Feedback of San Diego Art Museum

    When being toured through the San Diego Museum of Art, I learned how to read a piece of artwork from past artist. In the past month i feel like i have been a ten year old learning about lines, colors and the meaning behind artwork. Museums are good for children to learn about different cultures artwork and their sense of style. The mentor had us compare and contrast two different art pieces. When teaching kids about art it is helpful for them to compare and contrast between two different cultures, which we did. Children are able to see different techniques of paintings from various artist and it helps to show kids that anything can be art. It takes years for people to have an appreciation for art but looking up close especially at the first portrait we saw of the women you never can see all the little detail until you are up close in person and the different colors of paint along with it. I believe when you show kids and they recognize the detail it gives them an appreciation and an interest in their own art. When deciding what grade you start to take children to a museum like this, i do not think that 2nd graders are going to find an interest in wall portraits like displayed, i think 4th and 5th is the right age to bring children to see the history of art. Around that grade level kids start to find there nitch of what kind of artwork they enjoy.

Headdress Fun

     Taken that Cinderella is still my favorite movie of all time i wanted to come up with something different than the pink and white notation for "princess." Thinking about if i where to teach 2nd graders about fairy tales, i would incorporate this with the idea of having the students read and watch a couple fairy tales then use their own imagination to crete their own. I went with the idea of the idea of creating a headdress for the up coming month. I gathered some scrapbook supplies from home and noticed i had a lot of green. My sister's birthday is own March 17th and she reminded me of a princess so i went with the idea of making a Saint Patty's headdress. I took a paper bag from the supermarket and evened it out to make it into a round cylinder. I started by cutting triangles out of the top to give it the royalty look. I took the salmon colored tissue paper and wrap it around the bottom rim of the hat then stuff green tissue paper through it. I tore up gold tissue paper to create the gold coins for the points of the headdress. I did not know going into the project what version of Cinderella i wanted to create. When i think of Cinderella i think of a princess who was special and deserved Prince Charming. You can make a Princess out of anyone and i choose since it was my sister's birthday to make her the princess. 

In the California Content Standards I think #2.5 and 7 relates to the project. When presenting the headdress there had to be our own story behind why we created what we created. We had to take a story and make a headdress out of it. For children this is important because it makes them get creative and visually describe each and every detail why they made what they made and what was the meaning behind it. 

Visual Thinking Strategies Response

Visual thinking strategies, I believe broaden the students expansion on looking just not what is in the box but digging in and thinking what else lies out side of the box. Students who look into the work presented challenge the brain and mind to think more about not just the color and the object in the portrait but to think of the time era, setting, meaning behind the painting and so on. Breaking down the portrait allows the brain to continuously grow. When asking student in a group about the specific painting, allows students to look at the picture in many ways. When students share ideas it allows the student to expand on an other's thought even though the may not agree, with a teacher around it teaches that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It also can be describe as team work when all students pitch in and work together to figure out a specific painting and the meaning.  


I found this interesting painting by Treden Wagoner called "The Intrigue" and got a few of my girl friends perspective of it. It was funny because we thought and brought up many of the same predictions but what was different was to see the difference of a 21 year olds view compared to the children in the video. I picked the photo because it was colorful. We all noticed the time of people in the photo where Asian decent, although in the background their was puppeteer characters. The people had huge red defined lips and pale faces. Looked like they where taking a photo at a circus. My friend pointed out they could have been involved in a theatre performance. It was nice to see their points of view but after 10 minutes we started to get more aggressive and just wanted the answer. Taking more than a few history classes in the past two years i know i have use VTS to help me understand the meaning behind the time era i would read about. I feel VTS is useful if you have a hard time comprehending reading material and sometimes when you take a photo and disect it the story becomes more clear to understand. 

Art is all around us..

    Looking back and really thinking about art in elementary i found out that art is in dancing and art is all around us. Kids typically think that art is only done in art class. Teachers in my school incorporated many ways using creativity and expanding the child's mind with new ideas of describing a book with using an essay we would make a portrait to describe the book or make a mini book giving a summary of the story. In science we would create projects to describe a cell. Especially re creating the missions in 4th grade. As a child growing up i always gave the artwork part of the project to someone else to do it for me. Fortunately i finally putt effort into a project while in class that i never thought i would be able to accomplish. Art is not based on a grade, it is putting in your effort and thought to create something creative to describe your personality. I remember going on many vacations when i was little and i would take pictures of sculptures, paintings and signs. From the hotel having many pieces of artworks to downtown and seeing graffiti. It is all artwork. As a child though, it is not likely that most kids appreciate art like most adults/artist do. When i started scrap booking at a young age it gave me the patience when looking at others work to stop and noticed the small detail in the projects. Or when decorating a cake, the design of the cake and what i choose to create when it is a birthday verse just because. Art to me is something that i find by taking my visual vision and putting it to work. In my school teacher would take a book that a student finds interesting and something that relates to the theme of the month and she would have us make something out of it. It teaches children to go above and beyond just writing a simple essay by putting colors, shapes and descriptions behind the meaning.

     I believe learning is a form of art. There is so much a young child learns and processes through what Morgan had describe using a diagram of the brain. He states that the brain does not grow unless it is processed. The brain is designed and trained to only see one side, students who can take an object and make different shapes of it are students making something out of just one thing. When looking at a cloud formation in the sky it can appear very clearly to be a heart in the sky but to other the could possibly see it as a flower or the letter B. My favorite thing Morgan stated in the beginning is you do not have to be an artist to make art. Teachers associate the visual and the verbal through the process of art integration.

       Talking about the importance of teachers being a part of a students work and engaging the children Morgan tells that the benefits are enhanced by meaningful teachers. I believe that is true because my best teachers are the ones who put in just as much effort as us children did. He talks about how providing art integration is motivates the student to come to school. Kids want to engage and learn and make something out of it. I remember my sister, and still to this day loves to take book reports and paint a portrait out of the meaning and then write on it. When students use art through learning it challenges their brain to think out of the box. I really enjoyed Morgans talk because it proved you do not have to be an art teacher to teach art and it does not have to look perfect, it is a work in progress.

Chapter 3.. Question 8 Response

This photo was done by my friend Kailey. It was funny to see the difference in the way people draw the body figures. This one used the stick figure version which is very popular for people who don't believe they can draw. After learning about lines in the last two classes, it's neat to see them applied to our everyday life. I thought it was also fun to see her apply her everyday hobby into the picture taken she's a cheerleading. Understanding people and their way of technique and using art, my friend is 22 and still has the capability of drawing like an elementary student.

This one made me laugh because it looks half girl and half boy. The girl who drew this does have short hair but the clothes and shoes resemble a boy and the eyes look very feminine. This figure is waving his hands out. Everything about this person seems very round. Once again a very non artistic drawer. I like how she made the shoulders bigger to make him look more of a man. The bulky shoes however resemble a typical skater look.

The girl looks a bit more hippy and artistic. She is sitting in a yoga pose it looks like. I how she use the technique of over lapping of the legs, although her hands and arms do not look portioned properly. The way her hair style is lets you know she has volume in her hair. This does not look like she is very artistic because she does have the ability of an elementary student.

Chapter 1 K-8 Figure Response

Before Reading Chapter		After Reading Chapter
A = agree		A = agree
D = disagree	Statements	D = disagree
D	The arts (music, visual art, Theatre and Dance) are core content areas	A
A	The arts should be taught be art specialists (music, dance, theatre, visual art) only.	A
A	There are arts specialist at (my or local) K-8 school site.	D
A	Classroom teachers should use arts activity within other content area instructional goals.	A
A	I am comftorable with the idea of using the arts in connection with other learning across my classroom curriculum.	A
A	Students can increase understanding through arts activity connected to other content area instructional goals	A

Chapter 2.. Question 4 Response

1. Comparing Cultures

http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Social_Studies/Multicultural_Education/MUL0005.html

2. Looking at Different Cultures

http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Social_Studies/Multicultural_Education/MUL0008.html

3. Women's Suffrage

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/tv/printables/tv00105s3.pdf

4. Women and "Her" Story 

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/tv/printables/tv00105s4.pdf

5. Caryatids

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/childrens-art-activities/lesson-plan/5115.html?detoured=1

Within these teaching websites there is a lot to check out. Regarding any subject or pacific topic both these websites had much to offer.