Painting & Printmaking Review

This is my second review from the books Prim Ed very kindly sent me at the start of the summer.

There are two books in the “Early Childhood Art” series. The first review covered ‘Collage and Construction’ and this one will look at ‘Painting and Printmaking’.

I will discuss the book under the following heading.

Layout

Contents

Dust Rating

Early Childhood Art – Painting and Printmaking

Amelia Ruscoe

Layout

As before the book has rich colours, an abundance of photographs, and is easy to follow. Each activity is explained over two pages. The information is organised under headings such as, Resources, Key Questions, and Preparation.

On some pages an ‘Easy Alternative’ is offered as well as ways to enhance the experience, such as incorporating the art lesson into other areas of the curriculum or encouraging the children to turn their print into a recognisable thing.

The book is divided into four main chapters/sections

1.    Mixing colours: exploring colour and colour media

2.    Applying colour: experimenting with tools, materials and media

3.    Discovering texture and pattern: Printmaking

4.    Dyes and stains: Dripping, spraying, and dipping

At the start of each one is a list of resources and useful websites.

The last page of the book is an art storeroom stock list. This is great to have when organising your supplies, or have it copied and stuck inside your art press with the items you have highlighted.

Contents

There are 56 art activities in the book, divided into 4 sections. I think this book would be a great resource for anyone teaching infants, first or second class.  Thats not to say that these ideas can’t be adapted for older classes!

Again I have to say there are so many projects I want to try from this book. It is very accessible and inviting. The only problem is I don’t know how I can try them all in just one year!

I particularly like the photos of the children working as well as the finished artwork. The foucus in on the process, using different materials, and appriciating the outcomes.

The projects I am looking forward to trying are

·    Glue and chalk pastels

·    Spinner art

·    Bubble prints

·    Textured print matrix

Dust Rating

I couldn’t decide what to call this category....! Basically here I am asking myself would I use this book or will it sit on the shelf gathering dust?

So one being thick with dust and five being dust free, I will award this book 5/5!

I know this review is similar to the last one but I genuinely like this book. I think it is a must for anyone teaching infants. So many great ideas for Aistear that don’t require a lot of resources.

This is one of my favourites and I have a lot of art books!!

Infant Self Portraits

This is just a quick post on some ideas for infant self portraits. I've pinned some lovely ideas on Pinterest so take a look at my board there.

Here's a round up of some of my favourites. 

All images from Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.com/IrishPrimaryArt/self-portraits/

I think this is lovely. I'd allow them to print different colour squares on a page rather than gluing tissue paper the first week back! Then just have them draw themselves on white paper, cut it and stick it on (you might want to do that bit 😁)

I'd use a variety of colours for the backing paper. I like the photo and their drawing on the one page.

I've created some first day worksheets for you too.

Enjoy 😊 

Show your support!

I was asked by a fellow teacher for art ideas for junior/senior infants, to display in support of upcoming GAA matches in her county.

I often struggle myself to come up with ideas for occasions like this so I sat down and I’ve put together a few ideas that can be used for all classes.

County Flags

For infant classes I like the simple hand printing idea. I’m a big fan of ‘The West Wing’ and have always liked the flag in the White House made up of kids handprints.

So why not make a version of your county’s flag.

Or make smaller individual flags with a handprint of each county colour on half an A4 page. Use a straw for the flag pole and have fun waving them! It is a nice simple introduction to printing.

Or arrange the hands to form a heart!

Hurley Collage

I have included a template of a hurley, print it off and glue on brown paper squares. You can add some tape/paper strips in your county colours and if you want you can also print a sliotar on the hurley in white paint using a sponge/vegetable.

Try some still life drawing with older classes! Use a football and leave them experiment with shading to show shape. Use a hurley and sliotar and focus on drawing the outlines first and then adding shading.

Not forgetting Football!

How about painting grass on blue paper as your background. Then using strips of white paper/lollypop sticks to create goal posts, add netting from fruit if you can collect some. Don't forget to stick on a football.

This can be easily adapted for older classes, have them draw in the crowd before adding the goal posts. Try this video on youtube how to draw crowds people drawing easy

Team Supporters

I have a jersey template that can be painted or coloured in with crayons/oil pastels etc.

I have also included a circle to represent a face; the children can draw their face and add hair with wool. These can be displayed together as the crowd watching the matches! If you really want you can add folded paper strips for arms and legs!!

Or just use the circle template and a paper plate. Children can draw and colour in their faces. Cut some rectangles (teacher) from the paper plate so it resembles a helmet (can be painted appropriate colours if you want) and stick over the face. 

Badges

On white card do a handprint (using your county colours), print out your county crest and children can stick this in the middle. Glue strips of coloured paper to the back and when dry add a pin/ string for children to wear. These can be hung as decorations if you prefer. Nice to talk about your county’s crest and colours.

Hope these ideas are useful and best of luck with the upcoming matches! :)

Mirror, mirror on the wall....

I spotted a lovely display of self portraits on Pinterest the other day and it reminded me of the song from Alive O!

http://plbrown.blogspot.ie/2011/01/self-portraits-by-awesome-3rd-graders.html

I look in the mirror

And what do I see?

Two eyes, and a nose and a mouth

And that’s me!

So I put together some printables for you to use to display your self portraits. A page with the first verse of the song (I don't remember the rest), and a mirror. The mirror can be enlarged or left as A4 and the children can paint on it or can cut their painting and mount it on the mirror.

I love to see how kids represent themselves. It is a great time of year to talk about how we are all special and unique. This lesson is also a great opportunity for kids to look at themselves in a mirror and for others to say positive things about them, "I like your big blue eyes", etc. 

However you display your self-portraits, have fun!

Beautiful Oops!

Beautiful Oops! Barney Saltzberg

I'm sure most of us have had a child in our class say, 'Teacher, I've made a mistake. I need a new page!'. 

Some children get very frustrated if a dot of paint falls or their page, or if their neighbour accidentally bends the corner of their page. 

Beautiful Oops! shows that there is no such thing as a mistake but rather an opportunity to make something amazing. 

The book is interactive and has lots of flaps to lift and things to discover. It would be great for an introduction to an art lesson. It is a short read and has scope for lots of discussion. 

So why not make your first art lesson one where the children turn mistakes into something exciting! Try putting a tear in a page, a fold, a spill, or a hole, and see what happens! 

Create a positive atmosphere in your classroom where making mistakes is seen as an opportunity to learn and grow. We all make mistakes, even Teacher!!

Photo credit:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/A4qAcAAQgOQFV00G5nsAAAA/

Photo credit: Pinterest dead link! 

 

Early Childhood Art - Collage and Construction - Review

Prim Ed very nicely  sent me their art resource books at the start of the summer. I was caught up with moving house (Nice start to the holidays!) and am only getting to post my first review now.

When my box of books arrived I had a quick glance at them all. This one jumped out at me as the pages are full of coloured photos of the children creating their art.

I will review each book under the same headings, just to be fair ;)

Layout

Contents

Dust Rating

Early Childhood Art – Collage and Construction

Amelia Ruscoe

Layout

This book has rich colours, an abundance of photographs, and is easy to follow. Each activity is explained over two pages. The information is organised under headings such as, Resources, Key Questions, and Preparation.

The last page of the book is an art storeroom stock list. This is great to have when organising your supplies, or have it copied and stuck inside your art press with the items you have highlighted.

Contents

There are 53 art activities in the book, split into 4 sections, Collage, Construction, Textiles, and Modelling. I think this book would be a great resource for anyone teaching infants, first or second class. 

Often when you get a book of art projects I find I only use one or two ideas in class. I want to try out all of these!  My favourites include String collage,  paper rollercoaster and glue drop collage.

I particularly like the photos of the children working as well as the finished artwork. The foucus in on the process, using different materials, and appreciating the outcomes.

Dust Rating

I couldn’t decide what to call this category....! Basically I am asking myself would I use this book or will it sit on the shelf gathering dust?

So one being thick with dust and five being dust free, I will award this book 5/5! 

Easy to dip into, lots of easy ideas and covers a great range of skills.

I think it would be a great addition to any teacher’s library. 

Teachers Pay Teachers!

So I have just added the first item to my TPT store. It is a free printable for colour mixing,
suitable as an art lesson for the junior classes or as a quick intro for older classes.

There is also a Colour Mixing Turtle Printable. This cute guy has a colour wheel on his shell! This would be suitable for classes from junior infants and up. Make it a little more complicated by introducing complimentary colours and have the children colour the edge of his shell in a complimentary colour.

I'm busy working on lots of other ideas for the store so keep an eye out!

Visit my store here - https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Irish-Primary-Teaching-Resources

Primary Teaching Bloggers Ireland - Blog Hop

Hi, I'm delighted to be part of the Primary Teaching Bloggers Ireland first ever blog hop! 

We've decided to get together and help one another to share our ideas and resources and to help you easily find resources specifically for the Irish classroom. 

A huge thanks to Emer over at A Crucial Week for organising this. Pop over to her page and check out all the blogs that are involved or if you have a blog why not join in? All the details are on her page :)

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your teaching experience:
I'm Ro and I am living in Limerick at the moment but have taught in many Munster counties over the last few years. I've been teaching since 2009 and have always loved art. I plan to start a Masters in the Arts and Education in 2016!

What class level are your resources/ideas aimed at?
I try to share ideas that can be adapted to suit all class levels. A lot of my ideas I have used in junior classes but that's not to say a more senior class couldn't give it a go! I am always on the look out for ideas so please feel free to share anything you have tried and think works really well :)

What made you want to start blogging?
I have followed other Irish bloggers like Miss Mernagh for the last few years as well as some teachers across the Atlantic like The First Grade Parade and Deep Space Sparkle. They shared so many great ideas and tips which were invaluable for a newly qualified teacher. I love teaching art and creating resources for my class and so in June 2015 I decided to give blogging a go! It is still early days but I have great plans so watch this space!

Would you advise other Irish teachers to start a blog?
Definitely! I think it is great to have so many Irish Teachers blogging and sharing all their ideas. We each have our own unique experiences and interests, so why not share these. 

What's your favourite free resource that you have shared?

I shared some 'Dog' themed art lesson plans in June that I love. These lessons always look very effective as well as being really enjoyable.

What's your favourite paid resource that you have shared?
I haven't shared any paid resources as yet! Keep an eye out on Facebook and here for some more free resources soon. 

Ro :)