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.