Hello FCE Parents,
Welcome to Artsonia! This is our online school gallery. We will use Artsonia to keep a digital portfolio of the art that we create.
This is not our primary fundraiser. However, if you purchase items through Artsonia, we will recieve 20% of the contributions. Thank you for your support.
Our primary fundraiser is ART TO REMEMBER. You will recieve an order form in October. Thanks to your contributions last year, we were able to remodel the art courtyard!
The kids are loving the new ourdoor creative space!
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT for grades 2 - 4
FCE Art Room is now a TAB-Choice Studio
What is T.A.B.-Choice?
In a TAB (Teaching for Artistic Behavior)-Choice studio… kids are the artists.
Students are expected to do the work of artists, directing their own learning. They practice coming up with their own art problems to solve, asking questions and seeing possibilities in the world around them. Students learn to engage and persist through difficulties as well as to trust themselves and their own judgment while simultaneously learning to be self-directed, organized, and to manage their time.
In a TAB-Choice studio… students choose what to work on
Students learn best and work harder when they are excited by what they are working on. When they design their own work, they understand why they are doing what they are doing and engage much more deeply with their learning.
Class begins with a short demonstration or a discussion to inspire new ideas.
Students politely watch the demonstration. This could cover history, technique, or art standards. Some follow the teacher’s lead and try the new idea. Others observe the demonstration, filing the information away for when they need it, and then work on an idea that they came to class with or continue to work on a piece from another class period. Still others experiment with materials to see what ideas they will lead to.
Teaching with choice creates a nurturing community of artists.
When everyone is working on different things, there is less of a tendency to compare oneself to others. Students feel safe to express ideas and investigate art problems but also celebrate each other’s achievements. Students coach each other, discuss art, share materials, and choose to work with friends and classmates on particular projects.
Studio Habits of Mind help students develop core artistic behaviors
Studio Thinking is a framework designed by practitioners at Harvard’s School of Education. From the Studio Thinking framework comes these 8 habits of mind, a set of dispositions that an artist uses.
1. Develop Craft: Learning to use tools, materials, and the practices of an art form.
2. Envision: Learning to picture mentally the next steps in making a piece.
3. Express: Learning to create works that convey an idea, a feeling, or a personal meaning.
4. Observe: Learning to look more closely and see things that otherwise might not be seen.
5. Reflect: Learning to talk about and assess artwork.
6. Stretch & Explore: Learning to reach beyond one’s capacities, to explore playfully without a preconceived plan, and to embrace the opportunity to learn from mistakes.
7. Understand (Arts) World/Community: Learning about art history and learning to interact as an artist with the community and other artists.
8.Engage & Persist: Learning to embrace problems of importance and develop focus.
Developmentally appropriate work and differentiation occur naturally.
TAB-Choice classrooms are highly structured environments. Students scaffold their own learning, sometimes going deeply into specific subjects or media. They self-pace, follow their own lines of inquiry, and develop skills as they need them. Because everyone is involved in their own self-directed work the teacher is available to work individually or in small groups to differentiate for the diverse needs of students.
In a TAB-Choice studio… students learn to reflect on their work.
Students learn to evaluate their work to decide if it is finished. They learn how to speak about their work during critiques and to write about their work for artist statements that accompany their display pieces.
In a TAB-Choice studio… there are practice pieces and WOW pieces.
Not every piece can or should be a masterpiece. In the same way that musicians and athletes practice, artists experiment, learning from their work. Students, as real artists, gather what they have learned to create WOW pieces for display and art shows.
T.A.B. fosters a creative growth mindset and nurtures your child’s ability to try new things by being autonomous, adventurous, and resourceful. The art your child brings home may not always be teacher directed. Therefore, your child’s artwork may look raw or “unpolished”.
Please appreciate the artistic process.
Thank you, Just for Grade 1
1st grade (and Kindergarten) started the year off with a unit about color. We read the books Penguins Love Colors and Mouse Paint. Your child created a rainbow in order and danced to songs like ROY. G. BIV.
Then, we learned about color mixing and went on a "color hunt" outside with transparent color mixing wands!
1st grade (and Kindergarten) artists are currently learning how to use shapes to draw a portrait of their family. Learning to draw shapes and combine "part to whole" helps your young artist observe the world in a new way. Shapes are all around us!
