Friday, September 18, 2009

2nd and 3rd Graders are also exploring line!



The whole school is exploring line this month! In the coming week, we are starting our "B" schedule art rotation which includes 2nd and 3rd graders as well as morning kindergarten classes.

In the 2nd grade we have been learning to do line by line drawing as we combined geometric lines and simple curves to draw buildings in the style of the Missions found in the South West. We are going to be adding color, design and pattern to our pictures in the coming week. The big push for 2nd grade is to understand the difference between Organic and Geometric design and then to apply it to their artwork. As we finish our mission pictures we will post pictures. (They are now posted above!) We hope you check back to see them.

The 3rd graders are all learning how to draw. We all got sketchbooks and each week we will work on our drawing skills for a few minutes as a "self-starter" when we first come to class. We learned about the Mola Art of the Kuna Indians who live on the San Blas Islands off the shores of Panama. We analyzed the Molas and determined if the design was geometric, organic or both. Each child sketched a simple Mola in their sketch book. This coming week, we will be creating a Mola design on beautiful black scratch paper. Please check back to see pictures!

Kindergarten Purple Crayon and Navajo Blankets


During the last few weeks, the kindergarten children at East Elementary have also been exploring line.

We read the story "Harold and the Purple Crayon" and then each child drew their own purple crayon adventure. We learned about scribble lines, straight lines, curvy lines, zigzag lines and how to write simple letters.

We are also making very interesting Native American blankets with symmetrical line pattern. Our favorite part has been cutting the fringe!

First Grade Curvy Community


This week the first graders have been learning about CURVY lines. Each child drew a curvy community that was filled with the curvy things they loved the most. We painted our curvy communities and then later in class, each child was given the opportunity to write about their curvy community. We will post pictures when we get everything together.

Home tie in: See if you can see curvy lines and straight lines as you observe the world around you. This is something fun to discuss with your child.