"With My Own Two Hands..."

Check out this video of Ben Harper singing "With My Own Two Hands."


What can you do with your own two hand to make our world a better place?  Each of us has the ability to make small differences that change our world.

First and second graders watched Ben Harper sing "With My Own Two Hands," then talked about ways that they can make a difference in their world.  They also learned to sing this song in music class and will be performing it at our school concert this week.

Art... It's a whole-brainer!

Why is art important in education?

Are these qualities we wish to teach our children?  

The Snowy Day group mural

Kindergarten artists read "The Snowy Day," by Ezra Jack Keats.  We identified all of the snow activities in the book. 

They worked together to create this beautiful snow mural using white and silver paint.  

As always, we place a huge importance on practicing social skills in art class, such as sharing and cooperation, in addition to honing our art skills.  This type of lesson is great for both.  

Hopefully our snow art will inspire our winter weather to bring on some fluffy, white powder! 

Please send your 2013 calendars to the art room!

Art and landscape calendars are great for art lessons.  Thank you for saving yours for use in the art room!  

Famous World Landmarks in the style of Friedensreich Hundertwasser

Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser was born in Vienna in 1928, then moved to New Zealand later in life.  He was well-known for his colorful, abstract paintings and his architecture designs with a similar aesthetic. His artwork and his architecture promotes a balance between humans and the environment.  

Examples of Hundertwasser's architectural designs 

What similarities do you see between Hundertwasser's artwork and his architecture?

Fifth and sixth grade artists looked at many examples of Hundertwasser's work.  Students identified several elements seen across much of his work, including use of bright colors, repeating lines, organic shapes and hidden faces.  Artists chose different famous world landmarks to depict in Hundertwasser's style.  They used oil pastel and liquid watercolors to create their Hundertwasser-inspired paintings.  

Can you recognize any of these fantastic places?