Art with Ms. Ngan Ho
CMP American River students will have the opportunity to explore exciting art activities with Art teacher, Ngan Ho. Art plays a crucial role in teaching interconnected lessons. This cross-curricular approach to Montessori education provides children with a deeper meaning to their lessons and strengthens their understanding of complex concepts. Ultimately, art connects the hand to the brain in a way that Maria Montessori emphasized as critically important to learning:
“What the hand does, the mind remembers.” (Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind)
BLACK HISTORY MONTH COLLAGES
Students created color field works of art using collage or paint inspired by African American Artist Alma Woodsey.
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3-D ZENTANGLE SCULPTURES (Middle Schoolers)
Students learned about the art of zentangle and how to create a cube using paper.
Through the Zentangle Method of drawing, you can
- Relax
- Focus
- Expand your imagination
- Trust your creativity
- Increase your awareness
- Respond confidently to the unexpected
- Discover the fun and healing in creative expression
- Enter a vibrant and supportive world-wide community
- Feel gratitude and appreciation for this beautiful world and all that you can do
- And perhaps most importantly . . . Have fun!
Students are then encouraged to use their creativity to come up with an interesting shape for their sculptures.
3-D STICK FIGURE HUMAN SHADOW SCUPTURES
In this fun lesson, students revisit the definition of a sculpture: a work of art that is 3-D. Students are then challenged to create a form using pipe cleaners to create movement.
ART CARDS INSPIRED BY ARTIST LEE BUENO
“The way we interpret our society and the world around us is all up to us, we fight for freedom, strength, equality, as well as many other topics." - Lee Bueno
Students are asked how it feels to receive or give a thoughtful gift. Then students were free to create a special card for a special someone in their lives.
GELLI PLATE PRINTING (Lower Elementary)
Last week, the lower elementary students discovered the magic of Gelli Printing! The students had a load of fun creating their own designs and layering them on top of each other to create unique patterns and textures using Gelli plates and pressing them onto card stock. If your kids want to try some more Gelli printing at home, here’s a link to purchase them: https://www.gelliarts.
ALMA THOMAS PAINTING PROJECT
As mentioned in my last art update, last month was Black History Month, so I wanted to tie in an art lesson with one of the most influential African-American artists, teachers, and pioneers: Alma Woodsey Thomas. She was the first African American woman to have a solo exhibition at New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art, and she exhibited her paintings at the White House three times. Her abstract style uses vibrant watercolors to create beautiful landscapes using small, rhythmic strokes to create patterns in her work. As well as learning about an important artist, this lesson also taught students about color theory and implemented the use of tempera paint.
DRAGON EYES (Upper Elementary and Middle School)
This last month, our students undertook a big project: designing and sculpting their very own dragon eyes! Students began by sketching out the designs they wanted to use for their dragon eyes and then implemented them using an air dry clay (Model Magic) to bring life to their ideas. The students had a ton of fun using the Model Magic and this lesson helped them to understand color theory and mixing as well as teaching them how to add texture and dimension to a clay-like sculpture by layering accents on top of one another.
