Art - Johnson

First- through Fifth-grade Art Curriculum, 2008-2009

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:34:30 -1000

Valuing a Child's Progress in the Arts
Mid-Pacific Institute Elementary School strongly values the artistic and visual development of children. The art curriculum engages children in the arts through hands-on experience, problem solving, reflection, and presentation. The art curriculum is primarily concept-based and incorporates clay-building, painting, drawing, collage, and photography techniques. Students work through both realistic observations of the world and abstract or contemporary modes of creation.

The elementary art curriculum is also designed to encourage children to value their progress as an artist more strongly than a final product. For example, students keep an art progress folder in the art room as a reference tool. Each student can look back and reflect upon previous art projects and determine areas in which to improve.

Students Begin the 2008-09 Year with Self-portraiture
In order to assist children in recognizing their progress as an artist, self-portraits are created at least once a year. Children readily compare their drawings from years past. This semester, rather than working directly from photographs of oneself, the first- and second-grade students are accepting the challenging task of observing themselves while gazing in a mirror. The children begin to recognize the subtleties of one's characteristics and the detail of lines and shapes. Students are also asked to consider what makes them unique among their classmates and to aim to create a self-portrait that is unique as well. Some children, in response to the provocation to create a unique image, choose to depict a different area of their body, such as their foot or an eye. They will readily report that a self-portrait doesn't necessarily need to have a face in it.

The Concept of Layering
Many artworks created by Mid-Pacific Institute Elementary students incorporate the concept of layering. For example, the self-portrait paintings are initiated with a painted abstract background as a foundation before children draw on top with chalk, oil pastel, or marker. By teaching a continual process of layering artworks, children learn to accept seemingly permanent marks as "re-workable" or to accept mistakes as "happy accidents." By understanding that all marks are re-workable, children more readily create without stress, anxiety, or negative self-judgment.

Reminders for your Children
As your children come to art classes this year, I encourage each child to dedicate one uniform shirt for art days. As careful as the children are about trying to stay clean, sometimes it is an impossibility. Since the purchase of each uniform shirt is costly, and I don't want children to become overly worried about remaining clean, I strongly advise that the children wear the same uniform shirt for art classes. Please note that the children are not required to bring a personal apron to school for art classes as I provide an apron for each child.

First-grade parents, and second-grade parents who are new to the school, please consider bringing in photocopies of your child's earlier artwork, particularly self-portraits if possible, in order to start their art progress folder. Thus, your children can begin building a reference of their progress and can determine areas of desired improvement for this year. Lastly, please note that most artwork will stay at school until the completion of the semester either to be exhibited or discussed during conferences.

Please contact me with any questions or concerns you may have. I will be posting weekly blog entries to the Mid-Pacific website to keep you informed of your child's artistic endeavors.

All the best and Aloha,
Jill Brooks Johnson

Teaching Self-control with Mixed-media

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:47:45 -1000

Welcome back to art classes, everyone! As I prepare the classroom to exhibit new student work this year, the children are adjusting to my new name, Mrs. Johnson! The children who have had me as a teacher for four years now are having the hardest time remembering, and prefer to call me "good ol' Ms. Brooks." Either way is just fine.

I am so proud of our Reggio Emelia Preschool and Kindergarten programs. Each returning first grader, many of whom have had Ms. Jordan as their art atelierista for three years, comes to class with unique and articulate specialties. I continue to be "wowed" by their understanding of line, shape, and color, their ability to create without self-judgment or fear, and their comfort and confidence to readily try new challenges. I feel honored to work with such centered children. I hope that I can keep up with their diverse abilities and ideas!

Children in grades 1 through 5 have been working to either develop good self-control or to perfect the impressive self-control they already demonstrate through the use of various materials.

Interpreting the Elements of Art, Music, and Creative Movement

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:43:38 -1000

Throughout history, visual art has been a means of communicating feelings, emotion, and other forms of human expression. Often, visual artists are inspired by various forms of music and motion (creative movement) in their environment to help communicate their meaning to the world. Traditional artists often depicted realistic dancers, musicians, etc. in a setting that told the viewer the type of emotion, music, and movement they were supposed to be representing. Contemporary artists, on the other hand, broke away from this mold and began to use abstract forms of art by carefully manipulating the elements of art to represent this meaningful communication.

The third and fourth grade students are exploring how the various art forms (visual art, music, and creative movement) communicate meaning. The unit emphasized communication and collaboration in an inquiry-based cooperative learning environment.
   The main goals of this unit included:
1.   Students seeing art, music, and creative movement as a form of communication.
2.   Students reflecting on how they communicate in order to improve their communication skills.
3.   Students understanding the value of communication, self-control, and collaboration in group work.

All students had an opportunity to explore the elements of art on four large poster boards, and discussed the strengths and challenges of doing a collaborative art piece. As individuals, they explored the elements of art (line, color, shape, and texture) as they listened to The Carnival of Animals, by Camille Saint-Saens, and identified the elements of music (pitch, harmony, rhythm, and layered voice instrument or voice). One class had the time to explore how these elements could be connected and communicated through body movements as well. In addition, another class created an inquiry game to explore how art and music can interconnect through the elements. The third and fourth grade students are beginning to realize that the elements of art, music, and creative movement are rarely isolated but work together in harmony to express emotion and communicate meaning.

Finally, students used inquiry techniques and letter-writing communication to brainstorm for this grade level project. The painting is intended as a gift to celebrate Mid-Pacific Institute's "100 Years in Manoa" and as a prop for the Kahalopuna opera. The students brainstormed ideas through respectful communication and self-control, allowing nearly 80 students to work on one large, four-foot canvas. The earlier plans for an abstract painting morphed into a beautiful composition of both abstract and realistic ideas, while utilizing the elements of art and music to convey the feeling of the song What A Wonderful World. The painting also illustrates the group identity of students at Mid-Pacific Elementary while aesthetically addressing the parameters of the Kahalopuna opera theme.

The Value of Comics in the Classroom - Grades 1 to 5

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:28:43 -1000

First-, second-, third-, and fourth-grade students have begun a unit on "sequential narrative drawings," popularly known as comics! At the present moment, students are engaged in the process of creating fictional fantasies of magical heroes, evil robots, menacing monsters, talking cats and dogs, Pokemon, and school supplies that come alive to reveal their unique jokes and one-liners. Some children began with "character development," in which students inventively decided a character's personality, environment, unique abilities, and appearance.

The comic to the right exemplifies how the children followed three basic rules for creating comics. The children were asked to 1) draw characters large so they fill up most of the space in the square, 2) write words neatly and larger than necessary, and 3) press lightly with a pencil so that once the comics are ready to be "inked" it will be easier to erase the drafting lines.

Other students began the unit by looking at photocopies of comics in which the text words were missing from the speech bubbles. The children were asked to interpret the body language, facial characteristics, and expressions of the characters in order to determine what new words would be appropriate in the spaces.

In the comic to the left, one student thought that it would be appropriate to write "Can someone help me?" He found the expression on the Elf character, drawn by James Kochalka, to appear serious and as if he was pulling hard and was unable to get the flower out of the ground. Other students reported that "What a beautiful flower," or "I will give this to my friend," would be appropriate to write into the bubble.

What the children most likely don't recognize yet is that they are developing a variety of skills in the process of creating characters and sequential drawings. Students are engaged in contextual composition, plot, setting, character, and language arts development. Students are, in essence, visually outlining the key moments in a story to depict, planning ahead, and engaging in role-playing situations. As the children continue to develop their skills and read exemplary comic books, I will ask them to begin depicting real life events, struggles, or stories from their own lives. The comics will become personal narratives drawn in large-scale frames.

I plan to engage students in the process of comic creation for an additional four weeks of the semester as I have witnessed the joy it brings to students, the creative power of spontaneous role-playing situations, and the strong incentive it provides to children who may otherwise struggle to develop reading, writing, spelling, and spatial compositioning skills.

Now more than at any other time in history, images are playing a major role in children's ability to understanding the concepts of our culture. The average individual is bombarded with an influx of over 10,000 images to interpret and process daily, and it is my mission as a visual educator to aid children in the process of deconstructing, interpreting, and evaluating the purpose and meaning of imagery in our society.

"Beauty Through the Eyes of Our Children"

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:41:05 -1000

The 20th Annual Children's Painting Contest sponsored by MOA Hawaii was held on March 21st and 22nd at Ward Warehouse's Kaka'ako Conference Room. I am very pleased to announce that three first-grade students, Julian Kiyabu, Mari Kwee, and T.J. Johnson entered paintings that were accepted into the Nuuanu-Kalihi-Manoa District Exhibition. Congratulations!! Additionally, Julian Kiyabu's painting was awarded "Best In Show!" His painting of a volcano will be exhibited again at the State of Hawai'i Exhibition from June 7th to June 14th at the Honolulu Academy of Arts Linekona Center with other winners from around the state. Julian's painting will then travel to Japan as part of an international exhibition of children's artwork. Julian will temporarily have to say aloha to his painting as it will not return to Hawai'i until next year.

Congratulations, everyone, and I am so proud to have the creative minds of Mid-Pacific Institute Elementary students be represented by these three, hard-working individuals. Fantastic!

WHAT IS GOOB CLUB?

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 07:23:03 -1000

"If your child mentions goob, don't fret. They are not just playing; they are having fun learning." - Miss Tracey Stewart

Part I ~ The History of Goob:

One day, a student in Mrs. LeBlanc's multiage 1/2 class was experimenting with oil pastels on construction paper. In her attempt to do her best, she tried to erase what she felt was an error. Lo and behold, "goob" emerged on the end of her eraser. In her excitement over this discovery, she shared this new art medium with a classmate who was equally enticed by this strange and unique substance. In the few remaining moments, they worked very hard to get a pea-sized amount of what they had labeled "goob."

The next time goob emerged was during the abstract animal art project. Unfortunately, Miss Tracey did not know what goob was and threw it away. After being consoled, the child who had made the goob demonstrated the process of creating it. Miss Tracey immediately saw meaningful elements of art on the "goob working surface" and took advantage of this teachable moment. Miss Tracey and the student developed a plan that allowed the child to continue making goob, but with a more appropriate goal, one that focused on the elements of art.

The process of making goob meets the physical and emotional needs of diverse learners in many ways. Goob entices the tactile and kinesthetic learners, as students can feel the oily residue that collects on their fingertips as they work. This is still extremely important to most learners at the first and second grade level, as to many older students (and even many adults!) to help them stay engaged in learning. Goob-making has a visual asthetic appeal as the children discover how to compare and contrast colors through blending, layering, and pattern development. Although this is mainly an artistic view, there is some geometric and pre-algebra thought that can be incorporated into this manner of working. Additionally, discussions emerge between students during goob work that encourage analytical thinking, problem solving, and cooperative or collaborative modes of interaction. Student-driven and teacher-facilitated work engages children in the appropriate modes of sharing, listening, and compromising, as well as in stimulating critical and analytical inquiry techniques.

Students asked:

"What will happen if I do this with the oil pastel?"
"How will using the tip of the pencil instead of the eraser affect how much goob I can make?"
"What can we make with goob, and how can we make it look like more than it is?"
"Should we mix the goob colors or make colored patterns with them?"
"How can we decide which way is best?"

Part II ~ "The Goob Clubs":

Suddenly, a flock of students wanted to make goob whenever there was open art studio after a curriculum activity. The original student who discovered goob and the student she taught decided to start a "goob club," and a few more joined the circle. The founding ladies of the goob club explained, with Miss Tracey's encouragement, that it was a requirement that they had to make a big collage because this was art class.

Meanwhile, a few boys wanting their own club began to make goob working surfaces in their open sketchbooks as experimentation, but they did not collect the goob. They made many patterns, lines, and shapes with oil pastels but with no real focus. Although all involved enjoyed the process of goob art, they were only doing it for a few minutes at the end of art class, and the production was too small for the number of students involved. It was time to unite the world of goob and collaborate for purposeful art and collaborative student achievement. The focus was still the creation of a collaborative piece, but the equal contribution of work input and ideas needed more focus.

The 5th-Grade TOTEM PROJECT

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:33:25 -1000

Integrating Social Studies, Math, Science, Studio Art, Group Collaboration, and Community Contribution

The 5th graders are creating a ceramic totem structure in honor of MPI's "100 Years in Manoa" celebration. Totems are symbols that represent traditional cultural ideas and beliefs. The students have studied Native American totems and used what they learned from that study to create their own totems to represent MPI. During classroom discussions, students explained why they felt their symbols should be included on the totem structure.

Miss Tracey offered her ceramics expertise to lead the project so that students can build on a large scale. It was decided that the totem structure would be made of clay and would stand about six feet. A tiered structure was agreed upon as the best way to allow the maximum number of the students' symbols to be included.

Self-Portraits on Display in Kahala Mall!

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:35:58 -1000

Please come and view the hard work of our Elementary students!
February 17th - 24th, 2008.

THE CONCEPT OF SELF-PORTRAITURE:

A MULTI-MEDIA CELEBRATION OF IDENTITY AND COMMUNITY
Mid-Pacific Institute Preschool and Elementary School

Children are continuously shaping their individuality and identity from their interactions with the world around them. The art curriculum of Mid-Pacific Institute Preschool and Elementary School encourages each child to engage in meaningful, explorative, and contemporary modes of investigating oneself within his/her environment. The children are exposed to a variety of mixed-media techniques as a means to develop a deeper understanding of concepts.

With a concept such as self-portraiture, the children identify different ways to depict personality, mood, interests, or visual likenesses of oneself. The children are encouraged to incorporate the technical elements of visual art such as line, shape, color, texture, pattern, or light/shadow. The children begin to recognize their developmental progress through creation, comparison, and written reflection on “how he/she has improved as an artist.” Documentation of the artwork is kept in an art portfolio so that the children can readily assess their progress over the years.

The self-portraits in this exhibit were created with drawing and painting, as well as with photographic, sculptural, and collage techniques. While each artwork depicts the personal characteristics that the children chose to represent, each piece evokes a sense of authenticity and honesty and becomes a re-creation or re-invention of “the self.”

-Jordan Guillory, Art Educator, Preschool and Kindergarten
-Jill Brooks, Art Educator, Grades 1 - 5

Abstract Animals, Habitats, and Picasso

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 15:43:45 -1000

In the entry below from October 11th, the first and second-graders were creating both abstract line drawings of animals and realistic drawings of animals. Students later observed some works by abstract artist, Pablo Picasso, and commented that his work was similar to ours. The children noticed that,"Picasso started with a real drawing he made and each time he drew it after that, he changed the body parts (of the bull) to different sizes, to the wrong place, or just into lines."

In other paintings by Picasso, many children noticed that the people in the pictures seemed to be looking in many directions at once, "like having eyes in the back of your head." Some children were interested to know why Picasso made the bull only in black and white and the person so colorful. The children also noted that in the image of the person, Picasso made the background (environment) abstract as well.

Thus, the children have put the finishing touches on their "abstract animals and habitats" collages. Please look into the photo gallery to view the works from Mrs. Field's, Mrs. Bailie's, and Mrs. LeBlanc's students. (Mrs. Revard's class will be coming soon as they need another week to finish.)

From left to right, "two salamanders" by A.W., "three real penguins and one abstract penguin" by K.S., and "two realistic jellyfish in an abstract ocean" by K.F.

The First Look at the 3/4 Paintings

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 17:02:52 -1000

After eight or nine weeks of challenging work, many students in the third and fourth grades are now finishing their paintings. The students are putting a final protective layer of varnish over the delicate water-based paint to prevent the colors from fading, smudging, or cracking in the years to come. Many students tell me that they are proud of their accomplishments and plan to keep these paintings for a long time. With each layer of varnish, the students demonstrate great care for their new artworks. A number of the paintings will be ready to hang in the Wilcox hallway for Open House this Saturday, October 27th. However, many children require further class time to complete the paintings, as I encourage them to work slowly and carefully.
More photographs of the paintings coming soon to the gallery.

Native American Pottery - Taking Shape!

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 16:02:36 -1000

The fifth-grade students in Mrs. Hoddick's and Mr. Black's classes are dedicating their efforts to the study and creation of Native American pottery. The unit is an extension of the social studies curriculum.

Students have examined pottery from various ancient and modern groups such as the Anasazi, Hohoham, Mogollon, Acoma, Navajo, and Hopi people, among others. The students chose a style of vessel to recreate.

The children are recreating these pieces in the traditional manner. They use hand- and coil-building techniques, stones to burnish (or polish) the unfired clay, and a lot of patience. Some students described a strong respect they now have for the early Americans' slow and painstaking work. Many students were surprised at how challenging it is to build a strong clay piece. Most children worked through the structural difficulties of the clay falling down, drooping, cracking, or hardening. The students are learning to "listen" to the clay, as it tells them what it needs, its limitations, and when to stop. Students found that they could only build the coils to a certain height before they started to droop, and the clay needed a time to rest before it could support any further weight.

Once all the pieces have been burnished, painted, carved, and fired (the modern way in an electric kiln), the pottery pieces require a final polishing. Some modern potters still use deer fat or the oil from deer fat to create a protective, shiny, and alluring surface. The fifth-grade students plan to use olive oil, vegetable oil, or lard to recreate the traditional look.

1st & 2nd Graders Create Abstract Animal Drawings

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 08:41:33 -1000

These pictures are examples of how the children in first and second grade are beginning to create abstract drawings. So far, the children have determined that "if a picture doesn't look like anything" or "the parts of a thing are put in the wrong places," the picture is abstract. In picture number one, the student drew a whale in detail and as realistically as possible. In picture number two, the student moved two parts of the animal to a different place on the whale's body. In picture number three, the student drew even more abstractly as she began to like this style of representation. Finally, in picture number four, the abstracted whale takes on a unique form as it no longer resembles a whale.

Students also recognized similarities and differences in their abstract drawings to petroglyphs and prehistoric representations of animals. Some children concluded that the people who drew petroglyphs long ago may not have been trying to draw the animal perfectly but instead were either drawing how they felt about the animal or drawing the spirit of the animal.

Students also worked on large paper to practice drawing abstractly, observe how others draw, and determine how these "petroglyph-like" pictures run into each other or overlap.

Students plan to use these drawings in combination with collage techniques of the animals' habitats to create

14x14-inch multi-media panels. The panels are intended to hang at a "100 Years in Manoa" exhibit during the second semester of the 2007-2008 school year.

Fifth Graders Enrich Native American Studies by Examining Historical and Modern Artworks

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:57:21 -1000

During Social Studies classes, the students in Mrs. Hoddick's and Mr. Black's classrooms have been using historical and modern artworks to dig deeper into their studies on Native Americans. For example, this painting by Navajo Steven Jon Yazzie illustrates the artist's opinion and interpretation of the relocation and removal of the Navajo peoples in the 1800s. This painting is a small section of a 160-foot-wide mural titled Fear of a Red Planet: Relocation and Removal 2000. The mural is located at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.

For discussion, the students used a "deconstruction method" to analyze the information in the painting. Students discussed the facial expressions, body language of the figures, symbols, and color to interpret how Mr. Yazzie feels about this event in history.

The students discussed:

The tree-like legs and roots of the Native American man and woman on the right represent how they are being pulled up from their homeland. (The child doesn't have roots because he hasn't yet grown to be a strong part of the community. He is still learning the stories of his parents.)
The flaming sword, muskets, crushed bones, black horse, and red background represent destruction and death that is moving in from the left of the picture
The Native American man is angry and wants to fight back to keep the land, but the woman is holding him back either to protect him or because she thinks it's better to solve the conflict peacefully.
The invaders are either British or American soldiers from the Civil War era because of their blue uniforms.
The horses are scared.
The blue color represents calmness or peace.
The blue dress and turquoise jewelry (belt) that the woman is wearing show us that she is Navajo

The students also discussed ideas about the painting such as:

How would this painting look different if it had been painted by a descendant of the soldiers instead of a descendant of the Navajo people? The students thought that the painting might show the soldiers standing next to their horses with a peaceful blue background while they offer a treaty to sign. They also thought that maybe the Native Americans would be dressed in war clothing and body paint, holding spears, to make them look more savage or angry.
Is Mr. Yazzie being fair in the way he is depicting the event? Using critical thinking skills, the students determined that it isn't possible for the sword to be on fire, so there must be other things in the painting that are exaggerated or untrue.

Click mural image for larger viewing:

Ms. Byrne's Class is "Pumped" to Work as a Team!

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:43:07 -1000

I am proud to report that Ms. Byrne's third and fourth grade class has demonstrated an impressive ability to work as a team. Without hesitation, the students developed a system of "painting helpers." The painting helpers guided and taught other students to cover the large canvas stretchers with primer paint. They helped each other to spot uncovered areas of the canvas and encouraged each other to use proper techniques. The students enjoyed the challenge to have everyone finish before the end of class as they posed with "pumped" faces and raced against the clock. Great work, everyone, and keep up the excellent organization and teamwork!

Third and Fourth Graders Search for Painting Ideas

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 15:03:40 -1000

Each student has already built a 16 inch by 16 inch framed canvas on which to paint. In order to find ideas for the canvases, the third and fourth graders have been going on excursions. The children have visited the middle school campus and the Mid-Pacific Institute botanical nursery. Our next excursion will be a trip to Manoa Falls!

The children are working hard to draw from their observation of people, objects, and images in books. The Smartboard has proved itself to be an invaluable research tool and an excellent image-transferring tool.

In the above images, C.S. draws a fern while visiting the MPI nursery and B.O. uses charcoal to draw a friend sitting across from her. In the image to the right, S.H. receives help from classmates E.S. and A.S. to trace the outlines of a black-crowned night heron. One class has decided to focus their paintings on the native and alien bird species of Hawaii. Some students are paying particular attention to the endangered birds of the island.

Be sure to check the Art Photo gallery to the right to view more images of the students' ideas thus far.