Author Archives: Welcome to the Art Side - Art with Mrs. Dowd

To say things have been crazy, would be an understatement. I really miss being in class with my students and honestly did not think we would begin the school year virtually. I have been busy updating my curriculum and reformatting my lessons so that my students will have the best distance learning possible. I haveContinue reading “New Digital Classroom, Covid 19 Edition”

These couldn’t have come out any cuter! We have been working on soft sculpture. This has been an interesting unit as students have been debating whether or not this medium qualifies worthy as art. At the end of the project when we reflected on our own work, students for the most part agreed soft sculpture,Continue reading “Ugly Dolls- Soft Sculpture”

In my exploratory class I try to find clever and unique ways to teach Value. The regular value scale can get a little bit boring so I jazzed it up by turning it into a sweet treat. My step by step directions, samples and worksheets can be found at https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Value-Scale-Ice-Cream-5220008

In this activity students analyzed logos using Costa’s levels of thinking. Students worked in groups of 4 to analyze the logos, evaluate if the logos were appropriate for their intended audience, and if not how could they be improved. Student’s then presented their posters in small groups, came back and reworked their posters.

This year as we are working on our school wide AVID certification we have been focusing on The Five Phases of the Focused Note-Taking Process. We take our notes in our Journals and refer back to them often. We often add to our notes, annotate, we make connections beyond our notes, and reflect on them.Continue reading “FOCUSED NOTE TAKING – AVID STRATEGY”

Wow! That’s a mouthful! Just like the heading states, students worked in pairs to research the brand identities of some of the most successful companies out there. They had a worksheet to help guide them through their research. After researching and documenting their findings. Students downloaded a template for Google slide, made a copy andContinue reading “CTE Brand Identity Collaborative Research project and Presentation,”

In this activity, we focused on the principle of Variety.First we looked at art that demonstrates good usage of variety. Then the students delved in deeper with a collaborative activity where they worked in small groups to analyze, interpret, judge, and evaluate a piece by a master artist (AVID strategy Costa’s Levels.) Next students practicedContinue reading “Scratch Board Tiki”

After studying and looking at various artworks that demonstrate balance, students created their own pieces. They created these designs by creating a template then rotating their designs in an ABAB pattern. Afterwards we had a gallery walk to look at each other’s work and discuss it. Students then independently wrote a reflection/artist statement. 

Observational Drawing, Proportion, Perspective and Value

Introduction to Ceramics After our lecture and Avid Focus notes on Ceramics and the stages of clay students created their own slab templates and tried their hand at some basic slab construction. As of now, we are waiting for our pieces to become Bone Dry. When we return from Thanksgiving break I hope to fireContinue reading “Introduction to Ceramics – Fish Fry!”