art ed digested

Ukuleles are not, in fact, magic as I had previously devised. They require practice, which is the sticky widget for me, as I’ve never been one to practice any new hobby for an extended period of time (eg: piano, knitting, archery, yoga, bento…)

I’m trying to stick to this one, because I actually enjoy practicing. Hopefully my roommates and neighbors can say the same for my practice sessions- thankfully the ukulele is a fairly quiet instrument.

Here’s the latest installment:

A music teacher and friend, Anne Sheridan, created this unit as part of her master’s thesis, and I love the intersections of dance, music, art and history. While her unit is geared towards middle school or high school aged students, the themes transfer easily to any age level.

This is a great example of how teachers can use voicethread to make a beautiful presentation, collaborate with colleagues, and organize lessons.

Are you bored? Why not grow a molded gourd portrait ? How about making a toy dinette set out of gum wrappers? Or perhaps you’d like to make an inexpensive aluminum forge?

This project is one of uncountable scores of “instructables” on Instructables.com which proclaims that it is “The World’s Biggest Show and Tell.”

When I feel that I am lacking inspiration, I snoop around on this site and get excited about all the wonderful and strange things I can learn to create. This is a great resource for teachers in all subjects- instructables are all sorted by categories such as art, technology, science and music.

And in the spirit of Earth Day today, there’s also a set of instructables that are green.

(While this site is great for adults to browse, it is not always kid-safe, so make sure you check the content before you share it with students.)

Our fourth grade students have been hard at work on their Artist-Inspired Masks, and are nearing the final stage of adding mixed media to the painted surfaces.

I am ecstatic with the range of ideas being expressed, and the thought process students are using! There will be exciting surprises once students bring in their additional materials from home to add texture and meaning.

Check out all of the masks here!

I’ve also set up a new ArtEdDigested wiki to collaborate on lesson planning with my colleagues here at Kingsley Montessori School, and hopefully my new educator friends that I am meeting here on Edublogs and in the Twitterverse. Ah, technology, I love you.

Over spring break, a ukulele magically appeared in my hands. I’ve been playing non-stop since then, and have developed some fairly amazing fingertip callouses.

Since I sing, I’d never been too sad about my lack of instrument but I am now seeing hilarious possibilities for the classroom as well as entertaining my roommates. I am particularly interested in playing metal/rock on the uke. It’s fun to share my new skills with students here at school, and show them that I have to start at the beginning just like they do.

Perhaps I’ll share a little uke with you soon…

The third grade class will be creating a silent film to narrate with music as part of their recorder music unit. Here are some examples to whet their interest:

^{© David Shrigley}

I love this guy.
Simple, clever, funny. There should be more artists like him.

^{© David Shrigley}

As a long-time enthusiast of sock puppets, I realize that I have never done a sock puppet lesson with my students. I think that perhaps the world at large does not understand what sock puppets are truly capable of… pretty much anything.

One of my favorite shows of all time is Sifl and Olly, a short-lived sock puppet show on MTV made by Liam Lynch. Sifl and Olly, though socks, have distinct personalities, mannerisms and even singing styles. There are also a cavalcade of peripheral characters that make appearances such as Chester the intern, and Precious Roy, home shopping network host.

I’d love to make music videos using sock puppets with the music teacher at my school, who also happens to be a fan of Sifl and Olly. For those uninitiated into the world of sock puppet, here are a couple example videos:

Meme: Passion Quilt
The rules are simple.
1. Think about what you are passionate about teaching your students.
2. Post a picture from a source like FlickrCC or Flickr Creative Commons or make/take your own that captures what YOU are most passionate about for kids to learn about…and give your picture a short title.
3. Title your blog post “Meme: Passion Quilt” and link back to this blog entry.
4. Include links to 5 folks in your professional learning network or whom you follow on Twitter/Pownce.

I was tagged a week or so ago by Joyce Valenza to do this meme, and I’ve been thinking about what I’d most like kids to learn, boiled down into one little photographic blurb.

This SCUL member (Subversive Choppers’ Urban Legion) in my neighborhood illustrates the benefits of taking risks, especially frightening ones. Dare to expose yourself to criticism, to look different, to ask dangerous questions that may not have easy answers. Art is all about taking risks and pushing boundaries. As elementary students, taking risks and deviating from the plan can have varied results for those brave enough to try. Being their teacher, I need to always encourage and reward the students who choose to ride that quadruple-decker bicycle down a main street at rush hour. Wahoo!

I tag anyone reading this blog to post their Passion Quilt as well.

Here are some thumbnails of the finished tapestries on the loom, with and without embellishments. The images on the left are from the elementary students, the ones on the right are from preschool.

Our One-Drawing-A-Day exhibition was even more successful than I could have hoped. Jazz music filled the air, students and their parents mingled with teachers and sipped sparkling grape juice. Each participant had a comment sheet next to their work, and our guests were specific and generous with their compliments and comments. I am so proud of everyone who took the challenge!

^{via Metafilter}

Javan Ivey, a student at Pratt Institute, created this video using the “Stratastencil” technique, which seems like a great, yet challenging, project to do with a high school group. Unfortunately, difficult is an understatement for elementary students; a ton of X-Acto knife blades in the hands of reckless 12 year-olds, strict attention to detail, and the patience to continue without instant gratification. Who am I kidding? These are problems that I’d have doing this, too.

Ivey explains the process in great detail on his website, amongst many other projects to get inspiration from. (BTW-The audio track on that particular video is not kid-safe due to language)

There is no end to my longing for a computer lab in my school. Oh, the magnificent things we could create! I should research the grants available for this…

PITT Artist Pens are my new little pet. I love the ease of shading with these gray-toned brush markers, with two nice fine tipped black felt pens in the mix. I’ve been carrying these around in my purse for the last month or so and have used them fairly exclusively for the One-Drawing-A-Day challenge. The changes in gray tones from marker to marker are subtle, so it’s easy to get a smooth gradation using only a few strokes. They’re like watercolors without the mess.

Because I enjoy them so much, I will conveniently disregard that they are marketed towards Manga artists… which is too tricky a subject to get into here… fellow art teachers may already guess my views on that kettle of fish.

Their description on DickBlick:

Manga Marker Set of 8 — Faber-Castell Manga markers are recommended by leading Manga artists for their performance and range of colors. Waterproof, smudgeproof, lightfast, archival-quality ink contains a high proportion of pigment. Set of 8 includes five markers in five shades of gray with brush tip, one black brush tip, one black medium brush tip, and one black superfine brush tip in a durable plastic wallet. A leaflet provides helpful hints and advice on getting started.

I need to get a set of these in a multi-color pack, perhaps their sepia set as well. I’m a confirmed addict. For me, markers are fun again. Whoopee!

On Friday, February 29th, I’ll be hosting the One-Drawing-A-Day Challenge Exhibition, hopefully with a packed house! My students get to see their artwork on the walls of our school twice a year, but I like the idea of this show including parents and teachers too. It’s important to me that they see art as an activity that will continue after “art class” ends. I’m curious about the work that has been made, and I hope everyone will decide to display what they’ve been making!

Here are a few more sketches of mine:

This video has some great ideas for using non-art materials to create something unexpected and wonderful.

Yesterday, I experimented with two upper elementary students to make drawing tools out of things we found laying around. Some of the most useful tools were:

• feathers, their plumes uses as brushes/stamps, their quills used as pens
• beads glued to string and dragged across paper
• hot chocolate as ink
• long dowels attached to just about anything
• burlap dipped in ink
• paper rolled in tubes and used as brushes
• our feet!

I’m still going strong on my drawing-a-day challenge, and will post some new images soon to prove it! My students and colleagues are doing a great job keeping up on their own challenges too, I feel quite proud.

I have way too much fun making demos.