It's Coming......

Attention All!

SAVE THE DATE: February 27th, 2014 6-8p.m.

for...

The Second Annual Bancroft Elementary Art Auction!!!!

More Details to Follow in addition to a Formal Invite!!!

A-R-C-H-I-T-E-C-T-U-R-E!

The fifth grade students began a unit on landscape, as usual, I had the students do what we call a "baseline" which is a drawing prior to in depth instruction so I can get a read on the skill level and knowledge retention from previous years. I noticed that a large percentage of the students were focusing on architecture within their landscapes, so my initial lesson plan went out the window, and I made a new one(flying by the seat of my pants) about ARCHITECTURE! 

For a new baseline, students were asked to take the knowledge of a landscape and apply it to a cityscape... I was thrilled with the results and the creativity of my students!!! Stay tuned to see their final results as this project is just beginning!

Food, Art, collage, and Pre-K 3's!!

Still Life #30, Tom Wesselmann

 Many people may think it's crazy to have Pre-K 3's sit down for a solid 15 minutes just to look at, and talk about one piece of artwork. Believe it or not, it can be done!  In fact, I've found this year it's harder to get my third and fourth graders talking about art than getting a 3 year old to do so!

This project was spearheaded by a wonderful parent within one of my PK-3 classes who has a background of art. Since the students are learning about the grocery store in their classrooms, she brought this piece of artwork to my attention and offered to lead a lesson on collage with the students!

We dispersed images of Tom Wesselmann's Still Life #30 and asked students what they saw.  Students immediately began shouting out the various items they saw within this artwork.  We then explained to students that this artist used photographs of food, cut them out, and glued them onto his artwork.  This process is called a collage. Students were given pre-cut food images at their table as well as crayons, glue, and blank sheet of construction paper to work with.  As soon as students sat down they began working.  I was so amazed by the way students created balance, unity, and emphasis within their collages all on their own!  Check out  the pictures below of the process and some final pieces!

 

Where is the Orange, Purple, and Green?!

Check out these awesome observational drawings!  

Students reviewed how to draw complex objects by breaking them down into simple shapes, then adding lines to show detail!

    Students used an ultra-fine point black sharpie marker to do the basic line drawing of their objects.  Once it was time to add color, students were given watercolor pencils.  But they quickly noticed something.... they only had  red, blue, yellow, brown, white, and black... So hands quickly shot up into the air requesting the missing colors.  To the student's surprise I reacted as though I had never heard that there were more options within watercolor pencils and explained they would have to think back to previous lessons to solve this problem.  

  

     

     Immediatley discussion began about what two colors make green, purple, and orange.  Students quickly realized that...

RED + BLUE = PURPLE

YELLOW + BLUE = GREEN

RED + YELLOW = ORANGE

   Students did a great job layering the water color pencils then adding water on top when finished to turn the average looking colored pencils into magnificent paint!  Check out the amazing results the students of first and second grade achieved!

**Parents:  Color mixing is a great concept to review with your students over the winter holiday. For younger students, read the story Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh!  For older students ask them to describe colors using the "Ish".... for example, rather than a color being blue, it could be "blue-ish, green-ish"  for this, have students read the story Ish by Peter H. Reynolds!!

The Holidays are coming... is your shopping done?

It's a busy time of year and many parents are wondering " whatever will I buy my friends and family for the holidays?".  Well, check out
Bancroft's online GIFT SHOP

through artsonia.com to purchase personalized items such as ornaments, mugs, t-shirts, pens, notecards, keychains, and much more with your child's artwork on it!

These make the perfect gifts!  

This site is maintained my Ms. Foy and the students as well as thanks to some wonderful parent volunteers and highlights all the artwork our students are creating.  You can create a parent account with an e-mail so you receive an update every time new art is published by your child.  Family from all over the world can write notes about the artwork to the students and become a member of their "fan club". Now, just wait... I haven't shared the MOST exciting part.... are you ready?!

Artsonia.com  donates 20% of all purchases back to the ART ROOM at our school!!

Through purchasing with artsonia.com you are not only giving someone an amazing gift, but you are also giving your child the gift of the latest art supplies and materials!!! 

And so...... LET YOUR HOLIDAY SHOPPING BEGIN!

**If you do not know your child's ID name/number for the site, please find Ms. Foy, or e-mail her for it at msfoysartroom@gmail.com !!**

       

 

What's New in the Life of Ms. Foy?! DUBLIN !!!!

Meet Dublin! No, not the city! Ms. Foy's dog!!

 A lot of my students ask me about where I live, and when I respond with "in a house", they give me a shocked look as to why I don't live in school, well recently (2.5 weeks ago) Paul and I got a dog!  He's an adorable four year old brittany spaniel named Dublin!  He is a wonderful little furry friend and so far my students have LOVED to learn about him and even see a picture or two.  He is a hunting dog and so he loves to look out the window(as you can see, he thinks he fits on the top of the recliner!). 

He's super fun and hyper and LOVES kids and all people and other dogs. At the end of a fun day at the dog park and walking through Alexandria, he  crashes on the couch!  Hope you enjoyed this little insight into the life of Ms. Foy!   Maybe Dublin will get to visit Bancroft sometime during the PS/PK Pets Tools of the Mind theme.

IPAD MINI in ACTION!

Happy Monday!  Check out this quick update on how students are using the Donors Choose Ipad Mini in the classroom!  We have been using it to upload our artwork to an online gallery called artsonia.com! Check out the process here!