Year 6 and the Blitz skylines.

Frustrated to start this one...I had a really good PowerPoint for them that as well as showing the children some dramatic pictures of a bombed skyline, it also helped to described blitzkrieg. But it seems to have been lost in the ether...

Never mind, it all worked out over some discussion, some googling and brainstorming.

They loved the idea of using masking tape to create searchlights once peeled off. A few remembered that charcoal can be erased and they created their searchlights that way.

JOINT Lesson of the week

This was an instant favourite last year and became a set lesson in my eyes.

 

Year 6 were down to do Aboriginal art but they already looked at that in year 3. I like to vary it up a bit and so introduced Maori Art (see here). We ran out of time last term to finish these activities so it's a must-do at the start of spring. Last week they made their Moko masks and this week were introduced to charcoal, focussing on light, mid and dark tones.

 

They were to draw their mask concentrating only on the tones, not the outline. I had found a great lesson from Paul Carney which gave me the basis. It was not an easy task and I told them as such. They felt suitably challenged and proud at the end that they had achieved something new.

 

A couple of kids struggled with what to look for, and were still looking for the basic shape of the eye to draw for instance, but they did show progression (see first picture). remember my camer a angle is different to the artist's angle of view...

 

 

A look at other Art Bloggers

I've just taken a look through my blogs in my reading list...I usually head straight to Cassie Stephens...she makes me giggle...and she has this awesome guitar apron that I WANT!! However, today Olive at Olive ART caught my eye again as she hit on a subject that's at the back of my mind for the year coming up.

I think I focus on it already but I really want the children to start to automatically offer an opinion on a piece of famous art or even an artist's style. I know I encourage discussion and opinion in a structured format that leads into the lesson but would like to find another way that tells them it's OK to ask a question or offer a thought at any time. So I liked this idea from Olive and also this one too that makes up more of a lesson.

Olive ART! Do You???: Looking at Art: She has a bulldog clip with her chosen painting and her bubble whiteboard next to it with some magnetic words. And this allows the children to choose their word that they associate with the picture, whether it is something they see or something that they feel or even the mood of the painting. Whichever it may be, as she says, it encourages the children to learn to 'see' more in art.

Her other recent development I like would to see how she gets on with, has the pupil discussing the quote and the piece of art, do they like or connect with the painting, do they agree or disagree with the artist's quote, and the children concluding from this what it is to make art...it's not just about paint and pencils and making marks. I'd like to do this with my year 6s.

I would have activities like this in an area every week and for every year in which they could discuss, describe, think about a piece of art, a type of art movement or an artist. I used to do things like this with Maths or Literacy and especially Science, around the classroom, for early finishers, say.

(Having said that, I am a peripatetic...well, between the classrooms, not schools...art teacher...I have yet to have my own art room. We are having a new school built and plans were for it to be completed for the school year 2014/15 with me having a room. However...seeing as we're in the Middle East, it ain't working like that. And I will continue to lug that huge not-quite kid-proof Ace Hardware toolbox around, with it's handle and clips held on with bits of string. I'm going to see how much longer it'll last!)

Thanks Olive, you've inspired me to start collecting and creating activities like this for my fantasy classroom! In the meantime, for a plenary at least.

Lesson of the Week Part 2

This week we started to paint the sculptures. I gave the children the freedom. They could pick a theme and showed them plenty of pictures and examples for inspiration. I made one alongside them so I'll give it a go too. I think I'm going for some lovely blues and my favourites henna inspired swirly design somewhere. Anyway, more importantly, here are some of the kids'. work... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'd love to have the free mind of a child again, no restrictions, no hindrances...these are just brilliant. Their own styles coming into play in year 6 ready for big school.
As Picasso said.... 

I shall miss this year 6 greatly.

Lesson of the week Part 1

I have been hanging on to do this with year 6 ALL term...I was so excited and kept promising them we'd end the term with something so cool. I made sure I kept it secret. Then I'd let little things out, possibly because I couldn't contain my excitement! I only said we were doing sculpture. This conjures up wonderful images of clay and bronze and chisels and hammers...but this was a little different...certainly a lot more accessible!
This was the wire hanger and 'pantyhose' (because I'm British I'm going to call it popsock from hereon in if you don't mind!) sculpture I'd seen on Pinterest (I <3 you) and a Google check for more instructions.

It took a LOT of prep but prep I could cope with compared to papier mache prep...ugh...

Resources:

• Enough wire coat hangers. Ask your friendly ICT teacher for his spare dry cleaning hangers
• Wooden blocks cut from some old 3x5 timber we had (it was actually from our camp fire stockpile but mum's the word...). Another option next year would be to stick the wire hanger ends into a lump of clay and mould that as a base and maybe incorporate that into the sculpture
• Cheapy popsocks. Don't go and get a pair for each child, get to the cash desk before you realise you only need one sock per child's sculpture and therefore half the number of boxes you picked up and have to put 13 pairs of pop socks back on the shelf (Advice: do this early in the morning to avoid too many funny looks)
• Base covering. Some sites suggest just white paint (likely to crack when dry especially when painted over), other's suggested spray paint (wouldn't want the smell even outside and lingering inside especially in a bulk amount of sculptures), I went for the gesso option but it is a fortune in the local art shop, for a class-worth anyway. So I made my own. I'll be posting on that next. Really glad I made it!

This is what I did. Any amendment or suggestion to better the method please throw it my way please!

Step 1 - The Frame (needs to be done days in advance for the glue to dry)

• Drill the holes in the block
• Untwist the hangers. Grab your long-suffering partner to help. Taking off the hook is an option or you could straighten it out. As long as the ends are straight to go into the drilled holes
• Fill the holes with wood glue or contact cement (that suits all materials)
• Stick in the hanger ends as far as possible and leave to dry

Step 2 - The Gesso. I made this the night before.

Step 3 - Unpack the Popsocks to save time!

Step 4 - Surprise the kids - Day of the Project. ExciiiiiiitIIIING! Even more so because this was an extra art session I had arranged with Mrs. C and we agreed to make it a surprise. I know, who said art should be fun...

Step 5 - Mould the wire frame. Encourage small, gentle movements, maybe in opposing forces and directions. Think about forward and backward movement rather than a flat plane.

Step 6 - Pop sock time. Stretch the sock over pulling down  from what would be the toe so there are no baggy, saggy bits. I got them to put the band around the block of wood so there was still a flat stable surface underneath.

Step 7 - A few tweaks to bend the frame a bit more where they needed it. They realised here that the sock will not always follow the line of the wire and may stretch from one point to another.

Step 8 - Time to coat. The room was filled with the gorgeous smell of baby powder! What a beautiful, emulsive , gloopy mixture. They worked on covering their sculpture, layering it up rather than one thick layer, keeping the layers even, covering the texture of the sock.

Step 9 - Leave to dry.

Art Lesson of the Week

Year 6 - charcoal

A new technique for year 6. They thoroughly enjoyed this. This was the first time they had used charcoal. I had the pencils in my room but I brought the willow charcoal along, the stuff that I used as a schoolgirl and loved it. I remember the feeling it gave me, I felt like a proper artist, using a proper tool, so I wanted and hoped they would feel the same too.

We had made clay masks based on our Maori designs we had been working on. As far as the charcoal was concerned we focused on building up the picture by tone - light, mid and dark - rather than drawing an outline and filling it in. This was a challenge for most but they did really well when it clicked what they were looking for.

I will miss this class. They embrace every technique, they try everything, they ask questions, they put their own style on the technique. They want to be there in my lesson and I love seeing them working! 

Art Lesson of the Week 1

It’s our first week back after the Easter break, a short week, but no less fun! And no better time to start (better late than never) to highlight my fave lessons.

I thought I had already decided on which lesson would be made my favourite before the week was done…but I’ve now learned to not think it’s not over until it’s over. So I’m actually going to highlight two lessons from this week that I saw the kids loved and I also loved too, both for different reasons.

a) Year 4 - Grecian Vases

We looked at the different vases that the Greeks used and talked about the different uses as well as the designs. Some designs highlighted what the purpose of the vase was, some were just decorative and often represented everyday life. We talked about the patterns that were typical of the style. We went to our sketchbooks and planned our own design for our vases. The first year 4 class had the issue of technology fail so I couldn’t show them the pictures in order to compare designs so we went by books, albeit a rather limited number in the class but enough to inspire. This year 4 class tended to focus on pattern and missed the point that many vases depicted scenes from daily life.

I had several templates of three particular vase designs. The children drew around the vase and then filled in the shape with oil pastels. We talked about the difference between oil and chalk pastels and so those who picked up a chalk pastel and worked with it by mistake could tell which it was. They filled in the shape with heavy pastel so that the paint would slip on to it.

I’ve chosen this lesson as a favourite because of the way it evolved during the hour. My original plan was to allow the paint to dry and next week scrape away at it to reveal the colour beneath. But as I demonstrated it it suddenly occurred to me to scrape the paint whilst wet. And it worked brilliantly, as long as the colour underneath was thick and bright, the paint would scrape off it and not lose any of the oil pastel. It was a lot more vibrant. I demonstrated what would happen if it was dry and we all agreed it was a lot better. We ended up as a result finishing the activity in one lesson.

It’s worth making sure that the children lay the crayon/pastel on thick…I showed what would happen if we just shaded gently…the crayon would have been scraped off with the paint and would just leave the paper showing. I just used black ready mixed tempera paint.

This lesson was one that reminded me again why I really like teaching art, it doesn’t have to be prescriptive..as long as the curriculum is followed with the success criteria being met in an evolving lesson then great! I think this is a good lesson for the kids in itself so the children can see how thoughts and plans in art can be developed.

2) Year 6 - Pablo Picasso’s Guernica

This simply was a gobsmacking lesson.

I revelled in the developing thoughts and ideas coming from the 10/11 year olds as we went through the lesson. We started off with a good old PowerPoint on Picasso. I shared my personal opinion of the man; that I think he was a lovely, charming, funny, deepy thoughtful man yet his art does not appeal to me. I went to his exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh last summer. A great insight in to his life as well as his main works.

The aim today really was to introduce them to the skill of art critiquing, for them to express and justify their thoughts, feelings, likes and dislikes and ultimately aim to offer interpretations (expected to be basic at this stage). I then showed them Guernica – with no background information - and left them with it for 5 minutes to discuss.
Random, chaotic, dull, boring, weird, creepy were the standard and expected responses. A few of the girls were on the right track, suggesting the symbols that may represent war or death.

I then proceeded to tell them the background of Guernica. They had already been studying World War 2 so the vocabulary of battle, Fascists, Communists, And then the floodgates opened! This had obviously sparked the interest of one boy (E) who always had a suggestion or a question at every stage.

I wanted them to share ideas in groups about the painting, creating spidergrams. They were to think about the following questions: why did Picasso paint this in black and white? What was Picasso’s point in painting this? Why abstracted? How does Picasso portray the innocence of the suffering people? (this one was a corker – some great ideas!)

I finished off by showing them Picasso’s weeping woman and we discussed why he could have painted this. This raised some conversation as to why he painted in colour, namely green and blue yet he was painting his interpretation of a sombre event, a mother crying over her son’s dead body. I left them with that query, why colour in this one yet black and white in Guernica. It was interesting trying to get the point across that Picasso was expressing his mood about the battle and the death of innocent people.


I'm really looking forward to the lesson this week and hearing E's research. He has done some full-on homework on it by all accounts!

I haven't posted in a month!

I haven't even been surfing Pinterest! (well...a bit...)

I spend all my spare time planning and checking I'm ready for the next lesson. It's becoming a little more than a part-time job now so I need to rein that in a little. I do however, have so much more time for my own children, I see them every day around school and it's a lovely feeling being able to have a little Mummy minute, spying on them in the playground a little.

I'm really taking the time with the lessons as I want to make sure they complete most things so they see projects through. Lessons that are scheduled for one session have led in to two and I'm beginning to deal with that fact - it's ok, I'd rather do that than be stressed trying to rally them to speed up and complete. That's not the point. Enjoyment and a sense of completion are as important in art as is the learning. However, it's put me a bit behind so I still have a sense of worry. But I AM the Art department so as long as I'm not out of control!

That'll be the two weeks before Christmas.

So my new Maori art plans are going very well. It's been great fun! And I swear by playing relevant music in the classroom to try and encompass the whole experience. I will write with the Maori plans eventually.

I have discovered a new art teacher and website - www.paulcarneyarts.com. I found him when trying to find an interesting and different charcoal lesson for Year 6. What's appealing to me just now is his section on Assessment and levelling. Will offer comment on that in another post.

:-D

 

 It dawned on me today that I think I am in love with my job.

(I'm awaiting that dip after the honeymoon period though....)
 
I'm just going through the previous plans for Year 6 and I am starting to really think how I can change it now to create my own plans and put my mark on Art education at the school.
 
So...year 6 have Aboriginal Art coming up according to last years plans (remember that I was just going to settle in to the job, work with what I had and then experiment) but they did an aspect of that in Year 3. I know and appreciate that I can progress and show a different aspect to this art. But hey, why not take the opportunity to introduce them to the art of another nation?

I have been in my element this afternoon. It's a day off and all I've been doing is researching Maori art, myths, legends and history. I am now in the process of creating three lesson plans and resources from scratch as I really cannot see much on TES or Pinterest (I  KNOW!!) for instance.

Anyway, doing it from scratch means I can create what I need. This will be in a couple of weeks so hopefully it will come together and I'll post them here.

For you, Mad Murphy! LOVE this picture!

Year 6's first lesson

I found this picture a few months back on Teacher's Pet UK facebook update.(Aaaargh...can't find it when I need it! Watch this space!) It gave me the idea to use for Year 6 in their last year...what is their vision?

I thought it would be ideal to use with Year 6 as it is their final year at Primary School. I wanted them to envisage what they see themselves doing this year but also what they want to achieve this year.

I had to step back at one point in the introduction as they had misunderstood what I was asking them. Some of them responded with what they wanted to do in Art this year. So it is essential to phrase the intention in a way that is not ambiguous - it is about what they want to become better at, what they want to achieve, what they want to try etc. We got there in the end and the results were great! We had such fun!

 
The responses varied from becoming head boy to becoming better at Maths to perfecting scooter tricks! Enjoy the pics. Apologies for the rubbish quality...zoomed right in and cropped along with rushing a little when taking them. Consider them snaps please, rather than photography!

 

Let's see if they stick to their plans!