Great Conversations

During one of my second grade classes this week, I overheard the following conversation between two boys as they worked on their drawings:

"I want to be an artist when I grow up."

        "I want to be a football player and an artist."

"I know!  You can be the person that designs the football stadiums."

My students surprise me constantly, and this exchange was a delightful one.  Not only was the main speaker enthusiastic about making artwork, but he was also being a supportive and encouraging friend.

Kindergarten Still Life

Most grade levels began using the drawing center this week, and each class had a ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate the event.  The students gathered around the drawing center, and I made a speech:

"Welcome to the first ribbon cutting ceremony of the 2013-2014 school year.  I am extremely happy to have you all in attendance as we begin to open the Vickery Art Studio.  Today we will be opening the drawing center.  After the ceremony, you will have the rest of the day to explore the resources and materials therein.  Before we cut the ribbon, does anyone have any advice on drawing to share with the rest of the class?  ________ will now cut the ribbon on behalf of the entire ____________ class.  (the ribbon is cut, then claps and cheers)  Thank you Vickery Voyagers, the drawing center is now open."

I asked the students questions about their art as they worked, and in the next few weeks 3rd - 5th graders will begin to write artist statements when they finish an art piece.  It is difficult to interpret a student's authentic artwork by simply looking, and assumptions are usually wrong.  Being able to express their thinking behind the marks on the paper is more indicative of knowledge than the forms themselves, similar to when a child is learning to write.  

To reflect on our time in the drawing studio, we discussed "What do artist draw?"  Though many drawings overlap in category, students were asked to identify their work as Memory, Observation, Imagination, or Experimental Marks on paper.

This week we also talked about "What is art?"  or rather, "How can you tell if something is art?"  I would have liked for students to write on the post-its themselves, but I didn't want to take time away from their art making, so I sat with each table for a few moments and interviewed the groups.