Why I’m Giving My Students $10

If you came into the art room lately, you may have heard kids talking about whether they could afford to buy bottle caps or a balloon, or asking whether I take returns.  You may have seen kids in deep discussions about what supplies they really need and what they could live without.  You may have seen me handing back change after they handed me a dollar and thanking them for doing business with me.

So what’s the deal?  Have I started actually charging kids for their supplies?!  YES!!!!

Continue reading

Snowflake Challenge!

6 Maple Winners!

Stella!!!!!!

Snowstorm Stella is approaching, and we’re in full snowflake alert mode in the art room today.  All art students are taking a break from business as usual and competing in a SNOWFLAKE CHALLENGE!

Slow and steady wins the race….

Kids are being given a variety of paper choices and are challenged to each create a snowflake using whatever method they want.  Snowflakes can be 2D or 3D, and can be any shape or size.  After 20 minutes of research and development, kids are marching two by two up to the second floor and dropping their snowflakes off the stairwell.  Each head to head match yields a winner- the kid whose snowflake takes the longest to hit the ground.

Giulia tries a 3D design

 

STEAM and Snowflakes

Today the two go hand in hand.  STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) in the classroom is a big part of the ever evolving art curriculum, and today we are sneaking a little engineering into the festivities.  Talk of drag, weight and surface area can be heard as kids are designing their flakes.  They’re testing their theories, and re-evaluating as they go.  Some ideas get scrapped, some get modified.  Some are big, and some are small (some are the size of a quarter!).  Whatever shape or size, though, we’re all having a (snow) ball!!