VISUAL ART WITH MS. RZEWSKI

Pre Kindergarten

So far this year Pre Kindergarten has learned how to draw different lines and shapes. We started out with a fall tree project which helped students learn lines and gluing skills. Next, we leanred how to draw shapes. Squares, circles and traingles. This led us to drawing faces, the body and then our whole family!

Kindergarten

We started out the year learning different types of lines and perfected our gluing skills. Our first project was inspired by Wayne Thiebald's gumball machies. We combined shapes and lines and created beautiful projects. Currently we are embarking on collages, using different materials to create an environment for animals to live in.

1st Grade

Shapes! 1st grade students create shape designs using crayons. They learned how to draw with pencil, outline with marker and fill in with crayon. Patience and neatness was key in this project. 

2nd & 3rd Grade

Our first major project was inspired by Piet Mondrian's primary colored paintings. Instead of a painting we used paper and scissors to create abstract collages. Then we learned about mixing colors with crayons and studied complementary colors. We made opposite pictures as a finale to understanding complementary colors where whatever you would normally color in something you'd do the oppsosite.

1st & 2nd Grade

We are Painting! Students have learned how to use a brush and how to mix the primary colors to make the secondary colors. Now they are using these skills to create a ice pop painting. We will continue to learn color mxing with tints and shades next to add to our projects.

3rd Grade

Third grade is painting as well, and we also learned how to use a paintbrush and mix paint. Next, we are making color wheels! This will help us understand color theory better, espcially complementary colors. Then, we will understand warm and cool colors to create a final project. 

4th & 5th Grade

The fourth and fifth grades have embarked on a serious architecture project. We looked at famous buildings from around the world, such as the Taj Mahal, the Eiffle Tower, and Nortre Dam. We then sketched parts of these buildings and combined these sketches to create a brand new design. Now we are painting in our designs using watercolors. I plan to combine these buildings in one major mural. Hoping to invite parents to see the final product, more information to come!

PHOTOGRAPHY WITH MS. RZEWSKI

Certain 2nd grade, 3rd grade 4th and 5th grade classes have photography. All year we've been intensely learning how to edit photographs using iPhoto on the Mac computers. Students know how to straighten crooked pictures, adjust color and lighting, fix spots and red eye. We are learning the concept of contrast and saturation, but these are very advanced concepts and we can only learn by doing. As a finale to editing we discussed color and emotions. How a picture's feeling can change from the color it is. So if a picture is blue, is it sad? If a picture is pinkish, can it mean love? Students edit their photographs according to the emotion they are trying to portray. Moving foreward as new cameras arrive we will learn composition in depth and become serious photographs as we are now masters in editing.