Art Class: Clay

Students had a blast with the introduction of air-dry clay. They tried using the cookie cutter method to churn out a high production of clay pieces, taking into consideration the craftsmanship and design. Some students accepted the challenge of making handbuilding work by combining function and form. There were a number of details to lookout for such as knowing how to distribute the pressure evenly so that the clay will be rolled out evenly, positioning of the cookie cutters to maximise the space, judging the thickness of the clay, smoothening the edges, preventing the drying clay from warping, what to do with remaining clay, painting on dried clay. 

Most students love hands-on work and they learn best while working on something rather than excessive teacher talk. I always liken experiential learning with swimming. Would you learn better with more practices in the pool or from watching swimming videos? 

Spray bottles work as well as rolling pins

Art Class: Clay Relief Work

Hi! The children have completed their watercolour painting last week. To reiterate the learning outcomes from the previous lesson, they sort the air-dry clays according to warm and cool colours again. 

Like most art teachers, preparations are done prior to our classes. The clays were divided and packed into individual bags. Instructions are usually given before distributing them.

Next, to check students' understanding of molding the clay, they made three basic forms. Self-evaluation is done by checking the boxes in a worksheet once they have achieved the forms. Practices such as these will guide them to be more self directed. In this case, it is quite straightforward because the result of the clay work is right before their eyes. Should anyone faces difficulties in making a form, assistance is offered on the spot as I go around to collect the worksheet.

Art Class: Watercolour Painting for Beginners

Hi Teachers! The Primary One students have started using watercolour cakes to paint. We watched an instructional video in the previous lesson and talked through the things to bring for the following lesson. The children wrote down the one thing to bring - an empty container to hold water.

Now, there are a few points to make clear when you entrust the children to bring an important piece of material. Because no container = no painting. I've explained that I don't have enough for everyone. So, if they have, they should bring the containers the next day and labelled with their name and class with a permanent marker and kept in the art cupboard lest they forget if they wait until the next art class (weekly art class).

The painting day arrived and some students had forgotten to bring a container. Last week, a boy from one of the Primary One classes came up to me the moment I entered his classroom. He repeatedly thanked me for teaching him an important lesson that day and said that he will not forget to bring important things again. I was quite impressed by his response. 

Children without water containers were given a set of coloured pencils instead. I mean what I said. And this reputation goes a long way and essential for classroom management. They could still practise the use of Warm and Cool colours even though the medium has changed.

I mostly rejected the use of lunchboxes as water containers and the best try goes to a kid who wanted to use a pen cap as a container. Yes, anything that looks like a vessel😭

Most children had painting experience but they will still enjoy when asked to do it. Thus, asking them to bring something isn't that difficult because responsibility is taught by leveraging on this activity. I do bring a few containers to class in case a child's container has cracked. Sometimes, it irks me to delay the lesson unit due to small hiccups but I try to think of the long-term benefit over the short-term inconvenience. 

Art Class: Printmaking

Hi Teachers! I have a new teacher, Ms J, joining me in my art classes this year. We started co-teaching the Printmaking unit. Ms J adapted some current resources and added new ideas of her own. The tuning-in activity included printing with LEGO bricks. She brought some from home and got the students to try printing with acrylic paint. It's funny how sometimes I think teaching is probably the only career that is widely acceptable to bring things from home for work purpose. 

The uniform LEGO bricks produces interesting textures and shapes. While it might seem easy to carry out the activity, we had to remind them that the amount of paint that is picked up by the brick will determine if the print can be seen clearly. There is a way to coat the paint evenly before printing without the use of brayer in this case.  Another point to note is that students have a tendency to use the brick like a paintbrush so the imprint of the LEGO bricks is not visible. 

In the following lesson, students watched a video on making collograph and they sketch out a robot collography on their sketchbook. It's inherently important to discuss some common 'mistakes' in Printmaking because there are just too many elements to watch out for. It's great if students can just discover these elements but that would mean some students will not feel successful when the time runs out. As students need to do more than one print to get their ideal ones, they show the deconstructed parts of their sketch first and then transfer the drawings to a piece of foam before cutting and pasting them on a piece of cardboard. Next, the placement of the parts also determine the intricacies of the final print. Having the parts pasted without gaps would just yield a big blob of ink while gaps that are too distance will make the work looks sparse. 

Art Class: Composition

Hi! I repeated a lesson from the previous year but our focus this term is mostly on composition during art class. The students are familiar with the term composition because it means story writing in English class. Activating students' prior knowledge is a given when teaching something new in any subject. In fact, writing composition means putting things together in an orderly manner. You can think of it as stringing sentences such that it seems coherent and logical to bring forth ideas and structure.

Composition in Art is a similar concept in which different elements in of an artwork is combined so that its whole is greater than the sum of the parts. In Photography, there are composition rules or formula that creates interesting viewpoints to the viewer. In posters designs, prints or books, the composition can work in tandem with the content to bring out the best.

A book that shows how composition can affect the viewers is Picture This: How Pictures Work by Molly Bang. The author uses the story of Little Red Riding Hood and illustrations of graphic artworks to tell a story that engages the affective domain.

It's because of how the focus changed this time that the students were more invested in the layout of their artbooks. Rather than just separating illustrations and text on each page, making their stories seem very predicable and mundane, the current students put more thoughts into planning and making full use of the limited space which in turn produces more visual elements.

Art Class: Air-dry Clay Monsters Pinch Pots

 

Hi Teachers! I'm working on a new lesson unit on monster pinch pots this term. I will love seeing the creative ideas as they bring flat drawing to form. When making these pinch pots, I created a few extras just in case the children had theirs broken in the process so they will not be too disappointed.

Children will learn with experience that not all 2D drawings will translate directly to a stable 3D piece. It's great to let the children learn as they do and allow them to realise what works best. The final artwork has to stand on its own and attachments definitely has to be firmly secured. Please check back to see our progress. 

Art Class: Road Safety Signs

Hi Teachers! My colleague handed over this project to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in the beginning of this year and walking out of the school one day, I noticed the students' drawings installed as road safety signs. This is such an innovative way to capture students' attention and ensuring their safety outside the school boundaries.