Art / Overview

New in the Art Zone: Media Centers!

This year, your children have been adjusting to a new system in the art room that is very exciting! Our classroom is now organized around media centers that provide many choices for working within a particular discipline. For example, the Drawing center (above) includes the usual pencils, crayons, and markers, along with charcoal, soft pastels, conte pencils, and kneaded erasers.

This gives children much more freedom to choose the materials that best suit their personalities and comfort levels. By offering familiar materials like crayons alongside unfamiliar ones, such as charcoal, you child is encouraged to branch out and experiment- sometimes the best way to learn!

Whenever we begin a new project, we discuss possible uses and challenges for the different materials. Children have been learning to take responsiblity for their own materials, including proper clean-up and care of art resources. They are learning to recognize that their new choices bring new responsibilities, which is a great lesson for life outside the art room, too!

How can you help? Donate your time...

Parent volunteers are always welcome in the Art room. Please let me know if you plan to come in and help, whether it's your child's art time or another time, help is always welcome! I can be reached here at school via phone (leave a message) or email hope.hanes@lcps.org.

...Or donate your extras!

With the sculpture center opening soon, I am looking for donations of these "recycled" items:

paper towel/gift wrap tubes
unbent flat cardboard scraps (not big boxes)
small paper or cardboard boxes (like jewelry/small gift boxes)
duct tape
wooden dowels
"ziploc" bags of all sizes
anything that you think might spur a child's imagination (without being dangerous!)

Please feel free to email me if you're unsure about something you'd like to donate! :-)

Check out my new "Links and SOL's" page for fun online art activities and Va Art SOL's.

Children in grades 1-5 have art class once a week for 50 minutes.

Are you developping an Artists 8 Habits of Mind?
Develop Craft- Learning to use tools & materials. Learning the practices of an art form.
Engage & Persist- Taking a personal interestin the art world. Developping focus and persevering at art tasks.
Envision- Learning to mentally picture what cannot be directly observed, and imagining possible next steps in making a piece.
Express- Learning to create works that convey feelings, ideas and personal meaning.
Observe- Learning to pay attention to visual contexts more than ordinary "looking" requires. Learning to notice things that might otherwise be overlooked.
Reflect- Learning to think and talk with others about one's work and the process of making it. Judging one's work in relation to the standards of the field.
Stretch & Explore- Reaching beyond your supposed limitations, learning to embrace learning from accidents and mistakes.
Understand the Art World- Learning about he history and practice of art. Interacting with other artists and the art community.

Mrs. Hanes enjoys helping her students develop their creative abilities while learning about the relevance of the arts to their lives. In her classroom, students will find a safe, nurturing environment that values each student’s unique contributions. Best of all, the art room is a place for children to have fun and express themselves!

SCES students can look forward to art lessons that will:

Engage their imaginations by using music, stories, movement and other resources to teach visual art concepts
Teach them about the art and architecture of cultures studied in each grade level
Build a repertoire of experiences based on Virginia’s Standards of Learning for Art that foster creative problem solving skills and aesthetic sensibilities
Encourage every child to value the role of art in their lives and inspire them to do their very best

Grading and Assessment in Elementary Art:

While it can be difficult to place a numeric value on the quality of a student's art room experience, most parents appreciate some feedback about their children's learning. Art projects are developed to align with the Virginia Standards of Learning for Art, and assessments take into consideration each child's progress as measured against the SOL's.

Students in 1st-5th grades are assessed for each project completed during the quarter. Many projects, especially for older (3-5) classes, will take several weeks to complete.

Grades in art are given according to the county-wide guidelines:

E=Exceeeds the standard

M=Meets the standard

P=Progressing toward the standard

B=Below the standard