Professional Development at the MFA

Today, January 21st, I had the opportunity to explore the MFA as part of professional development.  This is the second time I've been able to do this and I'm SO VERY happy that North Andover allows this to happen. It's always such an experience to visit the museum.  I get to see new works of art and learn about different artists, as well as revisit pieces.  Below are just a few images of my favorites and also a great source of inspiration as I develop new units and lessons for my students.

 

Above: Picasso "Head of a woman, portrait of Marie Therese Walter) 1934

Below: Piet Mondrian "Composition with Blue, Yellow and Red" 1927  *This is ONE of my favorite artists and I often have 1st graders look at Mondrian and we make a collage inspired by this piece.

Below: Joan Miro "Nuage et Oiseaux (Cloud and birds)" 1927

Above & Below:  Tara Donovan "Untitled" 2003  *This installation is created using foam cups and hot glue. I can't wait to share this piece with my students.  It's astonishing to see such a large installation made from a small, mundane object.

Above:  Gugger Petter "Bolsjer #1" This piece was created using woven paper and hemp. It caught my eye today while walking through. I'm not familiar with the artist, but thought I'd be able to use his work as an exemplar during our weaving unit.

Below:  Sargent

Above:  Grace Hartigan "Murphy" 1962
This piece of work was intriguing to me and I know this could be used as an exemplar for a collage project.  I love how she reassembled the piece to create a new image-this is a great tool to 'rework' a piece of work that simply "is not working".

This is proof that "ART IS EVERYWHERE". I tell my students this ALL THE TIME…they don't believe me that chairs are made my artists. Well boys and girls…here it is!

Patterned landscapes

3rd grade spent weeks creating beautiful landscapes.  The project required a foreground, middle ground, background and of course a horizon line.  They also learned a bit about perspective and space as we discussed what trees would look like If they were far off in the distance.  They ALL mastered it beautifully and added patterns to the land.  They completed the projects with sharpies and colored pencils.  Take a look!

Take 25 poster contest

In honor of National Missing Children's Day, the Center for Missing and Exploited Children encourages you to take 25 minutes to help make your child's life safer.  At the Franklin School, I have teamed up with the North Andover Police Department to create a safety poster that will be entered into a contest in May.  Grades 4 and 5 have spent a class period discussing safety.  Some of the ideas brainstormed during this time are as follows:
bike safety
substance use
car/passenger safety
guns & weapons
texting & driving
plants & animals
bullying

More photos will be added as students finish, but below you will find a few images of the classes working on their preliminary drawings.

If you're looking for more information on the Take 25 campaign, please visit this website:
http://www.take25.org

Winter Art

Here is a variety of images from the past week or so.  Each grade level always creates a snowman- this year in grade 4 we are focusing on shading and highlights.

In grade 3, we are focusing on perspective and size.  

Grade 2 is working on creating a snowman in a landscape, thinking about foreground and background.  

Grade 1 has created a peeking snowman -thinking about size and shape.  The creative details are added last.