Studio 2 Grade 1

1. Create a post on your Artist Portfolio.

1. Include an Artist Statement that answers these items:

Today, I was a first grader. I was instructed to count the members in my family and think of a place where we like to go. There are four people in my family: mom, dad, brother, and me. The place I went all the time when I was in first grade was to Charles Mill State Park in Mifflin, Ohio. I went camping every year, so I drew a picture of chairs sitting around a fire pit, trees because it was in the woods, the sun because it was summer time, and water at the very top because there was a lake over there. I drew everything water color paper using oil pastels of all colors. After I drew everything, I had to choose a secondary color for the water color. I chose purple as my favorite color is paper. I mixed red and blue to make purple. I chose not to completely cover my picture in water color as it has more of an artistic appeal with the streaks.

This studio project is appropriate for first graders as it reinforces student knowledge of primary colors. Students gained the knowledge of what secondary colors are and how to make colors such as purple, orange, and green. Students then get to demonstrate their knowledge of secondary colors as they are instructed to only use one secondary color as a water color on their own.

Students may experience difficulty in this task if they are color blind or are not too familiar with colors as they have to identify colors as primary and secondary. Students may also experience difficulty with drawing and not being able to color anything in with the oil pastels. For each mistake I made, I wanted to color in the area to fix my drawing mistake, but I could not as we were only allowed to outline everything.

Standards covered in this studio for grade one:

6PE Generate artmaking ideas from their daily experiences and the environment.

1PR Demonstrate beginning skill and craftsmanship in the use of art materials and tools.

4PR Create an artwork based on observation of familiar objects and scenes.

4PR Create an artwork based on observation of familiar objects and scenes.

5RE Discuss the meanings of visual symbols, images and icons observed in artworks.

To fully look at the Fine Arts Standards for first graders, go to: http://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/Topics/Ohio-s-New-Learning-Standards/Fine-Arts/Ohio-Visual-Art-Standards-Final-2.pdf.aspx

Art Tech Task #2

For my second art tech task, I chose to use Storyboard That: http://www.storyboardthat.com/
Although this app is used for comics, I chose not to include any words or texts so the pictures are open to interpretation. For younger children, it is important to provide books of all sorts, including books that only have pictures so especially for the ones who struggle to read, can interpret the pictures in which ever way they feel like. With this app, you have the option to add people, so I added children and a teacher to my pictures. You also have the option to change the scenery to anything that does not even relate to school. I chose to use the classic storyboard, but you can also use the comic storyboard to include comments or sentences to go along with the pictures, add framing and signs, etc.
As I did with my storyboard, I included what I thought was necessary and my story is self-explanatory and simple; riding the school bus to school, playing the piano in school, and students in the classroom. Others may look deeper into the pictures and see a bigger message such as students who are fortunate enough to ride the bus to school, how piano is an art form and is therapeutic for students, and the importance of getting a quality education in a safe environment. Students can manipulate pictures and words to fit their art masterpiece however they would like. I could use this tool to have my students retell a story we read in class in their own picture and words to show comprehension. It would also allow for students to express their creativity.
This tool is easy to use because students can manipulate the pictures by adding people and props, words, and colors. This tool is difficult to use because there are so many options to choose from that it can be overwhelming for students but also it can take away from their creativity as they can just chose any background, person, prop, etc. For this to be an effective task, students will have to read or be read a story then they are to retell the story in their own words and pictures rather than just having the students come up with a story on their own. The main purpose for this task is to check for comprehension.

Studio 1 Kindergarten

I was asked to close my eyes and think of a room in my house; I thought of my bedroom at my mom's house. Then I was asked to examine what everything looks like and each item's placement. Finally, I was asked to draw the elements of my bedroom using only oil pastels in primary colors. Beginning in the right-hand corner is the door to enter my bedroom. On the door is a towel. Next to that is my bed with a large rug underneath. Next to my bed is a window and at the end of my bed is an ottoman. Going to the bottom left corner is my cats' food bowels and their litter box. Next to that is my hamper and in front of my hamper is a large duffel bag. I only stay at my mom's once a week so I have to pack up a week's worth of clothing each time I come back to her house. In the left-hand corner is a shelf where I put lotion and body spray on. At the very top is my closet where there is built-in shelving that I attempted to draw and also hangers to hang jeans and shirts. Lastly, there is my standing fan.

This studio project is appropriate for kindergartners because it is simple, it introduces and reinforces what primary colors are, students were asked to identify primary colors in several different pictures then apply the use of primary colors to their own art work. Students were able think of any room in their house, think of the elements within it, tell the person sitting next to them all about it, then draw and color what they talked about. According to the ODE Standards for fine art, students in kindergarten need to be able to perceive, perform, and reflect. To perceive, students need to discuss other people's art. To perform, students need to create their own art. To reflect, students need to explain their art to others. Here is a link with the list broken down from the ODE website: http://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/Topics/Ohio-s-New-Learning-Standards/Fine-Arts/Ohio-Visual-Art-Standards-Final-2.pdf.aspx

Students many experience difficulty with the drawing and coloring aspects. When I was trying to draw using the oil pastels, it was hard to keep straight lines with a consistency in color. The harder you press, the darker it is. But if I were to stop in the middle of a line and try to continue drawing that line, I struggled with keeping the line constant. Also, I can picture everything better in my mind so when I applied my thought to paper, it did not turn out exactly as I had pictured.

Art Tech Task #1

The tool that I chose was Pixar Express. With this tool, I was able to create a photo collage for all sorts of designs and picture sizes. I can use two pictures or I can use sixteen. I can alter the color of a picture, edit it in many ways. There are also more options such as using the webcam to create a picture or I can just browse on the internet through the application to find what I need.

I can leverage this tool to create integrated art experiences in my classroom by giving my students the opportunity to freely choose what they would like to create. I explored the options, but I chose to make a collage with pictures that I feel passionate about. You could create a collage with anything you wanted, but I chose to include my animals, teaching and learning, music, and nature because those are some of the things that I love. Students have the option to personalize their collages however they want.

I would use this tool in the classroom to learn about what my students enjoy in their lives, what they feel passionate about, what they surround themselves with, and what is going on inside their heads. I like to figure out what my students are thinking and this would give me an opportunity to find out more about my students and I also get to see their creativity in the process.

Students can use this app to create their own digital media artifacts. On the home screen of the website, there are simple pictures and words to help guide users to where they want to go. From there, you either browse, take a picture, or add pictures from your library or save them from the Internet. It is simple. You can then edit the pictures that you choose in nearly any way you want to with a few clicks.

Students might challenge with the placing of the pictures. When a picture is added, it is not placed centered in the frame and it is not automatically re-sized to fit in the frame. Each time I tried to drag the picture over, it would leave that frame and enter into the frame next to it. The way around that is moving the picture slowly with several clicks rather than moving it in one motion. I also struggled with the middle picture because my entire picture is not in it. I tried editing the picture to make it fit better, but it did not work. It would be nice to be able to resize the picture while it is in the frame so I know exactly what it will look like, but I had to edit the picture from a different page and then it was added back into the frame.This is what the picture is supposed to look like. I thought if I cropped the picture enough that I could fit the entire picture in it, but it just made the picture blow up to fit the entire frame.