The final Art Work To Go Home with the report cards is a year's work in
the portfolios being distributed to classroom teachers this week, and sent home
as convenient. One side of the portfolio was done in June of 2015 – for grades
2-5. I remind students as these are created that these are the first
piece of art work that will be seen at home. I present some options and let
them then express themselves. The same procedure is now underway for 2016-17.
Portfolios contain
artwork done from September of 2015 to May of 2016. There is also a collection of papers with planning ideas or sharing
thoughts on them. Each portfolio uniquely reflects the interests, and efforts
of its creator. You may see some “Blue Dog” work. An annual favorite across the
grades is using bright markers on glossy paper creating abstract designs,
portraits or landscapes. In portfolios
of 2-5 graders, the work selected in June 2105 for the fall’s Art Show at EKES
is coming home. And each student from K-4th grade has chosen a piece
to be included in the exhibit for the fall of 2016.
Sketchbooks are also in the portfolios. These for the most
part contain a year’s worth of ideas and efforts of expressing oneself
visually. They are rough drafts, sometimes in the early years, they are really rough by adult
standards. Choosing an image and putting it on paper is a slowly developing
skill and it takes practice, and patience, to represent a 3-d object in a 2-d
medium. I encourage students to express their own ideas, and I offer tips to
work toward a successful outcome individually. There are times when pulling an
idea out of one’s head to sketch is the challenge. Suggestions or models are provided. Visual
art is about the process at this stage and it is also about practice. Just as
in baseball, you don’t start out hitting every ball; and sometimes one strikes
out and the next time up could be a home run. Gains are made by continuing to
step up to the plate, getting ready and swinging the bat. Patience, practice
and encouragement get us to the plate.
Collating art work and getting into the correct portfolio
takes time and can be hectic when done as a class. The fifth graders have been
generously helping sort the younger
students’ work and filing it in the
correct portfolios.
Have a great time looking at the work coming home.
Thank You for another great year with the children of EK,
Mrs. San Soucie
