Collaboration for Reading Month

March was Reading Month here at Bethlehem.  As you went through the school hallways, you saw many examples of reading evidence through posters, writing samples, technology-based activities, and art about reading.  Here in the Art Room, elementary students created favorite characters from books that they had read - out of potatoes!  Here are some photos from the project.  The art is on display in the school library. 

Our eighth grade students continued to create their banners for confirmation.

Seventh graders continued working on their still life drawings.

I hope everyone has a fantastic spring break!  When we return, the work for the annual Student Art Exhibit at Fashion Square Mall will be getting finalized.  Announcements for participating students will come out shortly.

As March Continues. . . .

As March continues, here is a peek into the Art Room.

Kindergarten students continue to have fun exploring the stories and art of Dr. Seuss.  This week the students heard the story There's a Wocket in My Pocket.  Then, we designed and made our own Wockets using collaged paper.

Second Grade students listened to One Fish, Two Fish.  They noticed all of the rhyming words in the book.  As we read the book, they also noticed the fun illustrations.  We then designed our own fish.  The completed pieces will be ready for sharing soon!

Eighth Grade students continue to work on the banners for Confirmation. They have selected the theme, planned colors, and cut out templates for their felt banners.  Next week we begin the process of creating our pieces for the banners.

There will be a flurry of activity in the Art Room next week!  Lots of pictures to see!!

New Art Units Beginning in March

It's hard to believe that we will be at the halfway point to the month of March by the end of next week!  Students are moving along into new art units this month.  Many Elementary students are completing units on Dr. Seuss.  Each year, we do special projects to celebrate his birthday and the wonderful work of this prolific author.  We also will be working with classroom teachers and the library to celebrate Reading Month.  Be on the lookout for upcoming posts and art that will be on display in the library!

Kindergarten students started their unit on Dr. Seuss by listening to The Cat in the Hat.  We then made our own Cat in the Hat drawings.

First Grade students finished their unit on winter with Collage Penguins.  In this project, students combined watercolor with cut paper to make their own penguin scenes.

Second Graders are also starting a unit on Dr. Seuss.  To begin, we had a lesson on value (the lightness or darkness of an object).  We used shirt color to discuss and illustrate looking at value.

Third and Fourth Graders are completing a unit on Renaissance portraits.  They are learning how to create a realistic portrait in profile.  Additionally, they are looking at art from the Renaissance, and their characters will have costumes, props and environments from that time period.

Fifth and Sixth Graders took a color pre-test this week.  They will also be learning more about value, along with color, in order to apply it to the upcoming unit.

Seventh Grade will be completing a drawing unit.  Through many exercises, they will improve their drawing capabilities.  This will culminate in a still life comprised of art supplies.

Eighth Grade students will complete their Confirmation Banners in art class this year.

Wrapping Up February

I'm really excited to showcase the art from the end of February!  Below you will find some examples of art from individual classes, as well as art that is currently on display in the art room.  Come see us in the art room if you'd like to see the art in person.

Kindergarten and First Grades completed another project to go along with our chilly weather.  Here are their Winter Trees. We made our own painted paper using watercolors, and then after the paper dried, we cut the paper into triangular shapes to make trees.  These were attached to a background of a snowy night sky and snowy hills.

Second Graders studied the art of Pablo Picasso.  We created our own Cubist Portraits using oil pastels.  The students used a monochromatic color palette on the face with pure color, tints and shades.  They also incorporated pattern into the background space.

Third and Fourth graders studied color through Tints and Shades Abstractions.  To begin, they created an abstract composition.  Next, they hand mixed their own pure color with white to make tints and added black to make shades.  They altered the amount of black of white in order to alter the variety of values.

Fifth and Sixth grade studied one point perspective through One Point Perspective Cities.  They learned the foundations of perspective by practicing shapes with a horizon line, a vanishing point and converging lines.  Then, they drew their cities.  The final step was to color their cities with colored pencil

Seventh and Eighth graders also studied one point perspective through Surrealist Rooms.  In addition to learning about perspective, they also incorporated art history into the assignment by altering the rooms to have odd things such as animals indoors, outside elements or outer space, and other strange things!

Additionally, please enjoy our classroom bulletin boards!