AWESOME Artwork

In the last month of school, I showed my 1st graders the artwork of Dallas Clayton and talked about his book, "An Awesome Book". I love Dallas Clayton's artwork and writing because it's super positive and often about dreams and imagination. He also just seems like a pretty cool guy! An Awesome Book was written for his son and when I used his book as inspiration for a "Positivity Monster" project a couple years ago, he turned around and was inspired by one of my students to write a new poem "I Love You I'm a Sea Monster". 

Most of the students chose to make positivity monsters so I'm sure that it would be a hit as a "have to" project as well. I just asked the students to make up an imaginary creature, maybe a combination of other animals if they needed a starting point, and then if they chose to, add a positive phrase that would make the reader feel happy.

In addition to imagination practice, I used this time to demonstrate wet on wet watercolor techniques. 

The first time I taught this lesson was toward the beginning of the school year. What a difference a year makes in 1st grade writing abilities!

 A bonus mini lesson came up when students kept asking about writing bubble letters. Turning a line into a shape was a fun challenge.

I ended up holding on to several of the paintings that I'm planning to use in my back to school bulletin board. I think it will say "Have an AWESOME year!" or something like that.

 

I hope this artwork made you happy. Remember, You are Awesome!

Visiting Author(s)

I haven't posted much lately because I am switching over to my new laptop and don't yet have Photoshop... Here's a post that doesn't require student artwork!

On Thursday author David T. Greenberg visited my schools. I saw the talk he gave to my 4th graders about growing up during the Civil Rights era. His father is Jack Greenberg,the lawyer who litigated the "landmark Brown v. Board of Education case that overturned the 'separate but equal' doctrine" (http://www.naacpldf.org/jack-greenberg-biography) and was one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s lawyers. Greenberg wrote a book called "A Tugging String" that was inspired by what he experienced as his father's son. I haven't had a chance to read the book yet, but it's on my "to read" list and was highly recommended by my colleagues. The talk was amazing- informative, entertaining, and heartfelt. It was a great experience for students and staff alike. I fought tears through most of it, affected by all the photos he showed and stories he shared. The timing of his visit was appropriate as this year marks the 40th anniversary of the Brown v. Board decision.



Reflecting on his talk- how excited the students were and how much they/we learned, I started thinking about my dream list of authors to bring to school if the focus were more on art, and, you know, if we didn't have to worry about silly things like availability and budget...
Here they are, in random order.
Dallas Clayton- I first learned about Dallas Clayton a few years ago when I heard about "An Awesome Book". He's written several more books and posted lots of artwork, all bursting with positivity and messages about dreaming big dreams, being gracious, and trying new things. Students enjoy his stories and are inspired by his artwork. Here's some artwork my students made after reading "An Awesome Book" a couple years ago. I think this year my oldest son will be old enough to get the book for Christmas!




Stephen T. Johnson- Stephen T. Johnson was a speaker at the KAEA conference in Lawrence back in 2009 (I think). I fell in love with his book "A is for Art: An Abstract Alphabet". The book is filled with alliterative contemporary art based on each letter of the alphabet, and with the letter hidden in each work. I just saw an autographed copy of the book in a museum gift shop yesterday and it reminded me that it's been too long since I read it.




Peter H. Reynolds- Responsible for "the Dot", "Ish", and "Sky Color" as part of the "Creatrilogy" and several other books. Every September International Dot Day is a global celebration of creativity and "making your mark." Peter, along with his brother Paul, also formed Fable Vision, an education company with some cool products, including big screen books, posters (free poster downloads are occasionally offered if you get their newsletter), and programs that encourage writing, creativity, and self expression. I don't have a smartboard so I haven't tried any of the programs, but I do enjoy the free posters. :)



Eric Carle- Need I say more? Eric Carle's first venture into illustrating books was at the request of Bill Martin Jr. who wanted to work with him on "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" Eric Carle has illustrated more than 70 books, most of which he has also written. I love his unique style of artwork, collage made from papers he has painted, and that his books are often inspired by a love of nature. My earliest Eric Carle memory was playing the part of "the Very Hungry Caterpillar" in my preschool play. Carle says,
“With many of my books I attempt to bridge the gap between the home and school. To me home represents, or should represent; warmth, security, toys, holding hands, being held. School is a strange and new place for a child. Will it be a happy place? There are new people, a teacher, classmates—will they be friendly?

I believe the passage from home to school is the second biggest trauma of childhood; the first is, of course, being born. Indeed, in both cases we leave a place of warmth and protection for one that is unknown. The unknown often brings fear with it. In my books I try to counteract this fear, to replace it with a positive message. I believe that children are naturally creative and eager to learn. I want to show them that learning is really both fascinating and fun.” (http://www.eric-carle.com/bio.html)

I know I could have added more to my list... which author/illustrators would you love to meet or have visit your school?

I Love You I am a Sea Monster

This is exactly why social media is great. It's all about sharing! A couple days ago, I posted artwork that my 1st and 2nd grade students made after being inspired by Dallas Clayton's artwork. I posted it on Twitter and tagged @dallasclayton. He posted the drawings on his website. Someone told him that I Love You I am a Sea Monster would make a great film, and it inspired him to write a poem! I can not wait to show this to my students, who will surely feel like celebrities (in a good way.) Thank you, Dallas Clayton!

Dallas Clayton Inspired "Positivity Monsters"

My 1st graders' first project for the year was inspired by artist/author Dallas Clayton. I started following him after his book, An Awesome Book, came out and when I saw some of his personal artwork, I got an immediate idea for an Art lesson. Clayton created a bunch of 6x9 inch paintings that all feature a little creature with a positive message written on them. I don't know what he calls them, but I nicknamed them "Positivity Monsters".

On the first day of the lesson, I told the students a little bit about Dallas Clayton and we read his entire book online, projected big enough for the whole class to see. You need to read this book. It has an awesome message. It really is an AWESOME book. I'm planning to order copies for my son, niece, and nephew next year when they are a little bit older. You can read the book for free right here: http://veryawesomeworld.com/. We talked about how Dallas Clayton wants to use his Art to make the world a better place and discussed how that is possible. The students agreed that you can make the world better by making something that makes people feel good. The students drew an imaginary "monster" and then wrote something positive on their artwork like the monster was saying it. This was the biggest challenge- writing short sentences with 1st graders at the beginning of the year. I tried a one day version of this lesson, with crayon instead of watercolors, with 2nd grade and that was a lot easier. I'm hoping to have a "spare" Art day when I can try this with older students, maybe 5th graders, because I think they would do an amazing job.

 Enjoy a sample of the 1st and 2nd graders' Positivity Monsters. 

And have an AWESOME day.

Dallas Clayton featured some of my students' drawings on his website! Check it out: http://dallasclayton.com/post/32756062044/look-at-these-amazing-drawings-of-positivity