Inspiration Learning Lab #ktmartists

What is the schedule for art classes?

• Art classes are 40 minutes
• Ms. Ramsey teaches art Monday through Friday 
• Mrs. Delmonico teaches art on Tuesdays 
• Mr. Greco teaches art on Mondays 

What will my child learn in art?

• About famous artists
• Art processes like: painting, drawing, printmaking, clay sculpture and collage
• To make connections between art and other subjects
• To create original artwork based on a variety of themes
• To use visual art vocabulary to discuss works of art
• To use creativity to solve open ended problems
• To develop an appreciation for different cultures and styles of art

How is my child graded in art?

• In grades K-2 students receive an N, Y or an MP on their report card
• In Grades 3-5 students receive a letter grade on their report card A, B, C…
• In grades 3-5 students receive an effort grade of 1,2,3, or 4.
• 1 is the lowest degree of effort and a 4 is the highest degree of effort
• Student artwork is assessed on meeting objectives for each lesson
• Effort is assessed on class participation

When will my child bring their artwork home?

• All artwork will be taken home at the end of the school year
• Some artwork will be sent home before the end of the school year

When will my child’s artwork be displayed?

• Students will have at least one piece of artwork on display in our school-wide art show in May

How can I contact the art teachers?

• Call K.T. Murphy at (203) 977-4516
• Email Ms. Ramsey at cramsey@stamfordct.gov
• Email Mrs. Delmonico at kdelmonico@stamfordct.gov
• Email Mr. Greco at jgreco@stamfordct.gov

How is Twitter being used in art classes?

• Look for tweets with #ktmartists to see what we have been working on in art!

There’s no way to know exactly how you will impact your students’ lives or how far your influence will reach. Planning and good intentions can fall short of reaching and engaging students if one important element is missing, and that’s a human connection. There’s nothing more certain to make a personal connection with students than tapping into their desire to feel, understand and be accepted. A teacher who is skilled at showing empathy can help to reach the most disengaged and unmotivated students. Everyone wants to feel they belong, be understood and be part of a supportive community.

Why use art appreciation as a visual media to teach empathy?  What can students gain by discussing and creating works of art that will help them develop their empathy for others? How does art help students understand each other, build a sense of belonging and acceptance of differences?  These questions help me reflect on teaching because learning how my students feel about school through their perspective is the most important factor in determining what has worked or not.

I developed the concept of a  K-5 unit on creating art based on the cultures and artistic styles from seven countries around the world to achieve the learning goal that students will gain a global perspective through art.  The unit culminates in a school art exhibit that features the artwork students created. The assessment of the unit is not standardized and is based on inquiry, not answers.  Students will be asked to develop questions about the artwork and corresponding media related to each display in the QR codes. Their questions will be recorded using a Google form. No answers necessary.

Students’ questions will reveal their thinking and how they wish to learn more about their own and other cultures.  Through the process of recording their questions and seeing questions other students post, they will be thinking about and reflecting on what connects us all and what makes us unique. They will have built a foundation in gaining a global perspective through art by representing the world through another point of view that may be different from their own. I hope seeing their artwork makes them feel that their school is made for and by everyone. This sense of belonging and appreciation for others has to be developed in school if we expect to see it on a global scale.

We are a few weeks away from our Summer Resource Fair and Interactive Art Night!

You may want to download a QR code reader ahead of time to be able to access the related media to each student art display.

For more information on our student art exhibit click here. 

What started out as a quick brainstorming session playing with some apps I long ago downloaded to my iPad, turned into a day long quest of writing and illustrating a story. Well actually, right now it’s an iMovie.

1. I made each page using the drawing pad app
2. Emailed each image to myself
3. Downloaded the images onto my computer
4. Uploaded them into iMovie
5. Selected a “film strip” theme on iMovie
6. And then shared the movie and saved it on my desktop

Here it is…Hopefully it is just the first of many more!

Maybe even my first book!

This year, like every other year, the to-do list in the spring seems insurmountable.  I’m sure almost every teacher shares a similar feeling that the weight of end of the year tasks can be quite heavy.  For art teachers working with students in elementary schools, there are 400+ students coming to us every week of all ages with unique needs and talents. Add in the traveling some art teachers do from classroom to classroom and you get the picture. We need to take a minute to reflect and applaud ourselves on how skillful and organized we have to be to keep track of our students’ work and progress.  I appreciate you, because I know first hand how it feels to carry this on year in and year out. Keep on fighting the good fight!

Many schools have taken on initiatives to try to build students’ global perspectives and digital citizenship using technology and art. What better way to learn than to use the technology that connects us all together and start looking at the similarities and differences among the art people create around the world? At our school our art team is working on an initiative to curate and display a whole school student art show with the theme “A World of Art”.

Students began by  asking questions about and creating artwork based on the cultures and artistic styles from India, Australia, Kenya, The United States, Mexico, China and Japan.  That’s it you say?  Only seven different countries?  How does this represent the theme “A World of Art”? I’m actually hoping for this response for this reason: To inspire students to continue searching and learning about cultures different from their own, take charge of their learning, truly develop a global perspective and share their own culture with others. 

Interested in how to plan an initiative like this in your own school? Read on.

I teach around 450 students in grades K-5.  Sometimes I teach all six grade levels in one day. In order to design the display and facilitate the planning I assigned a different country to each grade level as follows:

1. Kindergarten: India
2. First Grade: China and Japan
3. Second Grade: Australia
4. Third Grade: Kenya
5. Fourth Grade: The United States
6. Fifth Grade: Mexico

Each grade level is creating works of art that vary from class to class and are inspired by the culture and artistic styles from the country they are representing.

You can see what students are making and some of the resources used in the lessons by accessing my google doc “A World of Art” Resources.

I created this google doc to share what students are working on and the resources I used to introduce the art styles they are representing.  I’m also a big fan of making lists and keeping track of what needs to be done for planning whole school events like this.

Within this document each class is organized and listed with the artwork they will display at the end of the unit along with the interactive art centers that students and their families can participate in when they come to our “World of Art” interactive learning night.

There will be 500+ works of art created by our students and hopefully just as many questions generated about the countries and cultures the artwork represents.

Remember it’s not always how you start that matters most, but how you finish.