I forgot to share these pictures of our display when I wrote the blog post about Talking Sticks. My co-worker Jayne taught the lesson behind these talking sticks which were Tree of Life acrylic paintings on canvas boards. They were done by middle school kids. Aren’t they gorgeous?
Here is a really fun twist on self-portraits! I teach the grades K-4/5 at my school and the middle school art teacher is in charge of grades 5/6-8. We have a new art teacher at the middle school level this year and her name is Jayne Baitinger-Peterson. She comes to our school with over 30 years teaching experience at the elementary level and she has been enjoying the change with middle school youth. She gave me permission to share these … Read more…
The other art teacher at my school is retiring this year. I wanted to put together a collaborative present by students to honor her. We were both hired here at the school 10 year ago. She loves origami so I knew it had to be something origami-related. I had all of her 7th and 8th grade students learn how to fold origami butterflies. Now, I am terrible at origami, so I wanted it to be relatively easy to figure out … Read more…
[cryout-pullquote align=”left|center|right” textalign=”left|center|right” width=”100%”] How do you experience your brain? What does your brain do for you? How can you express the feelings of your brain? [/cryout-pullquote] Students at our school connected with a scientific researcher to create diverse and artistic representations of their brains. I teach art at a school for gifted and talented children. Our students are highly interested and curious about science, so when I was contacted by Ayla Kruis to work with her on a project … Read more…
So, you’re in charge of Spirit Week! Do you need some good ideas? (See how I used a photo with the kids’ faces obscured? Don’t use pictures where the kids are identifiable unless you have permission from the parents or school. This photo was on our public school website so I grabbed it from there.) Be sure to check out my newer post “10 More Spirit Day Ideas for Scho0l”. Spirit Days can be fun scattered throughout the … Read more…
From time to time, I will show you some artwork from the middle school classes. I teach K-6 and Rebecca teaches the older students. These paintings on canvas were particularly beautiful. Painting water and glass is definitely challenging, but these kids did an awesome job! The 7th/8th graders set up their still lifes and took a photograph of the setup. Then, they used acrylic paint to paint them. I will be picking the winner of the Smart Fab sample rolls … Read more…
front cover back cover (everything is actually straight on the cover, it’s just the angle I took the picture at) One of my jobs at school is the yearbook adviser. This is a huge job and takes up a lot of my time during the school year! I am very proud of how the yearbook came out, but unfortunately I can’t show you the inside pages because they are photos of kids (of course.) The yearbook staff is made up … Read more…
Mobiles, by 7th and 8th gradersI wanted to share with you some of the mobiles that the middle school kids are doing at my school. I share a room with another art teacher, and I see all the projects they create. This is a really awesome project! The kids are having a blast and they are learning all about balance, movement, three-dimensional art, and more. They each started with large wires and these sticks (which I didn’t know what they … Read more…
