Kindergarten. Shape and Word Families

This summer I took a Reading class and it truly opened my eyes to the literacy epidemic that this country is facing. To fix this problem more then just the reading or classroom teachers need to be involved in promoting literacy, EVERY teacher should be involved, yes even the Art Teacher :)

So with literacy in mind I tweaked my Shape Lesson that I do with Kindergarten students every year. Before with this lesson students would learn about simple shapes and create a "Shape Book", in their book we would create animals using simple shapes, such as Circle-Turkey, Triangle-Mouse, Oval-Fish. The students would collage these animals, so not only are they learning how to draw these shapes but how to cut them out. This is also an opportunity to discuss how we use our materials the correct way, like scissors and glue.

After the tweaking... we not only are learning about simple shapes and how to use our materials. But now we are learning about word families. This year I concentrated on the -AT family. So now we are creating Oval-BAT, Rectangle-MAT, Circle-CAT, Square-HAT, and Triangle-RAT.
Here are some pictures from one class and their success in making their "Shape Book"... Enjoy!

Rectangle-MATS



Oval-BATS



Open House

Well the school year has official begun! I think I have met all of the students and now I have gotten to meet all of their wonderful parents too at Open House! It was great to talk to parents and tell them about the art program and about our wonderful art fundraiser where we will be working with the company, Square 1 Art. Square 1 Art is a fabulous company that takes your child’s artwork that we do in class they then print that artwork on all kinds of amazing products such as, water bottles, tote bags, necklaces, coffee mugs, and so many more! Be on the lookout for the Square 1 Art order forms coming in November. Orders come in December just in time for Winter Break!

Here is what your child will be learning about and creating for their Square 1 Art project:

Kindergarten:  Will learn about the Element of Art Shape and words that are in the “–AT” family, such as CAT, HAT, BAT…you get the picture. They will collage with paper and glue that objects and then I will select their best piece for their Square 1 Art project.

1^st Grade: Will learn about the Element of Art Shape while they collage their own house or neighborhood.

2^nd Grade: Will learn about the Element of Art Color and color mixing as well as Shape, when they create a Sunset with Sailboats.

3^rd Grade: Will learn about the Element of Art Shape and Complementary Colors while they learn about the Cuna tribes people from Panama when they create a Mola.

4^th Grade: Will learn about the Element of Art Space and Landscapes while they also learn about the Florida Landscape artist the Highwaymen.

5^th Grade: Will learn about the Elements of Art Space, Shape, and Color. While they learn about artist’s George Rodrigue’s famous subject “Blue Dog”.

I will be posting pictures of artwork as we go so be on the lookout!