Aboriginal Art by My Gifted Students

As you know from previous posts, we have been studying all about Australia. Well, my students think they must have art projects for everything...actually I think they may have gotten that idea from me since I totally love ART!! Anyway, we have been planning our paintings and this past week we got around to actually painting. The photos are of my 4th and 5th grades class...but in the background of some of the photos, you can see some of the 3rd grade paintings as well.

Just like with the Aboriginal paintings of Australia, each of these paintings has a story behind it. I will not be posting the stories...I do not want to type that much!! :)

Here they are:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am so proud of all my students. They have worked so hard...but at the same time had tons of fun! I have really enjoyed all the stories that go along with each of these paintings.

Now....as an added bonus, my principal has agreed to allow us to have an art show right after MCT2 state testing. We are going to invite parents and the community so everyone can see exactly what these students have been working on the past few weeks.

OK...guess I will leave this for now....Until Next Time.....

 Dee

Art is always a hit with the kiddos....

Just a short post to show some of what we have been doing in the gifted classroom the past two weeks. My students are always in the mood for a little art...especially if it involves some paint or oil pastels to go along with it.

I took advantage of Groundhog Day and the groundhog to lead into the lesson on elements of art: light, shade, and shadow.

The students used flashlights to have their silhouette drawn. The the students began to draw all kinds of things that represent themselves....all things they like to do, eat, go, or just plain like.

The art work is not finished but here are a few photos of some of their work in progress.


All of the photos are of some of my 2nd graders.

 

 

 

Can you tell just how much fun these kiddos were having? They were totally engrossed in what they were doing and these pieces of art are turning out to be some fabulous works.

Be sure to check back to see how wonderful these pieces of art turn out.

 Dee

Project Based Learning

In my gifted/talented class, we have begun using project based learning. Let me back up a bit...we have mostly been doing units that had some project element to it....but I have been researching Project-Based Learning and decided that this was what my kiddos needed to be doing...at least a part of the day.

So....this week is the first lesson that have been delivered....yes...I know it has only been two days in this week yet....but because I serve a 6th grade class on Monday and 2nd through 6th grade on Tuesday that means I have actually delivered the beginning of both of the lessons that will be taught for my two Project-Based Learning units. My 4th through 6th grade are doing a unit on Heroes (classical & contemporary) and my 2nd and 3rd grade are doing a unit on how we communicate (this is a writing/art unit that requires them learn about vivid language(adjectives, similes, and metaphors). I must say today was an absolute blast. While I worked with the little ones....my older ones read a Greek myth and discussed the character traits of the characters that made them heroes. But that isn't all....I was worried this would be a little boring for them....they were so engaged....I was totally amazed!

So....I figure the rest of the week has to be good. I have only 2nd grade tomorrow....but there are 12 of them...so we will see how that goes. Then I have 3rd grade on Thursday. This one should be a piece of cake. Then Friday I will have 4th and 5th. This should prove to be another day filled with some awesome discussion about Greek myths.

I have to say....I am always amazed when my lessons go over so well....gifted/talented students can be some tough cookies sometimes.

What kind of day/week have you had? I would really like to know!

Dee

What we have been doing the past week.....

Due to our 2 days of fall break on Monday and Tuesday last week, I just finished up with a weeks worth of lessons on the Elements of Art - Lines. We really had so much fun with this lesson.Now...some of you may know that I serve Gifted/Talented students at 3 different schools in my district. I have a total of 58 students that I serve on a weekly basis. Each day I pull a group of students out of the regular education classroom to my classroom to receive services for 6 hours per week.

Here is the anchor chart that I created with the help of the students. Now mine isn't as pretty as a lot of the anchor charts that I see all over Pinterest and blog land....but at least it did the trick for the students.

Once we had the lesson and discussed the different types of lines, the students were instructed to make a name tag and decorate it with lines .... and color of course....everyone knows that Mrs. Bibb....love color!! Take a look.........at them while they were working.   OK...that didn't work. I can't seem to figure out how to keep my "masking" of students' faces on when I paste into my blog...will have to do more research on this. If you know how to do this....please leave me a comment and tell me how!

OK....here are some of the student name tags after they finished. All of these students are at one school....but there are several age groups represented here.



Here are a few close ups.

After doing this lesson with my students this past week, I find out at lunch time today that one of my other principals wanted me to go to a professional development tomorrow (October 17) that is being put on by the MS Arts Council....want to guess what part of the professional development is going to be about......you guessed it....Elements of Art. Well it also will be talking about using core curriculum with integrating art in to lesson plans. This should definitely be an interesting day tomorrow.

I will let you know how the PD goes after I get back.....maybe Thursday (not going to promise I will blog tomorrow night!)

OK...I am really tired...so I'm off to beddy bye now!!!

Dee