Just Dance and the Arts

Recently, the specialists collaborated on a project that brought together movement, visual art and music. We hooked up the Wii to the projector and used the huge screen that we made for the holiday program to project the game Just Dance 2.

We learned about how dancing is not only a fun way to get your heart pumping, making you healthier but a way that many cultures around the world, and throughout time, have expressed themselves. We also learned about how the design of the video game itself needs an artist or designer's eye to make it the best it can be.

The designers could have just made plain backgrounds with plain people to go with the music and dance and you still could have a good time playing the game. Instead, they brought in more by dressing the characters up in clothes that represent the time period, culture or subject of the song. The backgrounds also help to enhance our experience by providing us with landscapes of other places and even some very famous architecture such as St. Basil's Cathedral and the Taj Mahal.

Sometimes it is easy to forget how important art is in our lives, but if you stop for a second and look around, you will probably notice it all around you. It is in the music you listen to on your way to school or work, in the posters on your walls, the design of your video games. Throughout time art has been a way to add a little spice to life and a way for people to express their feelings and ideas. We can learn about different places, cultures, time periods and even the person we sit right next to everyday through the art they make. Go and leave your own mark on the world! Be creative! Go make some art!

Barnes and Noble Night

Don't miss our Barnes & Noble book fair this Thursday, November 17th from 5:00pm to 8:00pm! It is being held at the Barnes & Noble Cary location directly across from the Cary Town Center mall. The profits will be used to replace lost and damaged books for the media center.
There is a lot going on that night!

Here is a schedule of events:

5:00pm to 6:00pm Shop in the store

6:00pm to 7:00pm Scavenger Hunt/Read to Guido, the therapy dog

7:00pm to 7:30pm Holiday program sneak peek!

Don't miss all the fun! The Barnes & Noble cafe is creating a special drink called the "Banks Road Blazer" just for us! Come out and try it! Remember all purchases that evening will benefit our school media center, including those in the cafe! All you need to do is show the cashier your voucher! If you can not attend, you can shop all day at any Barnes and Noble with our school voucher and we will benefit! Vouchers will be available at the door that evening! You can also shop online from November 17th to November 22nd using the bookfair ID#10542132. Pass the bookfair ID# to your family and friends throughout the United States - online shopping can be done at anytime during that timeframe using that ID#.

The classroom that has the most students attend will receive a plate of cookies from Barnes & Noble! We hope to see you out there for a great evening of fun and friendship!!

Also, check out the Van Gogh inspired landscapes done by our wonderful second graders!!

Banks Road Students have work at the State Fair

The North Carolina State Fair is in full swing from now until October 23rd here in Raleigh. Some of the great things about the fair, other than the food, rides and games, are the diverse displays of arts and crafts from people all over our state.

There are fine art displays from professional artists, amateur artists and student artists from elementary school to high school. In fact, some of our Banks Road artists have work on display, so be sure to go check that out in the Kerr Scott Building!!

Visual fine art is usually defined as artwork such as drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, etc. In the past these are the types of art that are often displayed in galleries and art museums. The "fine arts" are usually art meant to be looked at but not used. Throughout history though, people have used their creativity and skills to make things we use everyday beautiful and unique. This type of art is called craftwork or sometimes just crafts. Craftwork could include pottery, furniture, blankets or clothes (these are often called textiles), needlework, etc and they are just as creative and can express just as much as the fine arts. You can find wonderful craftwork on display in several places around the fair and in some places you can even buy these crafts to take home: The Village of Yesteryear, Commercial Building and Education Building.

Some of the other creative things you might find at the fair but might not immediately recognize as art or using art skills are:
-cake decorating- some of those cakes look more like sculptures than cakes!
-face painting- it takes some creativity to do those elaborate face paintings
-Caricatures- you know, when they draw your portrait but they make your head way bigger than your body and they make you look a little funny

The Fair website has some great, downloadable scavenger hunts to get kids involved and interested in the exhibits and competition displays, so check out the Fair website.

Link to the Fair website:http://www.ncstatefair.org/2011/index.htm
Link to Fairgrounds Map: http://www.ncstatefair.org/2011/General/GetToFair.htm?tab=2#TabbedPanels1]]

Don't forget to click on the highlighted words in the text for links to more info!

Our Gecko has a Name!

After a week of students submitting creative, art-related names for our gecko and a week of voting on the top 5, our gecko finally has a name.

Vincent Van Geckgogh!

This creative name combines the name of the animal with the name of the famous, post-impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh. His most famous painting is Starry Night.

New Addition to the Art Room

Starting today, Monday September 19, the art room has a class pet! Our new friend is a crested ghecko. Crested gheckos are originally from a small island called New Caledonia. This island is in the Southwest Pacific Ocean. If you are looking for it on the world map, find the continent/country Australia and look to the right. Crested Gheckos were thought to be extinct until 1994 when they were rediscovered on the Isle of Pines, and now they have become a popular pet.

There are several different types of gheckos. Ours is called a crested ghecko because of the ridge that runs from above e

ach eye, down to its tail. They kind of make it look like it has eyelashes. Gheckos like to climb and can jump short distances. In the wild, they eat insects and fruit. We will be feeding ours a mix made from dried fruit, and sometimes we will put some crickets in the cage for a yummy treat.

This week everyone will meet our new friend and learn a little bit about it. Every student will also have a chance to submit a name for our ghecko. All name ideas should be art related, so research some art terms, artists or artwork and find something that would make a cool name for our class pet. Our ghecko is too young to tell whether it is a boy or a girl, so you can look for names that would work for both.

I hope everyone will be excited to meet our new friend, and it will be a source of excitement and inspiration in our art room.

Photograph taken from gheckoforums.net

Holiday Program Set Design

Its that time again! Time to start gearing up and getting ready for the annual Banks Road Elementary Holiday Program!

Each year, fourth and fifth graders have not only participated in the program by putting on a wonderful show during school for all students and in the evening for friends and family, but they have also been an important part in the creation of the set itself.

This coming week, I will provide fourth and fifth grade students with information about this year's opportunities to help out with the set. (Don't worry, younger students, you'll get your chance when you're in fourth and fifth grade.) There will be a sign up sheet on my door for students that are interested in participating. Sign up will end on Wednesday, September 21st.

We will work on Wednesday afternoons from 4 until 5:30pm starting at the end of September, throughout October, and ending in early November. Due to the great number of students interested in the past, it is most likely that students will be assigned one day to participate. Permission slips will be sent home with these students and should be returned before the student's scheduled work time.

Mr. Capps, our music teacher, will be sending home ways for all students K through 5 to help with our holiday program through donation of items for set, costumes, etc. Keep a look out for that in your Friday Folders.

Click Here if you would like to sign up to donate.

I look forward to getting started on this year's set!!!

First Fridays in Raleigh

(As you read the paragraphs below, click on the underlined words to find links for further information. For my student readers, some of the underlined words will lead to word definitions.)

A few great things about living close to NC's capitol city, are all of the museums and events Raleigh has to offer.

One of these events is First Friday, which is held during the first Friday of every month. First Friday is a day when museums, art galleries and art studios stay open later to show off new art exhibitions. The event usually last from 6pm to 9pm, but some places may stay open later.

At each venue, there is a map that will lead you on your self-guided tour around downtown Raleigh to the participating locations. You may visit as many or as few as you would like. This is a great opportunity for parents and kids to spend time together exploring our state capitol and viewing art of all media, and subjects.

Since art is one of the oldest forms of self-expression, it naturally lends itself to promoting discussion among the viewers. This is a great time for parents and children to have conversations about the subject matter of the art, what it is made of or why they think the artist made the choices they did.

Often, people feel intimidated when talking about art, fearing that what they have to say will not be "right". One interesting and wonderful thing about art is that each viewer sees the artwork through their own experiences and understanding. This means that each viewer can understand a piece of art differently, and each can be "right". Even when we do not understand the subject of the artwork, the artist can often evoke a feeling through their use of line, color, technique, etc.

When talking about art in the classroom, we first talk about what we think about the art before even learning the name of the artwork. We talk about what we think is going on, what we think the artist is trying to say, and how it makes us feel. Then we learn the name of the artwork. Sometimes learning the name may make us feel or interpret the artwork differently. Sometimes the artist will provide us with an Artist's Statement. This is usually a few sentences or more that help us to know a little more about the artist or artwork. Having this information may also change how we view or understand the work.

This upcoming Friday, September 2 will be the next First Friday. I hope you will consider coming out to check out the new artwork that will be displayed for this next month. I will be out there looking around and would love to run into you.

If you are concerned about where to start, I suggest Artspace as a good starting point. It is near Moore Square. Artspace has a wide selection of artists' studios and offers classes for children during different times of the year. Here, you can pick up a map and follow the First Friday flags through the city.

Hope to see you there!!!