Winter Inside

To finish up our authors and illustrators unit, the 1st and 2nd graders had a chance to be illustrators themselves! 

We read the poem "Winter Inside" by Douglas Florian. 

Winter Inside

Winter is cold.

Winter is ice.

But winter inside 

Is cozy and nice.

Winter is snow.

Winter is sleet.

But winter inside 

Is fireplace feet.

Winter is bitter.

Winter is biting.

But winter inside 

Is very inviting.

After brainstorming some imagery to go along with the poems, students received a copy of "Winter Inside" with 2 lines written on each page. Then, they illustrated the poetry book!

Robert Frost-inspired Landscape

Do Now: Describe your perfect snow day. What would you do first? Next? Last?

For the last day of our "Genres of Art" unit, the 3rd and 4th grade focused on landscapes. Because it was too cold to go outside and draw a real landscape (it's been snowing for days!), we decided to draw from our imagination. 

We read the poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost. 

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.   

His house is in the village though;   

He will not see me stopping here   

To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   

To stop without a farmhouse near   

Between the woods and frozen lake   

The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake   

To ask if there is some mistake.   

The only other sound’s the sweep   

Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   

But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep.

First, we read the poem and listened to the way the words sound. Then we read it again, making sure we knew what was happening in each verse. Last, we read through stanza by stanza and used the clues Robert Frost gives to try to visualize the landscape. The speaker is in the woods, at dusk, during a snowstorm. He is near trees and a frozen lake, and the only other living thing nearby is his horse. 

After brainstorming, we sketched and painted what we say in our imagination!

Animator Visit: Jonathon Rosen 

The 1st and 2nd grade has been very lucky! Today we welcomed our 2nd guest, animator Jonathan Rosen. 

Jonathan Rosen is from San Francisco, and moved to New York City after graduating from Bard College. He is an actor, musician, and animator. Jonathan worked for animator Bill Plympton, helping him color in his animations. Jonathan is currently working on the film "Lake City", where he is an actor playing an animator! 

First Jonathan taught us a bit about animation, explaining how he puts together hundreds of drawings to make his pictures look like they're moving. 

Then, we watched one of his first animations, "Animeditation."

Animeditation from Jonathan Rosen on Vimeo.



Jonathan explained how he made the drawings and sounds for this animation - he recorded each one himself! There are also more than 1,200 drawings in this 3-minute animation. 

Next, we were able to watch Jonathan's other animation, "Golden Ears". This film was entered in to many contests, both in the US and abroad. Jonathan said that it was even seen by people in Australia! 



Golden Ears from Jonathan Rosen on Vimeo.


After seeing both of Jonathan's wonderful animations, we went back in to our classroom for our art project. 

Jonathan explained what a "blind contour drawing" is, an artistic exercise that he uses to warm himself up for drawing. 

In a blind contour drawing, the artist picks something to draw and stares only what he or she is drawing, not at the paper! The other rule is that the artist can not lift up his or her pencil from the paper while he or she is drawing. 

After learning the rules, the 1st and 2nd graders tried their hand at some blind contour drawings. 

Though it was tricky, the students rose to the challenge. 

Last but not least, we got to make our own mini-animations! Each student received a blank flip book with 10 pages.

It was difficult to capture all the flip books, but they were truly amazing. 

Thank you for coming Jonathan! 

Illustrator Visit: 

Leslie Cober - Gentry 

Today we had the honor of welcoming our first guest, illustrator Leslie Cober-Gentry. Leslie is a successful freelance illustrator and adjunct professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology. You can read more about her here.

First, Leslie showed the 1st and 2nd graders a wonderful slideshow of her work, past and present. She even included sketches that she had made when she was 7 years old! 

Check out some of her work below, and click here for a larger collection of her illustrations. 

After the presentation, Leslie showed the students sketches from her upcoming book, "The thumbsucker". She talked about her process - sketching, adding more detail with mixed mediums (ink, colored pencil, water color, collage), and sending it off to publishers! 

Not only did the 1st and 2nd graders get a behind-the-scenes look at Leslie's work, but they also had a chance to color in her sketches themselves. 

Here is an example of one of Leslie's sketches.

Thank you so much for your time Ms. Cober- Gentry!!

Andy Warhol, Day 2

Do Now: Draw a city on an alien planet.

Today we continued to study Andy Warhol's still lives, moving on to his more famous prints. 

His soup cans...

...and his bananas!

Students observed these still lives, noticing how Warhol kept the shape realistic even if the colors were not. 

The 3rd and 4th grade concentrated very hard, and there results were wonderful!