Kindergarten Art - First Day

I see my kindergarten students for 50 minutes the first day they come to school. Needless to say they look at me with a bit of skepticism. Who is this, where is my teacher, and really... where is my mom? Oh, and when are we going to paint? Painting next week but lets get through today.  Did I mention that my art rooms (two different buildings) do not have air conditioning? So what do I do?
Crayons and Books!
Color a Crayon:
K students pick their favorite primary or secondary crayon color, draw a picture of something that is that color onto a crayon template, write their name on the crayon drawing and then place in on my giant crayon graph!
Station Break:Read some books about crayons and colors
The Day the Crayon Quit by Drew Daywalt - (I gotta get The Day the Crayon Came Home!)
WOW Said the Owl by Tim Hopgood
Colors for Zena by Monica Wellington

Fine Arts Festival 2016

Congratulations to the wonderful student artists at Fry Elementary and Clow Elementary. I applaud your talent!

First General Session at NAEA Convention

Welcoming NAEA members to 2016 Convention in my role as president of the

Illinois Art Education Assiciation. I'm on Jumbotron with IAEA committee co-chairs on stage with me.

STEAM Day at Fry

Student chains in my Stixplosion session.

Youth Art Month

State of Illinois Youth Art Month winner at the elementary level from Fry Elementary. Art teacher: Joan Mills

UV beads braided into ribbons. Club members used them for backpack tags so they can watch for UV exposure while walking to and from school.

UV beads woven into shoe laces. Good way to check for UV exposure while you are playing outside.

UV Beads and Final Club Meeting

Club members shared their results of their UV Ray studies. Mist found suntan lotion worked and the SPF made a difference. Ideas for more studies, use expired lotions to test, use different brands if same SPF. Prototyped ideas, rings, bracelets, shoe lace ties were some of the most popular. 

See the lights! Thanks Jordan, for the great idea of taking pictures of the lit circuits!

Circuits Complete

Club members completed some circuits, both on their robots and on a circuit sheet. 

We're Getting There!

Club members are closing in on their completed robot with LED light.

Robot Plans

Using a template from Instructables teams put togrther a paper robot. Teams are using their robot in order to plan an electrical circuit. Next week teams will put together a paper Robot with a LED that will be lit up with their electric circuit.

It's Electric

Teams are learning about electric circuits. Each team used copper tape, LED lights and coin batteries to complete a simple circuit.

Printing Fabric For Furoshiki

Block Printing

Screen Printing

Printed Fabric Hanging to Dry

Getting Ready to Print

Teams are working on their images to print on their fabric. Block printers are carving their printing plates. Screen printers are creating negative image stencils. Can't wait to see the prints next week!

Creating a Cloth Wrap

Club members watched a video showing the Japanese art of Furoshiki. Members looked at the type and designs on the fabric used for wrapping. Each team will be making a fabric to be used for package wrapping. Club time was spent determining which method of printmaking the team would use, block printing or screen printing. Three out of four groups chose block printing. Each group developed ideas for the patterns. Block printing groups practiced using softcut and Speedball carving tools so they could make an informed decision on whether they could carve their designs.

I'm STEAMd Club News

At the first meeting students formed collaborative teams. The teams' first assignment was to read about how much wrapping paper fills landfills. Teams proposed solutions; use what we have, use old comics, coloring books and magazines, only buy three presents, and save and reuse paper. Next meeting the teams will be investigating using cloth as gift wrap and how to design a multi use cloth wrap.

"I'm STEAMd" Wins IPEF Grant

The Indian Prairie Education Foundation awards grant to Fry art teacher Joan Mills.
The grant "I'm STEAMd" will be used to conduct an after school club with a focus on integrating science, technology, engineering, art, math and design. Keep checking back for updates on the club.

Fiber Art Created By Fry Fifth Grade Club Member

Fiber Vessel Created by Sophie during Fiber Art Club

Fall 2015 Fiber Art Club at Fry

Fifth Grade Fiber Art Club Students at Work