The Dot by Peter Reynolds
For the first lesson this year, I read The Dot by Peter Reynolds. It is a story about a little girl named Vashti who thinks she can't draw. Her art teacher tells her "to make a mark and see where it takes you" She then jabs the paper with her pencil. Next art class Vashti finds that her teacher has framed her dot in "swirly gold" From here she is inspired to create many kinds of dots.
Stained Glass Candles
Before winter break we focused on drawing candles as they are a part of many different kinds of celebrations this time of year. I gave a brief demonstration on ways of drawing candles and candle holders. We also talked about what stained glass looks like and where it can be found. Students drew out the candles using pencil, and then broke up the background using a ruler. We revisited the wax resist technique by applying black oil pastel over the pencil and added color using watercolor strips. The children are learning how to care for the materials by remembering to use proper technique when using the paint and brushes, and also how store them when class is over.