A Belated Thank You to My Fellow Traders...

Please forgive my tardiness!  I posted a while back about the progress of our Artist Trading Card project, with the intentions of publicly listing and thanking all the schools who participated.  I got a little sidetracked, but better late than never!
This ATC trade ended up being one of the highlights of the year.  My 3rd and 4th graders traded with 6 different schools, from 3 other states and 3 other countries. We looked at websites from the various schools and cities, and shared our information with all of them. It was fun to see all the mascots, favorite places, and activities other students enjoy. THANK YOU so much to the following art teachers and students for making this happen:
Anna Pietrolungo, Melbourne Australia, Imagine Explore Create - amazing Egyptian themed cards
Sylvia Marshall, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada - "Lines Blowing in the Wind " theme, using technology!
Angela Harris, Tulsa Oklahoma - Fall trees theme
Becca Witherow, Crossville TN - Still life/Fall theme
Esther Vlaar, The Netherlands - Op Art illusion theme 
Katie Morris, Topeka, Kansas - Adventures of an Art Teacher - Fall Sunflower theme from the Sunflower state
Click these links to see our mapping and preparations:
http://dolvinartknight.blogspot.com/2011/12/mapping-our-atcs.html
http://dolvinartknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/atcs-ready-for-shipment.html


keeping track of our trades



Career portraits

First graders looked at the portraits of American painter William H. Johnson and shared some style ideas in our own portraits of career people. Students were asked to draw a portrait of someone with an interesting career, or maybe even a portrait of themselves as an adult. We used Johnson's whimsical drawing style, black outlines, and colorful shapes. It seems that in about twenty years, there will be many professional ninjas and martial arts instructors!

Weaving, stitching, and boy is my room a mess

***Update: my weaving handout & prep sheet for the cardboard weaving project is now available on Teachers pay Teachers - see if it might help you https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mrs-Knights-Smartest-Artists ***
It's that time of year - everybody's doing some form of fiber arts and my room is all a-tangle with yarn and floss. Although I have been weaving with my students for years, stitchery is relatively new to me and I am loving every minute of it. I purchased a huge box full of embroidery hoops and they are so helpful for the students, although my thumbs were numb for a few days after loading about 150 hoops with fabric. The projects are still in the works, so I'll share some "in progress" shots of the 3rd grade sampler stitching and the 5th grade tapestry weaving.

an animation of dovetail weaving drawn in the My Brushes app