Our Last Day

The kids seemed to really enjoy our party last week.  It was a bit crazy but they didn't seem to notice.  Prior to the party, we tie-dyed shirts and decorated coasters/tiles.  We also celebrated Ryan and Bennett's summer birthdays with strawberry cupcakes.  Ryan and Bennett both enjoyed wearing birthday crowns.  

Thank you all for helping to make this year as wonderful as it was.  I'm so glad that I'll get to see each of you over the summer.  It certainly makes saying goodbye much easier.  I love you all! 

Georgia O'Keeffe

We learned about artist, Georgia O'Keeffe, last Wednesday.  Georgia began painting as a young girl and always knew that she wanted to be an artist.  Early on, some of Georgia's teachers tried to change her style. However, Georgia became a great painter and painted until close to her death in her 90's.

Georgia is famous for her paintings of flowers so for Mother's Day, we painted and decorated flower pots. We attached poems to cutout hand tracing and put those in our flower pots along with Impatiens.  They loved lovely! 

We also read the M&M Counting Book last week.  The boys counted and sorted the M&M's by color and graphed them.  They did excellent!  

We'll spend part of tomorrow ty-dying shirt.  Please send your child with a plain white t-shirt if he has one. 

Also, we'll be celebrating the last day of class.  I know, I can't believe that the day is already here!  We are going to go out with a bang tomorrow and I'm expecting it to be one of our best class days yet! 

Klee Watercolors

This past week we studied artist Paul Klee.  Klee came from a musical family.  His father was a church organist.  Klee played the violin.  He later decided to pursue art.  Klee's wife taught piano lessons in their home while he worked on his art at his kitchen table.  He did not have an art studio in his first house so many of his paintings and drawing were small due to the size of his kitchen table.  Klee often combined combined colorful paintings with line drawings so that's exactly what we did last week.  The children first produced line drawings and then filled them in with watercolors.  Also, I really wanted the children to have the opportunity to create sculptures so we also combined that activity with our Klee study last week.  The children took various materials that one might use for a collage.  All of the art projects looked wonderful.   

The boys are getting lots of fine motor practice these days.  I hope that they've discovered a love for art and various art forms.  We've covered a lot of artists in a short amount of time but hopefully they'll be able to use what they've learned later on in life. 

Holly shared a funny story with me last week about Bennett.  Bennette has an Aunt Candace and he told Holly that some people paint on Candace.  He was certain because "Nanny" taught him about an artist that threw paint on Candace.  Obviously, he was confusing Candace with canvas.  I thought it was such a cute story and I'm happy that he remembered something about Jackson Pollock.  

Munch Masks

On Wednesday, we learned about the artist, Edvard Munch (MOONCH).  He was known for expressing his sad feelings from his difficult childhood through his art.  His most famous painting was called, "The Scream".  We talked about how art allows us to express feelings through various ways. Our art project for the day was one that allowed us to hide facial expressions.  The children created masks using various papers and markers.  Not only did they get the chance to be creative but the tearing, cutting, and gluing allowed them to work on their fine motor skills. 

The rain held off during the day long enough for us to go outside and use the sidewalk chalk.  The boys enjoyed drawing squares and making up their own game.  They also wanted me to trace their bodies so they could see how big they are.  They really enjoyed that and I think if you asked them, they'd tell you that was the highlight of the day. 

Can you believe that we only have three weeks of classes left?  As much as I'm looking forward to the summer months ahead, I know that I must savor every minute with the boys during the upcoming weeks. 
I've said this before and I truly mean it.  They have been a delight to watch grow and develop.  On most days, I feel like there is harmony in our classroom (shocking, I know).  They really know how to play and work with each other.  We've certainly come a long way this year and I think we've all learned a ot from each other.  See you on Wednesday!  

Matisse Masterpieces

Last week, we worked on Matisse masterpieces.  Henri Matisse was a French artist who made bright collages in simple shapes.  Matisse was a leader in the art style, Fauvism.  Matisse loved using colors and shapes and believed that they told stories in art. 

The children made their own collages by cutting and tearing pieces of various papers.  They each spent a lot of time planning what shapes and colors to use.  Andrew commented how much he loved the project and Jackson asked me why I hadn't told him what we were doing ahead of time.  I'm finding that the boys love gluing and pasting ANYTHING!

In the morning, we'll be working on masks and learning about a new artist.  There's rain in the forecast but I've got plenty planned to keep the children happy and busy.  

Mr. Al Concert Pictures