Thursday, May 23, 2013

In the Art Room: The Art Show Part 2

A wall of third grade masterpieces. It makes me so happy to imagine this work now hanging on refrigerators in the artists home.
Well, we've sent those kids packing to embark on their summer adventures. It still seems surreal to me that the end of another school year is here. And it was kinda a hallmark year for me as this was my fifteenth year teaching (and they've not fired me yet, ha!). It's so strange how time does fly. Except that last full day of school when I still had kids in the art room. That was the perfect example of time not flying. Oh no. In fact I do believe it moved backwards.

But it's summer now and I couldn't be more excited...for the new school year! So many parents, students and coworkers have been asking what my theme will be for next year and I'm already brimming with ideas. Of course any thematic ideas from you would be much appreciated. Hubs is convinced I need to go with an "Art in the Future" theme...but my themes are usually a place so I'm not quite sold on that idea. I'd love to hear of some successful themes you've tried as well.

Until then, here's the second installment of our art show! Last week I shared what the halls of the kindergarten through second grade showcased. Today you're lookin' at my amazing third and fourth grade artists. I do hope you enjoy and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
I think this might have been one of my favorite new projects this year. You can see the full details of this lesson here.
We had so much fun printing these Eiffel Towers...and maybe a little too much fun with the chalk. Just how we went about this Parisian printing project here.
For every art show, I like to have a photo of the kids working in the art room. I also have them write an autobiography each year which we call the About the Artist sheet. Maybe I'll share that with you in the future. The suitcases with passports in the pocket were created at the start of the school year as a part of our travel theme. You can see the lesson here.

This project was a lot of fun because it was a sneaky way to incorporate literacy into our art...even if it was of the foreign language variety. We all agreed speaking French made us oh so fancy. Silhouette lesson here.
Another favorite project this year was creating gnomes and gnomettes. I've never used toilet paper tubes in art before and this year, we used them in three separate projects: The Hot Air Balloons over Paris, The Totally Tubular Castles and these here Gnomes.
Didn't my awesome parent volunteers do the best job hanging the student artwork? I love the variety in which each class was hung. The trick is to actually get the work to stay on the walls. We've tried it all and here's what works best: Blu Tac and 3M Double Sided Sticky Tape. And even then, I was on Rehang Duty each morning.

This display of fourth grade Pieces of Paris makes them look a little like quilts, don't you think?

One of the questions on the kids' About the Artist sheet is "What is your favorite art activity and why?" For almost every artist, it's either weaving or working with clay. I'm so glad they enjoy weaving as much as I do teaching it. Last summer I created a blog series on teaching weaving with Part One here.
Another view of a fourth grade wall.
Putting those tubes to use: Totally Tubular Castles.

One of my fourth graders sweet dog sculptures. You can check out more of their animal sculptures here.

11 comments:

  1. Well, my friend I have two themes this year- Travels across the Southwest and Space. I am like you I want my theme to be a place I travel to so this space thing is going to be interesting. I also had parents asked me what my theme is for next year lol. We are out of school now and I am in my thematic planning mode. Have fun sewing and researching Ideas. :)

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    1. Oh, I can't wait to see what you come up with for Space! My kids would love that theme. One of them suggested an underwater theme...which sounded cool but I just wasn't feelin' it. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

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  2. Congrats on a beautiful show! My favorite is the suitcase - I like the way all the works are displayed. I am organizing my closets today and covered in dust from head to toe. Happy Summer!

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    1. Thank you! I'm jealous of your productivity...although I've got two closets cleaned, I've still got one more and an office to go. Not to mention a classroom, sigh. But it's summer! I'll get to it when I get to it (aka, august!) Enjoy your break!

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  3. I just finished your weaving lesson with my 4th graders! Thank you, they gave it a thumbs up.

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    1. Yay!! Thank you for letting me know :)I have found that kids LOVE weaving...and I love seeing them enjoy it so much. Glad you gave it a go!

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  4. Terrific show!
    Crazy hearing you say it is summer - there's still a month of school to go here (if I wasn't retired) and the weather the last 2 days has been freezing cold. I'm sitting here is a sweater AND a sweatshirt and we have to cover the garden tonight due to frost warnings! Just an hour to the north, Whiteface Mountain got 18" of snow yeaterday! And the cold has made me feel crappy, so I have chicken soup brewing in the crock pot. Definitely not a normal summer meal!

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    1. I know...the weather has been very confused here as well! Our summer vacay does begin early but it also ends the first week in August! You know, when it's nine million degrees and all you want to do is sit in a pool. I hope your chicken soup was delish!

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  5. One of my 2nd grade teachers shared the secret to getting works to stay hanging- masking tape + Elmer's glue. Put the tape on the back of the art and run a line of glue on top of the tape. I usually only do this on the pieces of tape at the top of the artwork and it works like a charm!

    Love your ideas here! Thanks sharing them through your blog!

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    1. Wow, I just might have to try this. We're not allowed to use hot glue on our walls as it pulls the paint off (not to mention, tears the art work)...but this might be the solution. Thanks! And thanks for reading :)

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