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  • Banner with colorful artwork promoting an art shop featuring kindness coloring pages, artist activities, and resources for teachers.

Art Show!

Two women smiling, standing in front of a yellow wall with multiple framed artworks displayed at an art show.

We had a great art show this weekend at one of our student’s parents’ winery.  We had wine tastings for the adults, snacks for the kids and lots of great artwork.  I selected about 40 artworks and the middle school art teacher also selected about 30 or so…   I put up pictures on my school website.  You can see them all here:EAGLE Artists Rebecca (middle school art teacher) and Marcia (me)

Professional Development Plan

I’ve been working really hard on my PDP.  In Wisconsin, every 5 years to become recertified you need to make a professional development plan, outlining goals and your plans to meet those goals.   When I was trying to write mine, I wanted to look up examples from other art teachers and I really couldn’t find any sample plans that were specifically for art teachers.  Maybe this will help someone else out when you are writing a professional growth plan.  Here … Read more…

Week Update

A figurine in a metallic outfit holding a flag and shield, standing on a base labeled "DARWIN OF OTFORD." Week Update included.

Well, I haven’t updated since this past Sunday, so I will briefly tell you what I’ve been up to..  parent-teacher conferences were on Tuesday.  We are in the middle of various projects… monochromatic rhythm paintings (which are awesome and I will share with you later)…  Rainbow Fish paintings, bird paintings, American landscape paintings.. wow, I guess we are doing a lot of paintings now.  The 4/5s are doing a mosaic/fresco project which I will show you when we are further … Read more…

Greek Vase Drawings- 4th/5th grade

Drawing of seven Greek vases on a green surface, displaying various shapes and decorative patterns, ideal for 4th-grade or 5th-grade students studying ancient art.

@font-face { font-family: “Cambria”; }@font-face { font-family: “Adobe Caslon Pro”; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Greek Vase Drawing & Model:  First, the 4/5s read a magazine about Greek vases. Then they made a small vase using modeling clay.  Next, they used chalk to develop a drawing of Greek vases using Greek imagery and symbols. Black sharpie markers were used to draw the designs.

Pacific Northwest Coast Masks– 3rd grade

Handcrafted animal mask with colorful paint, exaggerated features, and straw whiskers inspired by the Pacific Northwest Coast on a white background.

@font-face { font-family: “Cambria”; }@font-face { font-family: “Adobe Caslon Pro”; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } The 3/4s viewed a video about Pacific Northwest Coast art.  They made a spirit animal mask using similar characteristics.  These are made out of paper mache and are painted with a limited color palette.   

Japanese Scrolls

A Japanese wall scroll with artwork of birds and mountains, hanging on a purple wall.

Third Grade Japanese Scrolls We watched a powerpoint about Hokusai, the Japanese printmaker.  The students made styrofoam prints using imagery of nature.  We practiced using calligraphy brushes with India ink.  The students assembled their calligraphy and prints, along with origami paper into a hanging scroll.

Arctic Animals

A child's painting of a penguin on ice with a purple sky, a flying bird, and abstract shapes in the background captures the charm of polar animals.

@font-face { font-family: “Cambria”; }@font-face { font-family: “American Typewriter”; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Arctic Animals Primaries– 1st Grade The Primaries used cool colors to paint a background for Arctic animals.  They used their observation skills to draw detailed animals from pictures of these animals.    This project complements their study of the Arctic in LA/SS/D. 

Inside Out Pictures

Hands arranging green paper cutouts on a black sheet atop a wooden table.

  @font-face { font-family: “Cambria”; }@font-face { font-family: “Chalkduster”; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Inside Out Pictures The Primaries learned about positive and negative space.  They exercised their cutting skills and spatial awareness. Step One:  Cut out shapes from a 4.5″ x 9″ colored piece of paper. Step Two:  Take all of the shapes and try to put them back together like a puzzle. Putting the … Read more…

Oil Pastel Landscapes– 2nd grade

Oil pastel landscape drawing with red mountains, a blue river, green grass, trees, and a small brown hut. Ideal for 2nd grade art projects.

@font-face { font-family: “Times”; }@font-face { font-family: “Cambria”; }@font-face { font-family: “Adobe Caslon Pro SmBd Italic”; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Oil Pastel Landscapes By the Upper Primaries This project focused on learning about foreground, middle ground, background, shadows, and color mixing.  The students learned simple depth techniques.  The Upper Primaries used oil pastels to draw a tropical landscape.  They learned how to mix and blend … Read more…

  • Banner with colorful artwork promoting an art shop featuring kindness coloring pages, artist activities, and resources for teachers.