Fourth grade students were shown the basics of coil pot construction.  They used a pinch pot as a base and then added height with coils.  To add variety students used coil that were thick and thin as well as circles and spirals.  Some students chose to add lids to their pots.

Fifth grade students learned how to construct a rattle using two pinch pots and small beads of clay.  The clay beads were wrapped in tissue paper and placed inside the two pinch pots that were attached to make a hollow body .  Once they formed the rattle part, they had a choice of what to turn their rattle into.   By gently pulling and pressing the rattle base students were able to transform their rattles into abstract characters, bears, cats, lizards, a car and more!  The students did a great job scoring their parts before attaching them and were careful not to make parts too thin-making for a successful, musical art project!

Every year students participate in a drawing contest for aviation week.  This year Aviation Week coincided with Space Week.  Students created drawings using oil pastels and/or watercolor washes.

During the first week of May this year, RSU #1 was fortunate to have a Space Week.  Our elementary students were treated to a presentation by an astronaut.  Students were also learning about space in a literacy unit.  Prior to the event, kindergarten students created a multi-media space-scape.  We used white paint and a toothbrush to create the Milky Way, paper, crayons and textured rubbing plates to make planets and cut paper and oil pastels for the space shuttles.  Sparkly stars were created using shaped sequins.   As you can see, the results are out of this world!

In RSU #1 second grade students study birds in science.  Near the end of the unit, we created bird sculptures using newspaper, cardboard, feathers, colored paper and paper mache.  Our birds have all the characteristics that make it a bird, but students used artistic license in their color and/or pattern choices to create unique birds that have yet to be discovered!

Kindergarten students took a trip to the jungle through the eyes of artist Henri Rousseau.  Although Henri Rousseau went to zoos and botantical gardens (a zoo for plants) to sketch animals and plants from life, he used his imagination when putting together his jungle landscapes.  Kindergarten artists used craypas and tempera paint cakes to create their backgrounds.  They discovered that the oil in the pastel craypas resists the watercolor paint, so you can paint right over your drawing and not ruin it!  We created our animals from a textured paper made by rolling a marble in tempera paint.  Basic shapes were cut from the paper and combined to make jungle animals.

In second grade students study owls and birds in their science class.  We used their owl knowledge to draw owls.  Notice the different lines we used to create interest and texture!  The owls were drawn in chalk pastel, which was a new art medium for us.  It was messy and fun to work with!

Artists use art to send messages.  An art career that uses art and design to convey messages is a graphic designer.  In our school, we are trying to practice at eating right to develop healthy minds and bodies.  Eating a rainbow of foods everyday can help.  Students painted a fruit or vegetable of each rainbow color.  The student artists were only given primary colors plus black and white, so they needed to use their art skills and tools (color wheel) to remember how to mix the secondary colors.  All of the fruits and vegetables were then cut out and glued into a group mural of a rainbow.  One mural included cauliflower clouds as well because we decided that white veggies, like cauliflower, parsnips and potatoes, were not only delicious, but nutritious!

Joan Miro was a Spanish artist who used shape, line and color to create abstract paintings.  Students discussed his painting Boy and Dog in the Sun.  The painting inspired us to create alien drawings using a variety of space, line and color.  Student artists drew their aliens using crayons and textured rubbing plates.  Third and fourth graders are looking forward to Space Week in May and this project helped jump start their interest.

The RSU #1 Art Show is tomorrow night, 5-7 PM, at the Fisher-Mitchell School in Bath.  Limited parking is available, but you can park at Morse High School and ride the trolley to the show.  This year it is a K-12 production!   Hope to see you there!