Welcome to my webpage! This is a great way to see what the students at Pleasant Hill are learning about in their weekly art class. I will be updating the grade level information on a monthly basis along with posting pictures of student work along with each grade level. Our lessons will focus on the elements and principles of art and design, along with some art history. Students will also be introduced to 2 new artists each month on my classroom bulletin boards. I will choose 1 man and 1 woman artist who have birthdays during that month. September’s “Featured Artists” are Robert Indiana and Grandma Moses. I will try to include links on my webpage so that you can learn more about these artists too! Additionally, I will have links to some of my favorite art websites. Some of these are interactive and students can experiment with creating works of art, while others will be museum and art history websites.
As always, feel free to email me with questions or concerns.
Leslie Michaels
Michaell@ccsd15.net
1st Grade
First graders have completed and taken home their Wampanoeg pottery. The glazes that were used are food safe, but they are not dishwasher or microwave safe. Please wash these items in warm, soapy water if you use them for food!
We are now learning about the artist Piet Mondrian along with vertical, horizontal, and parallel lines. We will be reviewing and painting primary colors to make our own versions of Piet Mondrian’s art.
2nd Grade
We have finished our fall leaf collage projects and they will be hanging in the halls next week. Our next project is a wonderful winter surprise!, so I can’t give you any more information than that!!
3/4 multi-age
We have just completed our fall leaf paintings. We learned about positive and negative shapes and spaces and reviewed warm and cool colors. Students learned 2 new watercolor painting techniques to show textures in their cool color backgrounds. Our next project will be a printmaking project focusing on the pop art style of Andy Warhol. With this project we will be learning about drawing a self portrait and the appropriate proportions of the face.
5th Grade, 5/6
Students are finishing their musical instrument collage paintings. This is a mixed media artwork using watercolor, colored pencil, oil pastels, sheet music, and glitter glue. Since many students are beginning musical instruments with band and orchestra this year, this is a very relevant project for many of the 5th grade students. Even if they don’t play a musical instrument, this is a very fun and creative project with many art applications introduced.
6th Grade
Sixth graders have finished their one point perspective initials. Using their own initials and a ruler, students created a one point perspective composition. We learned color theory along with the technical aspects of perspective. This was a fun and sometimes challenging project for students, but very successful too! We are now moving into reduction printing and Egyptian burial masks to tie in with their unit on Egypt.
If ever you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to email me at Michaell@ccsd15.net
If you would ever like to come watch or help in the art room, please let me know!
Leslie Michaels
I am also asking students to help the community of New Orleans to clean up their soil. This is a ‘fundraiser’ of creativity! Students all across the country are creating ‘Fundred Dollar Bills. They are allowed to design their own 100 dollar bill which will used to help raise money for clean up of the lead contaminated soil in New Orleans. It’s a fundraiser that only costs creativity! Anyone can participate in the project. For more information go to their website at www.Fundred.org.
Webpages that you might like to check out:
http://artpad.art.com/artpad/painter/
http://www.permadi.com/java/spaint/ (kaleidoscope painter)
http://www.mrpicassohead.com/create.html
For more information on our September artists Robert Indiana or Grandma Moses check out these sites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Moses
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Mo-Ni/Moses-Grandma.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Indiana
http://arthistory.about.com/cs/nameii/p/indiana.html
http://www.scottsdalepublicart.org/collection/love.php
October artists:
Faith Ringgold and Roy Lichtenstein
November Artists:
Georgia O’Keeffe and Rene Magritte
