Parent/Teacher Conferences Coming Soon!

I am so excited to announce that you can now sign up to conference with me in addition to your child's classroom teacher!

Click here to sign up for a conference with Mrs. Theen

Conference topics might include the art curriculum for your child's grade level and what they have covered so far, what to expect for the rest of the year in art, your child's level of interest in art and their work habits, information and/or help with your child's PTA Reflections contest entry, and any other questions or concerns you might have regarding your child in art.

I look forward to spending some time with you discussing your kiddo and how we can work together to plant the seed of creativity and watch it blossom!

Student Art!

I was so excited to have Miranda, a fifth grader, share some artwork that her and her aunt made over the summer!  So now, I am sharing it with you!  Beautiful work ladies!

Welcome back!!

It's the beginning of a new school year and my students and I are excited to set to work creating beautiful art to adorn our school's hallways and our families' homes.  What is the best way to do that?  What is the one medium that students think about and get excited about when coming into the art room? PAINT!  We are going to start out the school year creating beautiful painted papers for all of the students to use in their projects throughout the year.  There is so much that can be done with these beautiful papers.  Can the students learn from "just painting"?  YES!  By playing/experimenting with paint colors and mark-making, students can learn about color mixing and what colors look best with other colors (AKA color theory).  Students can demonstrate what they know about different varieties and directions of lines, categorizing shapes by size and types such as geometric and organic, and they can create an assortment of patterns.  In addition to all of this, the students are learning and practicing procedures for painting in the art room (and keeping my sanity) and gaining the confidence they need to conquer their fears of making art.

Click here to view a video from Deep Space Sparkle about painted paper!

So if you happen to be walking by the art room this week, keep in mind that learning is taking place in there, even though it might look like a crazy mess!



Here's another video that shows the mixing and movement of paint under a microscope!


Our painted paper workshop was a BLAST!!  The kids really loved all of the different painting techniques and exploring with what the medium can and cannot do!



In the end, we ended up with some GORGEOUS painted papers to use.  I do believe that Eric Carle would be proud!

More on VTS

I am so excited to be sharing my passion for VTS to my building colleagues this week!  Here is the Presentation they will get to see!

Google Presentation on VTS

VTS

VTS, or Visual Thinking Strategies, is a great way we can all talk about art and actually learn from it too!  The following link can explain more:

http://www.vtshome.org/what-is-vts

So basically, you look closely at a picture (it doesn't have to be a fine work of art that you can only find in a gallery) and ask this question: "What's going on in this picture?" If the person who answers that question gives a simple answer, you can get more information from them by asking, "what do you see that makes you say that?"  To keep the conversation going, ask "what more can we find?"

You can find images posted on each grade level's page that go along with what that grade has been learning about recently.  I encourage you to leave your comments about the image to start our own, virtual VTS session!

Ott staff, students and families: I invite you to stop by our Visual Thinking Gallery around the corner from the art room!  There you will find printed images in a gallery setting to spark conversation with those around you.  Have a question about an image?  Maybe an interesting observation? How about your own story or experience that goes along with one of the pictures?  Feel free to leave a note right next to the picture.  Who knows?  Maybe your comment will spark a creative thought in someone else!

Welcome!

I am excited to present to you my STUDENTS' views on art!  I dedicate this blog to my students at Christian Ott Elementary in hopes that they will experience the world of art outside my colorful classroom.  Click on the tabs above to view a page created for each grade level.  On each page you will find information about what we have been learning about in art class.