Kindergarten Rainbow Fish

Kindergarten learned about oil pastel resist and how to do a wet on wet watercolor painting.  We reviewed line and shape to draw the fish and ocean floor.

Back to School!!!

I always like to start off the year doing a school wide project or installation.  This year we read/listened to the book, The Dot, by Peter Reynolds to all students. It is a simple, witty story with free-spirited illustrations. This book entices all students to create by simply making a mark - and follow where it takes them. That one little dot marks the beginning of the main character's journey of surprise and self-discovery.   The Dot is about the creative spirit in all of us. Each student at CVE created a dot using their choice of materials.  It is amazing to see the uniqueness of each dot which reflects the individuality of all our students at Crest View.

Kindergarten Ground Hogs see their shadow!

We read some books about Ground Hogs day and learned how the holiday originated.  Students learned about shadows and how they are formed by the sun.  This is a very advanced concept for kindergarten students but I am pleasantly surprised by the outcomes.

  

Kindergarten Polar Bears under the Northern Lights

We discussed where polar bears lives, their decreasing habitat, and other characteristics about the animal.  Students learned how to combine basic shapes to create a polar bear.  Next class we learned a wet on wet watercolor technique and used salt to absorb the pigment to create an interesting effect to look like snow or starts in they sky. We talked about how we need to color carefully around the polar bear in order to use the negative space as our white color.  Here are some of their amazing paintings.

Kindergarten Pumpkins and the curvy vine

Students learned how to make orange using red and yellow. They also learned how to draw a pumpkin and how to use curvy lines to create form.  Students cut out their pumpkins and glued them on to black paper. They added a vine and used curvy lines to draw it and the leaves. Some students added stars to their backgrounds.

Positive School Climate Art Work

During art class all students at Crest View from Kindergarten through 5th grade created a puzzle piece that included their name with various patterns and designs.  The giant puzzle shows how there are no extra pieces at Crest View...everyone here has a place to fill!"

Kindergarten Symmetrical House Paintings

Kindergarten is studying Africa in the regular classroom.  During art we read the book My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken, and Me, by Maya Angelou.  It is  photographic book about a young girl from South Africa and the life and customs of the Ndebele people.

For this project student designed their house using a symmetrical design.  They used various  shapes and lines and color to complete their artwork.

Kindergarten paints Rainbow Fish!

In art class we read the book Rainbow Fish. We talked about the different shapes that make up  a fish.  We discussed how the scales are formed on some fish.  Students drew their own Rainbow Fish, they added color with oil pastels and then they used watercolor paint for the ocean, using a resist technique.  Finally each student added their shiny scale.

Glazed and Fired Kindergarten Pinch Pots!

So impressed with these kids' pinch pots.  Such amazing talent both in forming the pot and painting  pattern + design.

Kindergarten pinch pots

We learned about clay and where it comes from and how we fire it in an electric kiln.  We also talked about glazing and how it serves a function as well as an aesthetic. Here are some photos of our glazed pots ready to be fired in the kiln.

Kindergarten Year of the Sheep drawings

We talked about the up coming Chinese New Year and the Chinese Zodiac.  Students learned about how the Chinese celebrate the Lunar New Year.  Thursday, February 19 we will be leaving the Year of the Horse and moving into the Year of the Sheep or Goat.  Students learned how to draw a sheep, goat and ram  and we talked about using line to create texture.  Children also learned the Chinese character for the word sheep, which some students included on their year of the sheep drawings.

Kindergarten northern light polar bears

We learned about the bright dancing lights of the aurora borealis.  The lights are actually collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth's atmosphere. The lights are seen above the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres. They are known as Aurora borealis in the north.  We looked at photos of this amazing phenomenon.  We also discussed polar bears and their habitat.  Students learned a wet-on-wet water color technique using salt which they applied to their background to create a "northern light sky".  Children also learned how to draw a polar bear which they placed onto their foreground.

Kindergarten Mouse Paint

We read the book Mouse Paint, by Ellen Stoll Walsh.  We talked about primary and secondary colors. Students drew three mice. They made a green, an orange, and a purple mouse using the primary colors red, yellow, and blue.