Past projects 4
Create, Paint, Less Mess
Funded Nov 9, 2020This year has been full of surprises and revised plans. For most of the year, both our in-person and virtual art students experienced class simultaneously. The choice-based approach that has been at the core of our art program became essential. The avenues that different students employed for a single project varied greatly. Several of my students delighted in learning techniques like computer animation. Your gift of water brush pens gift was greatly enjoyed by students who prefer more traditional means of creating art.
My students were thrilled to learn that the water brushes were theirs to keep. Most of these young artists enjoyed the process of simply experimenting with watercolors -- and most ended up with extraordinary results. The opportunity to introduce students to a medium I have spent years honing was a refreshing experience.
I have submitted a few pictures of students using water brush pens to add vibrant color to drawings of robots and landscapes. My rising fifth graders will still have their water brushes in 2021-2022. We are excited about exploring new ways to use these tools.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Hager
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 15 other donors.Making More With Less
Funded Sep 3, 2020This year has been full of surprises and revised plans. For most of the year, both our in-person and virtual art students experienced class simultaneously. The choice-based approach that has been at the core of our art program became essential. The avenues that different students employed for a single project varied greatly. Several of my students delighted in learning techniques like computer animation.Your gift of water brush pens gift was greatly enjoyed by students who prefer more traditional means of creating art.
My students were thrilled to learn that the water brushes were theirs to keep. Most of these young artists enjoyed the process of simply experimenting with watercolors -- and most ended up with extraordinary results. The opportunity to introduce students to a medium I have spent years honing was a refreshing experience.
I have submitted a few pictures of students using water brush pens to add vibrant color to drawings of robots and landscapes. My fifth graders will still have water brushes in 2021-2022. We are excited about exploring new ways to use these tools.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Hager
This classroom project was brought to life by Cartier Philanthropy and 4 other donors.Drawing To Learn
Funded Dec 21, 2012I want to take this opportunity to thank you once again for donating money to this project, Drawing To Learn.
Having journals in the art room has been a wonderful experience for both my students and me. As they have watched me work in my own sketchbook and have used their journals during that weekly 45 minute art period, many students have begun carrying a second journal of their own in their book bags. Some are store bought, while other journals are sheets of notebook paper that have been stapled together. They are eager to show these second journals to me and share the art that they are generating outside of the art room. My students are looking forward to taking the journals that you have helped us to purchase home with them to use over the summer break.
As we go through their journal entries we are reminded of other art lessons, and are able to make connections between these lessons and activities. My students have had an opportunity to reflect upon the art process as they create. Writing in the journals has helped them to put into words what they like most about a piece of art and what improvements might need to be made. While formal assessments have a place in any classroom, students' memories are stretched to commit art terminology and historical terms to memory when the words are only heard each week in my class. Having these journals has helped them build a reference guide for terms like still life, portrait, symmetry, perspective, and names of artists and art movements. Some students have written down the names of books or websites that I have found to be useful to classroom instruction with the intent of re-visiting these resources independently.
Art students benefit from having a central place to practice and keep new drawing concepts before creating more finished pieces of work. In some ways these journals have become portfolios as well. Many journals have separate pieces of work tucked into the pages. This was especially useful as we participated in the national contest Doodle 4 Google in February, and developed the artists' statements that were a requirement for the work that was submitted to the competition. During another enjoyable unit on twentieth-century artist Alexander Calder, we used tape and old envelopes to fashion pockets for storing simple sculptures of people that they had fashioned out of wire. I still occasionally see students take these out as they work on new projects.
I have appreciated having the journals to use as a tool to understand my students' perceptions of what I say as we work in class. It helps me as an educator to adjust my approach to the needs of my students as lessons progress from week to week.
This project has been so successful that I plan to continue using visual journals with students in the years to come. We have not used up the twenty-paged journals as quickly as I had anticipated during this second semester. This means that we should have enough journals to provide each third through fifth grade student with one at the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year. It also means that I already have some idea of what grant proposals I will be submitting at Donors Choose in the near future.
Thank you for being a part of this journey. Your contribution has truly made a difference.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Hager
This classroom project was brought to life by Anonymous Donor and 10 other donors.Draw. Learn. Create.
Funded Dec 25, 2012I want to take this opportunity to thank you once again for donating money to this project, Draw.Learn.Create.
Having journals in the art room has been a wonderful experience for both my students and me. As they have watched me work in my own sketchbook and have used their journals during that weekly 45 minute art period, many students have begun carrying a second journal of their own in their book bags. Some are store bought, while other journals are sheets of notebook paper that have been stapled together. They are eager to show these second journals to me and share the art that they are generating outside of the art room. My students are looking forward to taking the journals that you have helped us to purchase home with them to use over the summer break.
As we go through their journal entries we are reminded of other art lessons, and are able to make connections between these lessons and activities. My students have had an opportunity to reflect upon the art process as they create. Writing in the journals has helped them to put into words what they like most about a piece of art and what improvements might need to be made. While formal assessments have a place in any classroom, students' memories are stretched to commit art terminology and historical terms to memory when the words are only heard each week in my class. Having these journals has helped them build a reference guide for terms like still life, portrait, symmetry, perspective, and names of artists and art movements. Some students have written down the names of books or websites that I have found to be useful to classroom instruction with the intent of re-visiting these resources independently.
Art students benefit from having a central place to practice and keep new drawing concepts before creating more finished pieces of work. In some ways these journals have become portfolios as well. Many journals have separate pieces of work tucked into the pages. This was especially useful as we participated in the national contest Doodle 4 Google in February, and developed the artists' statements that were a requirement for the work that was submitted to the competition. During another enjoyable unit on twentieth-century artist Alexander Calder, we used tape and old envelopes to fashion pockets for storing simple sculptures of people that they had fashioned out of wire. I still occasionally see students take these out as they work on new projects.
I have appreciated having the journals to use as a tool to understand my students' perceptions of what I say as we work in class. It helps me as an educator to adjust my approach to the needs of my students as lessons progress from week to week.
This project has been so successful that I plan to continue using visual journals with students in the years to come. We have not used up the twenty-paged journals as quickly as I had anticipated during this second semester. This means that we should have enough journals to provide each third through fifth grade student with one at the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year. It also means that I already have some idea of what grant proposals I will be submitting at Donors Choose in the near future.
Thank you for being a part of this journey. Your contribution has truly made a difference.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Hager
This classroom project was brought to life by Anonymous Donor and 5 other donors.