Edgemont Art Show

We survived! Basically the biggest reason I can blame for my lack of blogging lately is the art show that we had at our school last week. I know, it has now been a week and a half since we put it up and open for the parents, but it hasn't been until now that I have felt like I have been caught up on everything that I neglected while getting ready for the show.

When I interviewed for this position, my principle talked a lot about having quality are projects and also good art shows. He stressed that it would take a lot of planning, preparation and time and wanted to make sure I was up for that task. I have really felt that this first art show was an important way to showcase the art program we have here to the parents and the community. As my position is funded by a legislature-passes grant that ends this year, this show was particularly important. We invited members of our local legislature to attend so that they could see how the arts are enriching core, curriculum learning in the classroom at Edgemont and hopefully get their vote to continue funding.

The art show opened thirty minutes before the upper-grades' Christmas concert. All of the faculty who came, as well as the principle said that they have never seen so many parents in attendance to either kind of event like that at our school. It was very exciting! The lunch room was so crowded for the concert to begin that there wasn't hardly standing room left.

I cannot even express how grateful I am to all of the parent volunteers and other teachers who pitched in to help make this happen. I truly would not have happened without their help. Thank you soooo much!

Here are just a few pictures from the night:

Thanks to Kristen Moore, the school librarian, for letting us put a ton of artwork up in the library. This is a great shot of our 4th grade pottery with the 6th grader's pots and Egyptian death masks in the background. In the top left corner you can see the writing that was done by students to explain their projects and how they went along with what they were learning with their classroom teacher.



Our school has a duel-language, French immersion program is 1st and 2nd grades so far. So, both classes wrote their artist statements in English as well as in French.



A few more projects that you might recognize:






p.s. Another great story to go along with this: If you look at the picture above, you may not notice at first, but the hallways of Edgemont were brighter for the art show than they have been all year. Because of budget cuts, every-other light fixture in the halls had been wired not to turn on. I never really noticed how dark the hallways were until we were hanging the art show and noticed the problem. I talked to my principle about it and he explained the situation and said he would see what he could do. The next day (the day of the show) we saw a man on a ladder all day re-wiring the lights just for us! They are still on, but I am sure will be going off soon.
Thanks for the light! It really made such a difference.

2nd Grade Christmas Wreathes

So, I am not one for a lot of Christmas crafty art lessons, but the second grade classes really were just talking about holidays and traditions for the bulk of December. So, we talked about the symbolism of wreaths and put our origami skills to the test.

Each student folded 8 points for their wreathes and then glued them together. After, they had time to decorate them with glitter-glue and we hung their school picture in the middle.






They have been finished for about 2 weeks, and they finally get to take them home today to give their parents as a gift. These little kids are just about as close as they can get to exploding with excitement to give these to their parents.

Here is an example of a finished product (sorry, it's my picture in the place of a cuter 2nd grader):





If they are happy, I am happy!

A little Christmas Cheer: 1st Grade Ornaments

This was a really fun, easy way to let some of my youngest students experience clay and the process of kiln firing, as well as making their own textures.
I just rolled out a big slab and cute everyone about a 2 1/2" disk. Gave them a few tools, like popsicle-sticks :), and showed them how to make a Christmas tree. They were fired and then I let them go at painting.
Something that really helped give them an extra pop was that we dipped them in a wash of their choice, green or red, to help fill in the cracks and to moisten the bisque-ware to help the paint glide on more smoothly.






Everyone was all smiles!

Colonial Mural

Just finished a massive project with the fifth grade. Each class made a colonial style village mural. Each student was assigned a different trade/shop and needed to research it enough that they would be able to create a building for that shop. We spent some time learning 1 point perspective so they could put their buildings into perspective, drawing and painting their buildings one at a time and then assembling them onto a mural and completing the background. It was a very long project, but they actually turned out quite nicely, if I do say so myself.