KindergartenOlive's kindergarten students started the school year learning about color mixing and made abstract paintings. Students also learned about the artists Jackson Pollock and Pablo Picasso, whose abstract artworks made them famous. Our most recently completed project continued the theme of abstract art. Students learned about a variety of different kinds of lines. After practicing drawing them, they used oil pastel to make more lines on watercolor paper. These lines were painted over with watercolor paint, which resisted the oil pastel since water and oil don't mix. Lastly, we made a decorative border of shapes! First GradeFirst grade students' first project was to make a fish bowl collage. The project used a variety of different materials, like paint and oil pastel. Students learned about the art concepts of overlapping and texture, and learned about a few of the ways that fish are threatened across the globe. We also explored Legos! Students were prompted to work with a partner to design a house after we read Chris Van Dusen's If I Built a House. The project was designed to strengthen students' collaborative skills and introduce them to the role of an architect. Second GradelIn second grade, students started the year by learning about Georgia O'Keeffe's life and paintings, which contain images of landscapes, flowers, animal bones, and cities. Their project was to make a close up drawing of a flower using soft pastel. Students learned about how to lighten and darken their colors as well (known as making a tint and a shade, respectively). Our next project also explored how nature inspires art. Students made an autumn leaf collage using a foam printmaking technique. We discussed the difference between warm and cool colors and how printmaking allows artists to make many copies of one image fairly quickly. Lastly, we were happy to have former Olive principal Dr. Becky FitzPatrick visit Mrs. Wilhelm's class to learn about our printmaking project. Dr. FitzPatrick is currently our Assistant Superintendent for Student Learning! Third GradeIn third grade, we started the year by weaving patterned paper baskets. Our next project was to create a pop-up animal. The projects emphasized the concepts of foreground, middle ground, and background while giving students a lot of choice in the project's subject matter. Fourth GradeA study of Vincent van Gogh kicked off our year in fourth grade art. There are so many great resources related to van Gogh but one of my favorites is Don McLean's 1971 musical ode to him. Check it out below. Currently, we are working on one of my favorite projects, which is a paper sculpture project centered on learning to eat healthy. Students are designing two meals, one with healthy foods and the other representing sometimes foods, also known as junk food. Fifth GradeBelow are images from fifth grade students' projects inspired by the theme what I love. During this project, they tried to represent their favorite things using their choice of media. Currently, we're making pretend stained glass windows using permanent marker and plastic transparency. Let's Hear it From the Students!Olivia is a 5th grade student at Olive. Here's what she had to say about a recently completed project. The following has been lightly edited. Describe your project for me. What is it? Why did you choose to make this? I drew my scene outside because I love nature and a cicada is making music because I also like music. Then, I made a colorful recycling can because I love art. I also love my dog so I added my dog in the can. What materials did you use? How did you make it? I used colored pencil to color it and Sharpie too. But I used some markers to color the lake. What did you enjoy about the project? I enjoyed coloring this project and coming up with the idea of what to draw. What was challenging? Sharpie-ing the dog's nose was a challenge because the Sharpie spread and made a heart shape. What did you discover about yourself or about art while making this project? I discovered that I am better at drawing cartoony things and that I like making an ombre effect. Art Buffet!By this point in the year, most classes have earned enough points to have what I call an Art Buffet, which is a reward day. Points are tallied at the end of every class for kindergarten through fifth graders and are based on how well students did following our student expectations: listen, be respectful, and clean up. Beyond being a reward for students, Art Buffet is supposed to foster creativity, collaboration, and playful exploration.
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AuthorI'm Mr. DeMarco, Art Teacher here at Olive-Mary Stitt. Please use this blog to read about our adventures! Archives
November 2022
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