Art Room Placecards

It's that time again - time to create new placecards.

It sure helps to learn names faster and to help my classroom management. They are kept in our class drawers between classes, neatly stacked with the table helper's placecard on top of each table group. The helpers can easily find their stack at the start of each class period.

Everybody gets a 5" x 5" square of white tagboard that's been folded in half. The students use yellow, pink and orange markers (only light colors) to draw line/shape patterns - front and back. I ask them to NOT use marker on the inside - it makes the tagboard too 'soggy' and it loses its stiffness.

I write the names in black - this can be done before, during or after they draw their designs. I tried to have students write their own but some names were too small or too illegible or... Turns out I can read my own handwriting better than 600+ personal styles - go figure!!

Kinder: Line Paintings

Today was the first day of four upcoming 'Excessive Heat' days here in Arizona so the kinders & I headed outside while it was 'only' in the 90's this morning.

We spent the early part of class in the Art room learning about the 4 types of line: straight, curve, angle and broken while finding examples in the room around us.

Then we packed up water containers and a variety of brushes and headed out my 'back door' to an area I call my patio room - 3 walls and no roof.

Everybody enjoyed 'painting'on the cement but the water got pretty muddy due to the latest haboob (aka: dust storm) we had last Wednesday which left extra dust & sand on the ground.

Kinders got great practice making all their lines with little mess and no fuss!