Beginning the Year with Kindergarten

During the first day of art class, I talk about the art room rules, we go on a tour around the room riding an imaginary train...which they love...and then we have story time. After the story, I give them a piece of paper that I have written their names on for them. They find a table and start a drawing in pencil of whatever they choose. Once they have drawn for a minute, I bring around some crayon trays and say "we are going to try and color all of the white space!". Then if someone says their done, I point out the white space they, of course, didn't color. And if someone truly is "done" I tell them to flip their paper over and color on the back. I can usually stretch this activity into a 15-20 minute endeavor.

After several have finished or gotten bored...we clean everything up and meet back on the carpet. Then we talk about how we carry our drawings back to class and I choose an art star and we line up. If there's still time left, we play quiet-mouse while in line until their teacher shows up. This usually lasts 60 minutes...however, if it's a particularly unruly class we may read another book at the end.
This year our story was "Mix it Up"....really fun and interactive book about mixing colors. The kids loved it. I also read "Beautiful Oops" to them early on in the school year.

Days 2 and 3 in the Art Room:
I do this project every year with Kindergarten. It's our first big art project together and it's a building block for procedures, using oil pastels, using art shirts, painting with watercolors and clean up.
The first 60 minute class is spent talking about line. We read the story "Lines that Wiggle" and talk about each line in the book. Then they get to put on an art shirt. I toss them their shirts to put on while they're sitting on the carpet and they love it. So I write their names for them on a piece of 9x18 white paper. (I write their names for them ALL YEAR LONG...this makes my life a lot easier.)
They find their seat, drop their paper off and we make a circle at the 'demo table'. They watch me draw a straight line with oil pastel, then they "echo". I say "1, 2, 3, echo quietly" after I have drilled them about what type of line they will draw, how many lines? ONE...what kind of line? STRAIGHT...what color? ANY COLOR!"


So we practice this back and forth echo business all class long until we have drawn at least 10 different kinds of lines in 10 different colors. They usually do a great job at filling their page with a variety of lines and colors. Then we clean up...I spray some soapy water on a piece of paper towel (cause baby wipes are too expensive!). So they wipe their hands and tables and put their art shirts away and sit on the carpet when they're done. Usually by this time, we have about 5-10 minutes left of class for me to pick the art star and get them lined up. Procedures, procedures, procedures!


Below you can see the next class is painting the lines we drew with watercolors. I demonstrate how to use the watercolors the RIGHT way....I have little sayings that I use.

When we paint with watercolors, I call the soft bristle brushes "little fishies" ...."Take your fishy brush and give him some water! Fishies need water to survive so never let your fishy get dry." (They love this...and it really sinks into their brain...)

I demonstrate how to rinse the brush when I change color. And most importantly, we never dig in the paint. We "pet the paint like it's a precious little puppy dog head". Never DIG! It makes my skin crawl when they have a goop of watercolor that just destroyed a really expensive paint tray. UGHHHH. So I monitor closely as they are painting. I also go around with a spray bottle of water and keep their paints wet for them. And I say "KEEP your fishy wet!"  about ONE THOUSAND times during this hour.

I encourage them to paint all the white space...and not to mix colors. We don't want muddy paintings. When they're done, they carry their painting with their "crab claws" pinching the sides so they don't drop them on the way to the drying rack. I give them an art wipe and they put the paint tray in the watercolor drawer and they wipe down their tables.
They can get a piece of free draw if they have extra time. This went extremely well this year with most students following directions. The surprising thing is, when they get to paint, they are really good. Usually.

Hallway Display for Kindergarten Line Paintings

We do talk about Kandinsky's "Watercolor No.13" while we are painting. I have it displayed on the computer screen for reference.

Name Tags and Idea Books

Every year the 1st - 4th graders create name tags that stand up on their table to designate their artist space. We also use these to house our idea books in what I so cleverly call an "idea book taco". They just open the name tag and place their book inside to keep it all together. But hey when you associate things with food, kids listen. 

Here's some 4th grade designs for their name tags. We do block letters and backgrounds. 

I print and design the idea book cover page and staple it to their books. If you're wondering what those books are...well they are just the best donation I've ever had! A parent worked for a paper company and they had all these books full of paper samples...well basically it's a book of blank white paper and luckily she thought of me before letting them get tossed out!

The kids decorate the name tags and the idea book cover in one 60 minute class period. It's a great way to start the year off with following procedures, using crayons and markers and being creative with our names!

Back to School 2015-2016

This school year is going to be a little different for me since I've got a little baby boy on the way! Baby Scobey is due October 17th and I can't wait! Anyways, here's a tour of the art room....

Mrs. Scobey's ART ROOM TOUR!

Here's my "Colors!" Bulletin Board. In the past, I've had famous artist's works of art all numbered 1 through 9. I decided to change this up at the end of the year to colors. I use this a lot when lining up tables. Instead of just saying, "table number 1 line up", I say "Primay Color table line up.." 

I also get to reference this chart any time we are discussing or using color. It's been a really great resource. I might add the famous artists to my other bulletin board because I do miss being able to point at Starry Night whenever I need to. 

Colors Bulletin Board

Here's the carpet and my introduction area that I start class with. Every grade level comes in and sits cross-cross-applesauce on a circle to begin class. I even do this with the 4th graders. I learned long ago that it really helps to gather everyone together in this space and setting before jumping into class. It has made a tremendous difference! I also get to discuss the "Art Word of the Day" and go over the general goals for that class period. This is also where I read to the kids and where our rules are posted. At the beginning of the year, we always start class saying the rules together. 

 

Here's my "Be a Good Listener" anchor chart and my Art Room Rules poster. I reference the Good Listener chart a lot! It's a very helpful visual for all grade levels. 

 

So the beginning of the year is always me blabbing about the rules and what not. Here's my schedule for day one. I always include a "tour of the room" because the kids get a case of the wiggles and I hate for them to have to sit there for so long just listening to me. 

Here's the book I always read to my classes at the start of the year...

"Beautiful Oops!" by Barney Saltzberg

We talk about making a beautiful oops all year long...no mistakes...just opportunities to make something beautiful. The kids really grasp this idea and then don't ask me for new paper and now they've learned not to ask for an eraser! (Well most of them...) 

Here's my Vincent van Gogh print by one of our parents...he's a collage artist named Wayne Brezinka and it's so awesome to have him come do artist visits to our school! We are so lucky!

Here's the strike board. My discipline plan is simple. Break a rule, strike 1, which is a warning and gets your name written in the ugly red box. (I just laminated a piece of paper and use dry erase markers.) 

Do something else you're not supposed to do, strike 2 which equals time out and for older kids a writing assignment. I usually have kids write the rules..but sometimes they have to do a more reflective writing assignment depending on the severity of the offense.  

Strike 3 means you're out of art. I don't send kids to the office unless it's really bad...but strike 3 equals time out for the rest of class and I send a note home. 

Here's the time out desk and my "time out activity" for really severe behaviors. 

 

The Be SmART chart! This is where I post each grade level's upcoming or current art project. It's also my "word wall" so it's works out great. 

                                                 

Checklist for your artwork poster and the grading scale. I love referring to the checklist with "early finishers"....I can't stand the words "I'm done." They're like nails on a chalkboard. You're never DONE!

**Special shout out to Mrs.C of Rainbow Skies and Dragonflies Blog...I totally stole this grading scale from her blog years ago! Click here to see her way better version. 

 

My Art Folder was created for students with special needs. I've really only used this with one student but it's always there if I need it or if a para-professional needs it. 

 

The cards can be flipped over to complete the task. 

Here's my line-up line. Tape on the floor is VERY helpful. I have a designated spot for the line leader, door holder and the art star! I always choose one person at the end of every class who has had an amazing day in art of listening and following directions who is the "art star". They get a special little ticket and a 'pride paw' which is a part of our school wide behavioral plan. The art star gets to line up first and also gets a round of applause from their peers. 

 

 Here's the "Paint Station"...where I keep the water cups and all the painting supplies. I don't usually let the kids use the sinks...cause then the floors are completely covered in water. 

 

Here's the "Drawing Station" where we keep the crayons, pens and free draw paper. The kids are usually really great about following the rules of free draw...but there's always the one who folds their paper and I have to make a big speech. Once they fold it, it becomes a toy and then we have problems, so I implemented the "no folding rule" years ago. Sometimes I set out stencils and drawing books depending on behavior. The students are allowed to get a piece of free draw paper only when they have completed ALL of their project requirements for that day. 

 

The Pencil Station: I am in charge of sharpening the pencils because I got tired of replacing broken pencil sharpeners! So I have a "sharp" cup and a "not sharp" cup. The students can trade their pencil out when they need to without asking me....I try to get them to be as independent as possible. 

 

Here's the poorly lit drying racks and my "no name no fame" poster to remind them to write their name. I usually place the art on the drying rack for them, but I started letting 3rd and 4th graders do this on their own. Less work for me! And you can see how I store art shirts...usually they are all balled up on this quilt rack, but at the beginning of the year they look nice! 

 

 The Goal Wall / aka Data Wall

We are required in my district to have a "data wall" in our classroom...so here's my solution to that. 

 

The Marker Monsters!

If a marker is completely dry, the students can "feed the marker monster". The monster on top eats the markers and the one on the bottom eats the lids. I made the black one and a former student made the "lid monster"...I added eyes and a mouth, but I thought that was really sweet of them!

 

Here's where I store Idea Books...one box for each class grades 1-4. Kindergarten doesn't use idea books yet. We use our idea book to sketch and write about the projects we make. This year we will be using them to create "thinking maps"....

A little poster about glue procedures....and my demo table rules. I didn't photograph the demo table, but it's just a round table with tape on the floor encircling it. I use it ALL THE TIME. 

It's so very handy. 

 

And here you can see my messy teacher desk and the other bulletin board. I used to refer to this board for "ways to be the art star" but now it's a little obsolete so I'm thinking about putting my famous artists back up in this area. 

 

And that's the tour! Thanks for checking out the art room and I hope you found something you can use in your space. Happy School Year!