3rd Trimester Enrichment 2016
May
7th graders make pasta and then enjoy eating it!
7th graders make pasta and then enjoy eating it!
On one of the beautiful days we went outside for some "plein air" (fresh air) painting. The subject was Mount Si.
April
This month was spent on various photography assignments. Check them out below.
This month was spent on various photography assignments. Check them out below.
Creative portraits! The students learned to capture emotions, tell a story, try different camera angles and settings and also worked on composition.
The students learned about using a slow shutter speed in a darkened room to create a ghost like image.
Everyone's favorite assignment- creating optical illusions with perspective and different camera settings
March
The students are honing their photography skills on nature and architecture around campus.
The students are honing their photography skills on nature and architecture around campus.
2nd Trimester Enrichment
Here's the link to the Class Guidelines Film the students made.
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March
For this assignment the students were to create a video game character and write a brief story about what they had created. There were some very original ideas!
For this assignment the students were to create a video game character and write a brief story about what they had created. There were some very original ideas!
February
The students have been hard at work creating their figures for The Via Dolorosa. And here's the finished result!
The students have been hard at work creating their figures for The Via Dolorosa. And here's the finished result!
January 2016
The artists at work creating their collages.
The artists at work creating their collages.
Artists are communicators and so for this assignment the students chose a word to illustrate and had to take a photo to illustrate that word. Then they made a collage of the photo. Here are their creations!
Optical illusion photos- The students had to use perspective and camera angles and different camera settings to create fool the eye photos.
December 2015
Yummm! Santa's Workshop...here they are decorating cupcakes and Christmas bags to take the ornaments home in.
Yummm! Santa's Workshop...here they are decorating cupcakes and Christmas bags to take the ornaments home in.
1st Trimester Enrichment
November 2015
We've had an amazing trimester together. The students have worked hard and created some beautiful artwork! Our last class of the trimester included chocolate covered pretzels, watching their films and tree house building. See their wonderful creations below! To watch their films click on the link: https://sjsfilmsandpictures.shutterfly.com/pictures (The assignment was to use the format of The Most Interesting Man in the World commercial and write and film it in two days!)
We are exploring sculpture. Below are their clay castles.
October
The students getting their Halloween crazy on! First they created some Halloween goodies and then they had 20 minutes to create a costume out of newspaper.
We have been learning about composition and how to make a picture pleasing to the eye. (Composition is the arrangement of objects/shapes and colors on a page) Here are the students excellent drawings!
October
The students had fun making hats for Salmon Days.
The students had fun making hats for Salmon Days.
September
We're learning about how to take a good portrait. To create a mood and capture emotions through the photo the students played around with lighting, camera angles, focus and movement to create some interesting portraits. We also looked at some famous photographs and talked about what makes them so captivating.
The photo on the left captures a sad, hopeless look that was typical during the depression. Dorthea Lange is the photographer.
We're starting a photography unit and the students are creating optical illusion photos. Here are some of their funny perspectives.
3rd Trimester Enrichment 2015
June
The students have been hard at work learning some low tech special effect filming techniques. Also how make a good film: Hold the camera steady. Speak clearly. Use proper lighting. Watch out for background distractions and noise. Don't film too far away- use close ups to show facial expressions. They also worked in groups and came up with some creative breath mint commercials. I think the students learned a lot and had fun in the process. Check out their films at the link below:
The students have been hard at work learning some low tech special effect filming techniques. Also how make a good film: Hold the camera steady. Speak clearly. Use proper lighting. Watch out for background distractions and noise. Don't film too far away- use close ups to show facial expressions. They also worked in groups and came up with some creative breath mint commercials. I think the students learned a lot and had fun in the process. Check out their films at the link below:
May
We were learning about advertising and the assignment was to come up with a public service ad for fellow students at St. Joe's. They used various editing programs to integrate words with the photos. There are some creative captions to go with their photography!
We were learning about advertising and the assignment was to come up with a public service ad for fellow students at St. Joe's. They used various editing programs to integrate words with the photos. There are some creative captions to go with their photography!
I'm always trying to get the students to problem solve and think because these are skills they will use all their life so I gave them an assignment where they were challenged to build a 3 story structure without glue or tape that would be strong enough to hold "King Kong". They had tag board, scissors, yarn, and paper clips (and model magic to make King Kong). They discovered folding, weaving, slits and paper clips held the tag board in place. You can see some of their creations below.
April 2015
The students learned about The Terracotta Warriors discovered in China in the 1970's. Each student then created their own terra cotta warrior.
To read more about it follow this link: http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/archaeology/emperor-qin/
i in China.
The students learned about The Terracotta Warriors discovered in China in the 1970's. Each student then created their own terra cotta warrior.
To read more about it follow this link: http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/archaeology/emperor-qin/
i in China.
Having fun learning some new photography techniques: slow shutter speed, lighting, self timer, fish-eye effect and beyond!
March 2015
Cupcake decorating! We had fun before Easter break decorating cupcakes and cookies and then eating our creations.
Cupcake decorating! We had fun before Easter break decorating cupcakes and cookies and then eating our creations.
The challenge of this photography assignment was that each group had to shoot a photo that described one of the fruits of the spirit. They had to use their hands in a creative way to describe each word. The collective group of photos is quite striking don't you think?
March 2015
Everyone is a super hero! Often times students come into my art class and don't feel like they are very good at art. We talked about how each person has gifts in many areas and how art is something you can get better at with practice. Each student then made a headband highlighting the talent that they feel is their strength.
Everyone is a super hero! Often times students come into my art class and don't feel like they are very good at art. We talked about how each person has gifts in many areas and how art is something you can get better at with practice. Each student then made a headband highlighting the talent that they feel is their strength.
2nd Trimester Enrichment 2015
March 2015
Check out the films the students made this month! The assignment was to create a public service ad about bullying. The students had to work together and come up with some creative ways to get their message across.
Check out the films the students made this month! The assignment was to create a public service ad about bullying. The students had to work together and come up with some creative ways to get their message across.
February 2015
We have been building up a storm this month! The students are currently busy designing, building and creating tree houses.
We have been building up a storm this month! The students are currently busy designing, building and creating tree houses.
January 2015
For this photography assignment the students went around campus and found interesting angles and perspectives with their cameras.
For this photography assignment the students went around campus and found interesting angles and perspectives with their cameras.
December 2014
The art room is alive with Christmas spirit ...making the three wise men out of model magic and decorating gingerbread houses!
The art room is alive with Christmas spirit ...making the three wise men out of model magic and decorating gingerbread houses!
1st Trimester Enrichment 2014
November
We spent the month working on our animation films and celebrated our hard work at the mad-hatter tea party!
To see the films click on this link:
We spent the month working on our animation films and celebrated our hard work at the mad-hatter tea party!
To see the films click on this link:
October
Halloween cupcake decorating, costume games and merriment...oh my!
Halloween cupcake decorating, costume games and merriment...oh my!
We have been hard at work filming. Here are a few photos of the students with their sets and props!
October
Here are the super hero sculptures the students made. They are amazing don't you think?
Here are the super hero sculptures the students made. They are amazing don't you think?
October 2014
The students have been creating an armature out of pipe cleaners , paper and model magic that they will use for a filming project. Here are the artists at work!
The students have been creating an armature out of pipe cleaners , paper and model magic that they will use for a filming project. Here are the artists at work!
Taking inspiration from the artist Roy Lichtenstein, the students had to tell a story in comic strip style using only 3 frames. it was quite challenging!
September
Art imitiates life! This photography assignment teaches the students to observe carefully the lighting, position, expression, mood and background of a famous painting or photo.
Art imitiates life! This photography assignment teaches the students to observe carefully the lighting, position, expression, mood and background of a famous painting or photo.
We're off to a fun start to the year! Everyone has strengths and the first assignment was to create a super hero headband illustrating what your strength or "super power" is. Some students chose humor, being kind, basketball, drama, math, art and many other areas of strength. The next step was to photograph yourself from different angles and perspectives to give an illusion of power. See the many examples below.
Here are more photos taken from interesting angles to create an exaggeration in perspective.
3rd Trimester enrichment 2014
May 2014
Enjoying the beautiful weather and filming our commercials for St. Joseph School.
We had a fun day building structures with newspaper coils. Awards were given for most creative, most geometric, most likely to survive a windstorm, the one that leaned the most without falling over, the wackiest and most engineered. See their creations below and see if you can figure out which award went with which one!
Learning to make homemade pasta!
Here is the recipe: (makes about 2 servings)
3/4 Cup unbleached flour
1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
1 egg
pinch of salt
Mix flour and salt into a bowl and make a well in the center to put the egg and the oil into. With a fork blend oil and egg. Gradually mix flour into the center. Knead with the palm of your hand until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. (about 50 strokes.) Roll out on floured surface and put through a pasta machine to flatten and slice.
After slicing it into spaghetti or fettuccine noodles, put into a pot of boiling water till noodles are cooked but not mushy. Bon Appetit!
Here is the recipe: (makes about 2 servings)
3/4 Cup unbleached flour
1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
1 egg
pinch of salt
Mix flour and salt into a bowl and make a well in the center to put the egg and the oil into. With a fork blend oil and egg. Gradually mix flour into the center. Knead with the palm of your hand until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. (about 50 strokes.) Roll out on floured surface and put through a pasta machine to flatten and slice.
After slicing it into spaghetti or fettuccine noodles, put into a pot of boiling water till noodles are cooked but not mushy. Bon Appetit!
We learned about animation and how films are put together and the students created a story and sculpture with a background. See their creative ideas below!
More info can be found at this website: http://www.pixar.com/behind_the_scenes/
More info can be found at this website: http://www.pixar.com/behind_the_scenes/
April 2014
To celebrate Easter we decorated cupcakes. Here is their handiwork!
April
The students took some photos depicting new life!
The students took some photos depicting new life!
The students did printmaking with Lent as the theme.
March 2014
Optical illusion photography
Optical illusion photography
2nd Trimester 2014
March
We learned about animation and how films are put together and the students created animated sculptures with a background. See their creative ideas below!
More info can be found at this website: http://www.pixar.com/behind_the_scenes/
We learned about animation and how films are put together and the students created animated sculptures with a background. See their creative ideas below!
More info can be found at this website: http://www.pixar.com/behind_the_scenes/
Below are some of the google doodles. The theme was "If I could invent one thing to make the world a better place..."
We learned about Antoni Gaudi, known as "God's Architect" and the students made cathedrals out of recycled materials. To learn more about Gaudi and his famous Sarada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, click on this link: http://www.gaudiclub.com/ingles/i_vida/i_menu.html
The students had fun playing around with different settings on their camera to see how a blurry photo can be achieved. They also learned how to create special effects with light.
January/February 2014
These past few weeks the students have made hanging Chinese New Years dragons, experimented with photography as well as filmed commercials. The assignment for the filming project was to take the Direct TV ad and rewrite it so that it becomes an ad for St. Joseph School. The link to the commercials is below. They are very entertaining!
These past few weeks the students have made hanging Chinese New Years dragons, experimented with photography as well as filmed commercials. The assignment for the filming project was to take the Direct TV ad and rewrite it so that it becomes an ad for St. Joseph School. The link to the commercials is below. They are very entertaining!
We have had lots of fun making Chinese New Years dragons. The students also created optical illusions with photography.
Check out their creativity below...
Check out their creativity below...
December 2013
2nd trimester students had a holiday party and we dipped large pretzel rods into white chocolate and also decorated reindeer cupcakes!
Trimester 1
November 2013
Our final assignment was to recreate an old spice commercial but try to sell the school instead. We only had 3 days to shoot this so more time would have allowed for fine tuning. Click on the link to the films to watch them!
After learning about the Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi and the beautiful Cathedral he built in Barcelona, the students designed their own cathedrals out of recycled materials. To learn more about "God's architect" click on these links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnNwpmdWm1whttp://youtu.be/ZnNwpmdWm1w , http://www.gaudiclub.com/ingles/i_vida/i_menu.html
October 2013
We had a Halloween party and decorated cupcakes and made caramel apples. Below are the creative chefs at work!
We are studying about architecture and the students are creating cathedrals out of recycled materials. Stay tuned for the finished projects!
To learn about the Architect Antoni Gaudi and his incredible cathedral in Barcelona known as "The Sagrada Familia" click on this link: http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/sf-eng/docs_instit/gaudi.php
To learn about the Architect Antoni Gaudi and his incredible cathedral in Barcelona known as "The Sagrada Familia" click on this link: http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/sf-eng/docs_instit/gaudi.php
Here the students are rolling newspaper beams to create towers. The tallest tower is pictured on the right!