A New School!

Classroom at J. Elementary

Today was my first day at the other elementary school where Mrs. M teaches! My partner and I were supposed to do our lesson on Japanese scroll paintings today, but we had some technical difficulties with the computer, so we decided to teach two weeks from now after talking to Mrs. M about what day would be best to teach next.

Student adding texture to her
leaf.

Today was a late start for the school, where students begin their first class at 8:45 instead of 8:00. The 4th graders were the first to have class, and they continued to work on clay leaf bowls, which focuses on texture. The students received their leaf bowls from the students who were assigned to pass back artwork, and then they went to the supply cart to obtain tools for making texture between the veins of the leaves. Mrs. M taught them about enhancing their art work through adding the texture to their bowls, and were expected to have different kinds of textures on their bowls. After the students were finished making their textures, they placed the clay leaf over the top of a bowl, and pressed down to create the actual bowl shape. The students used the entire class period to do this project. At the end of the class period, each table cleaned up after themselves.

Face mug in progress

Next class to come in was 5th grade. The students are working on face mugs, which is a folk art lesson based off of face jugs. For her demonstration, Mrs. M taught the students how to attach separate clay pieces by smoothing and spreading the clay using water before shaping the clay pieces. Some of the students had problems getting their pieces, such as their handles, to stay on, so I urged them to be liberal with their water usage on their clay face jugs, as they were not adding very much water in order to get their pieces to stay.

Creating symmetrical designs on
the mask with a gold paint marker.

The 3rd grade class has been learning about masks and what functions they play in various cultures. They are exploring symmetry within their multicultural lesson, and they used black, brown, and tan construction paper to cut out masks. Once the masks were cut out, they picked out colored construction paper to put the mask over. After they were done with that step, they took sharpie markers, and later gold and silver paint markers and drew symmetrical designs on their masks. They really enjoyed getting to use the paint markers, but Mrs. M warned them to be careful not to shake them up too much before using, because if they did, when they opened the cap, the paint could spray out. After being told this, a few of the students wanted me to open the markers up for them, as they did not want to create a mess.

It was fun getting to know new faces today, both for my partner and I, and for the students we helped as well. They seemed to appreciate our presence more than the students at the other school did, which was made evident when some of the 3rd graders at the end of class clung on to my partner and I, as they did not want to leave us, fearing that they would never see us again after being told we would not be coming all the time. The students have a hard time wanting to leave Mrs. M's classroom, as they really love Mrs. M and the projects she assigns. I talked to one of the 3rd graders today, and she said that art is her favorite subject, and that Mrs. M makes it a fun learning experience. Her favorite project so far is the mask that she's been working on in class, and she said Mrs. M assigns fun projects.