5 Senses with Flowers!

To wrap up our lesson on the book Chrysanthemum, the students looked at REAL flowers brought in from our amazing secretary, miss Paula.  The students are learning about their 5 senses and used them to examine their flower.
The students also did a little art critique and discussed their work and chose another student to give them one compliment about what they created.  I was impressed by their manners and nice words.  Good job, Kindergarten!

Rainbow Days at Dormont

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The kindergarten students at Dormont collaborated together to create a beautiful rainbow collage.  We read the book, The Rainbow Fish, which is about sharing and being kind.  The students worked so hard and well together!

The Dot (STEAM Integration)

The Dot is one of my all time favorite books!  The main character, Vashti, doesn't believe that she is a good artist.  That is, until her teacher frames her art work-----a dot!!!!
Vashti goes on to create more and more types of dots and inspires all around her. 

After the STEAM teacher at Aiken (Mr. Colf) read the story, we discussed an art style called, pointillism.  Pointillism artists use tiny dots to make one picture.  Georges Seurat is a famous Pointillism artist that we looked at for this lesson.
Here is an example of his work (how cool is this?):

Mr. Colf informed the students that they would be making fall trees using Q-tips to create dots.  After some chuckles from the kindergarten kids, we explained the science behind why leaves change color during this season. 
The kids eagerly started dabbing and dotting their papers!  I cannot wait to collaborate with Mr. Colf again!

Chrysanthemum

 

We are all special and unique!  That is what makes the world a beautiful place.  The students at Aiken elementary school read the book, Chrysanthemum, and learned a lesson about kindness.  The main character in the story is named Chrysanthemum.  Chrysanthemum starts to hate her name once she goes to school and a group of kids make fun of her.
Eventually, with the help of her family and her teacher, Chrysanthemum realizes that her name is special afterall.

After learning the different parts of a flower and studying different types of flowers, the students created their own beautiful and unique works.  I love the variation of color, size, and shape.  Well done, artists!

Why Integrate Art?

This year, Keystone Oaks school district started a new program that will integrate art into kindergarten.  Art has been shown to help improve academic skills, decrease stress levels, and increase student motivation.  Students will also build their problem-solving, critical thinking, and social skills through this new initiative.  



 

A Day With No Crayons

Crayons are fun, but finding ways to create art using different materials is much more interesting!
In the story, the main character, Liza, discovers that she can create color and art using materials from nature and items all around her. 
Students from Dormont and Myrtle elementary learned about the nature artist, Andy Goldsworthy, and used various items (including natural ones) to make their work of art. 

A Day With No Crayons