Art in Miniature--Revisited

My book order arrived last week, and today, the Art Institute of Chicago shared a post on The Sixty-Eight Rooms by Marianne Malone. It is a fantasy-tale that takes place in and around the Thorne Rooms at the AIC. It will be a focus for my 5th graders in the spring, and I can't wait! If you are looking for an adventure tale to share with your 2nd-6th grade-level readers, this is a great choice. We'll be doing a read-aloud to introduce students to the book, while also connecting to some great American art. We will then launch into projects related to the Japanese Traditional Interior, that while not a part of Jack and Ruthie's adventures, still leads to a fascinating cultural exploration! We will create Bento Boxes, inspired by my colleague, Nancy Walkup's lessons, and write and illustrate Haikus as well.

Get Ready, Get Set, Sketch!

There are some fantastic sites that focus on sketching and on sketchbooks. One of these is SketchCrawl which celebrates sketching with drawing marathons from around the world
On 01.22.11, they will be celebrating their 30th Sketch Crawl, and this is all you need: Materials. If you are looking for inspiration on creating your own sketchbooks, check out this neat site (Thank you, @craigr on Twitter!)
Take a look at the SketchCrawl Flickr site for further inspiration!

Connecting through Art Ed!

I learn so much from my PLN! I finished compiling the resources for the TAEA Elementary Division wiki and am amazed at what we can glean from fellow art educators from all over the country. I am so impressed by educators at every level, who pool ideas, links, and their own creativity to immerse their students in new endeavors. One of the art educators whose websites and blogs inspire us to do more is Craig Roland (@craigr on Twitter) whose Art Junction site lead me to find this link to an article about sketchbooks. TAEA has created a new sketchbook initiative to engage the artist within each teacher, and this post provides some food for thought. As a way of inspiring elementary art educators to participate, we launched a theme for elementary: Connecting! So let's start connecting our thoughts, media and creativity, and immerse ourselves in creating art!

Inspired by Others

Made with My Cool Signs.Net

I took a little time this morning to take a look at what others are doing on their art blogs and websites. It is so inspiring. I found this sign maker via one of those discoveries. There are so many great art educators out there, who bring in so much to their classrooms, share their ideas, and connect with others. I love what these educators are doing to inspire children of all ages through art education.
I am going to add more links to the blog roll to connect to these incredible teachers. So much to learn!

On that learning curve...

Through PBS Teachers, I signed up for the Teacherline "Teaching with Webquests for K-12" online course. It is my first online class and I am enjoying the challenge. As I had only seen one example of a WebQuest, it is fascinating to see the multiple ways of engaging learners through this web-based tool. I discovered this video that gives an overview of what a webquest is: example 1 with a followup video that shows the steps necessary for putting one together: example 2 While each webquest is unique, the approach is the same--leading students through a structured environment in which they must respond to specific tasks and create a product. It is inquiry-based learning at its best, and I can't wait to get mine put together so that my students can create some really neat works of art, inspired by their learning. I see the webquest model as a way of implementing art history, language arts, social studies, technology and creative expression. I just love the multi-disciplinary approach to learning. It makes it exciting for all of us!

Strokes of Genius

I take a lot of photographs. I have created slide shows for my students to share with them the wonder of color, line and form. It is to teach them to see. It is not a simple task, as many of them have never taken the time to explore up close what is around them. I had taken a series of photos of vegetables at the Portland Farmers Market. My own children saw the variety of colors and forms before them and were in awe. My students were blown away by the richness of color and the cornucopia seen as images on a screen. I have taken flowers for still-life projects, and encouraged students to go eye to stamen to really see the details. Besides the touch of pollen on their noses, they were engaged by the details. This photo of a resident bluebonnet reminds me of the beauty in the details. The simple wonder of what lies just beyond our doorstep, and when we really look, the wonder of that stroke of genius.

Broadening Horizons...

When I think of my learning, I picture myself climbing up a hill and making it to the top to find more on the other side. As I make my way, I discover new things, or new "thinks" as Dr. Seuss might have said, and realize that the path is just a stepping stone, the hill offers a view of what else is possible.

I am headed to the NAEA convention in a few days. I'll be presenting which will be fun. I will also be connecting with incredible people--some I have met already, and have started to get to know, then there will be others who will be new acquaintances. They are all part of that journey, leading to new "thinks" and broadening not just my horizons but those of my students. I cannot wait for that view.