The Ratner School Art Program

Hooray! A solid week of art classes and we are moving quickly towards completing another block of projects. I will be out of class on Thursday for the annual ISACS conference, but have the plans already set for my Thursday classes. I look forward to learning more about STEAM and Maker Space ideas at the conference and know the students will benefit from the information I gather at the conference.

ARTFUL BASEBALL SUPPORT!!!

                                 

Kindergarten Art

We had to jump ahead a week in the humanities schedule to begin work on our Native American People unit. One of our favorite traditional projects in Kindergarten art is the construction of our paper tipi sculptures. The students were presented with several visual aids of traditional tipis and we talked about the culture of the Native Americans. We reviewed symbols, what they meant and how they were used. Each student drew over 20 symbols, carefully controlling the lines made and following the traditional pictographs. They began to think of how to put symbols together to either tell a story or give a direction. The next step will be to transfer the symbols and designs on brown paper and begin to construct their sculpture. (My children both created a tipi during their studies at The Ratner School and we still display them even though they are now in high school and college!)

 

1st and 2nd Grade Art

The scenes for the story box work have been completed and glued into the large boxes. We began creating the main characters for the story boxes and the pieces are beginning to come together. We will continue construction on the boxes this week and may finish the project. The students have learned how to choose a focal point for their creations, how to create a mood with painting a scene and gained better material control with this project. The final steps of the construction will require higher problem solving and I am excited to see how the students engineer their elements to work together to show depth and tell a story. 

The beginning of the pond scene with a magic fish

The setting for the cave in the forest

3rd and 4th Grade Art

We began work on the background collage for the Faith Ringgold project. The students formulated a plan on what pattern they would create and glued fabric and patterned paper to create their work. They could create a border or fill in the entire background. The next phase of the project will be to build a bridge to place on the background. This will continue to strengthen the skills learned in the free form sculpture project and ties in to the boat constructions they are doing in Science. I believe I will open up different materials for the students to construct the bridge form with including string, wire and plastic, along with wood.

5th and 6th Grade Art

We are in the final week of the Icarus sculpture project. The students have finished construction of the wing shapes and are now working on altering the forms into Icarus. The beginning base of the sculpture was a wooden Nutcracker doll, so each piece needs to be painted, a "costume" made and the wing structure has to be attached. There were many options to completed the sculpture and I am impressed to see the creative choices the students have made. I will post finish photos on the next blog entry.

7th and 8th Grade Art

The students are progressing nicely on the bird house construction. They are learning several new techniques in the Maker Space and are gaining confidence using the power tools. We had an amazing donation to the Maker Space (thank you Mr. Bendlak) consisting of several planks of pine, a jigsaw and a chop saw. This helped move the construction of the project on much faster. We now have 3 powered hand held saws to help alleviate the wait time for tools. The students are quickly learning the importance of a clear plan, measure twice and cut once and are excited at their progress. I imagine we still have a couple of weeks in the shop until all the cuts are made. 

                  

The Ratner School Art Program

I am looking forward to having a full week of school to connect to all my classes and keep our momentum going in art class. Each grade level has started new projects and are excited to continue working on them. I appreciate hearing that you are enjoying the art blog and thank you for your kind words about the art program. I hope you are seeing your child create more art at home and that you join in once in a while.

One busy day in art!

 

Kindergarten Art

The students are studying the symbols of the United States of America in the humanities program. We looked at several images and talked about what symbols were used and what they stood for. We talked about the composition of a piece of art and what a focal point is within the composition. Each student had a sheet of symbols to chose a minimum of 10 images to cut out and create a balanced collage. This project allowed me to assess the scissor skills of each student, how they handled applying glue and offered insight on their sense of design. 

1st and 2nd Grade Art

We are having a great time creating story boxes in art! The students have been studying the Cinderella stories from all different cultures and times in their homeroom and I thought it would be a great tie in for an art project exploring how art can tell a story. I wanted the students to paint, construct and have to make a clear plan for a piece of art. We read the book Yeh-Shen, paying close attention to the beautiful illustrations of the ancient tale. Each student chose a scene in the book that they wanted to illustrate in their story box. We began the construction with setting the scene by painting the background using watercolors, oil pastels and experimented with a salt technique. The next phase of the project will be to glue the sections into a large shirt box and begin constructing the characters. This is a higher level project that requires many steps and planning on the students part. So far, they are all rising to the challenge!

A background for the forest scene

The background for a cave scene

3rd and 4th Grade Art

We began a new project based on the work of Faith Ringgold. This project is a tie into the hot glue gun work we just finished, a connection to the work the students are doing in Language Arts and an opportunity to study a living female artist. I love the accessibility of the work of Faith Ringgold and have found that the students respond well to her work. We began the project by reading her book Tar Beach, watched a short interview with the artist and viewed a power point. The students had a face to face discussion about two of Ringgold's work and then had a group discussion comparing and contrasting the works. They started a paper and fabric background today and will continue work throughout this week on the project. They are off to a strong start on this project. 

The compare and contrast board after the group discussion

5th and 6th Grade Art

The students are well on their way working on the Icarus sculptures. They began with wooden figures and created wing structures to attach to the figure. They could chose any material for the "feathers" of the sculpture. Many students went the straight forward route and actually used feathers, but some used fabric or paper to create the feathers. The final step will be changing the appearance of the face and clothing to represent the Icarus myth. This has been an interesting structural and planning project and I am curious how the pieces will resolve.

                           

7th and 8th Grade Art

Beyond the creation of individual works of art, one of the tenants of the program at our school is how to assess and talk about art. This is a process that takes some time to develop and I begin talking with our youngest artists about their work to help guide the process. By the time the students reach the middle school level, they should be well prepared to speak openly and honestly about their own work as well as the work of their peers.  For the final unit of the pop art project, the classes had a critique of their work in the gallery. Each student had post-it notes they could write their thoughts and critiques on and they then placed their comments beside the work critiqued. The students were thoughtful and insightful with their critiques and I found the process to be of value. They enjoyed the critique as well and it was not just because they got to eat cookies and juice at the critique!

The Ratner School Art Program

Last week was an abbreviated week due to the holidays observed, but we still managed to finish several projects in many classes. We are beginning many new projects across most of the grade levels and I will continue the best I can to keep you all updated on the progress. Several classes are being held in the Maker Space as well as the art room and the students are well focused and creating wonderfully creative work. Please try to take some time to walk around both floors of the school to see all the art work hanging in the building. It finally feels like the Ratner School again as our hallways and gallery are full of art!

Kindergarten Art

The Kindergarten class began the study of raptors in preparation for the field trip to Penitentiary Glen on Friday. We looked at examples of falcons, eagles and some owls to talk about the structure and characteristics of the raptors. Following the discussion and observation, the students were presented with several birds typically found in Northeast Ohio. Using their observational skills, the students drew scientific based representations of the bird of their choice. Accurate scale, colors and form were all elements of the project. The following class the students created an imagination based bird. While the artwork still needed the basic parts of the bird like a beak, wings, tail and feet, the students could create any form of a bird they chose. I enjoy both aspects of this project and am delighted to see accurate representation and the fantastic imagination of our kindergarten artists.

Realistically drawn birds

Imagination bird with 6 legs!

Imagination bird

1st and 2nd Grade Art

The students have completed the Zentangle design work in black and white. They worked diligently on their patterns and showed a clear understanding of how to break down a pattern and repeat the designs. Several students designed their own zentangle patterns and showed great creativity in their designs. This project has helped strengthen the control of line and design and helps the students understand the creation of different patterns both in nature and in art. After the black and white Zentangle work was completed, the students could create a color design if they desired. Every student enjoyed creating the patterns so much, they all chose to make a smaller color Zentangle as well. We noticed how beautiful the work looked on the windows with the sun coming through the paper, so we will be hanging this work in the gym pod corridor to create a hallway of Zentangle "stain glass" designs! I love the creativity of our students!

                                                  

3rd and 4th Grade Art

I am sad to say that because of the holidays last week, the 3rd and 4th grade students did not have art class. We were able to begin a sculptural project in the Maker Space before the holidays that involves wood pieces and hot glue construction. The 3rd grade students were very excited to have their first lesson on using a new tool and showed great concentration and care with the tools. I love expanding their tool use and opening up a new way of working on their art. I will show some project updates next week in the blog post. 

Sorry for the blurry picture, but look at the concentration!

5th and 6th Grade Art

The playing card portrait project has ended and all the students have completed their designs. The work this year on this project is really exceptional. Each student showed strong design sense and really took time to carefully stylize their portraits showing a strong resemblance on each portrait. I asked the students to not sign their work because you can tell who the artist is by looking at the work. Each piece has fine design in the layout and patterns added and the students are proud of the work hanging in the school. We will be beginning a new project this week focusing on the study of Icarus. The students will be creating a winged figure, using tools in the Maker Space and creating a sculpture. I will tell you more about the project in the blog next week.

 

7th and 8th Grade Art

All students in the 7th and 8th grade have completed the first long term intensive project this year. The Pop Art pieces are complete and they are fantastic. The students showed a clear understanding of the principles of the pop art movement, great control of the material and a high skill level of execution with their work. The craftsmanship on the pieces are wonderful and the gallery in the school is lively with all the Pop Art work displayed. I hope you will be able to come into the school to view the body of work from our students, it will surely give you a smile.