Watercolor Painting

Many of you have probably seen the work your children have been doing with watercolor painting.  Last semester we focused on the strokes and movements our brushes made and how we used them with different shapes of paper.  

Rectangle

After exploring first with this new shape of paper, I noticed the children exploring their space.  To do this, they used long lines.  It is a quick and easy way to go from one end of the paper to the other.  I wondered if making lines was easy for them as they were getting used to the materials. 

“Look, look, lines!”

“I make lines like this!”

“My water is turning black.”

Square

I decided on something less long for the next shape to see if lines would be as significant.  What I saw were lines, but also an exploration of “marks.”  I saw some dots, splotches, and collections of paint.   It was interesting to compare the strategies of each child now that they had two examples of work to compare.  This was something that was carried on throughout this exploration.

“I like drawing snakes.”

“My paint is falling down.”

Circle

After seeing more lines, I was beginning to think the edges of the paper was having a large effect on the technique.  What I saw with circles was of course, more circular marks.  It was obvious the children were inspired by the paper because they mimicked it with paint.  What were straight lines, turned to curved ones.  I saw dots, splotches, and circular collections of paint.  Some children experimented with the defined bottom/top of their paper by twisting  it around as they worked.  The children had a lot to say.

“I make dots, big and blue.”                  “Do you like my circles?”

“I did a circle when I did this.”                “I’m painting a laugh.”

“I’m going to draw the circles like the paper.”

Triangle

Seeing the children experimenting with the edge of their paper and the absence of a defined top/bottom made me think of a triangle.  It was long, it had edges, and deciding on which edge to “use” was up to the painter.  Here I saw a lot of experimentation with the space.  Children used many of the strategies at once in their own way. 

“I like to paint all the colors together.”

“I made circles and lines.”

“I’m making a triangle!”

With this knowledge under our belts from last semester, I have seen more "creations" with the materials instead of random marks.  The children have started talking about making more than just patterns.  

Now that we mostly know how to use the materials, we can get started on becoming more intentional with our strokes.  Even starting to plan our paintings.

I have started this process by asking the children what they would like to paint a picture of each time they come to the table.  This helps them become more aware of a plan.  Some children have an idea in mind, and others do not talk about it or might not have an idea.  This comes in time.  My hope is that with more discussions and individual attention, the children will be able to become more aware of their work with these materials.

Some of our work so far:

What is that sound?

Instruments have been a big hit in our classroom since the beginning of the semester with certain groups of children.  That idea of sound has been carrying on to our Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.  We have been exploring what it is that makes the best sounds.  We have been looking at more specifically, the type of material that makes sound.  

Ms. Camardese and I have been inspired by these interests and have been looking into the idea of creating our own group instruments for everyone to use.  These afternoons we have been getting together to explore this idea of materials and sound.  Starting with metal, the loudest material we could think of!

We chose familiar materials like keys, pans, tongs, and triangles.  This gave the children the chance to reflect on what they knew about these sounds already.  We compared them with materials we did not know much about like tuning forks, wind chimes, and metal xylophones.

While asking the children to describe their thoughts, we discovered it was harder than it looked.  The children just enjoyed the moment, testing out different sounds with different materials.  Metal pans made a clanging, while tuning forks made more of a ringing sound.  We could hear the vibration!  Overall, the metal sound was loud and sharp.

It was hard to describe with our words, but I could already see the children starting to form their opinions on what materials they liked the most.  In order to create instruments, we need to know what type of materials produce what kind of sounds.  Our intention is to explore other materials and what kind of sound relationships can be formed.

Welcome back!

Welcome back!

New semesters bring new changes.  For the next few months we have a group of new teachers in our classroom.  Ms. Haleigh Sluschewski is here on Mondays and Wednesdays.  Ms. Nawal Darwish is here on Wednesdays.  Ms. Alina Schmidli is here on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  And Ms. Iman Kattan is here on Fridays.  Four new interns with 4 focused projects!  Take a moment to check in with them to see what they have been working on with your children.  Hopefully blog posts will be coming soon from them.

We are continuing our work with instruments and focusing on guitars.  One of the things we have been discussing is where the sound comes from.  It seems to be a mystery right now and maybe we will get some answers soon.



Light is a new idea that we are exploring some days.  Manipulating the light with various materials has been the start of something quite interesting.  What does it mean to be transparent?  How can we make the light move?

I am introducing the idea of painting with different types of paint brushes.  We have been building many things with blocks, and starting on the idea of making different types of sound with various materials.  

There have been a lot of investigations happening and soon we will go into more detail of each of them.  

Stay warm and enjoy the snow!