Related Arts Team ~ RATS

The RAT Team

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." ~William Arthur Ward

Principal Choice Award

Congratulations to Chandler from Mrs. Hughes' second grade class. His work was selected by Mrs. Malone to be in permanent exhibit in our school.

Congratulations to Haley W. and Grant R.

Haley stands proud near the plaque bearing her name!




Mr. and Mrs. Randall Smith with Grant.

During Awards Day events Haley and Grant were awarded Drew Smith Drawing Contest winners. They were presented a $100 savings bond, a plaque, and their names were placed on a permanent plaque near the art room.

See previous posts.

Learning about Art ~ How to read labels

Information about art work is available from a variety of sources. Fourth grade artists learned about art work by viewing labels of information often found in museums, exhibits, galleries, and on reproductions of the works of art. This information is also available near artwork in restaurants too!

Each student chose a postcard from my collection of reproductions. The artist's name, title of work, year the work was made, media, size, and location of the work was located on the back of the postcard. Some cards identified the year the artist was born and died.

Students developed a timeline of the dates found on their cards and learned about some work that was created thousands of years ago and some created just a few years ago. They discovered whether the artist was male or female, and how old the artist was when the work was created. Some labels listed the artist as anonymous which told students that the artist was not known for a particular work of art. Students used meter sticks and yard sticks to find the size of the work and got to see what canvas feels like.

Like Brynnan's drawing, students reproduced the work of art.

Listed on Brynnan's selection (above):

1. Title of work: Birthday
2. Year created: 1923
3. Artist: Marc Chagall
4. Media: oil on canvas
5. Size: 39 1/2 x 31 7/8" (100 x 81 cm)
6. Owner: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

Fifth grade students ~ the last few days until school is out.

Meira and Siara

Cheyenne, Laine, Cameron

Mikel doesn't want his picture taken.

Emily, Megan, and Cathy

RJ and Brandon

Erick and Derrick talking!!!

Ben

Tyler, Scott, John, and Desmond

Maria

Megan

Jay

Variations ~ 5th grade

Cheyenne, Ice Cream Cone
Fifth grade students study the work of Paul Giovanopolis. They used the shape of a common object and repeated it throughout a grid. They used various media, techniques, and ideas to make every variation unique.

Artsonia HALL OF FAME 2008-2009

5th grade

• Cathy
• Desmond
• Joshua L.
• Meira
• Siara
• John P.

4th grade

• Micheala L. ~ Williamson

2nd grade

• Christopher ~ Rogers
• Timberly ~ Rogers

1st grade

• Ashton ~ Dieckmann
• Abby ~ Dieckmann
• Lauren G. ~ Crews
• Drake ~ Miller
• Nick ~ Dieckmann
• Rayna ~ Hart
• Taylor L. ~ Miller

Kindergarten

• Daniel ~ Dyches
• David H. ~ Dyches
• Aurora ~ Dingle
• Kayla C. ~ Gunter
• Taylor S. ~ Dingle
• Georgia ~ Gunter
• Madison O. ~ Gunter
• McKenzie ~ Buchanan

Jonathan Green Paintings ~ 3rd grade

Third grade artist, Brandon, created a painting in the style of Jonathan Green. Students studied the work of Jonathan Green and learned about the culture in which Mr. Green represents in his work. This study related to students' studies about SC history and the coastal region.

Drew Smith Drawing Contest 2009

Fifth grade students admire all the drawings entered for the Drew Smith Drawing Contest. This contest is an annual event in memory of Drew Smith, a former student at WKE. Drew was killed in a boating accident in 1997.

Drew's parents select one winning entry for a girl and one winning entry for a boy. These winners receive $100 savings bonds and get to have their names place permanently on the plaque by the art room door. The winners will be announced at Awards Day for fifth grade.

Students were asked to submit an original drawing on 81/2 x 11 plain paper.

Look at all the entries!!

See my post from last year.

Grant's Mother's Day Card

Fifth grade artist, Grant, shows sympathy to his mother for all her hard work and her tolerance for fighting siblings. Grant drew this in Mrs. Mill's class. She told him to show me his work. Quite the artist.

And by the way, I'm so glad you are back to your old self again!!

In Memory of Teneshia

Fifth grade students and WKE's Student Council organized and built a beautiful resting place on the playground in memory of Teneshia Smalls. Teneshia died last year.
They dedicated this area last Friday. Teneshia's parents and brother were in attendance too.

Houses ~ Kindergarten

Kindergarten artists, Marisa and Kaitlyn, build houses and add unique features such as round windows, double doors, colorful roofs, and artful doorways. They viewed pictures of different architectural and structural features of houses.

TOTY Celebration

What a great evening! The Teacher of the Year Gala was held at Lexington District One's Performance Arts Center. Ryan, second grade artist, was my escort for the event. My WKE family was there too. Thank you Mrs. Malone, Mrs. Goff, and Mr. Stevens!

Congratulation to Pleasant Hill Elementary's EAGLES teacher, Betsy Goodman, for becoming our new district Teacher of the Year!!

Mrs. Goodman
(Photo, Lexington District One)

Thanks to Ryan's mom for these pictures.

Monet's Garden ~ 1st grade

First grader, Dominic, enjoyed his visit to Monet's Garden. So many beautiful flowers, plants, and water lilies to admire. And just think....Mr. Monet's gardens and home are open to the public.


Here is Dominic's IMPRESSION of Monet's water lilies.



**Note. Ms. Merett's classes did not visit Monet's garden in Paris. We pretended, though, by watching Linnea in Monet's Garden, reading Phillipe in Monet's Garden, and viewing many pictures of Monet in his garden and his beautiful paintings created in the garden. If wishing could have made it so.............

Miro Accordian Books ~ 2nd grade

This is an exceptional example of the second graders' accordian books inspired by the work of Joan Miro. This work of art is by Chandler, the very talented and very wonderful to teach second grader at WKE.

Fingernails...is this art?

Kayla shows off her recently painted fingernails. She asked me, "Ms. Merett, is this art?" What would you tell Kayla?

SCAEA Online Art Gallery

Nikki, 1st grade, tempera paint

Bailey, 4th grade, tempera and charcoal

I submitted digital images of these two works of art to the SCAEA online art gallery. Visit it here. Please note that at the time of this writing, the images had not been published yet.

"I was BORN to paint."

First grader D'Asia was working on her painting of Monet's Japanese Footbridge. Without missing a stroke she said, "I was born to paint!"

I hear you, D'Asia, I hear you!! I had to take a picture of her in action. I want her to say that when she's 12 or 16 or even 21.

Measurement in Kindergarten Art

Kindergartner Colin measures the height of the sunflowers in his work. Now, this wasn't anything I asked him to do. I just make the rulers available. I can tell Colin is a mathematician already by his interest in order, sequence, and now measurement.

Does it matter that Colin measured 32 inches? No. Does it matter that he used two different type rulers? Nope. What matters is his interest, curiousity, and confidence as a learner. What really impresses me is how he integrated math skills/interests with his art (without realizing it!).

Easter Baskets from Walgreens

Jacob

Maddie

Chaz

Thanks go to our community Walgreens for recognizing 3 art students for their art work. These students received baskets full of goodies before they left for Spring Break. Maddie from Ms. Hughes' second grade class, Jacob from Mrs. Roger's second grade class, and Chaz from Mrs. Lackey's third grade class.

Be sure to thank them for being supportive of our art program when you visit their store.