Lucky enough to have the best of both worlds, I am student teaching my awesome Art I and Art II students at high school in the morning, and two terrific fifth grade classes afternoons. The high school class that is doing duck stamp art is getting geared up and moving. Deadlines motivate all of us, but particularly artists. Sometimes that is how you know your art is finished, because the calendar says it has to be. I would like to tell you that all are gung-ho on this project, but that is not truly the case. However, the decision making from the critique and comment session seems to have taken hold.
The fifth graders are so excited to do art projects I feel like a celebrity when I show up in their classroom. (I could get used to that!) We are doing wax resist with white crayon and watercolor. The science teacher has been doing a unit on weather, so the students are painting their skies with a weather situation. There are lots of lightning strikes and tornadoes (especially the boys) and sunrises and sunsets, mostly from the girls. Emphasis is on having a foreground, middle ground and background, deciding where the horizon will be, and determining correct scale of objects. the half hour time frame is driving me crazy. I found that I must do some demonstration, and then they have to set up, work, and clean up, store papers to dry, and be ready for math (yuck) in 30 minutes. Fortunately the teachers are flexible, but I try not to run over into their math period. So the watercolor project that should not take more than two hours tops is going on over a pretty lengthy period of time.
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Laurie,
ReplyDeleteYour blog rocks too! fifth graders are the best and I am sure you are a celebrity. I want to come and use wax, white crayon and water color and so I can make weather pictures too! It must be hard to get this all done in 30 minutes. This is what makes grade school so challenging. the class periods are often too short.
Keep up the good work!
Katie Cook
I love the cross-curricular application! I think that is where the elementary school model of education excels where secondary schools have to work at bringing a cohesiveness to the curriculum. Sounds like you are having a great experience. I'll have to get your autograph next week! :+)
ReplyDeleteGrade school really lends itself to crosscurricular with art in every subject! It is so much fun, sometimes I feel like I am playing along with them.....shhhhhhhh! don't tell anyone.
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