"I Want My Hat Back" in 1st grade

 

In 1st grade we read "I Want My Hat Back" by Jon Klassen.  As we learned about the bear looking for his hat, we noted the textures and the use of red to emphasize certain items in the book.  We also discussed the use of animals doing human things in books, and why that would be done.  Some other books that used animals were also looked at.    I got the idea for this from Mrs. Knight's Smartest Artists blog, here.

 

 

The elephant above broke his student chair while the lion was teaching!  The artist used yellow to emphasize the broken chair!

 

The snake is taking a bubble bath.  I guess the artist wanted to emphasize the red rubber duck!

 



Snowmen.... when it is 80 degrees!

 

Yep, it is December 4th and 80 degrees in Dallas.......

 

 

Let's make snowmen!!!  The Prekindergarten girls drew a snowman picture with Sharpie Markers, and then painted them with white paint.  The next class, the used oil pastels to add details, redraw noses, or add more snow.  I think I made these when I was little.. a throwback I guess!

 



Paper Weaving

 

The Prmer girls worked on weaving with paper during the past week.  After they did their first project, they were given a watercolor on water project done a few weeks ago.  They selected another piece of colored paper, and decided which piece would be the warp.  I have always loved these weavings.

 

 



Gyotaku Printing by Primer and Kinder Girls!

Gyotaku prints is an old Japanese way of recording the size of a fisherman's catch.  Because it is hard to actually believe a fisherman's tale, the Japanese would ink up the big fish and use newspaper to capture a print of the fish.  This was before having your picture snapped with the fish in your hand - or beside it!  I would love to use real fish for this project, but the number of students and the smell, well, we use the old rubber variety.  The girls practiced the first day using paper, and on the second day they printed on burlap.  When the work was dry, they added sand and shells or little pearls. 

I am glad the girls noted that fish do not always swim parallel to the ocean bottom!



The Turkey in the Kiln story...

Several years ago, I worked at a school where my personal kiln was used as the school kiln.  Because I taught elementary, the powers that be decided to put it in the middle school art room - to be safer.  Well, the midle school teacher heard about cooking a turkey in a kiln.  Now, this was a very old kiln, and only had a cone kiln-sitter.  No ramping, or holding, just turn on low, medium or high, and away it would go until 1800 degrees when the cone would melt enough to cut the kiln off.  So, this teacher puts a turkey in the kiln in the evening, turns on the kiln, and goes home.  At 5 am or so, the fire alarm went off.  Well, the turkey was a charred, smelly smoldering mess.  The entire school, especially that end, reeked.  A teacher in the midst of morning sickness moved to a classroom far far away.  For weeks, even pulling a tissue from a box caused a revisit of the smell. 
Needless to say, my kiln was ruined.  She had the kiln guy come, and it never worked like it did before.  I can not understand putting food in a place where chemical reactions take place!
The event gave many families a good Thanksgiving day story, and is always mentioned at senior banquets and reunions!  

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Whooo, Whooo....

The Kindergarten and Primer students are finishing up their last projects before they select one for the exhibit in December.  These owls will all be in the exhibit, they are fabulous!! They used a slab of clay, folded over an end, piniched a beak and used a variety of items to add texture.  After the owls were fired in the kiln (not kennel like a PreK said the other day!), they girls colored the owls with oil pastel and then painted them with black tempera, which we rinsed off.  They are amazing!  The idea for the oil pastel and tempera came from www.tartteaching.blogspot.com. 

 

I like the fact that the girls were not afraid to try different colors.  When the black paint was rinsing off, the girls were so excited to see the owl kind of appear!  Makes teaching art a joy......

Clay Animals in Kindergarten

For several years, I have used the X method to help students create clay animals.  They would roll a thick coil, pinch out the neck, and I would create an X on the body from which the 4 feet would be pinched.  The animals could stand up on the 4 legs or sit on its bottom.  Here is one example:

 

 

The animals end up pretty heavy.

 

 

 

As I was browsing through some old Texas Art Ed Conference papers the other day. I found a lesson on making clay animals using long slabs and paper towel or toilet paper rolls. So, thought I would try this method with one class.....

 

 

 

 

These animals seem to have more energy than the "old" way, and the students had more time to add details.  They also learned "scratch and wet" to attach heads, necks, etc.  I think I like this way more... any opinions?



Turkeys with Dressing

Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday!  You get to do my favorite hobby (eating) and no religious or gift worries.... just family and fun!  The first graders and I discussed Thanksgiving and what our favorite foods are.  A lot of the word favorite here!  I told them about dressing as another name for stuffing.  Some people consider dressing as stuffing not cooked in the turkey.  Depends what part of the country you are in, I guess.  Anyway, can art be funny?  I think so.  So we made "Turkeys with Dressing", and they are quite the fancy birds....We used fabric, wallpaper samples, sparklies, ribbons, old jewelry, just about anything to really deck out our turkeys...

I kept a picture of a turkey on the smart board.. and we talked about drawing circles and connecting them with a neck to make the body of the bird.  They cut those out and added beaks, feet and a gobbler.  Then the girls cut out all kinds of stuff to dress the turkey.  When they finished, they had to write a story about the turkey and include the name of the bird.  The turkey's name is displayed with the turkey.  Too cute!

 

I am thinking the wider ribbon is the hair?  They tend to be heavy with all the stuff the girls add.

Halloween

BOO!  did I skeer ya!




 
Halloween at Hockaday is a blast!  This is not a place to do a holiday lightly.... nope, they go ALL out!

 

Above, the 3rd  grade teachers came as Chihuly installations, afterall, it is the big deal at the arboretum.  Their students colored the coffee filters and I stuck them on the Tshirts.  I found the hats at a Halloween store, they were perfect!

This is me below, as Big Tex... just starting to catch fire... just a little!

 

 

Loved this costume.  The Senior girls decorated the Upper School hallways like Harry Potter this year... unbelievable.  Here is a beggar from on of the halls.. most halls were too dark and the flash would have been annoying..

 

 

Even the parents who help with the parties dress up!

 



 

Ahh, The Queen of Hearts and Frieda Kahlo!

 

 



 These two girls were practicing for the Lower School orchestra, of course in full costume!



 

It is fun to teach somewhere where you can still celebrate!

 

First Grade and Still Life

   Fall is my absolutely most favorite time of year! Each year, I set up items on a table to create a still life for all of my classes. Each class creates several pictures using a variety of media. First grade used oil pastels and then Sharpie marker and watercolor. I love how their sharpie line shows through the transparent watercolors. 

 

  

 

  I like to add some strange objects and toys into the arrangement to keep the girls interested.  They change seats with each picture to keep it fresh.

Love how she filled the page, lots of detail!

 

 



 

Love the detail on the vase, the squiggle marks for the table cloth!

 

 

Funny picture of Skelley, he has been drawn so many different ways. 

 

 

Students working on their Sharpie and watercolor projects.

 

 

Some in oil pastel.



 

Hope you enjoyed their work!

My Ceramic Rats

El Raton Perez, the rat that gets the tooth from under children's pillows in Spanish speaking countries! I kind of imposed my Tooth Fairy ideas onto the rat. These are rats V and VI in a series of seven.

 

 

 

This one has a crown made of teeth, and is holding a tooth recently lost by a child.

 

 

Front and back of the other rat.

El Raton Perez, the rat that gets the tooth from under children's pillows in Spanish speaking countries!  I kind of imposed my Tooth Fairy ideas onto the rat.  These are rats V and VI in a series of seven. 

My Painted House by PreK

Prekindergarten girls read the book "My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken and Me" by Maya Angelou. The book describes the beautiful homes of the Ndebele in Southern Africa. The women paint the houses with bright geometric shapes and patterns. The girls discussed what some of the things that were the alike and different between themselves and the girl in the book. More things were alike. They then used black paint to make a pattern on a house. The next class, they added color, and in the third class they mounted the house on paper, and added whatever details they wanted. These are awesome!

 

Love the red dragon she added!  She really took her time painting her house.

 

I like the slant to this one!