3rd Grade: Learned about Optical Illusions and artists well-known for creating them, including M.C. Escher and Bridget Riley. Students drew their own Op Art Shading Blobs (some are in the halls) and colored them with markers. Monsters in a Jar are done, and will soon be added to our hallways displays. In the second quarter, we are starting a new project, using monochromatic colors, Black, White, on Brown.
4th Grade: Masterpiece Mash-Ups (some are in the halls) had reference material of famous artworks in each Google Classroom. Students combined two or more for an original composition, then watercolored and layered with colored pencil. Imagine Jeff Koons' "Balloon Dog" riding Hokusai's "Great Wave" and you get the idea. We looked at the art of NeoExpressionist, Jean Michel Basquiat, then learned how to draw our own Self-Portraits. These were painted with acrylic paint. In the second quarter, we are starting an oil pastel project, Animal/Abstract.
5th grade: Shaded Values (some are in the halls) focused on two colored pencil techniques: blending and using value. Students chose to do either an abstract design or translation tessellation. The intricacy of some of their designs is amazing! Students could research inspiration on their Chromebooks with the keywords "abstract geometric art." Students also completed a project involving drawing pumpkins, shading in White on Black paper. We are now beginning a Watercolor/Watercolor Pencil project.
All grades: Every student completed an online learning goal poll in their Art Google Classroom. "Academic goal setting is a crucial dimension of a student's ability to cognitively self-regulate. Goal setting is also a constructive academic behavior, along with perseverance, motivation, and planning, that impacts learning. A student who can focus their attention, concentrate, and activate mental processes to connect concepts they are learning is far more likely to succeed in the classroom" (ASCD, Setting Goals That Work", November 1, 2022, Vol.80, No.3).
Fun Facts: Research shows a visual arts education can impact learning achievement: "Enhances writing quality and early reading skills. In one study, drawing before writing helped students formulate ideas and led to better quality of writing and storytelling"..."Contributes to postsecondary success. Arts students are more likely than their non-arts peers to graduate, attend a postsecondary school and earn a four-year college degree. In college, engagement with visual arts can have a range of positive impacts, from better performance on geometry tasks to increased observational accuracy for medical students."
sources: Blaine H. Moore and Helen Caldwell, "Drama and drawing for narrative writing in primary grades," The Journal of Educational Research 87, no. 2 (1993): 100-110.
Brian Wandell et al., "Training in the Arts, Reading, and Brain Imaging," in Learning, Arts, and the Brain, ed. Carolyn Asbury and Barbara Rich (New York: Dana Press, 2008), 51.
Elizabeth Spelke, "Effects of Music Instruction on Developing Cognitive Systems at the Foundations of Mathematics and Science," in Learning, Arts, and the Brain (New York: Dana Press, 2008), 17.
James S. Catterall, The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth: Findings from Four LongitudinalStudies, Research Report #55, (Washington, DC: National Endowment for the Arts, 2012).
