Graffiti Name Assignments - 6th Grade

Well I have finally gotten almost all of my 6th graders Graffiti assignments graded. This was a huge task and most of the students didn't write their names on the back of the assignments but isn't that the life of a teacher, we eventually figure out where these assignment go. It appears that we are doing a much better job on our 2nd assignment. I love teaching the graffiti process, first as it teaches the students how to start basic drawing skills. We discuss how to first write you letter, then draw around it, and then finally design your letter to make it look artistic. This year I didn't talk about how to color but I was amazed as this was the best year of work I have ever had from my 6th grade students. I am very excited and totally impressed. Here is a small sampling of the amazing work. As always please check out my Twitter page for more amazing student work.

Op Art Names - 7th Grade

Every year I like to start the students with a Name project. This works best with the 6th grade graders and the new students but also helps my scattered brain remember all the names I misplaced over the summer. Yes, I often misplace names in my brain but I do have a retrieval issue that has plagued me all my life. I doesn't mean that I don't love my students I truly do I just have an issue that sometimes doesn't allow me to pull the names of students quickly and easily. My family notices this mostly in form of please pass the red stuff on the table meaning the ketchup.

For this assignment I followed the same directions that I used for the Op Art Names, however, I changed it up some and had the students draw their initials instead of their hands. Students drew their names using our graffiti letter technique. We discussed keeping the letters separated and not have them overlap to keep the illusion of depth. We also discuss how to draw long curved lines for the long parts of the letter.  Then using markers and a ruler they drew straight lines until they hit the outline of their letter, at that point they bent the line to make it look like it was traveling over their shape. For ease we started by drawing a bunch of lines in one color, at various distances on our paper, then switch to another color. By trying to alternate each color constantly across the page it takes too much time and tends to get frustrating but by jumping around with the colors the projects seemed to go faster and was more successful.

Nikolay S. 

 Amber S.

Students were graded on the following criteria:
  - Did the lines gently bend over their letter did the letter pop out.
  - CRAFTSMANSHIP (was it done neatly)

The Daily Book of Art

Yesterday, I decided to break open a book that I have had for a while. I believe this was a book that my husband bought me a few years back for Christmas and I never made it all the way through. Maybe because I'm not very good at doing the same thing every day or maybe I just have trouble reading only 1 page a day in a book. Anyhow, I have gotten off track. So, I decided to break open my book called The Daily Book of Art: 365 readings that teach, inspire and entertain. I am hoping to share some of my thoughts as I progress through these pages each evening, maybe by talking about it I will actually keep with my schedule.

My very first reading took me to the Elements of Art. These are the building blocks of art and it doesn't surprise me that they are the first thing that this book builds on. Without the Elements of Art we wouldn't have . . . well we wouldn't have art. It would be impossible. The Elements that we teach at Geisler are Line, Shape, Form, Texture, Value, Color and Space. Most students start learning about these in preschool. My daughter is currently in a preschool class and she is teaching me every day about how she learned all about mixing colors together, as well as, talking about all the different shapes and textures she experienced that day. Actually if you think about it colors, shapes, values and textures are some of the first things we learn as children and babies. Art is with us from the very beginning it is through art that we learn to see, write and eventually read. As you move around your day today or tomorrow. Think about these things, where do you see the elements of art happening in your day? How are these building blocks of art always present in your world around you? What colors do you see around you? What textures do you encounter throughout your day? What shapes are you seeing when you look around your room? What lines are being used to create the objects or designs in front of you? 

Gilbert, Colin, Dylan Gilbert, Elizabeth T. Gilbert, Gabriel Guzman,  Rebecca J. Razo, Sharon Robinson, Amy Runyen and David J. Schmidt. The Daily Book of Art. Irvine, CA: Walter Foster Publishing Inc, 2009. Print.

Curriculum Night

What a wonderful curriculum night we had last night. I met some wonderful parents, who are so supportive of their students. Thank you for being such a great inspiration for parents and teachers and thank you for all you do. I'm really excited to start this next year and I know that at Geisler and in the art room we are on an amazing journey to thinking and creating. I can't wait to share everything we do with all of the great parents and students.
Again thank you for a wonderful night.
Mrs. Tillman

Second Week of School!

    Well made it through the first week of school and are now well into the second. YEAH!!! I am loving having 7th grade at the beginning of the day. What a nice change to the schedule. We have such great kids in our school this year.
     I have been working on incorporating thinking routines into my class, following the strategies from Ron Ritchhart's book Making Thinking Visible. I amazed at the ideas the students have about art and am looking forward to learning more of their thoughts.

Students answered the following questions about this painting. I see, I think, I wonder

 

Franz Marc: Painting, Quotes and Biography

    We then discussed how Franz Marc painted the horses as a way to express his emotions rather than paint exactly what he saw. Working through creativity and thinking out side the box is really our theme for this year. I am hoping that each student will leave my class this year not being too afraid to think outside the box and try new and amazing things.