So there are two full weeks left in my first placement as a student teacher, and I’m just about ready for Spring Break!  I love my students and my placement, but it is time for a break!  Being a teacher is a lot of work, but on top of it I am still a student and am required to do my own work.  So going to Italy with Marywood’s Art Department will be a nice change for the week of Spring Break.

My students have been amazing thus far, and taught me so much about myself and the teacher that I want to become.  We have had our ups and our downs, but we’re both learning. Each of my grades are learning about an artist, and utilizing their artistic method to create a new piece of art incorporating the elements and principles of design.

Here’s what has been going on in the art room:

• Kindergarten:

My little ones have been learning about Claude Monet.  We read Laurence Anholt’s book “The Magical Garden of Claude Monet” and are painting Monet’s Japenese Bridge in liquid Tempera paints.  We have discussed how Monet utilizes his painterly brushstrokes, that look more or less like dots rather than just painting and filling in spaces one color.  We also discussed how they can make pink for the Water Lillies by mixing pink and white.  I am super excited to see the finished products, and hope that they finish them this week.

• 1st Grade:

The 1st graders are learning about Joan Miró.  We started the lesson by talking about abstract figures, and how we can draw things that don’t always look as they seem.  They played a game called “Roll a Miró”, in which they roll a dice to designate which pieces of their person where which shape.  Then we will work together to create a paper sculpture that will have to balance 3 pieces and incorporate the primary colors.  We discussed how mixing the primary colors creates secondary colors.

• 2nd Grade:

My 2nd graders are experimenting with different mediums and learning about Vincent van Gogh.  They will listen to and read letters that van Gogh wrote while he was sketching and painting Starry Night, and experiment with different mediums in the class.  The mediums that I have set aside for them to use include- tissue paper, watercolor and oil pastel resist, markers, and liquid Tempera paints in the primary colors.  We will learn to draw Starry Night as a class and then use our desired mediums to create a multi-meda image.

• 3rd Grade:

The 3rd grade classes are learning about landscapes and Georges Seurat.  They got to watch a video about Seurat before we began.  Each student will get to draw their own landscape, that incorporates a horizon line and a vanishing point.  We will then finish our landscapes by painting them in the style of Pointillism with the primary colors.  I am hoping that students will start painting their final product this week, as I am eager to see how they do.

• 4th Grade

4th grade is learning about optical illusions. We discussed the Op Art movement and how it still impacts society today through other artists and architects. We will be discussing color theory and color families thoroughly as well as shading to create a dynamic optical illusion.