Art Masterpiece

I've been volunteering in Shazer's classroom by teaching "Art Masterpiece" lessons. His school has an art teacher that the kids go to once a week but in addition to that the PTSO sends a parent volunteer in 5-6 times a year to teach an art lesson. They have specific works of art to choose from for each grade level but the content and art project are pretty much left up to the volunteer. There were actually two parents that signed up for Shazer's class, me (obviously) and Shazer's best friend's mom so we decided to split up the lessons- I'll do three in the fall and she'll do three in the spring. Which works out really well for me because I'll be busy student teaching in the spring. 

(By the way, my student teaching assignment is all set- I'll be with a fourth grade teacher at Shazer's school and start on Jan 3- Jon has already worked out his spring semester so he's taking classes in the afternoon/evening to be home with the girls on M, W, F until I get home from school and then he'll work on T & Th and take the girls to a good friend from our previous ward- it'll be hectic but it should be do-able and will be temporary. I'll finish at the end of April)

The first lesson I  taught was on my very favorite artist, Pierre Auguste Renoir's, The Luncheon of the Boating Party. It was lots of fun to teach because I'm naturally excited about the subject. I saw the original a few years ago when it was on loan at the Phoenix Art Museum and was completely blown away- it was so stunning I just wanted to sit and look at it forever (as it was I did manage to look at it for about a half an hour with my mom while Jon struggled to keep two small boys from terrorizing the docents). The way the colors and brush strokes work together it's as if there is actual light coming from the canvas- no picture of it can ever do it justice. It's typically on exhibit as part of the Philips collection in Washington D.C. so if you have the opportunity to see it in person it would definitely be worth your while. 

Back to the lesson; I made a PowerPoint to give some background info on Renoir and Impressionism and included all my favorite paintings by him :) I also shared a photo of my mom's work in progress: 

The kids were super impressed with my mom's mad skills :) They especially thought she did a great job with Shazer in the painting and liked the little girls peeking from under the table. 

For the art project part of the lesson I had them use watercolors to paint a scene that is familiar to them. If it had been my own class I would have taken them outside so they could paint "en plein air" like the real Impressionists, but it wasn't- so I didn't. And I have to admit that I was a little bit disappointed in the outcome of their work. I know my own kids have a lot of artistic talent (I'm told all the time) but I guess I take it for granted because I was imagining that fifth graders would be capable of more than just stick figures- but not so much. I completely forgot to take any pictures of the class working on the first project so I made certain to take some the second time. 

For the second lesson (that I just taught yesterday) I adjusted my expectations and felt much more pleased with the outcome. I taught a lesson on Saiki Hoitsu's Cranes- which was a lot of fun because I was completely unfamiliar with this Japanese artist so I was able to learn something new too. I did another PowerPoint (they're kind of my thing) and then my mom totally hooked me up with some brayers and block printing ink that she'd had in her school closet for ages so I had them make prints. (Thanks Mom!!! and Thanks Aubrey for having my girls over for a play date!!!)

We discussed the block printing technique, called moku hanga in Japanese, but instead of actually carving designs into blocks of cherry wood I had them roll the ink onto plastic sheets and "carve" their picture into the ink using Q-tips. Then they placed paper on top of the ink drawing and made a print. It was a fairly simple project but it was a totally novel thing so the kids had a blast. And I thought the finished project looked really cool even with the simplest images. 

Totally FUN!!

Here are a few of my favorite: 

I was able to stay and do an observation (I've got to get 100 hours in- but don't worry I'm almost there) and I was even able to help his teacher out by grading some assignments. It was a little bit disconcerting though when his teacher and I were discussing a student's incorrect answer and his teacher asked "But isn't Cuba close to Spain?" ...um...NO!! 

She did give a great math lesson on fractions, though, so I guess math is her strength and not so much geography- now I know where to supplement ;). I've really enjoyed spending time in the classroom again and I'm starting to really look forward to student teaching now instead of dreading it like I have been. 

And here's an extra treat for reading all the way to the end (or skimming at least). We just got Shazer's school pictures. Isn't he just a doll?! He's the sweetest, brightest, most well behaved kid too. It'll be so devastating if/when he goes through a rebellious phase- our other three have already given us enough grief that its just the norm with them ;)