Visual Arts Community Unit

As I continue to take more college courses, I continue to gain more knowledge to use in the classroom with my kiddos!
Check out the Wiki that I created for my current college class.  This Wiki discusses my Visual Art Community Unit.  It's a unit that I've taught many times, but I've added a 21st Century teacher spin on it.
The Wiki can be found here:
http://m4ney.pbworks.com/w/page/54017604/Visual%20Arts%20Community%20Unit


A You Tube video discussing the Wiki can be found here:

Electronic Portfolio

My Introduction to Principles of Instructional Technology Class is finished.  Spring Semester at Ashland University is coming to a close.
For our final project, we were to complete an Electronic Portfolio of all our work this semester.  This was a great opportunity to create my own website.  I loved learning this technology!  This was, by far, my favorite class at Ashland.  It also inspired me to shift my Master's degree to one with a Technology facilitator endorsement.  This means that more technology classes await me in the coming year.
Please take a moment to look at my Electronic Portfolio here:
http://www.wix.com/m4ney3/melissaforney

Masks

My students are currently learning about masks.
 We began by watching a Movie about Masks.  I created this movie during my Graduate Technology class.

Mask Movie

Circle Mask with Feeling

1st grade students created Circle Masks.  Using paper plates, they were asked to emphasize facial expression.

Orange Bird Mask

Bird Mask with Horns

Pink Bird Mask

2nd grade students created Bird Masks.  Using paper and found objects, they were asked to keep masks symmetrical.

Red and Orange Echo Mask

Purple and Yellow Echo Mask

Pink and Yellow Echo Mask

 3rd and 4th Grade Students created Echo Masks.  They followed step by step directions in the beginning.  This helped them to create eyes, nose, and mouth.  Paper was folded to keep the design symmetrical.  Found objects were added for design.

Printmaking

Our students have just finished a lesson on Printmaking.

1st grade students created patterns with styrofoam incised plates.  We discussed basic symbols as well as how to make an "A B A" pattern.

2nd grade students created animal pictures.  We used animal models to learn how to draw an animal figure.  After creating 4 sketches, the kids choose their favorite animal drawing.  They then transferred their drawing to a Styrofoam plate and created a series of prints.

3rd grade students created monogramed cards from printing with styrofoam incised plates.  They were given the option to use their cards for Valentines day, thank you cards or any other idea.

4th grade students began a unit on architecture.  We discussed Frank Lloyd Wright then designed their own building. Finally, they created a series of prints with their Styrofoam incised plates.
Here are a few examples of artwork created in the 4th grade classes.

As part of my current Graduate school class, I created a Glogster to show the students about Printmaking.  Thankfully, I have a gorgeous projector in my classroom that is connected to my computer.  This gives me the capability to project this Glog onto the white board in the Art Room.

You can see the Printmaking Glogster here:

http://m4ney.edu.glogster.com/printmaking/?

I love Technology!

Introduction to Principles of Instructional Technology
For the past year, I've been working on my Master's degree from Ashland University.  It all began because I needed to take 12 college credits to renew my Ohio Teaching License.  But if I'm going to spend time taking classes, it better count towards a degree. So, I enrolled in Ashland University to gain a Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction.  As a working mother of two very active daughters, I love Ashland's online offerings.  As I type this homework assignment, I'm on the WiFi at my church while my daughter is in Youth Group!  I can get class work done and take my daughters to their activitites.

As part of my current course, I must create and maintain a Blog.  Thankfully, I've already created this blog.  So, I plan to add a few posts over the next few months about my classwork.
Most recently, we learned to make a Wiki.  Here is the link to my Wiki:
 http://melissaforney.pbworks.com/w/page/50289233/FrontPage

I hope that you'll check it out.  The best part of the Wiki is my research on creating an Art History timeline on the Internet.  Since a basic timeline is required for all 4th grade students in Visual Art in Ohio, I decided to add a technology component.  I'm currently working on the logistics to take the Harmon Elementary students into the computer lab so that they can create their own timeline.

Art History Timeline on Timetoast

After suffering through a college course rich in data and numbers - Quantitative Analysis, I am loving this current course - Introducation to Principles of Instructional Technology.  I've even considered adding a Technology endorsement to my teaching license and adding a "minor" in Technology to my Master's Degree.  Any teachers out there have any recommendations for me?