The Ratner School Art Program

What a whirlwind week we all experienced last week. The students finished several projects, enjoyed the school wide Thanksgiving celebration and topped it off with delicious pumpkin pie with fantastic Kindergarten ti-pi's and thunder bird art as our decorations. The blog post this week actually covers the work completed for the two days last week and the previous week. We are beginning a new project in most classes, including a construction project in the 5th and 6th grade class that requires hundreds of cereal boxes. I will set a container outside the art room door or you are welcome to put any donations into my mailbox in the office. Thank you in advance! 

Kindergarten Art

I have not had the Kindergarten students for Art for 2 classes due to the Thanksgiving break. The

 ti-pi's and thunder bird totems added wonderful decoration to the pumpkin pie festival on Tuesday and I hope you all enjoyed having your child's work displayed for your own Thanksgiving celebrations. We are back to our normal schedule this week and I look forward to the next project with them.

1st and 2nd Grade

The students worked on a yarn, glue and watercolor piece to display at this weeks book fair. While this was a messy project that landed a little bit on the crafty side of art, the students loved creating something quickly and really enjoyed dipping yarn into glue. What a mess! It was great! After the glue had dried on the yarn and watercolor paper, the students added oil pastel to the surface and then painted with watercolor paints. A salt technique could be added if chosen. The results were visually interesting and fun was had by all!

3rd and 4th Grade Art

The students had a great time jumping into a painting project last week. We looked at the work of Wassily Kandinsky and talked about concentric patterns in nature and art. The students then divided their paper into 8 sections, created a concentric pattern in each space and began painting with tempera paint. They revisited the concept of complimentary colors, repeated shapes and gained better control of the application of paint on paper. The pieces are all complete and will be displayed at the book fair this week.

5th and 6th Grade Art

The cut paper Op-Art pieces have been completed and they look amazing! I was so impressed with the concentration and level of skill the students showed. As I stated in an earlier blog post, I typically have the 7th and 8th grade students do this project and it is normally a high school level project! I knew the students could handle the x-acto knives safely, but I was pleasantly surprised with the high level of detail they could accomplish. This is a fantastic group of well focused students in art. I will continue to present challenging projects for them this year. One of our next projects will be the construction of the cereal box rhombicosidodecahedron. If you could please save all the cereal boxes and any other thinner brown board boxes for the project, that would be appreciated. I will place a basket outside the art room for collection. Thank you for your help!

7th and 8th Grade Art

I believe 95% of all the bird houses have been constructed. The students amazed me with their willingness to try a completely new set of skills using unknown tools and processes. They were first and foremost safe, careful with the tools and patient when waiting for instruction and guidance. Once the students became more skilled at using the power tools, they were wonderful teachers to their peers. I saw many students collaborating and assisting others and I was very proud of the spirit of helpfulness in the Maker Space.

The Ratner School Art Program

We had a focused and productive full week of creative work across all grade levels in art. Several classes finished their projects and we have begun new work in several grade levels. I love seeing new skills acquired and the pure joy in creating.  The students are full of great ideas and are constantly amazing me with their willingness to jump into new and unknown territories in art. They keep me busy coming up with challenging ways to create new work. 

Kindergarten Art

The students worked so diligently on the designs of their tipi's and thunder birds. They are showing fine control of their materials, are learning to slow down with the process of creating and are developing stronger craft in their work. I will begin construction and assembly of all the parts and pieces and the work will come home next Tuesday before the Thanksgiving break. 

1st and 2nd Grade Art

The Yeh-Shen inspired story-box work was completed last week and is installed in the 1st floor hallways on top of the cubbies. The students created fantastic representations of scenes in the book and added several wonderful details to their work. They painted, cut, glued and built many elements to visually tell the story of Yeh-Shen. I am impressed with their ability to hear a story and develop a minds eye picture to then create in their work. They showed great creativity and are developing good problem solving skills with this work. I enjoy seeing the students look at the work and determine which scene their peers are illustrating. I hope you can all see the work during conferences. If you can remember, please take your child's piece home with you after your conference. I would love to leave them displayed longer, but they are large and I think the students would have difficulty carrying them home. Thank you for your help!

3rd and 4th Grade Art

Everyone finished the bridge construction this past week and the work is displayed in the 2nd floor black box galleries. The students showed great control of the glue gun, used the various materials in creative ways and constructed some well designed structures. We will begin a new project this week and will take a break from sculptural work for a while to explore painting and drawing techniques. 

 

                                     

5th and 6th Grade Art

We began a new project last week based on the Op-Art movement. Students are creating two layers of cut colored paper to create the finished piece. While the project sounds simple, the cuts are made using an x-acto knife and requires a high level of concentration and planning. The process is to think of each line as a negative space and carefully cut the designs in the layers of paper. Color choice, design and control of the tools are important skills needed to create a successful piece. Most students have finished the first geometric layer of the piece and will continue with the organic layer this week. I have traditionally had the 7th and 8th grade class creating this project, but the 5th and 6th grade class has shown such great control and concentration this year, I thought I would try the project with a younger group. They are doing a great job!

7th and 8th Grade Art

The construction of the bird houses continued last week and I believe we may finish before Thanksgiving break. Most of the cuts have been completed and the assembly of the pieces are beginning. The students are seeing the results of fast cuts with a jigsaw as opposed to careful cuts, the sander is getting a good workout! I love seeing the realization that planning is important, thickness of wood needs to be part of the plan and craftsmanship matters. This has been a great project for the students. 

The Ratner School Art Program

The ISACS conference was well worth the effort and I returned with many ideas to implement into the classroom. The conference also affirmed that we have a remarkable school and amazing programs for the students. I am proud to be a part of this community and thank you all again and again for allowing me to work with your children. Your support and trust allows me the freedom to try so many creative approaches with the students at the Ratner School and I appreciate you!

Kindergarten Art

I was away for the ISACS conference for the Kindergarten class, but am fortunate to team teach with Pat Carey-Bell for the Kindergarten class. She carried on with the Native People unit we began last week. The students transferred their designs onto the shape of the tipi and cut out the shape. A layer of paint was added to the totem poles and we will begin painting the designs this week. The students are showing strong skills with scissor work and are gaining control of the paint material as well. 

3rd and 4th Grade Art

The students have made fantastic progress on the bridge construction and will finish up their work this week if I can restrain myself from taking them outside on these beautiful fall days. They are gaining confidence in building and have learned some of the strongest structures for a bridge. Many students learn best by trial and error and I appreciate how open our art students are to messing things up several times before finding what works. The building process is great for this style of learning and I am equally thrilled for the students when they show concrete understanding of form and balance. 

5th and 6th Grade Art

The Icarus projects have been completed and will be displayed upstairs in the hallway black box gallery. While there were some issues with the construction of the wings and the base of the sculptures, the students gained some knowledge on balance, use of material, telling a story through art and seemed to enjoy the process. We have begun our next project which is an Op-Art inspired paper cutting project. More on that next week. Right now in class we are learning how to control the x-acto knife and use the tool safely. 

1st and 2nd Grade Art

The class is 80% finished with their story box project. I believe all the students will finish the construction with one more class. They look great and everyone enjoyed building a scene from the Chinese Cinderella story, Yeh-Shen.  I enjoy watching the students figure out building projects, experimenting with different technique and learning from each other. They are very inventive and, of course, creative with their problem solving. 

7th and 8th Grade

Construction of the bird house projects are moving at a more rapid clip now that the students are gaining control over the power tools. Several students have begun assembly and are learning about gluing, pilot holes and the correct size wood screw to use. If learning by failure is the most valuable lesson, we are learning a lot! The students are fantastic at adapting, improvising and problem solving. I am really proud of the leaps of faith and willingness to try new ways of working in the Maker Space.