Teacher:
		Barbara Mail Art

Through a series of open-ended projects children begin to develop self-confidence in their ability to express their thoughts and feelings about themselves and the world around them. Projects become increasingly more complex, more challenging, and more time-consuming as the students move up in grade level. Art projects are used to support the development of creative thinking and problem solving, while striving to enhance the academic curriculum.

In the younger grades, our projects will often derive from the sharing of wonderful children's literature. Beautiful picture books will gently guide us through learning about shape, line, color, and other elements of design. Weather permitting, we enjoy spending time honing our observational skills by drawing leaves, trees, and landscapes right outside the art room. The students enjoy projects about the pond environment when they are in first grade, as that is the focus of their year in science. Fourth graders learn to weave and make clay pots, as the Leni Lenape did in their settlements along the Delaware River. Third graders enrich their study of birds through various projects, both whimsical and reflective.

Portraits of all types: symbolic, abstract, in the style of famous artists, just to name a few, will dot the landscape of middle school. Our goal is to become more familiar with the language and elements of art and the work of a number of famous artists. We begin to develop a comfort level with color theory, various media, and more advanced techniques. In middle school, art enriches and supports the academic curriculum through the study of ancient cultures and American history, through the science curriculum and through language arts, as well. It runs the gamut from Hopi Kachina dolls, to Flat Earth monsters, and from Roman theater masks, to low relief carving in the style of the WPA. Inspiration is everywhere!

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