Midterm

I can't believe that after today we only have FOUR more weeks of school left! Midterm was last Friday, so students' official Midterm grades are not posted on Schoology. Students recently completed their Art of Latin America projects, where students were given the option of selecting a visual art, music & dance, or drama pathway to create their own original work. The submissions that I have looked at so far have blown me away! I will be posting artwork to the virtual art show next week, but here is a sneak peek:

For the visual art pathway, students selected a Mexican artist to explore, and created an original composition that was inspired by their style and also depicted a current event. The music & dance pathway project allowed students to learn the Cha Cha dance, resulting in a video of them dancing along to a Cha Cha rhythm they also created. The students who chose the drama pathway wrote and performed a monologue inspired by a dream of an alebrije. I will be sharing some of the recorded performances and more artworks on the virtual art show next week. 

The final project that students began this week is titled "Cultural Identity Project." For this project, students are exploring a culture that is significant to them and will create a presentation to share with the class that provides an overview of the country, with a focus on the arts. This is the first time I have done this project with students, but I'm so excited to see the diversity among students, and have them share a little piece of themselves and their families with each other. Next week, students are going to work through some mini-lessons that teach them how to use a variety of tech tools, because the rule for the final presentation is that Google Slides are not allowed! Depending on the format of the projects, I may be able to share a few of them to the virtual art show at the end of the year. 

19 more days until summer vacation! 

Spooky Radio Plays

 I am having an absolute ball listening to all of the radio plays! My students have blown me away their with creative stories and their ability to take on such diverse characters. I have uploaded several radio plays to the Virtual Art Show - please check them out!! A handful of students took on the challenge of creating an advertisement for their radio play as well, a few of which I am posting below. Enjoy!

Happy Friday!

Orange and Purple classes got to share their hard work with their classmates today - we listened to radio plays! I am so impressed by all of the radio plays I have heard so far. Each story is unique and students demonstrated their creative sides through their voice acting skills and Foley. I have uploaded some of the radio plays to my virtual art show already - check them out! Next week Red and Blue classes will be finishing their radio plays, so I will add a few more performances to the slideshow next Friday.

With the time we had left, students played the Bob Ross inspired quick-draw game Happy Little Accidents, where they are given a word and a scribble, and must doodle the image in 60 seconds! Students always have a blast with this game, showing off their digital drawing skills and their innovative designs.

Spooky Radio Plays, part deux

 Students are still in the process of putting together their Spooky Radio Plays. I have been so impressed reading through the scripts and hearing students assemble their audio. On Friday, students in cohort B of Orange class took turns recording Foley - they were helping one another find the perfect noise for each sound effect needed; it was great to see such collaboration! 

I received some synopses from the students in Red and Blue classes, so I wanted to share a few: 

Two girls decide to go on a vacation to the city, when all of a sudden, a building catches fire. Is this just a coincedence, or is it a curse?

Two friends auditioning for a role in a musical.  With a creepy new agent who never shows his face, a director who seems to hate them, and no money, what could go wrong?

Two space warriors, battle it out for the well being of civilians. Will they win, or will the aliens take over?

A girl moved to a suspicious new town with her parents. Everyone in the new town acts weird. It is up to her to find out what is going on and overcome the danger.

A teenager named Jimmy gets sucked into  a Minecraft world and must figure out how to escape .  Luckily Jimmy has been playing Minecraft for over 5 years. Will he escape or be stuck in Minecraft forever?

a couple of kids get bored so they build pirate ships and let their imagination go wild in this spetaclair raido play

Two friends go to a abandond resturant.When they go in one is never found again.

A boy and his father move into this creepy house in the middle of the woods. As there unpacking they see a painting on the wall coverd with dust they clear the dust and.

The mystery gang goes to an amusement park except scooby and shaggy because they were to lazy. It gets really late and the gang hadn't came home so scooby and shaggy went to investigate.

a dad and daughter are exploring an aicent tomb were they find a aincent disease that turns people into zombies,

A boy is randomly teleported into an unknown facility with unknown creatures. Will he survive and escape safely?

Students who are finished early are able to work on an extension assignment, where they create a poster to advertise their radio play! I will be sharing a few of these as they are completed, as well as including them on the Virtual Art Show. I cannot wait to start sharing these radio plays!

Orange and Purple due date: Wednesday, April 21
Red and Blue due date: Wednesday, April 28

Spooky Radio Plays

 All four classes are on different stages of putting together their radio plays, but I have a few synopses to share from Orange and Purple classes. Students did not have to choose a spooky story, but horror seems to be the genre most students are leaning toward.  The plays are coming along so well, and I cannot wait to share them on my Virtual Art Show in a few weeks.

A waitress overhears a murder plot while working in her family's coffee shop. She has to find a way to solve the mystery and catch the killers without becoming their next victim. 

Our story is about a girl who gets kidnapped by a monster and they switched bodies. Everybody was very worried about her because she failed to show up at her friends house for a sleepover and thats when people start worrying about her.

A alien wants to make his dad proud and starts abcucting humans. The humans try to find how to escape.

There is a earthqauke in the city and starts making cracks in the ground. A monster comes out and trys to destroy everything in its path. but then....

Where there is magic there is food. A mystery to find the vansihing snacks in the magic knights hideout. to find the snack charmy to be a detective, an interogator, and a food finatic.

Francis' mom leaves for vacation and she thinks she'll have a fun and normal time with the house to herself. But then she starts hearing footsteps, voices, and creaking stairs. She then starts seeing things and falls down the stairs, but did any of this really happen?

Two boys, Tom and Jamal go exploring. They go into the woods and get lost, and get slowly hunted by Big Bohomb're, the big bad evil guy.  They have to escape the forest and Big Bohomb're.

Two kids try getting on a balloon early and they take of.  There is a thunderstorm in the distance and they don't know how to get down, then in an act of desperation the crash.

The radio play is about a boy who keeps lying for his entertainment until it come back to be a mistake.

Lila and her sister Kia went to a camp where there is ghost that make Lila can't sleep and doesnt lose enery and how one of her friend that can see a ghost and was hounted by it.

Red and Blue classes are in the beginning stages of putting together their radio plays, so I will share some of their synopses next week. I can't wait to hear the finished products!

Elements of Art & Radio Plays

 Happy Friday! It's the last day of school before spring break and I wanted to share some news here. I have made it my "spring break project" to finally put together the current Virtual Art Show - I've been slacking in this department (since my computer has trouble saving artwork when I'm not at school, but I'll be patient and get the job done). Students this semester have seriously inspired me with their creativity and I cannot wait to share everything. I think I'll also include doodle calendars on the Virtual Art Show this year, something I've never done in the past, because students are truly exceeding my expectations with these. Some are drawing on paper, some are drawing on Kami, and some students are even drawing digitally using apps of their choice. 

Classes have officially finished up with the Elements of Art Composition. More students than in the past, I think, decided to create original compositions. By this, I mean more students are incorporating the 7 Elements within their own scene instead of just drawing individual examples. I allow students to make the choice of how they want to present their understanding of this concept, but I'm just impressed by the originality of these students! I posted a few in my last blogpost, but I love sharing art, so here are a few more!

Now that these projects are finished, students are moving on to the Spooky Radio Drama. This was a fan favorite from the previous semester, and I really enjoy it, too. So far today I've had one class start writing their scripts and they're coming up with some pretty creative tales. This one you'll have to wait until the unit is over to hear plays, but I will surely have the Virtual Art Show up and running by then.

Enjoy the sunshine over spring break everyone! 

March Update

 Hello! Every semester I post that I want to update my blog biweekly and every semester I post this same message saying that I keep forgetting to make posts! I'm changing things up and I'm writing this post on a Tuesday so that I don't forget to add one on Friday.

We have been BUSY in creative arts and I&I this semester! Hybrid is in full-swing and students are doing an outstanding job navigating the virtual and in-person classroom. Due to some snow days at the beginning of the term, Red & Blue classes are a week behind Orange & Purple classes, but it hasn't stopped us from making some awesome art! I'll post some examples below, but I'm also working on putting together the start to our spring Virtual Art Show. 

So far this term, students have shared a bit about themselves by creating Personality Maps. 

 Then we discussed "culture" and how a culture is established when a group of people share common interests/beliefs. Each creative arts class has their very own culture, so after a great discussion of what students value most, classes created and voted on a class flag. Here are the winning flags:

In a mini-project, students were introduced to one of my favorite artists, Kehinde Wiley, and practiced portrait drawing with decorative backgrounds, like his artwork. This assignment introduced many students to digital art, and I am beyond impressed with these drawings! 

Most recently, students have been learning about the Elements of Art. Students completed a PlayPosit to learn the definitions, a scavenger hunt to find examples, and finally created an artwork that demonstrated their understanding of all 7 elements. I love this project because it is completely open-ended and students are able to draw whatever they are interested in. Two classes have finished this project entirely, and two others are finishing it up this week.

To start off each class, students work on Doodle Calendars. Some days we don't have any drawing on our agenda, so I want to be able to offer this creative outlet as the start to every class. So far the prompts have been fun holidays in February and March, and the doodles students have been coming up with are extremely creative! Many students are working digitally on Kami (or their own digital program), while others are drawing their doodle calendars on paper.

I hope to start regularly updating my blog, but for more frequent updates, follow me on Twitter and Instagram! Since March is Youth Art Month, I've been posting artwork from both first semester and current students on Twitter to celebrate all my talented students. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend perusing the galleries on the Delaplaine website - the Youth Art Month exhibitions are top notch!