Busy in the Studio Today! Adventures in Choice Art...

Sometimes, it's hard to head to work on a Monday morning, especially after a week off of work.  Spring Break may have seemed short and last night I felt like I had 2 minutes of sleep. This morning, before school,  a student stopped me and shared how excited they were to come to Art! "Mrs. Lynn! I have art today! I brought some inspiration with me and I plan to sew... I love how my other project turned out, the dress I made fit my doll perfectly!" The look on her face was priceless and I was reminded how lucky I am to be here at Willow Brook. She was describing her well thought out plan and it felt energizing, even more than my morning coffee!  The studio is hopping this Monday and everyday with all the Wildcats continuing pieces they were working on before break, and some starting new ones!  We are energized with creativity! There is always something new going on in the Willow Brook Studio!

 Drawing studio in kindergarten. Look at those Lines!

 Fiber Arts studio, weaving beads with kindergarten.

 Building in Architecture with our Alex Toys citiblocs.

Many Wildcats request to come in during recess to finish what they are working on!

 Painting studio.

 Look at these kindergarteners collaboratively working together in drawing studio

 Second graders in Architecture.

 Architecture with 2nd Grade.

A Closer Look into our Studio Centers, Choice-based Art Studio

Our WildcatsCreate Choice-based art studio currently houses 8 studio centers.  Here is a tour of our current format. To get a glimpse into the bigger picture, check out this blogpost on our studio set-up.

 

Fiber arts houses all of our fabrics, yarns, loom, buttons and beads, and we have more studio supplies on our bookcase in the center of the room in red bins.  All studio center bins are labeled in their studio color. Fiber Arts is RED!

 Sculpture studio is ORANGE!  Studio storage for all the amazing sculptures our creative wildcats are creating is housed next to sculpture, and in the glass cabinet.  That cabinet was found curbside and our district handymen brought it back to life by adding a plexiglass side and shelving!

 All studio supplies in Sculpture are labeled in ORANGE and inside the cabinets. We have lots of fun things to build with including computer parts!

 Painting studio is next to our sinks and all materials are in BLUE bins.

 Watercolors, papers, salt and tempera are in the dining hutch.

I have used the pumped paint, but the pumpers get clogged. I was hoping that wouldn't happen, but the solution was these Betty Crocker tupperware cups that are housed in muffin tins.  The muffin tins were are suggestion by my mentor and friend, Maryellen Picker in the School District of Clayton. The mini tupperwares with lids are great, the children are doing a great job of taking care of their paints, and you can get these materials at the Dollar Tree! For a total of $5.00, we have a tempera solution that works out very well!

 We have 4 bins of Architecture planks, which are citiblocs from Alex Toys! I LOVE how busy these keep our future architects!

 Fiber Arts has been very popular, so I decided to make them into 2 separate studios, Fiber arts and Sewing. Sewing is in PINK. We have cottons, felts, polyfil, and lots of great supplies.

 We have these sewing supplies that sit on the tables, needles, and thread, needle threaders and thimbles.

 Drawing studio supplies sit here...

 in this corner cabinet are different drawing papers.

GREEN is our Drawing Studio.

The table to the right is coffee table height and is used for architecture and collage. It is a mobile table.

 Collage is YELLOW and since adding glue guns, has become more popular!

 Ceramics is on its' way. Working with modeling clay has opened opportunities for our artists as they transition to kiln firing clay and glazes. 

Welcome to our Choice-based Art Studio at Willow Brook Elementary

Welcome to our Choice-based Art Studio! This is my first year adventuring into Choice-Art and I couldn't feel more energized or blessed to be an art teacher! The children are creating amazing things and great learning is taking place! I love the personal value I am seeing in their artwork, which makes me feel like our student/teacher relationships are growing stronger because I can see them in their creations! Currently, students may choose from 8 different studios. All studios are color coded so students are able to identify where to access materials.  Girls and boys take turns in choosing their studios first. The bracelets let students know when a studio is closed, however, there are times, we have students find "open seating" so they can continue working on a piece or explore in a new medium.

 Collage, Drawing, Painting and Sculpture were are first studios and we added Fiber Arts, Sewing (hand and machine), Architecture and Ceramics (clay).

 We have a cabinet for all of our classroom bins.  Youngest student classes are on the bottom and older are to the top.

Studio signs are color-coded, along with our bracelets, and labeled materials.

We have our dining room hutch creating a separation between our Painting and Sculpture Studio. The hutch houses Painting Studio supplies and our Inspiration Station stocked with art books, art magazines and project ideas. Our classes are great at following our routines.

 Students created our beautiful accents to our classroom chandelier.

Students helped paint dining chairs for our studio centers.  As the lead learner in our studio, I wanted the dining tables and chairs to feel like home. Being at home makes us feel safe and I wanted our artists to feel safe in their creating and explorations in content and mediums.

Check out detailed photos of our studio in the next posting on our studios.

Missing Blogposts? Then follow us on Instagram for a Visual Story

We are on instagram and posting everyday all the awesome happenings in our Choice-Based Art Studio! If you haven't started to follow us, please do.

Seeing the children through their art has made stronger relationships with my students. Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow!

New Studio Center: Architecture

Architecture Studio is thriving with tons of Willow Brook Wildcats wanting to create and build with our Alex Toys citiblocs. The wood planks are an amazing tool that help students with principles and elements of art.  Students are working with concepts of 2D vs 3D work, balance, proportion, problem solving, symmetry, innovation, collaboratively working as teams, geometric shapes and forms, and pure creative joy. First hand, I have seen the growth of these future architects, working with height first, then adding in patterns, colors, shapes... challenging themselves! Amazing work is happening. I am so proud of our Wildcats!