promised, in order to see the show.

Each of the students proudly described the media and processes they'd used to create their pieces. Observers asked a few respectful questions, which were thoughtfully answered: "How come you painted just flowers?" "Mostly because flowers have lots of colors, and I like flowers, me and my mommy plant flowers outside, but they died now, so she can have these flowers."

It was over in under ten minutes. I had hoped they would let me borrow some of their art works, but they all went home, "I'm going to my dad's tonight and I want to show him this robot picture, the one that was in a real art show!"

The students hurried up the stairs, and out the door, with tangible evidence that artwork, THEIR ARTWORK, matters. And that is when my self-doubt vanishes.

2009-10-26T09:58:00.000-06:00

"It's a scarecrow, but it's really scary, because of all his pointy fingers. They're everywhere, see?"
-first grader

"Oh, he's just a guy. I made him for the block center, we're going to trap him inside the tower!"
-first grader

"Okay. These are three magic horse guys. And these squares are their powers. One has water powers. One has animal powers [he can change into any animal]. And this one, um, I forget his power."
-second grader

"Well, I just started cutting out then I found the hole puncher. And the hole puncher is hard to push. And he has holes in his head but he's not hurt, you know, that's how his head is. And the yellow string is hair, plus I can hang it up by the string. It's for my mom for a decoration, only I'm gonna ask her if I can put it in my room. 'Cause I really like it."

2009-10-16T09:45:00.000-06:00

"It's me. Made out of paper. I'm smiling because I'm happy. Next week I'm going to make my sister, too."

2009-06-05T10:12:00.000-06:00

end of year odds and ends
School is just about over! I'm cleaning up my computer image files, and finding some images I'd meant to post. Here they are!

Fifth and sixth graders learned iris folding.

Students in all graders enjoy attribute blocks.

Painting:

The drawing center:

Collage:

The fifth graders loved weaving on homemade looms. Some used rulers as a shed holder.

2009-06-04T10:43:00.000-06:00

This luscious painting was created by a first grader. She told me, "I'm just seeing how it looks to paint circles softly. Then sometimes I just put the brush on the paper. I'm trying different colors, too."

Here is a side by side of her two paintings. On the right is the rainbow, with a few experimental marks. I asked her if I could display the painting. She looked at both of them and handed me the rainbow. "You can keep this one," she said, "I can make other rainbows, but I don't think I'll ever be able to do one just like this [experimental painting]. My mom will really want to see it." Had I had my own classroom, I'd have shown her some work done by Kandinsky . . .

2009-05-25T05:02:00.000-06:00

Students LOVE Keva planks !

"Look at this, it's made with spirals."

"This building is for animals, they can go in or out."

It took three students to create this butterfly.

"It's an airport shop!"

2009-05-24T09:11:00.001-06:00

The students have fun making friends at the collage center

"These are stuffies. You just need paper and staples. And you decorate them. This is roundy and I don't know the other guy's name."

"This is me. I'm happy, and I'm thinking of something."

"I colored this with my favorite colors."

"I didn't have time to finish her, but I'll color her at home."

2009-05-23T14:36:00.000-06:00

"This is a picture of Obama. He's the president. And this is a map of the whole U.S.! I'm drawing the map and my friend is writing the names on the map, 'cause I don't know all their names or where they go."

2009-05-22T14:31:00.000-06:00

Some fun pieces from the collage center:

"This is a machine for our friend. It's a glue machine."

"It's my mask. I'm Iron Man! This ear thing is my protector."

2009-05-21T09:06:00.000-06:00

Second graders learned about shadows. We did these in the morning. Kids traced each other's shadows and added details. We talked about how the shadows are different at different times of day.

2009-05-18T14:38:00.000-06:00

These students love blocks. I enjoy seeing the different ways they are used to create. Some students make patterns:

Some students create 3 dimensional cities:

This student used it to spell out a kind thought!

2009-05-11T09:15:00.000-06:00

The ubiquitous traced hand drawing gets a new look!

2009-04-20T18:16:00.000-06:00

"It's me, my family, and my friends."

2009-04-20T18:15:00.000-06:00

"This is an underground digger, it can dig into the earth!"

2009-04-20T18:14:00.000-06:00

Two second graders created this catlike creature out of cardboard, "we started with the face, and kept adding things on."

2009-04-20T18:13:00.000-06:00

"It's an anthill, all the ants are in tunnels, see?"

2009-04-20T18:11:00.000-06:00

This student uses found objects to make a bed for her stick doll.

2009-04-20T18:09:00.000-06:00

Each of the art classes has a core group of of students who love drawing.

2009-04-20T18:07:00.000-06:00

Finally! I've bought a new camera, and can get back to posting!

"These are bathtubs"

2009-04-01T07:16:00.000-06:00

Okay, my camera is officially dead, I'll buy a new one this week.

The kids really miss the camera opportunities, "Mrs. Dyer! Will you take a picture of this? This tower is really cool!"

2009-03-06T09:55:00.000-07:00

Apparently, it's a good idea to keep your camera in a case, rather than tossing it into your purse along with all your other stuff. That way glue and ink and other juicy things won't get into your camera lens and ruin it forever. Sigh. That's what happened to me, which is why I haven't posted any pictures lately. Which is frustrating, because there've been some remarkable art pieces created. Weavings, mixed media work, miniature skis, masks, tessellations, house plans, block robots, clay volcanoes, cardboard rockets, tiny dollhouses, and more.

2009-02-21T14:41:00.000-07:00

An interesting color study created by a fifth grader, "It took me three art times to finish this. I like seeing the ways the colors look different, depending on how hard you draw. And they look different next to different colors, too."

2009-01-31T10:59:00.000-07:00

This is a giant origami paper cup, made by a first grader, "I decorated it with different pretty things."

2009-01-31T10:58:00.000-07:00

This student is exploring line and color.

2009-01-31T10:57:00.000-07:00

A handmade loom--the fifth and sixth graders love fiber.

2009-01-31T10:56:00.001-07:00

"It's a little doghouse."

2009-01-31T10:55:00.000-07:00

"I made a clay bakugan. Next week, I'll paint it."

2009-01-31T10:52:00.000-07:00

"It's a dog that can't stop itching. Here's its collar."

2009-01-31T10:50:00.000-07:00

This kindergartner is determined to build a spaceship without tape.

2009-01-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

More kindergarten work.

2009-01-31T10:45:00.000-07:00

A kindergartner learning how much glue is enough!

2009-01-10T11:12:00.000-07:00

2008-11-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

I'm trying something new this year, with the kindergarteners and some of my other classes. I put together art journals for them (three prong folders with lots of blank paper). The kindergarten students love them, and enjoy working with them every week.

2008-11-09T11:33:00.000-07:00

These first graders are happy and excited to draw new things. We discussed geometric and organic shapes.

A fifth grader who enjoys creating 3-D structures made this for his sister: "It's a ballerina. With a big mouth."

2008-10-26T11:07:00.001-06:00

These are a brand new addition to our art choices: Keva planks. The students LOVE them. They are simple planks, that follow the fibonacci sequence . . . students can make all sorts of structures. We have 200 now, and I'm hoping to buy more soon.

keva
Originally uploaded by shoppingformykids

the beauty of student directed artwork

2008-10-26T11:05:00.001-06:00

pastelsa
Originally uploaded by shoppingformykids

is that they come up with ideas and creations that I would never think of. This first grader was simply creating, and decided that this was a butterfly. Do you see the symmetry?

watercolor crayons

2008-10-26T11:03:00.001-06:00

watercrayons
Originally uploaded by shoppingformykids

First graders were introduced to water soluble media