Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Summer Artist Spotlight Opportunity!

Hey Parents! 
             I hope you're having a wonderful start to your summer vacation.  Whether you and your family are travelling, participating in summer school, camps, or just staying around to enjoy and explore DC, don't forget to encourage your kids to MAKE SOME ART!  

Over this summer, if you e-mail me an image of your child's art and a little written blurb, I'll be featuring students each week(assuming I receive entries).  This is a great opportunity to encourage and foster a love and appreciation for art outside of the classroom.  Consider visiting one of the many museums in our area, and use your trip as inspiration for creation!

Please send entries to: 
msfoysartroom@gmail.com with the subject line of "Summer Artist Spotlight".  

Be sure to include a small write up about what inspired the artist to create this piece and even include some direct quotes from the artist themselves!!  Let's see how many artists we can catch in action this summer from our school!! 

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Vincent Van Gogh's Cat!


I purchased this book my first year of teaching, and stumbled across it again this year while searching for a different book.  It instantly sparked my interest and I thought, "how did I forget about this book?!".  The story Vincent Van Gogh's Cat is unique because it is written and illustrated by a class of second grade students in Indiana.  The pictures are colorful, creative, and bold which naturally draws students attention. It's also great because it incorporates some reproductions of other famous pieces of art.  We read the book as a class, travelling with Van Gogh's cat through fields of sunflowers(Van Gogh), through a friends pond of water lillies(Monet), we met three musicians(Picasso), and ended up in a starry night(Van Gogh).  At the end of the story, students were asked, "If you could take Vincent Van Gogh's cat somewhere, where would you take it?".  Below are just four of the awesome pieces made with water color crayons by Pre-K students.  Hopefully I will have more to post 
                                              from the Pre-School, Pre-K, adn Kindergarten students later on!  Enjoy!!
"I took Vincent Van Gogh's Cat to a forest, in a boat, on a ocean!" -Hailey
"I take him to the mountains, and I have flowers, and he's up there and you can see the sun, and I'm blue in the corner!"-Felicity  


"This cat is up in the sky at the desert, you see my sand and cactus plant things?  They're sharp don't touch them!"-Lucas
"I took Van Gogh's cat to the desert but it's purples and reds because of the sun."-Anna