Art Show Open House May 22nd 5:30-7pm

Dyer Elementary School is having an art show (Arty Party!) at the school on Thursday May 22nd from 5:30-7pm. Come when you can during that time to view student artwork, make a craft, buy a crayon heart magnet to support Preble Street (staff and students voted to decide what type of charity to give proceeds to), and participate in a unique scavenger hunt. Hope to see you there!

SPSD puts on a district-wide art show every other year. Since last year's art show was held at the community center, this year's art shows are held in the individual schools. 

Current projects at Dyer

2nd Grade Birch Tree Resist Paintings on Display at Dyer

Students painted birch trees using a resist painting technique. Masking tape was put down where the trees would be and students painted the sky on top of the tape.  Students sprinkled salt on the wet watercolor to create the appearance of snow flakes.  Finally students removed the tape and painted the characteristic horizontal birch tree lines and painted one side of the trees a darker blue to create a shadow and help the trees look more three dimensional.

(2nd graders at Kaler are currently starting this project, stay tuned for an update on their displays)

1st Grade Pinch Pots on display at Dyer!

The first graders made some wonderful pinch pots last month. They are currently on display in the glass cabinet across from the main office at Dyer. After a couple of weeks, the students will be able to bring their ceramic artwork home.

If your child is a 1st grader:

Please ask about his/her choice of texture and pattern! How did he or she decide what colors to use?
What did the "clear" glaze look like when it was first painted on the pinch pot? What does the kiln look like?


Disclaimer: Although the students did paint their pinch pots with a food safe glaze, I do not recommend filling the pots with any liquid. The students did all of their own under-glazing and glazing and some of the pinch pots are not coated with enough glaze inside to be able to hold liquid.

Student Artwork Online

Please visit our online art galleries at Artsonia.com to see the fabulous artwork that Dyer and Kaler students have been creating!

Dyer:  http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=32396
Kaler: http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=53519

Participating in Artsonia provides many benefits to 

schools, teachers, students and parents

Boost students’ pride and self esteem: 

I have used Artsonia in other schools, and it is wonderful to see the increased pride and self esteem that students feel after viewing their artwork in an online museum. Students are further inspired to try their best, knowing that their work will be on display for family and friends to see.

Digital Portfolio:

The Artsonia user name can travel with the student to other schools, allowing for a complete digital portfolio of artwork. You, as a parent, can even upload other art your child has created to his/her Artsonia profile.

Increase parental and family involvement in students’ education: 

Parents and family members can take a much more active role in their child’s art education by viewing the artwork online, joining the child’s fan club, and leaving supportive comments in the artist guestbook. This feedback from family, especially relatives who may not live nearby, is priceless in the development of a child’s artistic confidence. 

The security key code ensures that only the parents/guardians are given access to the student’s account.  Please know that by registering you will occasionally get emails from Artsonia letting you know when new artwork has been added or if your child’s artwork has received any comments. You will be able to review and approve the comments if you wish for them to be posted publicly. 

Financial support for art program: 

After student artwork is published online, parents and family may purchase keepsakes from the museum with the child’s artwork imprinted on it, and 20% of the revenue is given to the school’s art program. 

Integrate technology into the classroom: 

I am currently photographing and uploading the artwork images, however my long term goal is to have a desktop computer and document camera in the classroom so that students can learn how to photograph and upload their own artwork and type up artist statements when a project is complete. 

Common Questions about Artsonia:

How do you ensure privacy for young students? 

On the Artsonia website, each student is identified only by a screen name which is usually the student's first name and number (e.g., Sarah22). Last names are never publicly posted on the website. Additionally, all comments are pre-approved by the registered parent before being posted for the artist. Parents register after the art teacher distributes a “security key” to the parent and they visit the website directly. 

Who owns the copyright of the artwork submitted? 

Artists retain ownership of their artwork. However, by registering as a parent of an artist, the parent grants Artsonia the right and license to publish the artwork in the museum and on merchandise. For more details, see our Terms and Conditions at 

www.artsonia.com/terms.asp

How long will the artwork be published? 

Artwork may remain published on the website indefinitely until either the parent of the school chooses to remove it. 

For more information: http://www.artsonia.com/privacy.asp

I am very excited to be able to offer this program to our students. I hope that you are as excited about seeing the student artwork online as I am.  If you are interested in volunteering to help out with Artsonia please send me an email at burmanma@spsd.org.

Thanks and enjoy!

Project Updates!

The Art Rooms at Dyer and Kaler have been very busy places the last couple months.

Here are the recent projects in all grade levels:

5th Grade:
Yarn Weaving
Students created weavings on cardboard looms and learned the terms warp and weft.

4th Grade:
1 Point Perspective Drawing (interior of a room)
We first looked Andrew Wyeth's paintings of the rooms in his summer house in Cushing Maine and then began practicing how to draw a realistic looking room using the one point perspective technique.
I unfortunately don't have any photos of their works in progress. Look for the finished artwork soon on Artsonia.

3rd Grade:
Quilled Paper Designs
At Kaler Elementary, the third grade and 3/4 students have been learning how to make designs using the ancient art of quilling.

Collaborative aerial city map
At Dyer Elementary the students have been working really hard on this aerial map project. I was not anticipating how long this project would take to complete, but we are finishing up and hopefully we'll be able to reveal our map to the school and city communities soon! They will be starting the Quilled Paper project next.

2nd Grade:
Paul Klee inspired warm/cool color geometric shape castles
Kaler and Dyer students have been learning about the artist Paul Klee (pronounced "Klay") and the differences between warm and cool colors.

Recycled Material Insect Sculptures
Dyer students created insect sculptures using only recycled materials and glue. Kaler students will be creating similar kinds of sculptures during their Insect PBL in January.

1st Grade:
Eric Carle inspired painted paper collages 
Students at Dyer and Kaler created their own painted papers with textures and then after looking at Eric Carle illustrations in his books The Tiny Seed (Dyer) and The Mixed Up Chameleon (Kaler), the students created their own collaged illustrations. Kaler students are finishing up this project so stay tuned for their artwork on Artsonia soon.

Kindergarten: 
Line Explorations (6 Different Kinds of Lines=Many Shapes)  

(Kaler Kindergarteners will finish this project after vacation)

Artwork based on the book The Perfect Square by Michael Hall

5th Grade Weaving and Visiting Artist Sarah Haskell!

The 5th graders at Dyer and I were very fortunate to have a visit from Artist Sarah Haskell last Wednesday. Thank you so much to the Dyer PTA for making this visit possible :)

Sarah Haskell is a professional weaver and arts educator who lives in Southern Maine. She talked to the 5th graders about the history and importance of weaving, showed them some of her own artwork, and demonstrated some different weaving techniques that the students have been excited to try out.

Dyer Student Artwork Published in Online Art Gallery!

Dyer Elementary now has an online art gallery at Artsonia.com !

Please visit this site & check out the wonderful artwork created at the beginning of the year. Parents, you can choose to register your email address if you would like to be notified when new artwork created by your child has been uploaded. Family and friends worldwide can join your child's "fan club" and leave supportive comments and praise (these are only published when a registered parent gives approval).  If you choose to purchase merchandise featuring your child's artwork, know that 20% will be given back to Dyer School!

Kaler Artsonia art gallery will be coming soon! If interested in helping out with this, please email me: burmanma@spsd.org.

3rd Grade Aerial Map Making

The third graders have been able to start the exciting mission of trying to recreate a large aerial photograph map of South Portland (thanks to a very generous donation of two maps from the South Portland Department of Planning and Development).  Since the third graders have been studying their South Portland community, we thought it would be amazing for them to become familiar with their community from an aerial (bird's eye) view.

We have discussed the term "aerial", looked at artwork by aerial landscape painter Jim Niehues, and divided one of our large maps into 48 sections. Pairs of students are going to recreate the map at a 1:1 scale by first sketching with pencil and then later adding color with the media of their choice. When all sections are completed we will piece it all together. We are all very excited to see how this turns out!

1st Graders and Eric Carle

The 1st Graders at Dyer (and soon at Kaler) are learning about Eric Carle and his style of illustrations. They have painted their own papers and have begun to create collaged illustrations that will later be turned into a collaborative story.

Next weekend on November 9th, there is a unique opportunity to view a short documentary about Eric Carle being shown at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival at USM in Portland. The festival runs from 4pm-11pm. For more info: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/385926

2nd Grade Recycled Material Insect Sculptures

The second graders at Dyer are embarking on a journey into turning recycled materials into art.
They will be looking at photographs of recycled material animal sculptures by Japanese artist Natsumi Tomita. Afterwards, they will draft a design for an insect (labeling the body parts that they have previously learned about in their classrooms).

Then they will begin to collect recycled materials that they think will be usable in their insect sculptures. I have a large collection of materials from Ruth's and I have encouraged students to keep an eye out for items they might find at home and can save from the trash (ie: bread twisty ties, plastic bottle caps, containers, foil, etc) to bring in to add to their sculpture.

We are all very excited to see these creatures come to life.


Below:
Natsumi Tomita and one of her fabulous recycled material animals. How many different objects can you recognize?

Presenting the Self-Portraits of the Dyer School Community

Most of the students' self-portraits have been put on display in the halls of Dyer Elementary. There are still a couple of classes who need to finish up their artwork before their class mural can be hung up.

With the help of a parent volunteer, I am working on re-starting the online art gallery for Dyer at Artsonia.com. We have taken photographs of the artwork and the students have been busy writing artist statements.  I will let everyone know when the gallery is updated and the artwork is viewable. Only first names of the students will be visible in the gallery. If you have not given permission for student work to be published online (the form filled out for the office), your child's artwork will not be displayed. 

Symmetrical Butterflies at Dyer

The Kindergarteners at Dyer have embarked on an adventure in symmetry! 

I introduced them to Sammy the Snake of Symmetry (he's really just a piece of green masking tape with eyes...shhh!) He attached himself to the middle of my face, running down the center of my body creating a line of symmetry. I moved my arms in different positions and the students had to tell me if my hand positions were symmetrical or asymmetrical by giving a "Thumbs Up-Symmetrical" or "Thumbs Down-Asymmetrical".  Unfortunately there are no photos of me with Sammy.

They also were able to play the game by looking at several different designs to see if they could tell the difference between symmetrical and asymmetrical.

I demonstrated how they were going to create a butterfly that had symmetrical wings.

Step One:
Fold paper in half, trace around small dowel with a black oil pastel, draw butterfly wing on the right side only ( I gave them sample butterfly images for inspiration). Fold the paper in half and scratch over the lines (showing through) with fingernail. When paper is opened back up.......the wings are symmetrical!

Step Two:
Draw wing designs and patterns with the black oil pastel, periodically folding and scratching to symmetrically transfer the shapes.

Step Three:
Using colored oil pastels or watercolors, color one shape on the right side of the butterfly, fold it in half and rub the back of the paper to transfer the color symmetrically. Paint on top of the left side to make the color bolder. Continue until the whole butterfly is colorful and.....symmetrical!

Step 4:
Paint the background a color that is not included very much in your butterfly so that your butterfly will stand out.