May/June Newsletter

ART ROOM NEWS

In art we are ending the year with an exploration of texture! The Massachusetts Arts  Curriculum Frameworks states that, “For texture, explore the use of textures in 2D and 3D works. Identify a wide variety of types of textures, for example, smooth, rough, and bumpy, in the environment and in artwork.   Create representations of textures in drawings, paintings, rubbings, or relief.” Students at all levels will be creating art focused on this understanding.

The kindergarten classes will begin to study texture by completing texture rubbings. After reading the book Birdsongs by Betsy Franco and Steve Jenkins, they will use the texture rubbings to create a collaged bird image. Students will also do rubbings of their initials created from yarn. Lastly, toward the beginning of June, they will explore some Native American art and early cave paintings. Then, they will create masks from paper.

First graders will be studying texture by creating pinch pots and using stamps to add texture. Students will also do a variety of rubbings,  including an outside texture hunt. Some students may also have a chance to create texture through fingerprint designs.

The second grade students will be learning about the texture created by using coils to create a pot. Second graders will also create texture rubbing  collages.

Third graders will be using the paper clay Sculptamold to create sun masks. Students will learn about the popularity of sun imagery historically in art. They will focus on texture through adding various designs to the sun base.

Native American animal masks will be the inspiration for fourth grade mask design. Students will use molds to create an animal mask base out of Sculptamold, and then add textural designs.

Fifth graders will continue working in the 3rd  dimension as they finish their exploration into clay. They will complete their textured clay houses  during the time before and after Nature’s Classroom.

ON A PERSONAL NOTE

It is absolutely unbelievable to me that I am merely weeks away from completing my first year here at J.R. Briggs. It has been such an amazing year for me, one where I feel I have truly found my place in the world.

I want to thank the entire JRB community for all of the help, support, and understanding you have offered to me. I have LOVED working with all of the children in this building. Seeing their smiling faces everyday, accepting hugs and high fives, watching their eyes light up as they learn something new — this is really what it’s all about.

My fellow staff members have been inspirational and guiding in so many ways as well. You should really feel blessed to have such a wonderful staff who loves your children and who are deeply committed to their learning. They are inspirational to me.

Lastly, to all of the parents who completed my surveys, volunteered in my classroom and offered unsolicited words of encouragement, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I was able to witness and be part of the incredible success of a teacher-parent-student model of education.

The art show on June 7th will be a reflection of this success. I hope to see you all at Fine Arts and Technology Night. I feel as though that night will be a visual depiction of what I feel in my heart.

Thank you so much for letting me be a part of this community, allowing me to love and educate your children, and helping me to find my true home.

Have a safe and creative summer!