Iced in...

A few weeks ago, we came to school like normal on  Monday, and then were out of school due to the ice and snow (yes, in Georgia) from Tuesday through Thursday. On Friday, Valentine's Day, we had a teacher furlough day, and we also were furloughed on that Monday. I had to take my baby to the dermatologist on Tuesday, so I literally missed a week with my artists!! I did miss them. While I was away, I did a few art projects with my wee ones at home. Thanks to Martha Stewart, we created melted crayon Valentine's Day hearts.

We also created this mess called oobleck. The kids LOVED it. It is a liquid and then a solid and then back to a liquid. It's simply cornstarch and water. You can get the recipe here. 

Now, we are back and school. Though I miss my wee ones, I am thankful to see my students. I've been back with them for a week now. Things are settling back down. 

We are working on our Mexican folk art projects with sixth grade. They are just now starting to work on the armature of the projects, using newspaper and masking tape (these are MUCH NEEDED supplies and are scarce around these parts). We will eventually paper mache the creatures. It's fascinating helping and watching them to really think when they have to figure out how to engineer the creatures so that they stay together. Look at how these girls are thinking! I love it. This is what art is all about. 

The seventh graders are working on their Surrealistic drawings. We looked at Salvador Dali. We see a resemblance to our precious computer teacher. I'll try to round up a picture of Dr. Wheeler. They are creating three collages using Surrealism (magazines, glue sticks, scissors, etc.). They will then grid their favorite and enlarge it, finishing it off with colored pencils.
  


Eighth graders are working hard on finishing up their clay portrait sculptures. Most of them have, and they have moved on to their 9 Square Personality Project. They have to look at handouts stating the requirements, but it basically says that they have to have 3 mixed media pieces portraying physical traits, 3 things of interest, and 3 abstract/emotions. I must give credit to the teacher who gave me the idea... but I cannot remember who it was, as it was years ago! More to come...