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Versatile Blogger

As the rules state, you must:Rule # 1.) Thank the person who gave the award.
I am bursting with JOY! Thank you so much to MrsPicasso'sArtRoom, Art Project Girl, and Tisalou for giving me the Versatile Blogger Award. It is so nice to know that I am achieving my goal of helping other teachers. Thank you so much ladies! For having a blog less than a year, this is a nice surprise! 


Rule # 2.) Share 7 things about yourself:
1. I have only been teaching art for "technically" a year and a half! But I can't see myself doing anything else.
photograph by Sarah B. Gilliam Photography
2. I am getting married in October! So between work and blogging, I squeeze in the wedding planning. 
3. I am a huge animal lover!! My fiancé calls it my obsession!
4. I was raised on a horse farm and I have shown flat shod Tennessee Walking Horses my whole life! If I wasn't teaching I would be working with horses.
5. I'm addicted to the internet, especially blogging.
6. I am a third generation teacher.
our engagement pics were taken at Burgess Falls in Cookeville, TN by Sarah B. Gilliam Photography
7. Though addicted to the internet I would rather be outside in the great outdoors.


Rule #3) Pass the award onto 15 other bloggers you have recently discovered and enjoy.
Many of these fine people may have been nominated already, but what the hey they have all helped me so much!

Posted by Becca Ruth
2

Splatter without the SPLAT!

Of course Splatter Painting is a ton of fun! But not a ton of fun to clean up!

4th & 5th graders learned about Abstract artist Jackson Pollock and his "Action Paintings"!
Materials: any size paper, cake tempera paints, brushes, water buckets, paper towels, straws! 
Students load their brushes with water and paint. Paint must be watery and blotted onto the paper. Before the paint dries, students blow through the straw onto the paint. The paint will create awesome Jackson Pollock effects!
The best part about this project was watching the students mix the colors and seeing the amazing outcomes! 





Posted by Becca Ruth
7

Art Marks

I would first like to thank Mrs. Brown for this inspiration! It is already a huge success!
At the end of each art class I give the class a mark. GREEN for a great day. YELLOW for an okay day with a few noise level reminders. Finally, RED for a not so good art day with a lot of noise reminders and even a "No Talking" on the board. 


At the end of the year, the class from each grade with the most GREENS wins a surprise party!!


I like for the students to be able to communicate during "working time", but they must use "Table Talk Voices" and keep working. If an individual gets too loud or is not working, then check out my "Pull Card" system. 
Posted by Becca Ruth
4

Printmaking w/ 6th grade












When a new 6th grade class comes in they always ask me..."Are we gonna make stamps?!" The "Stamping Project" is a lesson on printmaking, and the students love it!

Materials: 4"x6" copy paper, pencil, ebony pencil, Blick Blue easy to cut kit, printing ink, brayers, wooden spoons, 4"x6" various colors of construction paper, 4"x6" newspaper or newsprint, 11"x15" construction paper for matting, water bucket and sponges for clean up

We discuss the work of Andy Warhol and the printmaking process. Positive/Negative Shape is the element of art that I emphasize in this lesson.
Printmaking Vocabulary


Printmaking: A process in which an artist repeatedly transfers an original image from one prepared surface to another.



Relief printing: a form of printmaking in which only the raised areas of the block are printed.



Plate: the surface on which the image is prepared. It can be wood, stone, linoleum or a variety of other materials including cardboard.



Safety Kut: a type of linoleum, which can be used on both sides.



Gouge: the tool used for carving away the negative shape in your design. It comes with a variety of different blades.



Brayer: the rolling device used to spread ink onto the plate and then onto the block.



Baren: a circular tool used to transfer ink onto paper by friction.



Edition: the total number of identical prints (copies) made from one image.
The Process




  • Once your design has been approved, trace the design heavily in ebony pencil 
  • Transfer to the plate by turning it face down retracing your image with pencil on the back, this will apply the pressure needed to make the transfer. 
  • When the first student is done transferring, I will give a carving safety demo!!! I also tell my students that the gouge is a weapon if taken out of the room. 
  • *Tip* number your gouges and assign each student a number. Have them check it in and out every time they use it!
*Please note that this student is carving toward his hand! A big No No which he was advised of after I reviewed the pic and noticed it....

  • The negative (white) shapes will be cut away using gouges leaving the raised positive shapes. Remember to cut away from you and your hand
  • Cut deep enough so that your negative spaces are lower than your positive. (Blick's easy cut blocks have a blue or red inside that show you have carved deep enough)
  • Teacher check of plate

  • *Tip* I have one table that is the "Inking Table". All the mess will stay in one place! I have 8 ink colors and set them up around the table each with its own brayer. Students are instructed to use the ink in that exact spot! Spoons for barens are also placed in the middle of the table. ALL STUDENTS MUST WEAR APRONS AT THE INKING TABLE!!  

  • Squirt a nickel sized amount of ink on the table! Ink will be spread by rolling the brayer through the ink up and down, left and right till you hear a "tacky sticky" sound. Roll ink onto the plate left and right and top to bottom. 

  • *Tip* I have students make a newspaper proof to check that they have carved away all negative shapes
  • A 4"x6" sheet of construction paper is laid on top of the inked plate and a baren (back of spoon) is rubbed in a circular motion on top of this to transfer the ink to the paper. 
  • Pull the print off by pinching at the corner and pulling across. This is called “pulling” the print.


My criteria for this project:
1 newspaper proof
4 - 4"x6" prints matted on 11"x15" paper
(Students are advised that more than 4 prints will have to be made and kept before you will end up with your 4 best prints!)
We hang them on my clay rack to dry!
Cleanup: 
I go down the roll and assign 8 students to clean one color ink with water and a sponge
2 students take 4 brayers each to the sinks to clean
other students cleanup the rest of the room if needed
Posted by Becca Ruth
4

Keeping it all Straight

Keeping up with work can sometimes be hard. Handing back work can take forever! So I came up with a way to cut back on time and keep work straight.
Pictured below are my class cubbies. I do wish they were bigger. Maybe my fiance will build me bigger ones one day :). Every class has a cubby and unfinished or "continuing" work is kept here. 
Inside of each cubby is a set of 7 "folders" (12"x18" folded construction paper). Why? Because I have 7 colored tables in my room. When students are cleaning up they place their work inside their "table folder". The folders are put into their class cubby. Easily accessible for me to hand back on another day and perfect if a student forgot to write their name on their work.
Finished work is also turned in via the folders and graded. I will give the work back to the students in the folder and each student will put their work into their portfolio and record the grade on their art grades log. 
Posted by Becca Ruth
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