Paul Klee Art Lesson

You can find the lesson I used here 

I started off my art class much the same way.  I quickly googled "Paul Klee" in an image search and we looked at some of the pictures he had done and talked about them.  We talked about what we think he used to create his images and what we saw in them... it was nothing too deep or spectacular but this is only grade 4.  I also had a short biography on Paul Klee printed that I showed the kids (you can see it in the middle of one of my bulletin boards below).  They thought the picture I choose to put on the bottom was scary and told me to switch it to something else.  

I did not oblige 

(yes, the ones who get to school early were watching me create the biography)

We spent 2 classes (so about an hour) learning about Paul and doing the line drawing and crayon colouring part of the lesson.

I'm not entirely sure but I don't think I did a great job at explaining how to do this step... although I did mention numerous times to not do too careful of a job of colouring and to leave white spaces so that the paint would have something to stick to.

The kids wanted me to make one... can you guess which is mine?

The following week we finished up our colouring (if we needed to) and then painted over them (I only gave them the option of purple, pink, or red paint)

My Paul Klee art is on this bulletin board.

What step did we forget?

We were supposed to dab off the excess paint.

Whoops.

I guess some of the paint was thin enough that the paint doesn't completely take over the art... but some *ahemREDahem* definitely went on a little thick.

Ah well, they still enjoyed doing it and think it looks good.

Also, we don't have those hockey puck type paints.   I think what we have is acrylic paint (in MASSIVE containers) so I just squirt a little in a yogurt cup and mix in some water with it to thin it out.  It works alright.

SNOW DAY

Nothing like a perfectly timed snow day in March!

Yes, I said perfectly timed

Why?

I\ve been feeling a little under the weather this week

I've got [what seems like] a never ending pile of marking

It's report card season!

My plan for the day is to get through this marking and write my ELA and science comments (I would have done French but I left a sheet at school that I need for the comments.  Aww shucks)

The only downside?

Today was our art day and I'm in charge of the all important main hallway bulletin board this month... but we need to get some artwork done first (I might add that we started this artwork about a month ago but Valentine's day, snow days, and substitutes being in for me kept getting in the way of completing it).

Today was also our computer lab day and we were going to learn how to graph in Excel so that I could put up their Olympic Medal Count bar graphs.  Looks like the Olympics continue in class 4CP!... our bar graphs will be going up on our Olympic bulletin board - also in the hallway.  

Comics

I wrote a couple weeks ago about a lesson I did on descriptive language using some made sandwich making skills and looking at/listening to/smelling/feeling/eating Hershey's Chocolate Kisses.  The hope with these lessons was that my students story writing would be more... colourful, vibrant, erm... less boring?

Has it worked?  

For some, yes.. but naturally as in most classrooms not everyone is writing exactly what I want to read.  

CRAZY

Anywho, I planned a comic unit for them over the break (and by planned I mean I planned out the stories they would write and didn't do a thing with comics). 

Honestly, I've been dreading the actual comic part of this unit for one reason.  

My ex was supposed to plan it for me 

*cry me a river*

Anyways, like I said we are in the comic part of the unit (FINALLY) and I'm actually super impressed what I was able to throw together ALL ON MY OWN

This girl.  Who has never read a graphic novel.

This girl.  Who doesn't read comics.

This girl.  Who just isn't into that kind of stuff.

But my students are into that kind of stuff (I knew I had to do a graphic novel/comic unit with them when the majority handed in a survey at the beginning of the year telling me they prefer to read graphic novels and comics)... and I REALLY want them to like ELA.  

So I've tried.

The hard part?  My students have asked when my "boyfriend" is coming in to teach them a class (because months ago I told them he would) and they have asked if my "boyfriend" put the unit together.  When I told them it was I who did it all one said that it showed because it wasn't very good 

*cry me another river*

BUT THEN... an adult told me it was a cool idea... phew... ego stroked.

ANYWHO, I decided in January when I was trying to plan this comic unit a couple of days before going back to school (I had the flu, give me a break) that they couldn't start writing a comic book without having a story first.  

So story writing is where we started.

Look forward to the next few Tuesday's there being a post about the stories we wrote 

(hopefully by then I'll have some quality comic books that my students have written to share with you).

This Week At School

... Honestly, nothing too exciting happened this week at school.

Except that I took my grade 8's on their ski [day] trip.  

I went snowboarding for the first time ever and I'm already fully recovered (from my numerous falls and from my early wake up call - I got up at 5am so we could leave the city by 5:30am)

don't be fooled by the sunshine.  It was COLD

*On day 5's the middle school teachers can send their students to the computer lab over the lunch hour to get work done that just isn't getting done.  This week, I pretty much sent every single one of my grade 8's.  I actually felt super bad about it.  

The good news?  

I just finished putting in their marks and so far it looks like I'll only have to send 19 this week.  Huzzah!

Our report cards are due in a couple of weeks so I spent some time this weekend getting in some grades and starting writing my math comments (it's a start).  Hopefully no one does anything too drastic in the next couple of weeks so that I have to go in and change them.  Luckily, this report card season I'm not house hunting, buying a house, moving, packing, or getting broken up with (well... one can hope I don't start and end a relationship in the next 2 weeks - if I do I don't think I'll be too broken up about it ending).  BUT, you can expect a few less posts until spring break probably.

On Friday we had a professional development day and the guy who spoke to us was AMAZING.  Seriously, I could have listened to him all day. 

What did I get out of it?  

Hooks

I need to give my students a hook to get them interested in what we are doing... which I think I'll apply to my ELA classes.  

Right now, we are about to start writing and illustrating our comic books and I'm super excited for them to look amazing (hopefully).  While writing these comic books we are also to be working on our blogs (which are like on going journals).  The thing is, those blogs have pretty well died.  They have died and I need to resurrect them... Lazerus style.

SO... I spent last night googling and Youtubing motivational, beautiful, and inspirational commercials.  My plan is to end the commercial right before you see the product placement and have them write a blog post on what they think the tag line could mean.  Our speaker gave us an example and naturally I have no idea what the commercial is anymore. Grr...

I'm not planning to show them one this week - because I already gave them the great idea of writing about the ski [day] trip.

But next week... next week we will be watching this commercial 

(I think - I'm actually torn between 2 Sony Brovia commercials right now)

But I prefer this one

1) because I love the song (Jose Gonzales - Heartbeats)

2)  It's a beautiful commercial

3)  There is a message right before the product placement 

* FYI we have a 6 day school cycle here (and likely across Canada).  I believe it is so that if you miss school because of a holiday or an admin day you aren't always missing your Monday/Friday classes (because let's face it... holidays generally fall on Monday's and Friday's).  When we get to university then it changes to a 5 day cycle where we just go by the days of the week.