Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Beginning of a New School Year: Art Blog

The Bacich K-4th grade art program is off to a fabulous start.  During our first art lesson of the new school year, we established routines and rules and each one of our 708 students got to decorate their very own art journals. Each grade level had the opportunity to explore a grade-level appropriate art technique. For example, Kindergarden made bubble prints, and first grade students designed their journal covers with shapes and scrambled their names in a “crayon resists watercolor” technique.  Second and third grade students experimented with one-line drawings, representing their imaginary friends. Our fourth grade artists created “character critters” using felt tip pen and contour lines, incorporating designs and a positive adjective that describes the critter. 


The Art Journal

Students will have the opportunity to use their Art Journals thought the school year in a combination of sketching, note taking and personal journal writing. Students reflect on and evaluate their own learning. This helps the students place reading and writing in a context that is functional and personally relevant. 

One of the key lessons in our art program is that there are no mistakes in art. Besides being a means of recording, the journal is a safe place for the student to express his or her thoughts and ideas in writing and drawing that is not corrected by the teacher, giving freedom for our individual expression.












TK- 4th Grade Printmaking Project: 


During the last two weeks of September all Bacich students, TK-4th grade had the opportunity to participate in a printmaking workshop. Students were introduced to Johannes Gutenber's invention of the movable type printing press (around 1440), which set the stage to modern printing techniques of  printing multiple copies of an image or text. 


Gutenberg.jpg


First through Fourth grade prepared printing plates by carving an image into a piece of scratch foam. Students loved the hands on activity of printmaking creating 4 copies of their images in a variety of colors and color transitions. TK and Kindergarten got their taste of printmaking by printing with objects dipped in ink such as; tubes, containers, paper rolls, and halved apples. All together we created around 2500 amazing looking prints. 





















Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Art For Bears Volunteer Blog

    Art for Bears Volunteer Orientation 

Wednesday Sept. 10, 2014, 8:15-9:00 Bacich Art Room 

(This orientation is for new volunteers and for first time volunteer coordinators/assistant) 

     Agenda:
  1. Welcome Volunteers
  2. Meet the Art Teacher Mrs. Libby
  3. A and B Week Calendar 2014/15
  4. A and B Week class schedules
  5. AFB Class-Coordinator/Assistant job description
  6. Volunteer policy and procedures
  7. Guidelines for Art Room volunteers
  8. Connect with AFB volunteers coordinators Samantha and Lauren
  9. Q and A

AFB coordinator/assistant job description:
1. The main job of the coordinator is to coordinate the other AFB volunteers. 
2. If possible but not mandatory, the AFB coordinator will attend classes as a consistent volunteer to assist Mrs. Libby. 

3.  If a volunteer is unable to be there on their scheduled day, the coordinator should help make every effort to contact another AFB or class volunteer for a replacement.  This will help insure that there is a continuity and consistency of the volunteers at each AFB class. 
4. Throughout the school year Mrs. Libby sends communications to the AFB coordinators about upcoming projects and additional volunteer needs for special projects. Therefore, the AFB Coordinator is a conduit of information back to the class. 

AFB Volunteer Policy and Procedures

Due to the age of our children and the nature of the art projects, Mrs. Libby has asked that she has the following number of volunteers to help assist in her classes:


TK and K:  Assistant plus 3 volunteers

1st grade: Assistant plus 2 volunteers

2nd grade: Assistant plus 1-2 volunteers

3rd grade: Assistant plus 1 volunteer

4th grade: Assistant plus 1 volunteer


If you are unable to be there on your scheduled day, please make every effort to contact another volunteer on your replacement.

Holidays and Schedule Changes

Throughout the school year the District observes local and federal holidays. If your child’s
Art for Bears Class falls on an observed holiday, Mrs. Libby will adjust the art lessons
accordingly in order for students to have ample time to finish projects. Due to a large
student body and a tight schedule, missed classes may not always be rescheduled. 
Mrs. Libby will communicate schedule changes via your class AFB coordinator/assistant,
and/or homeroom teacher.

Mrs. Libby’s Guidelines for Art Room Volunteers

Thank you for signing up to be a AFB coordinator/assistant or volunteer in the Bacich Art
Room! We will be working together all year, and I would like you to feel both comfortable and useful.

GUIDELINES:

● Arrive 10 minutes prior to class start time.
● All volunteers are required to sign in at the office and wear a visitor’s badge while
on campus.
● Write your last name on a tag in the name tag file box and place it inside your
visitor’s badge.
● Parents who volunteer may not bring in younger siblings or pets.
● Cell phone use is not permitted during school hours.
● I will debrief volunteers on the specific project for that day and direct volunteers on
how they can assist.
● Expect to stay 5-10 minutes after class to assist with clean-up.

1. Please remember we are here for all students. Sometimes it is hard for young
children to “share” their parent in the classroom, so a chat at home before your first
visit to class may be helpful. At the beginning of the lesson your child will have the
opportunity to introduce you to the class, so we all have a chance to get to know one
another.

2. As I introduce the lesson, please listen along with the class so you are better able to
answer students' questions as they work. At the beginning of a project the instruction will
likely be longer then mid-project.

3. Sometimes I will have materials preparation or artwork mounting project set up for you to work on at the beginning of a lesson, while I work with the children. Please keep one ear open to the lesson as you fold, cut, glue, etc.

4. In art there are as many solutions as there are artists creating them! Helping with
creative projects is a bit different from helping with reading or math where there is
often one correct “answer”.

5. Keep praise specific. It is better to say: “I like the wavy line on your snail’s shell”
than to say “Nice job”.

6. Do not do a student’s artwork for her or him. Sometimes it is tempting to touch the
student’s projects, but that tends to reinforce any doubts a child may have.

Here are some helpful hints:
∙ Listen closely to students’ questions. Answer simply.
∙ Reassure and remind students of directions.
∙ Some students rush through their work. Encourage them to slow down, work carefully,
to add detail.
∙ Some students have trouble getting started. Ask them to find their “can do “attitude.

Some helpful phrases:
● “I like the way you…”
● “There are no mistakes in art…”
● “Remember how Mrs. Libby showed us….”
● “Let’s get some ideas from the (board, book)…”

Philosophy
“I believe that every child is already an artist when she/he walks through the door. In order
to educate the whole child, our job is to bring each child further along the path of artistic
exploration and expression.”

Barbara Libby, Bacich Elementary Art Teacher



Bacich Art For Bears Week A and Week B Calendar 2014/15



TK-4th Grade Class Schedules Week A and Week B 2014/15
















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