Week 7!

Hey Everybody!

This week, Katie did a phenomenal job as lead teacher!  The students were enthusiastic the entire class period because she kept everything fresh and organized.

First off, the room was set up great.  Katie had the brilliant idea to hang up all of the students work from past Saturdays everywhere throughout the room.  She told Myoungsun and me that the reason she wanted all of their work displayed was so that the students could see that we truly value their art and it is worthy to be hung up!

Second, I think it was very successful bringing the students to see Katie's studio and a sculpture in the VAB courtyard.  Here, students were introduced to 'process art'.  They also got to explore all the painting BFA studios and could sketch about what they saw.  I could tell that the students loved this because they were eagerly roaming from one studio to the next.  Katie made a great connection to the students by explaining to them that they have the opportunity to create a personal studio as well if they are passionate about artmaking.

When we brought them back to our classroom, the students had a wonderful time making process art projects.  Katie's own work was definitely an inspiration! Also, all the materials that the students have used thus far were ou
t for them to use.  In previous weeks, the students were shown how to use the materials, but this week, they could take what they learned and expand upon it by using them in new creative ways!

Katie, Myoungsun, and I were all thoroughly impressed by the ideas the students came up with.  Nobody's work looked the same!  Works ranged from a family portrait sculpture to a collaborative collage about Geo the Geode being stolen, and process art made from discarded cheese-it boxes.

It was a joyful class to be a part of!  I am always pleasantly surprised about how mature, inspiring, and radiant our students are!

GREAT JOB KATIE!

love,
Maddie

Week #7 [RE]act

This week was a very excited week for our class. We had a very busy day. It started off with a continuation from last weeks up-cycling lesson. The students got a chance to actually hang their plastic bottle sculptures in the trees.

 

Most of the students really enjoyed this activity. Although many of them got off task very quickly. This kids who were off task where running around the garden, climbing on the walls and not paying attention to the discussion. This could be because this processes was somewhat rushed and we did not have time to gather all the students individually to get them involved. It also could have been because we had never gone outside to do an activity before or it could be because they were bored with the project. I'm not sure what we could have done differently given the time we had. The students who were involved were very interested. They came up with creative ways to get peoples attention when they walked passed the sculptures. Rose came up with a very good idea to have individuals write there thoughts about the sculptures on index cards so we could read them later. If you want to see the sculptures will be hanging in the garden next to the Palmer museum all week (hopefully they will not get totally ruined.

After we completed this first task we then started this weeks lesson. The word this week was [RE]act. The students had the opportunity to rotate between five different stations:

Outside- 

1. paint pouring- students will be given already sorted paints in cups to select from and pour out completely onto the plastic covered stand. 

 

2. ink station- Students will be given water color paper, India ink, marbles and straws. Students will use these materials to experiment with chance by dropping a dot of ink on the paper and blowing it with a straw and rolling a marble around on the paper. 

Inside-

1. Photo/ Dripping- Students will be given food coloring and glow sticks to pour or drip into mason jars with water. The students will then take pictures of the interactions between the materials. Cameras will be set up on stands and across from mason jars so students just have to take the photo. 

2. Ready Mades- Students will be given bags filled with random objects. Students will chose one object from the bags that they can not see and be ask to construct a way to make it art. Then students will then tell a set up video camera how they have adapted the object to make into a work of readymade art.  

3. Learning Center- this center will allow students to explore the Dada movement through videos, power points, images, and resource books. Students will write down three things they learned on an index card that they will push pin to the wall side by side.  

 Larissa and I thought that these stations were very successful. I heard from a number of students that this was their favorite week yet! We also felt that it went smoothly because we only had about 20 students and a few of the difficult children were absent. We also felt that the students had a good amount of time to do each station and could spend longer in ones they liked more. Also by having two extra helpers it also aloud the stations to run smooth. Another thing that we did was we aloud the students to have full control over each station. We did not really give them demos but rather let them learn and figure out Dada on their own. Over all we felt this week was one of the best and most exciting weeks. We would definitely recommend teaching a lesson similar to this or if you are feeling overwhelmed with a whole class, split it in half and have one teacher take on group outside and keep the others inside and then switch. This process makes the lesson and activity a lot less chaotic. 

 

Monochromatic Junk Collages

This week we really wanted students to think more critically about their art making.  We noticed from previous weeks that students were simply doing projects just to do them and were quickly throwing things together.  In order for this to change we really had to think about ways in which we could get them to interact with the materials they were using in a purposeful way, which luckily turned out to be a great improvement. 

Our main project this week was to create monochromatic junk collages.  The goal was for each student to create an individual collage with a single color and to study their objects and meaningfully place them onto the canvas before they glued them down.  To help them understand that they should be thinking about their art making we decided to play a game with them before we even introduced the lesson for the day.  In preparation for the game, Jen and I put together individual paper bags for each student that included up to 20 single color junk objects inside and 1 object with a color that did not match the other.  Students sat in a circle as we passed out bags and a small tray for each one to pour their objects out into.  We told the students to observe the objects from their bag and tell us what they noticed about them.  Student responses were exactly what we wanted to hear which was that one object was a different color than the others.  As the students looked around at each other’s objects they noticed that each person had an object that did not fit.  We then asked them what they thought they should do with the object that did not match their color and their responses were dead on.  They said they should trade with each other to get the right color object.  In order for this to work out it took a little bit of planning on our part to make sure that each student was able to trade and receive an object that matched their color but it all seemed to work out really well in the end.

Students just dumped their bag of objects out and are observing what was inside

Students notice there is one object out of place

Given that the bags were handed out randomly, we knew that some students would get a color they were not pleased with.  Since the purpose of the game was not really about what color each student received but rather carefully observing their objects, we allowed them to trade colors with another student or come up to the sorted color bins and chose a new color or different objects after the game.  I noticed that students who did choose to trade their color or pick new objects were really sorting through what was in the bins to pick out the objects that they really liked.  This was the outcome we were hoping for instead of the students all rushing up at once, grabbing things quickly and not taking the time to think about what they were doing.

Nicole is smiling!!!! (she never smiles)

Olivia gluing her composition

Almost every student laid out their composition before gluing which showed they were really learning something. With our help, students used hot glue guns and multiple other glues to place their objects onto the canvas.  The end results were beautiful and proved for a very successful lesson.  They not only learned about taking their time and creating meaning through their work but they also learned about the term monochromatic.  A few students were so into making the project that they asked if they could do another one, which was very exciting as a teacher to hear.

When students were finished they were allowed to go work at the other centers in the room.  This week the centers consisted of trash can painting, straw light construction, drawing, and we added a monochromatic bottle cap tower building station that seemed to be a big hit.  A lot of students completed both the main activity and the bottle cap activity and ended up with some very nice work for the day.  Near end of class Kris sat down on the floor and laid a piece of black cloth down and encouraged students to come help her make a multi color collage which did engage interest in multiple students.  We may do something like this next week as a center so students can make a larger class collage as well.

Leo working on his bottle cap tower

Class Collage

With a constant struggle between process and product, this week we had a make a decision on what was slightly more important.  We know that through class discussion and talking with the students one on one that they completely understand the idea of creating art from junk and talking about it week to week really reinforces this concept.  However, the quality of work that the students were starting to make was something we felt could be improved.  Through the process of the game and the careful observation of their objects, students created work this week that we knew they were all capable of doing.  It was a learning process for us to be able to finally help students understand that art can be meaningful and usually does take more than 5 minutes to complete, however the trial and error was worth it to finally see results we had been hoping for all along.

Beautiful Masterpieces!!

Since there was such great success this week with the way we structured the class, we would like to continue this idea of critical thinking and finding meaning in their art making for next week’s class.  At this point we have not yet decided on the lesson for next week but as the last Saturday school class of the semester we would really like it to end of a good note.  In order to make sure this happens Jen and I really need to re-evaluate all our successes and failures through our past 7 weeks of teaching and narrow down what we know works for sure and what we know will not.  Even if things do not turn out the way we planned, we are pleased to have the chance to experiment with our ideas in a relaxed setting.

Drawing Stories with Pre-K

 

This week, we wanted to expand our lesson off of last week's activity, where we introduced experimenting with watercolor.  Last week we had trouble with the watercolor demonstration and we feel that the students didn’t grasp the concept of painting with watercolor the way we had hoped. First we introduced line by asking them to come up with their own theories of what line can be. After teaching them about line, we decided to have each of the students practice drawing lines on watercolor paper using pencils, and tracing them with sharpie markers.  Afterwards, they would practice painting over top of the lines with watercolor paint.

We reworked our demonstration this week, and overall we found it to be much more successful than the previous week.  We arranged our classroom in a “U” shape and had the students sit on the floor around a large red table cloth we taped to the floor (where they would be practicing drawing line and painting with watercolor).  We taped a large sheet of watercolor paper to the board, and for the demonstration we printed out pictures of the steps for lines and painting (drawing with pencil, tracing with sharpie, using sponge to wet the entire paper, dipping paint brush in water, picking up paint on your brush, and then painting over the lines).  During the demonstration, we completed each step on the large watercolor paper taped to the board, and gave the students a few minutes to practice each step on their own.  

After the students experimented with line and painting with watercolor, we had the students come over to a corner of the room and where we read the book, Jeremy Draws a Monster. We asked the students before starting the book to try to look for all of the lines they see in the book.  After reading it, we told the students that they were going to use the large watercolor sheets of paper that we taped to their tables to come up with their own story (maybe making their own creature like Jeremy does in the book). We went over the steps from the demonstration once more, and then let them go to their seats to start their drawing. They were to trace it with sharpie markers, and then paint it with watercolor like the experimentation we did earlier.

What We Learned:

Extra Activities This week we overestimated the amount of time it would take some of the students to finish their project. When majority of the class was finished with their painting we struggled to find something else for them to do. Next week it might be beneficial to have an extra activity on the side for the students to work on.

Sketchbook Time During sketchbook time today, a lot of kids were “finished” very quickly. We had planned to start the activity as soon as everyone arrived but some kids were still not there when students said they were finished. It was beneficial to have paper on the wall for the students to draw on when they finished their sketchbook. Next week we should put a new sheet of paper out for them to draw on.

-While some students rushed through the sketchbook time, some carefully took their time drawing and also told us a little about their drawings. We have really tried to take note on what the students say in class, there is so much to learn from the amazing ideas behind their drawings. Here are some quotes from the students:

           *Julia- light blue marker on yellow paper makes the drawing appear green

*Ellie- “this is an angry women....because a bad guy took her shoes” [holds up sketchbook]

*Brandon- “it’s a storm that’s breaking the earth.....this is a house that the storm’s breaking”

*Emerson- “this is a dolphin that’s exploding by a hurricane in the water”

- Throughout the past six weeks, we have really struggled to intrigue Max and Jack. Since these two are a little older they really like to be challenged and be different from the younger students in the class. This week we really stumped them. Although they had the same assignment as the rest of the class, they seemed to really struggle to come up with an idea for a story to draw. They spent almost the entire class brainstorming. As teachers it was really hard for us to help them come up with an idea as we did not want to tell them what to do. We even tried to guide their thinking but Jack just kept telling us “I really don’t know what I want to draw,” with a worried look. Finally Jack painted an abstract painting and Max became interested in recreating the illustrations from a storybook. 

 

What Went Well:

 
1. The Demo! This week, the demonstration went very well. We went over each of the steps for today’s activity very thoroughly using printed out pictures of the steps, while also demonstrating it. We also let the students practice each step on their own before moving on.  This was very beneficial for the students. They definitely grasped the concept of the activity and how to paint with watercolor.  Because they practiced it on their own before giving them the major activity, the students were for the most part able to work without having to repeatedly ask questions about what to do next. 

 

2. The Videos!- Although we overestimated the amount of time it would take some of the students to finish the activity, when some of the students started finishing quicker than others, we decided to play a chain of YouTube videos we found dealing with line.  The students really seemed to enjoy these and sat quietly with their snacks while watching them.

3. Order of Activities-  Giving the students some time to experiment with drawing and painting before reading the story made it easier for us to transition to the next larger activity.  While one of us was reading the story, the other one was able to transfer some of the materials from the floor (where the students were practicing experimenting with drawing and painting) to the tables. This is where they would be working with the same materials except on a large sheet of watercolor paper we previously had taped to the tables.

 

4. Taping the Watercolor Paper Down- By taping each students watercolor paper to the table ahead of time, it made it easier for us to write their names on the tape while they were working. It also made it less chaotic because the papers weren’t being moved around as the students worked, and it also gave the pieces a nice finished boarder.

5. Stories- Some students really got into the stories that they would tell through their drawings.

*Gabe- “I made red! Look! I made red!” (watercolor painting)

*Emily- Her monster hugs people.

*Brandon- His monster eats people.

*Gabe- “I drew a monster that says thank you for a toy”

*Max- said it would be cool to draw a nonfiction story

Week Six

What a week to see process and product come together! This week, we saw our students really move along in their projects and even complete a few things. Our highschoolers have been very invested in their projects, so we have figured they really want to get as much done for the show as they can. This past class served as a “catch up” day that proved to be very productive. We decided to set up “centers”: a work table, a print making station, a clay station, and a cardboard center. Since a lot of students still had a lot of carving to do on their linoleum blocks, we thought it would be best to encourage them to finish these first so that they could begin printing by the end of the class. While it seemed sort of “off” to have to hurry students along in their work, we understand that without having to push them to focus on their work they will not be able to put it in the show. Luckily, most students completed their prints and they look great! Everyone (except for the 2 students who were not in class) finished their shoes that look amazing as well. We set up the stations so that students first had to complete their shoes, then their prints. After they were done both, they were able to work on their cardboard sculptures. If they finished all of their projects, they were allowed to put a print on the collaborative print, work with clay, or create another cardboard sculpture or relief. This system worked well in that it created an organized system for students to follow when moving from one project to the next, as many students had multiple assignments to complete. We were hoping that everyone would finish all three of their prints as well as their cardboard structures, but most people only completed carving with a few prints.

Seeing that everyone is at different stages of working, we are now faced with some predicaments. We were hoping to get at least two new projects in, but we are unsure if that will be possible. The students still have a “play day” in which they can create a collaborative landscape with their cardboard sculptures and fine connections between each other’s prints on the collaborative muslin print. We have been discussing focusing our next lesson on collaboration and possibly incorporating another collaborative piece for everyone to work on while other students finish up the rest of their work. Depending on whether we can find the right resources, we would also like to try “Ebru”, a Turkish form of paper marbling. While we are not one hundred percent sure of how next week’s lesson will pan out, we were very happy with how this week’s class went and hope for similar success this coming Saturday! 

I thought this week’s class went really well. The kids worked really well and diligently on their projects the whole class. Well except for the beginning when we had the demo. I thought the demo that Katie did went very well though. It was through and the kids seem to pay attention and pick up on it. They were antsy and wanted to get to work. We did have a second part to the demo but decided it could be left out. It was about using two colors. I think leaving it out was good for now, because it would have been a lot for the students to take in all at once. It also shortened the demo so they had more time to work.

There was a really good pace to class this week as well. The students worked very well while still interacting with each other. We had created 3 stations this week. This was nice to break the students up a little and get them moving around. It created a nice flow and vibe. The students had some options and freedom, which they responded well to. This could be seen in their work, which seemed to be stronger this week as they were wrapping up the projects.

I also felt more comfortable in the setting this week. I think this was probably the best class we had yet. Katie and I got to go through lesson before class this week with the 212 students. I think this helped both of us as well to. The extra time discussing and going through the lesson helped us to keep on the same page and be more effective. This is something that seems really simple, but really pays off during class.