The kids have been hard at work in Open Studio. Students have been learning about various media and techniques and have made a variety of pieces. They were told at the beginning of the trimester that they had to create at least three art pieces of their choosing and write artist statements about two. The students have been focused on creating their artist statements this past week. I gave them the option of creating a statement in the form of a song, poem, story, description, or presentation. Many of them have chosen to write poetry, and I have discovered that we have some very talented writers!
Just a reminder to all that the art show reception is tonight from 6:30-8:00! We will have chalk out for kids to do chalk art. We will have a self-serve photo booth(bring your own camera) and there will be a little area to make art on sticky notes. There will also be a food truck for anyone who wants to have dinner or a snack at the show.
Hope to see you there! The 5th graders have been busy the last few weeks creating a variety of projects. In Open Studio students learn about different artists and engage in weekly media demos. They get to choose the kinds of projects they want to create. They have to create at least three final projects through-out the trimester and have to do two art reflections. The art reflections can be a song, poem, presentation, performance, story, or a simple written explanation. There are pictures below showing what some of our students have been up to.
The last project of the 2nd trimester was a dessert-themed project where kids used celluclay to create texture somewhere on their dessert. They reviewed what the difference is between actual and visual texture by looked at examples. They studied the artist Wayne Thiebaud that was well known for his dessert-themed creations. I demonstrated how to use celluclay, which is basically a mixture of paper pulp and glue. I told the kids to pick a dessert that has a memory or story attached to it. Some kids chose desserts that their grandma makes every holiday while other chose the dessert that they constantly crave. We ended this project by having a dessert and tea party.
The fifth graders have started work on their large paper mache sculpture inspired by the story The Giving Tree. We started the unit by reading the story and discussing all the different lessons the book teaches us. I have a picture of the list of lessons the students came up with below. We then started planning the project by sketching and discussing where the project should go and what message it should carry. The students started papermaching the base of the tree and stringing leaves for the branches. They are using colorful coffee filters painted by all the grade levels using washable markers, spray bottles, and watercolors. There will be an interactive component to the sculpture that we will explain after the project is complete. Check out the students in action below....
The fifth graders are currently working on creating clay whistle sculptures. It is a challenging process to get the whistle working, but over two thirds of the class has been able to make their whistles create sound. We are hoping to get everyone's working by the end of next class. I have been comparing constructing the whistle to doing surgery. If you don't create the whistle parts just right, it won't work. They also have to use a steady hand and check for any blockages. After creating the actual whistle part of the sculpture, they have been asked to turn their whistle into something. Many students are turning their whistles into creatures, while others are turning them into abstract sculptures or winter-themed creations. In-process pictures are posted below, more pictures will be coming as they complete their sculptures. The 5th graders started this project by learning about the history of whistle sculptures. They were fascinated with the death whistle used by the Aztec during battle. A video is posted below. The 5th graders got to eat out of their coil pots on the last day of the trimester. |
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