Despite working tirelessly on our WOW's kiddos have still had chances to take breaks and do some fun, impermanent building!
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This is the first year I am totally committing to the true concept of the WOW. In the past I have done Wonderful, Original Works of art (WOW's) that have a common theme and I have given copious examples of artworks done on that theme in various stations. This year I left it up to the students. Which in one aspect is very exciting and in another it can be very challenging. The whole concept of a WOW is that it is an artwork you work on for an extended period of time. Some students want me to tell them more of what to do whereas others students were ready to jump right in. At this point we have been working on our WOW's for a few months. Some students have used the entire time where others are just starting. Either way the process has been exciting and I am just hoping students are finding their artwork as impressive as I am!
Check out some in process shots of WOW works of art below! I decided to create a holiday bazaar this year. With the help of a handful of parents and our amazing family Liaison Daniel we were able to bring it to life! Every class made a project and then every student was able to come down to our market and get an item for someone they love for the holidays. By just asking for donations we were able to let every student get something whether they has given money or not which was really special. Hopefully I can make this a yearly event!
With our first 'mini' WOW's due before the end of the year students have been kicking into high gear with their creations. Below are some that are done and some in progress! In Upper Elementary we had a whole class critique where every group got to share their artwork and answer questions. In this class we had a gallery walk where students could write comments on sticky notes and leave them there for the artists to check out!
I will admit that I am pretty terrible at taking photos in the moment, mostly because I feel like I love wandering around and helping students with questions and suggestions but the architecture station has been a great reminder for me to take photos. It can be hard having a station in art that is impermanent and needs to be taken apart every class. Through photographing I can honor and remember their amazing creations.
I began another blog post in NOVEMBER but got side tracked half way through the process. Then the holiday market came and the completions of our WOW, then holiday break! I could make more excuses but the fact is that we have a lot of catch up to do! Below is some printmaking we did in Kinder with random found objects as well as some painted paper collages of birds. Below are some WOW works in progress
W.O.W. Wonderful Original Work of ArtFinally classes are beginning their first mini- WOW's for this school year. I tell students that a WOW is essentially just a work of art that you spend at least 3-4 class periods on. Many students have worked on WOW's for much much longer, sometimes up to 12 weeks!
This first WOW for Upper Elementary classes is a themed collaborative WOW, meaning, they have to work with a group and it has to be on one of the following themes: Carnival Trash to Treasure Environment Storytelling Creatures The ideation process (or the process of coming up with our ideas) with collaborative groups was really fun to watch and the creation process has been even more exciting. The class is buzzing with ideas and how to see them through. Lower Elementary is a little further behind but they will be choosing between 2 themes: Environment or Creatures (Or both!) and can work in a group is they choose to. With the younger kiddos the concept of working on a piece or art for 4 classes is tough and so I spend a lot of time making sure they aren't sneaking home their assignments each week so that we can continue to work on them :) Check out some of the gems students have been working on when they have choice over their creations.Sculpture is our most sought after station. Students are always incredibly excited to get to this station but it is one of the last introduced. It has so many items that students need to be incredibly proficient at clean up to make sure that they are treating the station like an artist would. The sculpture station is my personal favorite of all the places we introduce because students are forced to think outside of the box. They are not allowed to use typical tape or glue and must figure out other creative ways to attach found items together. Below are some photos of the studio space and of some artwork on display to show students how various attachment techniques work! I recently opened the station to an upper elementary class with an activity called "Mystery Bag" All students were given the same 10 items and had to turn them into a sculpture in 15 minutes! Students made some incredibly imaginative things and most importantly were able to experiment with different attachment techniques!
Once we start to introduce more stations and have some more free time, things get pretty magical in here. First up some super unique drawings!Followed by some super creative collages...Kids are getting really good at the architecture station! Find the horse, the sword in the stone, |
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