Curriculum for Grade 5 Art

“Filling a space in a beautiful way, that is what art means to me.”

The preceding quote is by the artist Georgia O’Keefe and it is the basis of my philosophy as an art teacher. It applies to two-dimensional work as well as to three-dimensional art. Anyone can make creative decisions about how to fill a space in a beautiful and interesting way. The projects I assign will give the students the opportunity to come up with clever and creative solutions to various artistic challenges, with the intention of filling up their spaces in ways that are artful, original and beautiful.

“I want 2 move U2 move yourself 2A higher level.”

This quote, by a fellow art teacher from Boston, hangs above the door in my room. It is what I see my job as being mostly about. My goal is to motivate my students to be motivated themselves to reach high levels of achievement. I am constantly pushing my students to go a little further, to be a little more patient, to do a little more detail, so that they eventually begin to do so on their own.

PROJECTS:

Attribute Paintings:

Student will give three creative responses to the questions, who is there, doing what and where are they. The students will then create a painting based on the creative answers they chose.

Two Picture Accordion:

Students will draw two separate pictures that are different but related, i.e. a pitcher and a batter. The two images will be cut up and glued in an alternating sequence on folded oak tag so that each image is visible from one side or the other.

Numbers:

Students must illustrate a scene that somewhere in it displays a number or numbers, i.e. racing cars, a pool balls.

3D Pop:

Students create a drawing that has one or more elements raised up from the background surface with paper supports. For example, a scene showing a stadium in the background and a baseball projecting out from the page.

Curriculum for Grade 6 Art

“Filling a space in a beautiful way, that is what art means to me.”

The preceding quote is by the artist Georgia O’Keefe and it is the basis of my philosophy as an art teacher. It applies to two-dimensional work as well as to three-dimensional art. Anyone can make creative decisions about how to fill a space in a beautiful and interesting way. The projects I assign will give the students the opportunity to come up with clever and creative solutions to various artistic challenges, with the intention of filling up their spaces in ways that are artful, original and beautiful.

“I want 2 move U2 move yourself 2A higher level.”

This quote, by a fellow art teacher from Boston, hangs above the door in my room. It is what I see my job as being mostly about. My goal is to motivate my students to be motivated themselves to reach high levels of achievement. I am constantly pushing my students to go a little further, to be a little more patient, to do a little more detail, so that they eventually begin to do so on their own.

PROJECTS:

Paper Sculpture:

Using 1x12 inch folded strips of paper and glue, students use their ingenuity to build various structures, i.e. a house, a bridge, a roller coaster. Details are added after the skeletal frame is constructed. Students are graded on the sculpture’s strength, originality and attention to detail.

Dream House:

Students draw the outer shape of a house and then divide it into rooms as if the front wall had been removed. They then fill each room the way they want it furnished as if anything was possible. For example, you might have an anti-gravity room, or a bowling alley in the basement, etc.

Parachute:

Students create an illustration of a descending parachute that has an unusual object hanging from it, i.e. a cow, or a giant banana. The fabric of the chute must have a design that corresponds to the object. For example the cow might have a fabric filled with a milk bottle or hamburger pattern.

Seventh grade art students will focus on learning techniques that can be used to create more realistic drawings and paintings. We will begin by learning how to create the illusion of depth in a drawing using overlapping, diminishing size and converging lines, a.k.a. one point perspective.

Next we will do some exercises that develop an understanding of shading in black, white and gray.

After working in pencil we will go to working in tempera paint. This exercise will not only teach the technique of creating the illusion of light and shadow in color, but also the science of mixing colors to achieve a match with colors that are represented in a color photograph or from life.

The final technique we will explore is how to accurately recreate a two dimensional image using a grid. Students will select a cartoon, graph it and then enlarge it square by square on larger paper.

Next year this technique will be used to enlarge a photograph.
In addition to these exercises we will also work with collage, imaginative illustration and even mess around with some abstract painting!

Curriculum for Grade 8 Art

“Filling a space in a beautiful way, that is what art means to me.”

The preceding quote is by the artist Georgia O’Keefe and it is the basis of my philosophy as an art teacher. It applies to two-dimensional work as well as to three-dimensional art. Anyone can make creative decisions about how to fill a space in a beautiful and interesting way. The projects I assign will give the students the opportunity to come up with clever and creative solutions to various artistic challenges, with the intention of filling up their spaces in ways that are artful, original and beautiful.

“I want 2 move U2 move yourself 2A higher level.”

This quote, by a fellow art teacher from Boston, hangs above the door in my room. It is what I see my job as being mostly about. My goal is to motivate my students to be motivated themselves to reach high levels of achievement. I am constantly pushing my students to go a little further, to be a little more patient, to do a little more detail, so that they eventually begin to do so on their own.

PROJECTS:

Two Picture Weave:

On two pieces of 12x12 paper students create colorful abstract designs that contain some or all of the various principles of good design; balance, repetition, rhythm, contras and, unity. When both designs are completed, they are cut into strips and then woven into a single design. The finished product contains an interesting blend of chaos and order.

Soda Pop:

Students choose a soda can and then create a design in color for a backdrop. The can is then hot-glued onto the design. (See display in main lobby.)

Numbers:

Students must illustrate a scene that somewhere in it displays a number or numbers, i.e. racing cars, a pool balls.

Painting: Using a chosen image from either an art book or a magazine students will draw and then paint a reproduction of the image. An effective gridding technique for capturing the image more accurately will be taught and applied when needed.