Welcome back to the NEW Art Room at Green Acres School!!!

As we begin yet another school year, I always look forward to seeing the excitement on my students’ faces as I challenge their creative minds through imaginative, fun art activities. FYI: the art room has been moved to Mrs Frain’s old room, directly across from the library…meet you there!

All classes will be reviewing the elements of art: line, color, shape and texture, as well as discussions involving two dimensional vs three dimensional artwork. Art prints and clay sculptures displayed around the art room will aid in our discussions.

Bringing math and language into our curriculums is a citywide goal. To support math in the art room, I have made an “art-math” vocabulary chart to help the students see the connections with the two subject areas. Many art terms are also math terms; math an intrinsic part of art making it easy to make the connection between them.

We will be using art prints and magazines to enhance the writing goal in the art room, using the prints as inspiration for writing poetry. Sharing their poems is always a highlight, most eager to share their words with their classmates…a self-confidence booster. They often cannot believe their own words as they share what they have written...quite an experience for all.

Fourth and fifth graders will have art homework once or twice a month throughout the school year. The homework, always the same: to sit for 10- 20 minutes outside in nature to view the sky and do a “free write” of what the see, feel, hear, smell...using all of their senses. This assignment will be discussed in art class so every student will know what is expected. The sky seems to be a good starting point for writing…they let their mind wander and write whatever comes to mind, there are no wrong answers. Please help by asking your child if they have art homework and helping them get the assignment completed on time.

Readiness and first grade will be working with shapes, discussing various sizes: large, medium, small, smaller, smallest, tiny, tinier and tiniest. Drawing these on the board always brings about “ohhs & ahhs!” We will be reading a new book, “Jack’s Talent” talking about our differences as individuals and everyone’s favorite, model magic is on the agenda for next week! 

Second graders will be making Origami cups, another favorite, along with Kandinsky “line explore" using shapes, lines and color, inspired by this artist’s colorful expressions.

Third graders are reviewing shapes with a “shapely robot” exercise and then drawing their own shapely robot in a simple black line drawing.

Bookmarks, using line, color and shape will be the basis for the fourth graders art project this week. We will base some of the decorations on how many books they read this summer and their favorite things to read. And fifth graders will be creating a “symmetrical art study” starting with one quarter of the design, rubbing that part to create “one half,” then rubbing that half to create one “whole,” hence, our math connection. They will choose primary, secondary, warm, cool or neutral colors to complete their project. Math, math everywhere this month, in the art room!!!