Dear Families,
Our school year has been off to a wonderful start. Attached you will find our first art newsletter. I hope this will help explain some of the work that might be starting to come home. If your child has not come home with some work it is either saved aside for our end of the year art exhibit (small sampling of work to be on display for our community in the Spring) or your child is still in the process of finishing a piece due to being absent or perhaps your child is taking a little bit more time on finishing up. Your child has art class every week for 45 minutes.
I hope your child has been enjoying art class! Children are being introduced to the elements and principles of design. Just like a chef needs ingredients to put together a recipe, so do artists. The elements and principles make up a work of art. They are: shape, line, color, texture, space, value, form, balance, unity, emphasis, rhythm, pattern, contrast and movement. By using the elements and principles of design, children are able to analyze pieces of famous art as well as create their own.
Students have begun to explore and analyze artists through the elements of design. By analyzing famous pieces and creating their own works of art, children broaden their problem solving skills and daily life experiences. The new analytical skills students gain can be added to what they’ve learned in the classroom.
As students view a piece of art they become inquisitive. They ask questions during a discussion about the piece as well as react to during the hands on portion of art class. Students feelings about their own artwork, whether it is realized or subconscious, directly affects their visual product. Through their own work students show feelings of happiness, joy, anger or sorrow.
Through connecting children to art, we open up many creative possibilities. Students are given skills to deal with classroom learning, they learn about artists around the world (multi-cultural) and most importantly, they learn the value of self-expression.
Children’s art lessons are connected to the Massachusetts Visual Arts State Standards. They are:
1: Methods, Materials and Techniques
2: Elements and Principles of Design
3: Observation, Abstraction, Invention and Expression
4: Drafting, Revising, and Exhibiting
5: Critical Response
6: Purposes of the Arts
7: Roles of Artists in Communities
8: Concepts of Style, Stylistic Influence and Stylistic Change
9: Inventions, Technologies and the Arts
10: Interdisciplinary Connections
I’m happy to always offer an art smock to your child during art class. There are smocks in the art room for your child. However, if your child would like to have their own art shirt, they are welcome to store it in their backpack and bring it back and forth to art class.
The most important expectation for all in life and for healthy living is to treat others how you would like to be treated. I believe life’s most enduring impact is our love for one another. If we treat others how we would like to be treated, there will always be less challenges to be faced in the classroom and in the world we live in! I’m happy for our school year and truly look forward to working with your child. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Kristen Kosiba
Art Teacher
