Paper Bag Trees with Ms. Christman

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While kinders and first grade students waited for the clay leaves to be fired, Ms. Christman continued the theme of leaves and trees by creating paper bag trees. The students had to measure, cut and twist brown paper bags to form tree trunks and branches. They finished them off with fall colored tissues paper leaves that they attached very carefully with glue.

Dictionary Art

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Fifth grade students under Ms. Christman's guidance, created art work inspired by words they found on an assigned dictionary page. The students chose a word from their assigned letter/page and then sketched an illustration for the word. They also had to design the artwork so the illustration and word written vertically would fit together. Some students also added tot eh work by writing an acrostic poem for their word.

Finger Puppet Theater

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Second and third grade students had great time creating finger puppet shows for art class with Ms. Christman. The first step was to create a story with characters, setting and plot. They then had the task of writing a script and then creating their puppets out of polymer clay. when the puppets were done the second and third grade students got to perform their shows for their reading buddy classrooms so every class had an audience for their performance.

Ms. Christman's Aboriginal Art unit

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Fourth grade students worked with Ms. Christman during her solo teaching experience. They learned so much about Aboriginal art, culture, music and dance. Students had to use Aboriginal symbols as they designed their animals. they also used Aboriginal colors in their paintings. Students then had to create their paintings by using very different tools to create the dots that made up their art. They used eraser ends of pencils, Q-tips, paint brush handles, skewers and sometimes they used a paint brush in a traditional way. The results are stunning.

Kindergarten and 1st grade Clay Leaf Bowls

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Kindergarten and First grade students were delighted to make their first clay project of the year. Ms. Christman, our wonderful student teacher taught the students about impressed texture. The students chose real leaves that they pressed into clay slabs. After pressing the veins of the leaf into the clay students then traced the outline of the leaf and cut away the extra clay. The next step was to smooth the edges and let it dry for a week before firing it. The next class was very exciting as students learned about ceramic glazes and got to choose and paint the leaves with the glaze of their choice.

Heart and Soul Mobile Residency with Fleming Students

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Students from Thomas Fleming School  applied to have the opportunity to work work with Artist in Residence Kevin Reese. They took part in all aspects of the mobile making process so all groups saw the complete process. The first step in the first step in the process was to draw shapes and then transfer them onto foam core. After the shapes were cut out students then sanded the pieces to give them a more polished edge. The next steps involved painting them pieces several times with paint.The most exciting part of making mobiles came next ant that was the actual construction of the actual mobile. Students chose pieces and with Mr. Reese's help began balancing the mobiles. The final step was to add a clear acrylic logo for Heart and Soul that would hang as the final piece.

Fifth Grade Perspective Drawing and Contour Line Drawings

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Fifth grade students spent the last few weeks learning about contour line drawings, value studies, perspective drawings using parallel lines, converging lines and vanishing points.

Artist Kevin Reese is at Summit Street!

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Artist in Residence, Kevin Reese is working with students Monday and Tuesday this week at Summit Street School. Every student will have the opportunity to work with Kevin to create group mobiles for their classrooms. In 45 minutes they learned about Alexander Calder, the history of the mobile and the fundamentals of mobile making. The excite in the classroom is palpable as the students watch their individual creations come together to form a larger group piece of art work through creativity, imagination and collaboration!

Clay Fruit Banks by Fleming 4th graders

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Students created clay fruit "penny" banks in art. The process involved the formation of two pinch pots that when welded together formed a hollow form that could be manipulated into an apple, peach or pear. They had already used real fruit to do observational drawings in previous weeks. After adding details like leaves and stems a small slot was added for pennies. The term "Break the Bank" referred to the fact that the bank had to be broken to get into it.  After they were fired the fruit banks were then painted with acrylic paint to give a realistic effect. Students chose their palette of colors by the "Fruit Stand" they sat at. This gave them the corresponding colors of paint to the real fruit and photos of fruit at their table.

Fleming Fourth Grade Leaf Art

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Fourth grader artist used leaves as a mean of creating original designs in art. Students selected leaves that prompted them to think of things that could incorporate that shape. With a little bit of cartooning the results were delightfully creative!

Joan Miro Inspired Art Summit Street Grades 2 & 3

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Second and third grades learned about the life and artwork of Spanish artist Joan Miro, a Surrealist Artist. They learned that Miro was fascinated with the night sky and many of his works are called Constellation. They created Miro inspired abstract shapes and then used similar lines and his color palette to create their drawings. The final step was to add the element of texture by placing their drawing on top of a piece of burlap and rubbing over it with an earth toned crayon. 

Summit Street Pumpkin Art K-3

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Students in Kindergarten through third grade have been studying pumpkins over the last weeks and in the process have learned some new art skills. Second and third grade created a Batik pumpkin and also learned about the textile art form known as batik and its origins. We discussed where Indonesia is and looked at real batiks form that region of the world. we also looked at Google Earth to see how far away Vermont is from this tropical location. The process for their art required them to make a drawing which would be outlined in chalk. These lines would remind students to not color over these parts with oil pastels. They then colored everything in very heavily with the oil pastels. Now the fun began as students painted over their entire drawing with black India ink. we waited a few minutes for the ink to soak into the non oil pastel areas of their paper and then washed the ink off in the sink. The kids loved this big reveal and it made for a very unique effect.

Kindergarten and first grade loved making Midnight Pumpkins. they learned how to draw pumpkins and then to paint them they were only given the primary colors, red, blue and yellow. They had to mix colors to make orange and green so the room was full of aha moments as they created their own colors for the first time!

After they dried the students then cut out their pumpkins and leaves and glued them to black backgrounds. They then added white highlights to the pumpkins and added vines, moons and stars. 

Apple Drawings with Fourth Grade

Fourth grade students have been using apples and pears as a source for their art over the last few weeks. We began by making clay penny banks in the shape of apples, pears and peaches. While our clay pieces were drying we began observational drawings of apples and pears in a still life that each team created. we sketched them with pencil and focused on shading and making certain we only drew what we saw. The following week we drew a single apple as large as possible on a table surface. The challenge this week was to add color by using oil pastels. Stay tuned for finished pieces to be posted. In the mean time here are some photos of our first week of drawing.

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Fifth grade Birds are on display at Birds of Vt Museum through November

Be sure to stop by the Birds of Vermont Museum in Huntington to see an amazing display of Foil Repousse birds created by our fabulous fifth grade artists. The patrons and workers at the museum are thrilled with the birds and look forward to having them take flight ion the hallways for several more weeks.

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Summit's Dot Day Art Display

Once we celebrated Dot Day we had to finish up our art work and share it with the school. Kinders and first grade created art using cut paper circles and then layered with painted circles, dots and rings. All of these skills are great practice for our youngest artists. Second grade started with a form of printmaking by using different circular shapes created by dipping yogurt cups in black paint onto white paper. The second class involved painting the circles and shapes created by overlapping the circles. we sued tempera cakes for this second step. Students created unique designs by how they used positive and negative space in the background. Third grade students created a summer memory drawing by using a quarter circle arc that they had to incorporate into their drawing without hiding it. When the drawings were done the student's work was displayed in groups of four to create a circle of course!

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4th Grade Group Art Projects

Our five 4th grade classes all worked together on a group art project at the beginning of the year. This opportunity allowed students to get to know each other, respect their team mates artistic ideas and motivate each other. The students began with large pieces of black paper that already had abstract painted shapes that were outlined in black acrylic paint. The students after reviewing different aspects of the color wheel put their knowledge to use by creating color schemes that included Primary, Secondary, Analogous, Complimentary, warm and cool groups. They also were instructed on how to use and blend oil pastels to blend the colors they used. The results were amazing and the students and as well as Ms. Christman and Mrs. Foley were thrilled with the results!

Summit Street School's Color Wheel Self Portrait Mural

Summit Street students and staff all took part in a school wide self portrait project at the start of the year. Everyone was assigned a color from the color wheel and then their task was to create a self portrait using only shades of that one color. All the drawings were counted and graphed out and then hung to create our first ever color wheel mural!

Fleming Art and PE arts integration Project is complete!

Students from last year's 4th and 5th grade participated in a collaborative project with Mrs. Foley and Ms. McClintock to create life size action figure art to help decorate Fleming gym. We unveiled the art work earlier this year and the gym looks so great as a result of their hard work!



 

Summit Street School Celebrated Dot Day!

Every student at Summit Street School enjoyed creating wonderful "Dot" inspired art after reading the book  The Dot by Peter Reynolds. The idea behind Dot Day, which is now an international event with school children and adults [participating, is to celebrate one's creativity and take ownership of it. Two of our classes had the opportunity to Skype with third and fourth graders from Williston Central School, which was a lot of fun for everyone involved. Students from M.C. Baker's art class in Williston and our art classes shared work and spoke to each other about Dot Day.

The Birds have Landed!

Fifth Grade Artists Exhibit Work

at Birds of Vermont Museum

Every fifth grade art student created a beautiful Foil Repousse bird for the Birds of Vermont Museum. The Students chose a native bird or one that migrates through Vermont as their subject matter for their hanging sculptures. They will be on display at the museum through October 12th - November 30th. Each fifth grade student will be receiving a free pass in their Friday folder for their participation in this project. The Fall Harvest Festival at the museum is a wonderful event that will showcase the student work, along with other fun bird activities. Please join BOVM on Saturday, October 12 from 10-4. The museum is located at 900 Sherman Hollow Rd, Huntington, VT. For more information please call 802-434-2167.

Welcome to the 2013-14 school year in art class! We are so excited about all of the new lessons we have planned. We also have Artist in Residence Kevin Reese working with students in our district in November. http://www.schoolsculptures.com/

We are also pleased to have Nicole Christman on board as a TAP intern until December so we have the opportunity to have a working artist with us for the next few months.

Stay tuned for more photos and updates.

Observational Drawing with Daffodils

Fourth and fifth grade students spent a day practicing observational drawings from fresh daffodils. Students had the option of just drawings the flowers or sketching and then adding color through watercolors or colored pencils. it was a treat and challenge to draw from real life.

Second and Third Grade Polymer Clay Texture Necklaces

Second and third grade classes created textured pendants for Mother's Day. Students worked with their color choice of polymer clay by softening it from their body heat. The students then either used texture from the sole of their shoes or from texture plates. After capturing the texture imprint they had to pierce it with a tool to accept a cord. After baking the pendants in a toaster oven the students added a metallic paint that filled the lox level relief sections of their textures. They then chose the cord and beads to finish the necklace. The results were quite beautiful.
To view the slide show on a tablet click on the link https://picasaweb.google.com/107538892465473273583/PolymerNecklaces?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLe3pYPX9-aiwgE&feat=directlink

Kindergarten and First Grade Clay Pinch Pots

Kinders and First grade students worked very hard to create textured pinch pots in time for Mother's Day. The first step was to create clay balls and form them into pinch pots. After this very big step students added textured with different materials and tools. The pots were then taken to Fleming and fired for the first time. Students learned that the kiln reaches temperatures up to 2,000 degrees. The pots were now ready to be glazed. Students were amazed to see how dramatically the colors of glazes changed after they were fired. everyone was excited to see their finished product and wrap it up in homemade wrapping paper.

Mrs. Dall's Arts Integration with iPads

Students in Mrs. Dall's class enjoyed illustrating their poems with iPads. Students learned how to use the Doodle Buddy drawing App to create their art. Students also created marbleized paper for their poem backgrounds. We had so much fun using shaving cream to create the marbleized paper.

Fifth Grade Music and Painting Integrated Art Project

Fifth grade students worked with Student teacher Joe Scherer to create these wonderful integrated pieces of art inspired by music. Students listened to Mr. Scherer play original compositions on piano and guitar and then think if lines, shapes and colors that symbolized what they heard. The first week students painted simple abstract black lies paintings that were used the following week. Week two involved mounting the paintings on to large black paper and at that time color was added. The results were stunning!

If you are using an iPad or device that uses Flash please click here to view the slide show.

Fourth Grade Projects for the Second Trimester

Fourth grade art students have been very busy over the last few months. Our Places of Worship project was shared in an earlier post. It captures styles of architecture found in sacred places around the world. we learned about the art of collage and assembling layers of paper to creature unique buildings. Topics of discussion were symmetry in design, craftsmanship in production of the project and color schemes.

We learned about value in art through our Worms in Space project. This drawing introduced the basics of perspective by overlapping, creating shadow by using a light source. The fun began when we added space creatures, craft, planets, and more. The light sources ranged form the man in the moon to flaming candles on birthday cakes in space.

We spent one day making cut paper snowflakes. We spent time looking at snowflake designs and practiced folding and cutting to make original creations.

Our final project of the trimester was clay cottages. The students spent two weeks making tiny little houses complete with windows, doors, additions, garages, pools and balconies. After firing them in the kiln it was time to paint our houses and boy did we. With tiny detail brushes the little white houses were transformed into colorful cottages!

Red Hat Drawings for Lita Judge

Several classes helped out Mrs. Duggan in the learning Center by drawing things wearing a red hat. This was part of a challenge made by the author Lita Judge to draw or photograph someone or a pet wearing a red hat. If we submitted enough drawings our library will receive a signed copy of her newest book "red hat", along with a print of her artwork.

Check out the link to see a few of our Summit Street artist submissions.
 Red Hat artwork