First grade came in and continued to work on their portraits. We did a compare and contrast with master artists' portraits that went very well.
I have a new block this year called, "Open Studio." This enables me to work with students on either special projects or catching up students who need some extra time in the studio. Today, the pre-k in 103 signed up for extra time.
The five students who came in had previously struggled with drawing their faces in a representational manner. I couldn't be sure if the students didn't understand the assignment, were choosing to do their own thing, or just needed extra time. Today was a success. With the extra attention, we were able to stop the students from overdrawing on their portraits. I gave a demonstration on coloring technique and showed them why drawing designs over their faces made it difficult to see their faces.
Two students showed a HUGE improvement. L had been creating portraits with added abstract designs surrounding them. Working with her today showed me that she was making the choice to add those designs. With very small group instruction, she demonstrated observational drawing skills. She looked at her face in the mirror and described her eyes. She told me that her upper lip is more tan while her lower lip has more pink. She noticed that her original sketch had a circular nose, but, in reality, her nose was made up of "two holes" so she added a second circle for the other nostril. I think she progressed extremely quickly, which, combined with her superior fine motor skills, will make it exciting to work with her in the future.
B also made progress, going from scribbles on the first day to a recognizable portrait today.
I worked with kindergarten at the end of the day and recorded this little bit of dialogue:
The students were looking closely at their faces while drawing their portraits.
X- Look! There's blood in my eyes!
Y- Tell your mom!
M- It's not blood. It's just red.
X- It's blood. There's blood under my skin. You want me to take it off and show you? When I fell, it was blood coming out.
M- We call them "eyes" but they're really "eyeballs."
C- One time I got a shot and there was blood right here!
Y- I had a shot at the doctor.
B- Me, too. They gave me stickers.
Y- I thought I'd get stickers, but I got crayons.
X- You should have told them you want stickers.
Y- No way! I wanted crayons so I could make something for my dad.
Teacher- I wonder what else is under our skin.
M- Bones!
N- Blood!
M- Bones and blood!
Teacher- Why?
M- Bones make us walk.
B- If we don't have no bones, we can't walk. If your bones are sideways, you would fall apart.
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