kinder castle prints

painting-what kids are learning (2nd Grade)

Because it might not seem so obvious to the casual observer what kids actually learn in a painting class I thought I'd write a blog post about it....and specifically point out all the learning that is actually happening right before our eyes. In art, children come with and move through a wide set of skills at different speeds. As a teacher it's my job to know where they are so that when I talk to them about their work I know how to perhaps extend their learning or present them with questions that will make them think deeper. 

Below, the child has acquired a few more skills than the other children. While I did demonstrate how it's easier to first paint he background and THEN the subject than the other way around, this child took what I taught the class and ran with it by first applying their background paint color, then the flowers, etc. Although, all students in 2nd grade heard and saw my demo, not all students will pick up the skills as quickly as this child did. Some students need to find out skills on their own and that is totally fine too. 


Below is an even higher student. She, not only pre-painted her background, but she also painted the face, THEN detailed the face. In addition to these skills, she also chose a very thin brush to paint on the whiskers, while using a larger brush to quickly cover the larger areas, as shown in the picture. 


Now this child below chose to go about the other way and learned two amazing. Lessons on his very own. One, he learned that to make the shorts on the figure stand out from the background he could add white to his blue. What a valuable lesson to learn, and he did this all on his own. Second, because he chose to first paint his figure, then his background he found that in some areas the background color (blue) bled into his figure. Here he is cleaning out the edged with yellow so as to not lose the figure with frayed edges. Again, he is experiencing issues with his work and he is solving problems as he works. Now, it's important to point out that I did not provide the answers myself. The ability to persist thought tough problems and then to personally come up with solutions is a powerful long retention type of learning; much more valuable than just me handing him the answers. 

           The artist below also had the issue of losing the legs of the figures due to painting the background second. She is a fast worker so 10minutes before class ends she announces, "I'm done." To extend her learning I show her how to add texture to her grass by using the flip side of her brush to scratch the wet paint. She loved the results and when others were curious about her results I allowed her to be the instructor. 

 Normally, the fascination with the water color changes ends in kindergarten, but these students were fascinated with the water color and the changes that happened after each brush wash. This level of fascination is rarely seen in a school day and I love seeing it when it happens. 

     

This artist held her work upright and I loved the careful way she was applying her white color on the paint. 

               This artist began with a very skinny Spiderman. As he painted he noticed the edges did not look clean enough for his taste and he tried to solve the problem by adding another color to serve as a border, yet, the initial paint color was still wet so the colors mixed requiring another layer of color trying to fix it. Next week, when he gets his dried painting back I will keep an eye on him and see if he makes the connection that it's easier to fix paint mistakes when dry than when wet. If the connection is not made, I might coax him gently to not keep applying more paint as a solution. I might also suggest a smaller brush and also encouraging him to hold the brush in a way that gives him more control. 

I love this painting. There is so much obvious narrative happening here. He told me the blue marks were raindrops. Next class I will encourage him to use a slightly thinner brush and encourage him to (1) repaint some colors and over the same dried colors to make the colors brighter or (2) encourage him to add tiny details using this fine brush. Either way, I don't think this child is ready to paint the background for with his rough fine motor we might lose the image all together. I would much rather he continue working on his fine motor skills and let the skills come when they are ready. I believe introducing students to skills before they are ready just makes them less confused and makes feel less confident overall. 

Back to this artist. I noticed she was struggling to blend her background into a unified color. This, again, is one of those valuable struggles that one can only learn how to do by doing it. I took note of where she was and walked away. If she's still struggling next class I will suggest the use of a larger brush and more watery paint. But for now, I will trust that maybe, just maybe she will come to a solution all on her own, which again, is a much higher type of learning. 

This young artist below has made many edits in his work. The colors and shapes are rich and exciting. I cannot wait to see what it turns out like. Next week I will encourage him to use a fine brush to add details and maybe even have him do a gallery walk in which he walks around to see what others are doing.