Friday, March 14, 2014

118- Mr. Perozzi (my student teacher) took over the symmetry lesson and introduced it to this second grade small group.  They worked at record speed and completed step one on time.  We only have two more classes with two small groups and our exploration with balance will finally be complete.

112- This group came in and continued their acetate mural, then began the blue mural underneath it.  The result is a mesh of sea creatures swimming in all directions, much like the real ocean. They will continue this mural for a few more class periods, then add "garbage" (chip bags, paper garbage, etc.) and place it below the documentation for their complete study of "What Is Under the Ocean?" This will bring awareness to the topic of pollution and serve as an interactive artwork to invite the rest of the school to explore the concept with us.

Our beautiful ocean

The documentation for the entire project.  The mural will hang in the empty space.

102 and 104- Both kindergarten classes are working on a lesson that will tie in the Burchfield-Penney project with the previous project on animals.  We started by seeing this painting in person at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center:

Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967), The Evening Star, 1923-26; oil on board, Overall: 20 3/8 x 27 1/2 in. (51.8 x 69.9 cm) Frame; The Charles Rand Penney Collection of Work by Charles E. Burchfield, 1994
Click here to see this artwork on the Burchfield-Penney site.

We critiqued the painting and then we talked about the word "nocturnal."  We looked at nocturnal animals and did observational drawings of them.

Next, we will look at nocturnal landscapes in painting and photography.  The students will create a nocturnal landscape painting that will serve as the background for their nocturnal animal.  We will discuss habitats so that the students paint the correct landscape for their animal. (For example, a crab lives at the beach, not in the snow.) 

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Yesterday was another snow day!  Our sixth of the year!  We had the second blizzard of the year and that's a first, even for snowy Buffalo.

120- We pushed in and worked with students on observational drawings of Australian sea creatures.

Then we had the kindergarten's second field trip to the Burchfield Penney Art Center.  I heard some amazing vocabulary and heard proof that the students are retaining the information they've learned this year in art and science.

Docent- Those lines go up and down.  What do they call the lines that go back and forth like this?
S- Horizontal lines!!!

Docent- The water is trickling down the walls.  How does water feel?  What is it?
E- A liquid!

J was reading the sign above the exhibit. "Buffalo," he says slowly.  "Creek runs under Buffalo..." He read the signage to the exhibit.

The docents have complimented us by saying that our groups have better-than-usual attention to detail and a high level of observational drawing ability.  That made me very proud of the growth the students have demonstrated in this short time.

I will upload the photos tomorrow, as my cord is being borrowed by another teacher today!

103- More students finished up their houses.  The students who are finished are revisiting the alphabet book we started at the beginning of the year, critiquing and improving upon their drawings. I want to make the book soon, but I really think they've grown so much in their observational drawing abilities that a little "Austin's Butterfly" revisit will take the book to the next level.

The students took their houses back to the block area of their room so they can enjoy playing with them!

104- I started a lesson on nocturnal animals, inspired by a painting on our Burchfield-Penney trips and through the inspiration of our previous studies on animals. We critiqued "The Evening Star," in person at the Burchfield today, then we took a second look at it in the studio on the computer.  The students then saw images of nocturnal animals and we had a discussion about what "nocturnal" means. The children each chose a photograph of a nocturnal animal and began the process of drawing drafts of the animal.  When they've completed their final drawing, they will paint a landscape scene using a color scheme of colors that would be seen at night.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Next week is Multicultural week at School #33.  I've been asked by a few of the teachers to incorporate the multicultural theme into my work with the students this week.

120- We pushed in and my student teacher and I split into two groups.  I worked with a group on Aboriginal Dot Paintings, as the country 120 is studying is Australia.  My student teacher sat at the light table with a group as they traced Australian animals. 

116-  The students came in to work on the paper sculptures. 

Y- this doesn't balance on this side because the piece is too long.
Mrs. Rose- why does it balance when it's on that side?
Y- the sides are the same. To balance it, they have to be the same size.

Mrs Rose- A, how did you get your sculpture to stand up?
A- I don't know.
Mrs. Rose- Tell me how you made it.
A- First, I made the line. Then I added the small pieces all down the line so it would stand.
Mrs. Rose- Why do you think the little pieces made it stand?
A- I put them all along the sides. I put one here and one here and then did that for all of them.
(He shows me, using his hands, how he placed one on the right, then one on the left, alternating, to get his sculpture to stand.)

J- I put all of the sticks together to make it. I put glue on it to stick it and it made it so it could stand. I had the idea to make it like a chair.  Like the chair that goes like this. [shows me her fingers crossed like an X.] Then, I wanted to make it look like a snowflake, so I did that.

108- This class is doing Ireland for Multicultural Week.  My student teacher took a group to continue working on their identity wall Andy Warhol-inspired portraits, which freed me up to take a group to work on the Ireland project.  I had two students draw observational drawings of Irish dancers and create Celtic knots out of pipe cleaners. 

R- Look at her costume! It has Celtic knots drawn all over it!

When I took the students back, they saw that a few students were finishing up with the overhead projector. They placed the pipecleaner Celtic knots on the overhead and the students were throwing out "ooohs" and "ahhhs." I have a feeling the Celtic knots might live near the light table for a little while after this project is finished.

118- This group did the same thing as 116.

102- The students came in and finished their block houses. They looked at photos of their real houses and added the windows and doors in the right spot. They then added the house number on the block (some of the house numbers were added to the back of the block, because it "fit better.") This helped with the Brigance skill of knowing their addresses and our school goal of getting students to draw from observation and pay attention to details.

101- The students continued to work on their identity wall portraits. 

Monday, March 10, 2014

116- We brought a group in to work on the paper sculptures.  Over the weekend, I picked up a copy of Artvoice, a local newspaper, which featured a story on Alberto Rey, a local artist featured in the Burchfield Penney's current exhibition.  While the students worked, I showed them the article's photographs and we talked more about the big project Mr. Rey has at the Burchfield.  His artwork combines paintings, videos, a science experiment with water samples and a historical study, all on the subject of the Scajaquada creek, a creek that runs underneath the city of Buffalo. His project is a model for an Inquiry-Based school, such as ours, to follow.  I've contacted Mr. Rey and I hope that he is willing to either visit our school or accept interview questions from the students via email.

I was very careful to make sure that I didn't become a slave to the clock with this project.  I still had one student who didn't understand symmetry.  Instead of rushing him to the next step, I worked with him again. He was able to complete his drawing correctly and his mood went from defeated to proud in forty minutes.  I love when they "get" it.

The beginning of a paper sculpture

The article on Alberto Rey

118- Mrs. Chowaniak was telling me about a new provocation her class is working on- "What is amazing about our community?"  I'm going to see if we can create a project that will incorporate a promotional poster and video for our city. I've contacted Visit Buffalo Niagara and I'm hoping they will want to start a partnership with us, giving the students advice on promoting the city and perhaps giving us a little space on their website to share our promotional video and poster.

During the class, I brought a small group in to continue working on their paper sculptures.  We did the same thing as the previous class, talking about Alberto Rey and the experience of seeing the Nancy Rubins' sculpture in person last Friday.

108- We brought in a small group to continue their Andy Warhol inspired portraits for their identity walls. 

112- Ms. Natal's class came in to continue working on their ocean pollution mural. I love this so much, I hung it in the studio as a work-in-progress, instead of rolling it up until their next class.

101- The preschoolers are also working on an identity wall, like Room 108.  They traced their photographs today and they will use realistic colors to color them in. These were the really great examples of the project, exceeding my expectations once again.

104- We took the other half of the class in to curate which observational drawings of hibernating animals should be added to the bear cave. 

I brought these photographs in from my house.  Ashley Cadwell said they look like "windows" on a wall that severely needs more windows.  I love that they combine nature with an important art concept- perspective. I can't wait to see what the students think of this new addition to the studio.  I'm trying to keep the studio as aesthetically pleasing and calming as possible.  

Friday, March 7, 2014

120- We pushed in and worked with Mrs. Wagner on observational drawings of animals.  They were creating a caring environment for the animals, so we looked up what the animals eat, so they could provide that.  I love when we do research on animals- the students are so curious and have such an interest in learning about them.

Burchfield Penney trip with the Second Graders:

The second graders were really excited to see the Burchfield Penney.  I hope to collect some images from their journals and some of their reflections during the next week, as it was too hard to hear from all of them while we were on the trip.

Ms. Sharino wrote a reflection on her observations as a chaperone that I would like to include here:

Students were eager to point out what they were questioned to find. They did require instruction not to touch the artwork. [Atelierista's note- This is something we reviewed before the trip, but it's the first visit to an art gallery for most of these students and the urge to touch something as beautiful as these paintings is really hard.]

Megan and Evan often referred to previous experience with the topics to answer the questions- ie. fly fishing, Megan enthusiastically spoke about "flying fish" and what she remembers about a program she saw. Evan gave a narrative of his experiences fishing with his father and grandfather. 

When asked to draw what they liked after discussing fly fishing, many drew themselves fishing.

As for my own reflections, I was surprised to see that a student who usually struggles immensely with producing art was actually the best interpreter when looking at art.  She was able to understand the artists' point of view in a difficult to read painting. She showed understanding of perspective, a tough concept for children this age. I'm so grateful to have an understanding of the Hundred Languages of Children now, because I see evidence of its truth over and over again.  This child was able to use spoken language, infer and reflect in a way that demonstrated a level of understanding that we might have missed if we hadn't taken her to the art gallery and paid attention to her as the experience occurred.

The other observation I've had, now that I've watched all four grade levels tour the museum, is that some students who struggle with self-control in a traditional learning environment are doing really well in the museum. They are intrigued by the artwork, they have all enjoyed writing in their notebooks and they seem genuinely interested in the whole experience.

The Burchfield-Penney docents told me today that our students are really well behaved and that we should be proud.  I already know that, but it's wonderful to hear other people have taken notice of that.

My student teacher, Michael Perozzi, took the following photos today:

The second graders were excited to see the Nancy Rubins' sculpture from the Burchfield window.  That was the sculpture that inspired their rolled paper sculptures. They decided to draw it in their journals. 

103- The students came in and many of them finished their houses.

102- I pushed in and we played "I spy" with a photograph of block play, to encourage their ability to pay attention to fine detail.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

116- The students are exploring flags and preparing a display for Multicultural week. The country they chose to study is Canada. They came to the studio today to create a door-sized Canadian flag.  One student did the drawing for the Maple leaf.  We critiqued it and he fixed his mistakes, creating a pretty-close-to-perfect copy on the second try.

I have maple leaf garland hanging around the atelier door and the students noticed it.  I offered it to them for Multicultural week and they were really happy about borrowing it. We started talking about maple trees and maple sap.  Jesus knew how maple syrup comes from the trees and he explained it to his friends.

At this point in the day, we went to the Burchfield-Penney with the first graders.  Here is a piece of dialogue:

J- Look at what I drew.
Student Teacher- What is it?
J- It's the lines for the water in that piece right there.
ST- Which piece?
J- The one with the water.
ST- This one?
J- No, the one with the melted water.
ST- Do you like this?
J- Yes, I like this.
ST- What do you like about this?
J- I like being here. It's open and I like seeing everything, but not touching. I like the paintings.  I really like that we came here.

We returned in time for our two kindergarten classes at the end of the day.

102- We printed photos of the students' houses so they could draw the correct amount and include the correct placement of windows and doors.  The students finished any painting that needed to be completed on the houses and we glued the pieces of houses together to complete the house.  Some of the students completed the final step of writing their house number on the houses.

104- The student critiqued and curated the hibernating animal observational drawings and added them to their bear caves. They'll be playing with the stuffed toy animals and letting their animals hibernate in the cave.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

My blog-writing time was a little different over the last few days.  I've been working on a video that shows a snippet of what our school is all about.  

Our Reggio consultant, Ashley Cadwell, was in the building over the last two days, as well, and we've been putting together documentation for large scale displays. 

We have field trips to the Burchfield-Penney tomorrow and Friday.  The first and second graders are very excited to go on this museum field trip that they've heard so much about.  I've done art criticism mini-lessons with both groups, so they are anxiously awaiting their turn to go.