1st Grade: Color Unit

For the month of November, my first graders have been learning about colors. We began with the Color Wheel, describing how it is useful for artists. The Color Wheel helps us identify secondary colors (orange, purple and green) that are between the Primary Colors (red, blue, yellow). This is the main focus as the next lesson is about mixing the Primary Colors on a plate! The students also learned how the color wheel can show us complementary colors which are opposite of one another on the wheel, and warm/cool colors.
For the first lesson, they traced a circle and used a ruler to make six pieces of pie. I had examples at each table so that the colors were added correctly. They also were asked to write "The Color Wheel", "Primary" and "Secondary" with the colors being identified. Hopefully some of this will stick in their artistic memory!
The next lesson is about color mixing. They have had a lesson already about basic paint procedure and brush cleaning. I put the 3 Primary colors in a triangle and basically ask that the secondary colors are mixed between them. They need to be given a demo, certainly emphasizing the need to keep some of the primary colors left for the painting! Once completed, the plate should look like a color wheel, with the Primary/Secondary pattern all the way around!! They love this and seem to understand once the plate and color wheel are shown side by side.
For the third lesson, we discuss the artist Piet Mondrian with his wonderful abstract artwork. The students are shown how he used different placement of black lines. They are introduced to Vertical, Horizontal and Diagonal. They are each given 5 1" strips of black construction paper and asked to arrange them to create large shapes. Next, I passed out Primary colored oil pastels, and suggested to color in several shapes. This is a good lesson as it covers math concepts and color elements in one short period! Sure hope you enjoy and be sure to encourage discovery with your young ones as well!
Mac

3rd Grade: Keith Haring inspired Display

For this year, I have been offered to teach all of the 3rd Graders! Great, but only once a week! Scheduling is super tough for any art teacher, and you begin to plan accordingly to certain classes.
I decided that I would teach the elements and principles to the students by studying one artist a month or for 4 periods. During the month of October, we looked at the compositional elements of line, color, pattern and figure of Keith Haring. The students were shown his work on the smartboard and we discussed his subject matter and line work. Next they were able to spend time on small reproductions of his work with index cards. They loved using the bold colors and strong line work!
Next, they were able to trace, cut and attach 2 figueres together to make a 3/D standing figure like one of Harings. The figures were decorated using line, shape and pattern. This was a fun way to introduce a simple sculpture method, one that they would be able to try at home with any object they chose to create! They really enjoyed working with this artist and were excited that he was a local NYC artist!

Kinder, 2nd, 5th Books...A little more challenge each year!

At the start of this year, I challenged the students with a few bookmaking skills. The Kindergarten and Pre- K are learning about shape names and how to with both straight and curved lines! Trust me, most of them do not come in here with this knowledge!! But very soon, it just unlocks and they catch up with the shapes! They spent time with coloring and cutting skills with shapes, then used those to create a accordian book!
The 2nd Graders were using their memory to think of a special moment that they experienced during the summer. They had 4 pages in their diamond books to illustrate that story!
The 5th Graders were introduced to the abstract work of Piet Mondrian. We looked at his grey composition with primary colored squares popping up. This was a perfect chance to make some Mondrian Pop up Books!!
Enjoy!

1st Grade: Representational Art: City Scape Drawings and Collage

For these two lessons, the students were introduced to Cityscape. We began with reading the book Tar Beach and looking at how the city is depicted with shapes. The students were shown that buildings close to the us appeared to have the largest windows. We then noticed that buildings that were overlapped appeared further away with smaller windows. The buildings that were behind all others were the farthest distance requiring nothing more than dots or slashes. This is an introductory lesson to space and use of shape! The students have now been introduced to Abstract and Representational art, and are able to recognize that the artist is arranging shapes and lines in a thoughtful and intentional way!!

2nd Grade: Intro to Crayon Resist and Non-Representational Art

For this Second Grade lesson, the students created two projects using crayon resist. The first was how to create block lettering for their names. I showed them in a demo of writing your name with a pencil large enough to take up most of a 6x18" white paper. Next, they took a crayon and outlined 1/2" all the way around the pencil line. They decorated with various patterns that were demonstrated with crayons. Then they put that project down.
The second crayon resist project was an introduction to non-representational art (abstract). We talked about how the various artists (Paul Klee, Kandinsky) created designs by overlapping and arranging the element of Shape and Line. The students traced and overlapped various shapes to make a design. I encouraged them to turn it upside down and rotate the artwork until they were satisfied with the composition.
The last class we added the wash. Pretty basic, just half a cup of water with a few drops of tempura paint! This was a good starter as the students were able to combine technical skills with imaginative elements for their final products! Enjoy!

3rd-5th Summer Selfies!

You have been living under a rock if you have not heard about the craze of taking "selfies" with our phones! Funny thing is that selfies have been around for hundreds of years as artists would refer to them as self-portraits. The students instantly recognized the term "selfie" as a current phenomenom, one that either they or family members have participated in.
We began by looking at a great site of artists that profit from the selfie craze named frenchgirlsapp.com. They saw how the artists transformed peoples selfies into wonderful works of art!
They were given two index cards and a quick modled drawing on how to draw the front face of a IPhone. They selfie was to be insprired from a summer memory experience. The second index card was the writing component which was to explain the location and people involved in the summer selfie. Altogether this made a quick and fun project to get the students back to work!!
*Note...The schedule came out right after this project and I now only have one very small 5th Grade class and NO 4th Grade this year

Welcome to Imagination Station 2014-2015!!!

It is exciting to once again be keeping a virtual log for the students artwork  for the 2013-2014 school year at PS 23, Bronx!~
We have had a whirlwind first six weeks, as classes are assigned and prep schedules are laid out. I have been fortunate this year to service Pre-Kinder through 3rd Grade with one small 5th Grade class.
This schedule is physically tiring, but the students excitement and enthusiasm in the early grades is great to see. They have already made such effort to try their hardest which is all we can ask of them!
Please enjoy the work that will be presented throughout the year, highlighting some of my favorite projects as we dive into the elements and principles of Art!! Check back at the beginning of each month for new virtual gallery exhibits!!
Thank you,
Mr. Mac