The Ratner Montessori School Art Program

Thank you all for waiting a couple of weeks for the blog update. We finished up several projects across all grade levels and that meant a massive amount of work needed to be mounted, labeled and displayed at one time. I enjoyed seeing many of you during conference time in the hallways looking at the art work and enjoying the work across the levels. We have started new work in each class and the students are showing tremendous growth in their abilities. I look forward to spending time with my family over Thanksgiving and am excited to hear about the students time with their families near and far. I am thankful to have a remarkably supportive parent base and I love my job here at The Ratner School. I am grateful to you all.

Found object turkey by Junkyard Bots

Kindergarten Art

The students had a great time learning about self portraits. We had several discussions about the difference between portraits and self portraits, different styles of self portraits and why it is important to draw self portraits. The students looked at portraits and self portraits by various artists and noticed the styles and material difference in each piece. I asked each student to draw a self portrait of what they thought they looked liked. The second portrait was drawn after a lesson about proportions, placement of the facial features and simple techniques on the shape of the eyes, nose and mouth. Each student had a mirror to work on their observational self portrait. A watercolor wash was added to complete the portraits. This is one of my favorite projects to approach with this age, as I love the symbols and the details that the students add as they look at themselves as they draw.  The portraits are hanging in the 1st floor hallway by the toddler classrooms. 

Elementary I (1st, 2nd and 3rd Grade)

We have recently completed a self portrait lesson. We had several classes covering the process of portraits and looked at many examples of portraits. We took the time to feel the structure of the bones in our face and looked at a mirror to observe elements that are unique to each student. The first self portrait the students created was a 20 minute drawing of themselves from memory. The second self portrait was created after a lesson on the "map" of the face and looking in a mirror while drawing their portrait. The third portrait was drawn on watercolor painting and created after a lesson on methods of drawing eye, nose and lip shapes. A mirror was also used for this final self portrait. The final step of the project was to add color pencil details and to accurately mix the skin tone for each self portrait. I love seeing the marked process in each phase of the lessons and the confidence and pride of the students as they create their self portraits. All the portraits are hanging in the 2nd floor hallways by their main classrooms. I hope you have a chance to view them all, I think they are remarkable.

      

                                              

           

Elementary II (4th, 5th and 6th Grade)

The grid project is completed! The students mounted the work on black paper, being careful to try and mount their work straight. The art work is currently hanging in the gallery space by the entrance to the gym. We have begun a project in the Maker Space which the students are very excited by. I am running three different projects to suit the skill level of each class. The 4th level class are learning how to use a hand held drill and the scroll saw to create a dowel constructed sculpture. The 5th level class are learning how to measure accurately using a ruler, has had lessons on the drill press, hand sander, belt sander and scroll saw to construct a napkin holder. The 6th grade class is able to use all the tools with the exception of the chop saw. They will be building a bird house. I appreciate any donation of wood, especially pine boards as that wood is the softest to build with and easy for the students to sand. 

7th and 8th Grade Art

With the successful completion of 25 fully functioning candy dispensers, we moved forward with our next project. The class is back in the art room creating a cardboard self portrait. I presented the lesson several classes ago, showing visual examples to the students, pointing out the use of the material as a texture, accurate placement of facial features and making note of how the layers of cardboard are used to create a sense of depth in the construction of the portraits. Each student had their photo taken, and they laid out the "map" of their face to begin the construction process. Several students are noticing the different tones of cardboard and using the difference to create added detail. The work is progressing well and should be completed within the next few classes.