Kindergarteners are learning about the element of LINE. Line is so important to start the school year off with because lines are literally the basis of every drawing, painting and photograph etc. In the last couple of classes, we have watched a few videos, read a couple of books, made lines with our bodies and have really become pro's at identifying the different straight and curved lines. For our first project this year (besides our artbooks) we have created an abstract design using different color crayons and all the lines we have learned about. We learned that whenever a line crosses another or ends at it's beginning, we have created a shape. The students will find the shapes within their crayon drawn lines and fill in the shapes they find using watercolor paints. The results are beautiful abstract line designs ready for any art gallery!

Click on the links below to see the videos we've watched! 

Welcome back students and welcome to PS31q to any of our new students! I am so excited to get creating in the art room! This year we will be working closely at the foundations of art, the elements of design! In each lesson we will be learning about a different element as well as learning about some artists too! I can't wait to get messy with you all! 

Kindergarten students have been introduced to the technique of color mixing. To begin we created some color magic by mixing together colored water of the primary colors. Before we poured the water we guessed which secondary color would be created by the 2 primary colors. After this we set up our papers into 8 even squares. In each square we mixed together our own secondary colors and brown.

After our paint dried, we drew ice cream scoop shapes on each square and a cone in the brown rectangle. After drawing, we cut and pasted these items together to make a 6 scoop ice cream cone! We pasted our cones on a piece of colored construction paper of the students choice and decorated around the ice cream cones with oil pastels.

Learning objectives: color theory, techniques in painting, collage

ART WORDS:
Primary colors: red, yellow, blue 
Secondary colors: purple, green, orange

Students will use their knowledge of different types of lines that were learned in the last class. The students will use pipe cleaners to bend and mold into these different types of lines and push them into a Styrofoam base to create a line sculpture. This is a great fine motor skill lesson. Not only will they understand the different between the straight and curved lines but they will be able to use correct vocabulary when referring to them. While they were creating I overheard some students addressing their sculptures with comments like, "it looks like a roller coaster!" or "it looks like a rainbow!". This gave me the idea for their writing assignment! After they completed their sculptures they were given a lined piece of paper where they were told to stretch out or sound out the word they thought that their line sculptures looked like! Of course at this early stage of writing, it was a little difficult for them, but all I was looking for was some of the letters that they were able to match up with the sounds of the words and they did fantastic! 
 
DAY 3/4
 During this project, students will use their knowledge of different types of lines. Beginning with the book, “The Dot” by Peter H. Reynolds, students created their own “dot” drawings that are filled with different types of lines that have learned. After we drew the lines we filled the "dot" with water color paint. After they are finished painting we will be cutting them out and pasting them onto a piece of construction paper color of their choice and cutting out a "frame" and signing it on the front as the main character "Vashti" did in the book. 

Learning Objectives: 

• Understand the difference between straight and curved lines.
• Be able to use correct vocabulary when referring to these lines. (vertical, horizontal, diagonal, wavy, zig-zag, curly, swirl, interrupted etc.)
• Be able find and identify these lines in the classroom and in their lives.
• Relate the story of the books read to their artworks.
• Understand why the watercolor paint does not “stick” to the oil pastels.
• Able to identify different shapes created by connecting lines.
• Understand the proper techniques and processes in the materials.
• Understand the use of line to construct a composition as one of the principles and elements of design.

ART WORDS:
Vertical Line: a straight line that goes up and down.
Horizontal Line: a straight line that goes across from side to side.
Diagonal: a straight line that is slanted. ​

Kindergarten students started the year off by creating art books that we will be adding pages to throughout the year! The covers will display a drawing they have created using all of their favorite things. In art we call this a "symbolic-self portrait", the students were able to tell me about themselves through drawing different items that were symbols of who they are. 

Inside the art books will be all sorts of great goodies that they will learn like line, shape, form, color, texture and space all in one place for them to refer to throughout the year and to be utilized to be ready for 1st grade! They will also use their art books during "free-draw" time, when a student has completed a project ahead of the class to draw in.

Learning objectives: proper use of materials, correct technique of a portrait, listening to guided instruction. 

Kindergarten has now moved on to learn about the element of Value. Value is the gradient of a color from dark to light. We first met around one table where a light and an apple was displayed on the table. The students were introduced to value by demonstrating ,with the light and the apple, that when light hits an object it doesn't turn it white but a lighter color of the object and on the opposite side of the apple where there is a shadow is not black but a darker color of the object. The students discussed what they though the reason for the shadow was and they decided that it was because the other side of the apple is blocking the light causing shade. (And they were right!) We also discovered that the drop shadow caused by the apple blocking the light was shown on the opposite side of the light onto the table. We moved the light around the apple and we found that the shadow followed the light. After this demonstration the students were introduced to the artist, Paul Cézanne. We watched a wonderful video on the Metropolitan Museum of Art's webpage called, "Cezanne's Astonishing Apples" which discussed all the things we just learned about during the apple demonstration but it allowed the kids to understand how Cezanne then applied this into his paintings. Paul Cézanne, usually painted still-life's and developed the style of using geometric shapes as the basis for his paintings. He believed that everything in the world was made up of either a sphere, a cone, a cylinder or a cube. He began many of his works with these basic shapes layering thick paint with strong outlines to build form. In our project, students were guided through a drawing of 3 apples on a plate and then a table. They were then given a red craypa and told to color in one of those circles/ apples red. We then added brown on one side for the shaded part and white on top of the red which created pink to the side where the light would be hitting it. We then did a green apple with one side dark green and the other side with white to create a lighter green and a yellow apple which one side in a dark, golden yellow and the other side white. Once the apples were finished, we used black to create the drop shadow onto the plate and table and covered it with a color of their choosing for the plate and table. By mixing black INTO the color is creates a darker version of that color instead of a stark black shadow. The students will finish their pieces by painting the "wallpaper" in any color of their choosing. 

Learning Objectives: Value, Art History, Guided instruction, drawing

ART WORDS:
Value: the scale of a color from light to dark
Shadow: darker version of a color
Highlight: lighter version of a color (where light is illuminated on an object)

you can find the link to the video shown in class here:
http://www.metmuseum.org/metmedia/kids-zone/start-with-art/cezannes-astonishing-apples

Kindergarteners have been introduced to the artist Claude Monet. We read a book together called, "The Magical Garden of Claude Monet" by Laurence Anholt. In this story, a girl named Julie stumbles upon Claude Monet's magical garden and gets to visit some of the beautiful places that Claude Monet uses as inspiration. Included in the book are real images of Monet's paintings. First the students were lead in a discussion about the book. We spoke about what it looks like Monet's paintings are depicted of, what colors they see and what kind of brushstrokes he used. It was brought to their attention to keep an eye on the "Japanese Bridge" by Monet, displayed on one of the pages in the book. Students were then given a 12"x18" piece of white drawing paper in which they were given a guided drawing of a bridge. They completed the bridge in pencil and then given the option to color in their bridge in a color of their liking using oil pastels. (Let's be honest, it's their artwork, NOT Monet's!) After this is complete, the students will paint with water colors, the top portion of their paper in greens and yellows for trees and bushes and underneath they will paint blues and greens for the water. The students will understand the importance of a brushstroke rather than just trying to fill the page with color. To finalize their projects, they will crumple pieces of tissue paper to create the lily pads that are floating in the water. 

Learning Objectives: Art History-Claude Monet, Techniques in water colors, guided listening, fine motor skills

ART WORDS:
Brushstrokes: the stroke of a brush or an individual action that contributes to an overall effect of an artwork.

Fine motor skills are an extremely important part for Kindergartners. This lesson promotes the use and practice of fine motor skills using scissors to cut out their very own drawn shapes.  To begin we read the book "Shape Space" by Cathryn Falwell. The story is about a girl who opens a box full of different shapes and creates different images using those shapes. She built a friend, an outfit and a city before having to put back all the shapes into a box. During a guided drawing, the students drew with a pencil shapes such as squares, rectangles, triangles, circles, and ovals. ( a few of each) Then the students were given crayons and markers to color in those shapes. We discussed the proper way to color in a shape in solid color, no "spaghetti lines"! After the shapes were colored in, students were given a demonstration on the correct use and holding of a scissor. We cut a circle together for practice before tackling the shapes they drew. They then started to cut out their shapes from the outside of the paper into the middle and placed all their shapes into an envelope. We will then pour out our shapes and move them around on a piece of construction paper to create a collage. They are not being told what to create with these shapes, I really wanted to see what they can come up with. They were given some ideas like a robot, a city or a person. After they mapped out their design, they glued their shapes down. Finally, they were given markers and crayons to add any additional details they would like by drawing them on their shapes or backgrounds. 

Learning Objectives: Fine Motor Skills, Shapes, Collaging, cutting and pasting, literacy integration, listening to guided instruction. 

ART WORDS:
Collage: cutting and pasting images to create an artwork. 

Kindergarten has been exploring the element of texture. We first discussed that texture is anything that you are able to touch. Some students gave examples like clothing, hair and paint blobs. During one class, students were given a blank piece of paper, crayons without paper wrappings and texture rubbing sheets. The students put the rubbing sheets under their papers and rubbed the crayons over the paper and the sheet to get an imprint of the texture sheet onto their paper. In the next class, students created a guided drawing of a teddy bear. Once their pencil drawings were perfected, they outlined their pencil lines with black marker. Next, each shape that has been created inside the teddy bear will be a texture rubbing that they will create using the texture rubbing sheets. They will then finish the project by creating an environment for their teddies around the outside or background of their images. 

Learning Objectives:  Guided listening, fine motor skills, texture.

ART WORDS:
Texture: the feel, appearance, or consistency of a surface or a substance.
Outline: draw, trace, or define the outer edge or shape of (something).