All Aboard!

     All aboard! Amtrak has started offering passenger train service close by in Brunswick, Maine. In celebration of this exciting new way to travel from Maine, our kindergarten students created a piece of art about trains.
     Our first learning target for this lesson was "I can use lines to create shapes." In kindergarten we use a variety of materials to create lines and shapes. We learned that when lines meet they make shapes. After reading the book Color Train by Donald Crews, our young artists used strips of cardboard to print lines that turned squares into squares and rectangles, and then into trains. The wheels were made by printing empty tape spools.
     The following week, we added a new learning target: "I can explore and identify different art media." Students were introduced to a new art media: oil pastels, or craypas. They discovered they were squishier than crayons, they smudge and you can paint right over them. The oil in the craypas repels water, so watercolor flows right over the top of your drawing.
The students' active lines and bright colors convey the excitement of trains rolling down the tracks!

Lines in Motion

Line is one of the seven elements of art. Students in fourth and fifth grade brainstormed a list of lines including spiral, straight, dotted, zig-zag, curved, wavy and dashed. We also discussed silhouettes and symmetry. Students were asked to cut a symmetrical shape of a flying creature or object from black paper and then imagine if they could see the wind behind the flying creature or object, what would it look like? Student used pencil, sharpie and craypas to create the wind behind their silhouettes. One bird (above) apparently hit his head, resulting in a looping, crazy line design!
This lesson was inspired by an image on the art education site Artsonia.

Beach Treasure Relief Sculptures

In October the entire school and staff went on a field trip to Totman Cove. Students spent the day doing yoga, having writing workshops and exploring the beach. During their explorations students gathered materials to use in an art project. Students were offered a variety of materials, including oil pastels and tempera paint, to create relief sculptures. Students could use any subject matter, make an actual scene or create an abstract design. Some objects were adhered with glue, while others required the use of a glue gun. Glue guns are adult only and I managed to only burn myself once! The results had a lot variety and imagination!

 

Line Prints

 

In this Line Prints lesson, second graders used two forms of media, styrofoam printmaking and craypas, to create a beautiful multi-media piece. We are using learning targets in art his year. A learning target is a statement is a "I can" statement telling students what they will be learning during their art lesson. The learning target for this lesson was "I can use a variety of media to create lines." Line is one of the seven elements of art. A wonderful artist, Walter Anderson, had a philosophy that if a person knew how to draw seven basic lines (straight, curved, zig-zag, wavy, spiral, dotted and dash) they could draw anything. To practice creating lines, students were asked to draw the seven lines on a piece of styrofoam. They were encouraged to experiment with repetition a varying the lines. 

After they had incised the styrofoam plates, we printed! Students enjoyed using the brayers and ink to ink to prepare the plates and printing them. Once they were dry, the lines of the print were extended to the edge of the page and filled in with craypas. The results were gorgeous!

This lesson was inspired by an image seen on the art educational site Artsonia.

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to the Phippsburg Elementary art room! We have had a great start here in the art room. Students have been drawing, painting, and creating collages already.
First, I'd like to introduce myself to our new families. My name is Romy Polizotto and I have been teaching art at Phippsburg Elementary School for 18 years. In my art classes, students experience a variety of media and subject matter. We do creative (and fun) projects that teach students the skills they need to produce art, introduce them to art history and gets the creative juices flowing! Projects do get messy, but we have art shirts available in the art room. Students are also welcome to bring their own. Third and fourth grade has art on Mondays and grades K, 1, 2, 3, and 5 have art on Fridays. I will be posting projects we do during the year at all grade levels. I hope you come back often to see what is happening in the Phippsburg art room.

Fabulous Facades

In March members of the Sagadahoc Preservation Society visited the art room to teach fourth graders about local architecture. Students learned the architectural details and styles of Italianate, Colonial, Federal, Greek Revival, and Queen Anne homes found in Sagadahoc county. Part of the presentation was viewing beautiful models of homes created by SPI member Judy Mansfield.  After the presentation, students used their new knowledge to create a clay relief of a house facade.  Rather than choosing a particular style, students were asked to become the architect and design an original facade using at least two architectural features they learned.  The sculptures had fanlights, shiplap, gabled and hip roofs...the combination of elements made for some fantastic facades!

Fishy Watercolors

Students are helping raise money to fund RSU #1's swim program. Each fall third and fourth graders are brought to the Bath YMCA to take swim lessons. This program is supported through private donations and local fundraising. Since the swim lessons are intended to teach students to swim like fish, we created 5X7 images using oil pastels and watercolors of fish. We were inspired by a Maine artist, Karla Gerard. Our goal was to create simple, colorful images. The images above were created by second graders, who will benefit from the program next year and the ones below by fifth graders. These one of a kind watercolors will be on sale at a fundraiser this summer!