MORE Finished Pillows!!

Artists in the 3rd grade hold up their finished DC Landmark pillows!

Ms. Otten's Class Create Simple Frame-by-Frame Movie

Ms. Otten's class and all the 5th graders are exploring various ways of making small movies. We began this unit with exploring how movies can be made frame by frame using minute movements. Ms. Otten class, which I see twice a week created a paper scroll this week in which the "character" will stand and the background rolls creating the affect of a person walking through a scene. These two are fairly elementary but in doing them children begin to generate ideas of various other possibilities within this medium. If they show excitement about this at home perhaps it's time to let them work with a digital camera and a tripod and allow them to make their own movies.

Desperately Needed Items for Next Week!!

I've decided that I will post 1 or 2 recycled items a week that I desperately need. You can of course keep collecting those cereal boxes, spools, cardboard pieces and magazines and bring them in when you can.....but for the coming week I will really needs (drum roll): SHOEBOXES!

Shoeboxes.

1st Graders Begins Constructing Houses for Mice

In connection with 1st grade author study of Kevin Henkes' work, children in the art room will be making houses for mice. Each child will use recycled materials to create a house fit for a mouse.

In preparation, we looked at various images of other small houses as reference.
This one has 3 floors.
This one has a wrapping paper wallpaper and ribbon on the sides.
This one has 4 rooms.
This one has a curtain and decorated painted walls.
Here is an example of how children could use recycled materials to create a chair.

Below are images of children painting their homes. Due to the lack of shoe boxes for each child, children are working in pairs to construct a space fit for a pretend talking mouse.
Children has to make decisions about inside and outside colors.

Drawing Animals Using Shapes Displays- Kindergarten

Kindergartners have been learning about how shapes come together to make depictions of animals. They have also been using their skills learned last week on lines to add details to their drawings such as feathers, fur, or claws.

What an incredible drawing!!
Check out those wrinkle marks on the elephant's torso.
What a furry fox this is!
Children created these drawings from real images of animals taken from various DC zoo calendars donated to the Murch art department by the amazing Murch parents. Keep those donations coming!

In this class children learned to identify simple math shapes by looking at more complicated figures.

Eric Carle Animal Collages Display Up in the Lobby

You are invited to view the Eric Carle collages created by Ms. Mahar's class in their collage unit.

Children first studied and made several guesses about how Eric Carle might use his brush to make the marks they see on his painted paper collages. And as in every large project, we began with sketching our animals.
Here are some sample painted paper we used to create our collages.
Here are some observations we made in looking closer at how Eric Carle might have created his collages.
sample work from the children. To see more come to Murch and enjoy the collages.

Pre-K Identify ALL the Lines They Know

Kids use white oil pastels to draw lines on black paper. We learned what makes lines different than shapes, then listed all the different types of lines they know; all the way down to alphabet letters that are made up of lines.

This artist made a very long straight line on his paper.
This artist used many straight lines next to one another.

This artist uses some bumpy lines to make flowers.

This artist is very focused on his job.
After, children turned their paper around and used the new lines they learned to make a drawing.