Suckers for succulents!

Check out these amaaaaaazing cactus artworks that 6B created! I absolutely love them! We followed a step-by-step tutorial from http://easypeasyartschool.com.au/. Each artwork has its own individuality, much like their artists!

Selfies – Art style

Jane and Alex taught us the art of the selfie recently. 6B used mirrors to see the finer details of their faces and sketch themselves. I feel like there were a few happy faces who were quite pleased to be admiring their reflection for an extended period of time…

 

Famous Artwork Collages

This term in Art Cave Stage 3 have been creating collages based off famous artworks. 6B chose ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa‘ by Japanese artist Hokusai and ‘The Persistence of Memory‘ (or the melty clock picture as everyone liked to call it) by Surrealist Salvador Dali. We traced the artworks onto a large sheet of thick card and then split each card into 10 x 10 cm squares. Then we numbered the squares and each student was given different squares to work on. The beauty of these artwork collages is that when you put all the pieces back together you can see the artwork, but each one has been created by a different student. Have a look at our progress photos and the finished product of ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’. Thank you to Ms Armstrong for the awesome art idea and to Jane and Alex in Art Cave for their persistence in working with us to get these masterpieces finished. Stay tuned to see how ‘The Persistence of Memory’ turns out…

Solar System Art

6B were visited by Ms Universe last week to learn all about the Solar System.

We talked about the order of the planets from the Sun, Sol, as well as the different sizes. We learnt that the reason why the Solar System is called ‘the Solar System’ is because ‘Sol’, the Sun, is in the centre. This is also known as the Heliocentric Model. We worked in groups to recreate our own versions of the Heliocentric Model using string and chalk, by drawing the orbits of the different planets.

Poor Uranus was the butt of many jokes…

I can say with 100% certainty that 6B took home 2 pieces of “key” information last week:

  1. Uranus is a Gas Giant.
  2. Uranus is bigger than Earth.

In the end, our Heliocentric Model artworks looked pretty amazing. You could almost say they were out of this world!

 

Hidden Port Project Performance

Curious Legends and Newcastle Region Library are creating an awesome performance about Newcastle’s history next week – giant puppets, ghosts and Aboriginal Dreamtime stories are just some of the cool parts of the show. They’re performing outdoors in Civic Park and they need your help!

Yesterday, artists from Curious Legends visited our school to get our help making shadow puppets for their project. They would love our help to perform with them too!

Next Friday, 5th May, you’re invited to come and perform in Civic Park with professional artists from the Curious Legends company. There will be lots of other kids from other schools around Newcastle as well as many community participants.

Kids who come along next Friday will have all kinds of fun – this may include animating the shadow puppets we made, making a fish swim, ‘riding’ a cane bicycle, and joining in the parade at the end! Parents are encouraged to participate with their kids – there’s lots of ways for everyone to get involved.

To take part, follow the steps below:

  • Email Curious Legends to let them know you’re coming: projects@curiouslegends.com.au
  • Come along to one of their open rehearsals in Civic Park on May 2 and 3 from 4pm-6pm.
  • Be at Civic Park no later than 3:45pm on Friday, 5th May for the final rehearsal.
  • Bring a picnic rug to the performance and prepare for a great evening!

There will be hot drinks and food available to purchase on the night.

Visit the project website at www.curiouslegends.com.au/performance

Art Cave: Sketchnotes

On Friday, we were introduced to the art of Sketchnotes by Alex and Jane. Sketchnoting is a form of visual notetaking, where you can incorporate a variety of images, symbols, frames, bullets, connectors, text, even emojis, to capture and represent ideas. It is quickly becoming my new favourite thing and I am already thinking of ways to incorporate sketchnoting into our regular classroom routine.

We began by using a large piece of paper and a writing implement while listening to a podcast about whether we should ban lollies. The podcast included different opinions on the topic, and while we were listening, we started sketching down all the relevant information. We shared some of our sketchnotes and admired the different stylistic choices and ways that people organised their information. Then we listened to another podcast called Is Pokémon Go Playing You? (much to the delight of our Pokémon fans in 6B).

The wonderful thing about sketchnoting is that you make it your own. No two sketchnotes are the same, because no two minds are the same. People interpret information and record information in different ways. It was exciting to see the different ways the students in 6B process information and present it in their sketchnotes.

Here are some photos that were taken during our first Sketchnote session. Leave a comment and tell me how you would like to use Sketchnotes in the classroom.

Clay Totems – Art Cave

This term in Art Cave we have been making totems using clay with Jane and Alex. Our ultimate goal is to create totem poles to display within the school with a totem representing each student in each class. Enjoy a slideshow below of our art adventures so far.

Cardboard City Creations

This term in Art Cave Stage 3 have been working on their own cardboard city creations. We started by looking at the works of Ana Serrano – http://www.anaserrano.com/index.php?/work/buildings-2/ – and then choosing our own shops and structures within cities that we could construct using recyclable materials. Thank you to our wonderful resident artist, Jane, and to Alex, for their efforts and creativity. It is wonderful to work on such large scale projects such as Cardboard City and it would not be possible without their efforts. Have a look at the slideshow of images from our creations below.

Wonder

Today we finished reading our class novel, Wonder, by R.J. Palacio. This has been one of the most emotional and thought-provoking novels that I have read with a class and is one that 5B have thoroughly enjoyed reading.

Mr. Browne’s precepts play an important part in Wonder. A precept is a rule to live by. In addition to his precepts, Auggie and his classmates offer some of their own over the summer at the end of the novel. 5B found precepts that best represented how they feel about the world and created artworks based off the book jacket style of Wonder with them. Browse through our gallery of precepts below.

Art Cave: Printmaking

5B began cutting into their lino squares today in preparation for creating lino prints with Jane in Art Cave. Thanks to Jane for another wonderful opportunity for our students! Here are some photos from our art so far: