LINK TO BERLIN FOR 5TH & 6TH GRADERS

Here is an amazing link to information about Berlin and the Wall...

Make sure to check it out---It will help when you are formulating your ideas about the piece of wall you are creating for our art project!

www.newseum.org/berlinwall

ART JOURNAL RUBRIC FOR 5th & 6th GRADERS....

This same rubric will be taped into your child's art journal.

If you click on this image you should see a larger sized version.

WHAT'S IN STORE FOR MY CHILD?

THIS IS THE PLACE TO FIND OUT WHAT IS GOING ON IN YOUR CHILD'S CLASSROOM!

Here is what is in store for your grade...

K will be focusing in on the elements of art, including lines, colors, and shapes. They will be utilizing crayons, colored pencils, and markers to start off with. Gradually they will be moving into watercolor paints when they begin their study of autumn leaves.

Grades 1 & 2 are beginning their school year off with a study in lines and color schemes. They will then be utilizing that knowledge to transition into self portraiture.

Grades 5 & 6 have kicked off the year with an in depth study of the Berlin Wall. Through discussion of artistic symbolism and the history of the wall, they will be able to formulate their own ideas and create an end project--- their own pieces of the Berlin Wall. Their theme will be freedom and what it means to them.  I am working closely with Mr. Moss our social studies teacher to work hand in hand with his curriculum.

I'm very excited for a new school year and look forward to seeing you all around the neighborhood.
Don't forget to check your child's ARTSONIA account regularly as there will be many updates as we complete art projects. If you need their account name and/or password, let me know and I will foward it to you as soon as possible.

Feel free to contact me if you need anything at MSawicki@schools.nyc.gov

WHAT DO THE ARTS TEACH OUR CHILDREN?

10 Lessons the Arts Teach

1. The arts teach children to make good judgments about qualitative relationships.
Unlike much of the curriculum in which correct answers and rules prevail, in the arts, it is judgment rather than rules that prevail.

2. The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution and that questions can have more than one answer.

3. The arts celebrate multiple perspectives.
One of their large lessons is that there are many ways to see and interpret the world.

4. The arts teach children that in complex forms of problem solving purposes are seldom fixed, but change with circumstance and opportunity. Learning in the arts requires the ability and a willingness to surrender to the unanticipated possibilities of the work as it unfolds.


5. The arts make vivid the fact that neither words in their literal form nor numbers, exhaust what we can know. The limits of our language do not define the limits of our cognition.

6. The arts teach students that small differences can have large effects. The arts traffic in subtleties.

7. The arts teach students to think through and within a material. All art forms employ some means through which images become real.

8. The arts help children learn to say what cannot be said. When children are invited to disclose what a work of art helps them feel, they must reach into their poetic capacities to find the words that will do the job.

9. The arts enable us to have experiences we can have from no other source
and through such experience, discover the range and variety of what we are capable of feeling.

10. The arts' position in the school curriculum symbolizes to the young what adults believe is important.

WELCOME BACK!

Hey All!!!

Hope your summer was fantastic!

I've already heard about some of the incredible worldly travels and

exciting adventures all of the children have had.

I'm really excited to start the new school year!

This year grades pre-k through 2 and grades 5 & 6 will be having visual arts instruction.

Keep an eye on this blog for upcoming units of study, updates on student work, exciting art based events and much more!

Don't forget about Artsonia,

where each child has their own personal,

online digital portfolio of the artwork they create during the school year!

If you have any questions, suggestions or just want to talk, feel free the email me at MSawicki@schools.nyc.gov

See you soon.....

Melissa Sawicki-Mallien

KIDSART FAIR WEDNESDAY APRIL 21, 2010

Make sure you are  attending our

KIDSART FAIR

this coming

Wednesday,

APRIL 21, 2010 !!!!!

It will be held in the school gymnamsium

from 3:30pm -7:00pm.

All proceeds will be donated directly to the Visual Arts Department

here at P.S. 101Q.

There will be music and light refreshments.

If you have not sent in your R.S.V.P. form yet,

please email me at MSawicki@schools.nyc.gov

to do so.

All children with an RSVP sent in will have their artwork up and framed professionally.

Thanks so much and hope to see you all there!!!!

Sring is in the Air!

This past Friday we marked the beginning of Spring

 by taking our art outside.

We decided to create artwork for the KIDSART FAIR coming up on April 21, 2010.

Fourth graders were able to use the knowledge they gained in their drawing unit, to create the beginnings of a drawing while sitting in the beautiful weather outside.

They each picked a spot and drew what they saw.

They were able to either use a specific technique or combine ones they already knew with ones they learned.

Some first graders used oil pastels to

draw the area around the school.

They drew with an outline style only.

Next class we will be using watercolors to paint the same pictures.

We are all very excited for the upcoming

KIDSART FAIR!

R.S.V.P. letters went out this past Friday...

Please keep an eye out for these, as they will serve as a list for the artwork that will be framed before the big gallery show in the gym.

I look foward to seeing you all around the school and at the
KIDSART FAIR!!

UPDATES UPDATES UPDATES!!!!!!

HELLO ALL!!!

Welcome back to the art blog!

We have lots of exciting things going on here, so let's get started!

I'd like to start off with some of our submissions to the Artsonia sponsored contest called

"ALL KIDS CAN CREATE".

Below you can see a few of the beautiful images that were created by our students.

The theme was "What makes your neighborhood so special?"

Students from Pre-K through 2nd grade celebrated

Chinese New Year by creating a variety of

Chinese Inspired artwork.

Some 2nd graders work:

Here are some examples of Pre-K work:

Some of these dragons below were printed on 

THE COVER OF THE SUPERINTENDENT'S NEWSLETTER!!!

Congratulations!!

Children in Kindergarten, First and Second grade have also completed their Dr. Seuss inspired cats that are on display outside of the art room/media center.

Here are a few examples of their beautiful work:

Kindergarten is working very hard on creating their very own

MAGICAL MONSTER ABC's

book.

They have been creating and recreating different magical monsters with pencil, colored pencil and markers.

Paying close attention to detail they kept in mind their letter given to them. Each monster has been given a name based on a letter of the alphabet. Each child has also included a written words about their monster.

We hope to have that book put together and published by the end of April/beginning of May.

Those books will also be available for purchase, with all profits going to the Visual Arts Department here at PS 101 Q.

Third graders are working diligently on their ABC books.

Two classes are creating the "ABC's of the Forest Hills Gardens"

while the other is creating the "ABC's of P.S. 101".

After each student received a letter, they researched either

the Forest Hills Gardens Community or our P.S. 101 community.

They came up with images and ideas that represented their letters and are now in the process of finishing those images as well as finishing up some writing about what they found.

I will be scanning the images created and will be making a book that we will be selling. 

All money made will be donated to our Visual Arts Department for the purchase of art supplies and materials.

Fourth graders are still amidst their drawing unit, which will be wrapping up in the next couple of weeks.

A few parents contacted me regarding grades received on in-class drawing assignments. I am posting the rubric here so that you are all aware of the origins and reasons for the grades.

Please understand that all children receive a rubric and discuss that with me in great detail before they are asked to complete a task for a grade. Also please realize that in-class projects as well as art journals, behavior, effort and the ability to follow directions all have a part in determining their report card grade in art.

With that being said, here is a copy of the rubric for the

"Shape Sketch" method of drawing:

Here are a few examples of drawings created utilizing a variety of techniques. Remember that the end product is not so much the focus, rather the process of how the child drew and whether or not they understood and followed the task at hand.

Pre K was working on shapes and identifying them in the world around us. They created images using shapes.

Here are a few of them:

Ms.Steincke's class is wrapping up a unit on photography by creating photographic images by "Drawing with Light".

These will not be uploaded on Artsonia (or here) because of the fact that their faces can be seen in some of them.

They will, however, be on display on the wall outside of the

art room/media center in the circular staircase area for all to see, as of tomorrow.

Come check them out this Tuesday at Parent/Teacher Conferences!!!!!

......................................................................

All students in grades PreK through 4th

will be beginning their projects for the

Kids Art Fair

that is coming up on

April 21, 2010

3:30pm - 7:00pm

in the gym here at PS 101Q.

Some students will be beginning their art fair work before vacation, others afterwards. Please make sure to read all information that comes home regarding the art fair.

It will be very informative and will ask for you

to return certain tear off sheets.

If you have any questions regarding the art fair, artsonia or anything else at all, please feel free to contact me at MSawicki@schools.nyc.gov.

We are going to need some volunteers to help set up and break down the Kids Art Fair, so if you are up for helping out a little bit, that would be great!

 Contact me at the above email to let me know.

Thanks again and I will see you all around!

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY GALLERY SHOW

Yesterday we held our bi-annual

Digital Photography Afterschool Gallery Show.

Students had a chance to exhibit their beautiful images they worked so incredibly hard on creating for the past 4 months.

 Below you can see the displays as they were laid out for friends and family to see.

Our next gallery show will be when the upcoming spring session of afterschool is finished.

These photos, in addition to the next show's, will all be on display during the International Dinner in June.

Enjoy!

UPDATES, PICTURES AND UPCOMING

Hi All!

Hope this new post finds you Happy and Healthy in the New Year!

Here are some updates on what's going on in your child's art world....

Enjoy!

The 4th grade finished their Joseph Cornell boxes and their artwork can be found on their personal online portfolio at the site www.artsonia.com. Make sure you are checking their online portfolios regularly, as there are usually updates every other week with their new and exciting projects!

Here are just a few of the box art projects that were created:

4Th grade is now embarking on a drawing unit which will last for about 3 months. They will be exposed to different styles of drawing, including contour, blind contour, shape sketching along with different mediums such as charcoal, pastels and graphite pencils. As they create images, they will be uploaded to their artsonia accounts. Some blind contour images are up already!

3rd grade just completed their Chinese landscape drawings. They came out magnificent! They had a chance to look at some Chinese Masters and then create their own. Here are a few examples:

                                                    

The younger grades have been working on colors & color theory. They began with cool colors. They used the cool colors to create forests. Here are some of those:

Kindergarten is currently working on Chinese New Year and have begun learning about Andy Warhol.

Here are some of their images:

...UPCOMING...

4th grade will be focusing on drawing...

3rd grade will also be touching on drawing along with painting...

2nd and 1st grade will be finishing their entries into the Artsonia contest and then venture into a small study on Georgia O'Keefe, as well as delve into contemporary artists (inspired by the Whitney Biennial)...

Kindergarten will continue to study Andy Warhol and volunteer their artistic talents to create cards for Citymeals On Wheels, as well as their continued study into color and fine tuning their fine adn gross motor skills.

Also, please note that for every project that is graded (upper grades), there should be a rubric attached as well.

If there are any questions, please feel free to contact me.

*****Don't forget to check your child's onnline porfolios and remember that for every purchase you make through that site, we get a percentage that goes directly towards purchasing art supplies for the children.

Again, if you have suggestions for the arts here at PS101, would like to come in and guest teach about anything at all or maybe even have a fantastic program you think we should apply for,  please let me know.

I can be reached at MSawicki@schools.nyc.gov