Collaborative Cities

2nd graders just completed their collaborative cities. We collaged our middle ground and painted our backgrounds and foregrounds. This was a great way to teach collaborative art making!

5th Grade Materials Challenge

5th graders had so much fun this week doing their materials challenge. The objective was to be resourceful, creative, think on their feet and be flexible. They were given a box of random art materials: pipe cleaners, buttons, felt, etc. they had to chose their materials before they knew what they were making. Then they had a time limit to create their subject. After each round they had to get rid of one material. So they went from 10 to 2, minutes ticked down too! When we discussed afterwards they said they learned how to think outside the box, be creative and to be open to possibilities!

I Want Candy!

Parent/Teacher Conferences were last night. As I was being productive, I overheard people in the halls say, "Wow, look at that candy!" I also heard things like, "I made that wrapper, look at that giant M & M!"
These are my proudest moments as an art teacher. I love hearing students go on and on about their art, and parents asking questions like, "You made that? How did you make that? Was it hard to make?" Many students tell me, "Hey Mrs. Ratzlaff without art earth is just eh." They are right! If our halls were not adorned with art, there would be no amazement, questions or conversation.

Peace pieces

The 5th graders have been deep in thought about how to visually represent peace without being so obvious. They spent time thinking, sketching, and planning their art. During their creation time we discussed process, making mistakes and getting honest feedback. The result was amazing and so thoughtful. They delved deep and went way outside their boxes. Check out their process below.

Animal Masks finished!

The clay lady, Marie came to teach art club how to wash their masks creating a black and white drawing effect on their clay animal masks. These masks were quite an adventure! Several cracked right in half while drying! I had to think fast and mend them with lots of slip (liquid clay) before firing them. The cooked up beautifully, whew, that was a close one!

Blue Dogs are the cutest!

The 1st grade George Rodrigue inspired Blue Dogs have been gracing our halls for a while! They are the cutest! Students were able to choose their backgrounds and their mediums to fit their unique dog. They did a beautiful job with this whole project! Here are a few great ones!

The Clay Lady

My 4th and 5th grade club students have anxiously awaited the arrival of the Clay Lady: Marie (check out her link in my links section). This local clay artist makes a visit each year to teach two lessons to my club students. The students are fascinated by her unique techniques and projects she presents. Check out the animal masks we made last week and stay tuned for the finished product!