The Giving Quilt Project

 Over the past month the students of Glenwood City have worked collaboratively on a community outreach project between the Elementary School and Havenwood Assisted Living. Each class at Glenwood Elementary school created a class quilt representing a way in which they can give to their community. The Giving Quilt Project began with the story, "The Quilt Maker's Gift," By Jeff Brumbeau, Illustrated By Gail De Macken. Following the story the students were asked how the quilt maker in the story helped others and how they thought they thought they could help others in need. Each class developed a list of human basic needs, which led each grade to a theme. The students also discussed how one act of kindness has the ripple effect on one's many communities, similar to a pebbel being dropped into water. Through this project the students developed an understanding of their many communities, and how we rely on one another. The Show is currently on exhibit at Glenhaven Assisted Living Facility in Glenwood City Wisconsin.  This unit served as a capstone project to my student teaching at the primary level.  It was a great learning experience in donation applications, community outreach organization (parent volunteers!), and show installation. We held a reception for the student artists last week- it was great to see the students sharing what they had created with their families!

La Dee Dah

Check out my new work at
La Dee Dah!

311 Main St. East
Menomonie, Wisconsin

Henry's Van Gogh

Throughout September the First grader's studied Van Gogh, emphasizing his still life studies. We focused on composition and filling the space of the canvas. As the sunflower season came to an end, the students enjoyed sharing stories about sunflowers they have seen in their environment. Here is Henry's Sunflowers. Henry told me the first time I met him that he wants to be an art teacher when he grows up because he loves artwork,  and teaching others. I enjoyed my time working with him.

Be Nice to Spiders

 Be Nice to Spiders was on it's way to the dump from a closing library, but ended up in the safe haven of the art room. It's a great book to teach children (and adults!) the important role spiders play in our world.















Following  Be Nice to Spiders the Kindergarten's spun their own webs rolling a marble coated in tempera paint over their cut out matboard circle in a pie tin.

 

Then, we studied the anatomy of the spider, and created one of our own (some scary, others whimsical.) The girls in the class enjoyed creating a pattern  for their spider's, using construction paper, while the boys were more interested in creating fangs.  Each spider had a personality of it's own! We threaded the string through the web so the spider could move up and down "spinning" it's web.

5th Grade Portraits

The 5th graders of Glenwood Elementary school have been studying portraiture for the first quarter of the year. I felt apprehensive about instructing portraiture, but as we went through the unit I learned quite a bit myself (one of the great aspects of student teaching.)  They did a great job creating realistic portraits focusing on proportion, and simply learning to draw what your eyes see. To reward the students for their great work , I thought we would do a abstract portrait, to lighten the mood, and apply what they have learned in a different way! I took a picture of each of the students using the Photo booth program on my laptop. The students then highlighted shadows, using mixed media to create a self-portrait. The enjoyed seeing themselves in a whole new way!