School Wide Puzzle Pieces

Welcome Back St. Elizabeth Spartans!!

 

I am so excited for the 2018-2019 school year! I have so many goals for myself this year. Some include, allowing time for those students who need a little extra, keeping projects more open ended to leave room for personal expression, spend more time diving deeper into the artists we learn about, and so many more. I think it is so great to start out the school year with some new goals. Sure we may not be able to stick to all of them but we sure can try.

We started the year off with a collaborative project. I like starting the year with collaboration because I feel it takes a little pressure off of the individual. I also like to leave the first thing we do very open ended so that students can express themselves, show me their talents in art, and just get warmed up for the year. This years collaborative project was puzzle pieces. Students were encouraged (but not forced) to find someone in the classroom that had something in common with them so they could connect their puzzle pieces in some way. It was a great way to continue to learn more about my students but for students to also get a chance to learn about their peers and how they can work together.

Kindergarten: The Dot

I like to start the year for kindergarten with a story called "The Dot" by Peter H. Reynolds.
It talks about a student who felt like they couldn't draw, so their art teacher tells them to make just one mark and see where it takes them. The character then creates many art pieces based off of a dot. I like this book to encourage my young students that everything they do in this class is art! To feel confident in what they do and to know we are all here to experiment and learn.
Kindergarten then designs their own dot using water color paints, just like the character in the book. We talked about making a dot by filling in the circle, or making a dot by NOT painting a dot. ( filling in everywhere around the circle).
Here are our dots!