Kindergarten . . . A Star for Me!

Portrait by Valentina

This week, Kindergarten students completed their self-portraits. These wonderful images will soon become the cover of a book each artist is creating called, "A Star for Me!"

For our inspiration, we read the story, "I Will Never Get a Star on Mrs. Benson's Blackboard," by Jennifer Mann. In her book, Ms. Mann writes about Rose, a student who can't seem to get the right answer, stay neat, or spell words just right. She finally gets a star on Mrs. Benson's Blackboard for being the most creative.

In our art class, being creative wins all the stars! Now that our portraits are complete, we are busy drawing pictures of things we are proud to do well. When we finish our pictures, we will have a complete book to share with everyone at school and at home.



WE ARE ARTISTS IN A MUSEUM!
When Lower School artists finish their projects, as the Kindergartners did with their self-portraits, I photograph everyone's work and upload the images to Artsonia.com, an online art museum for children. Artsonia brings together the artwork of students from many different countries to celebrate creativity in the classroom. All students at Ranney School are automatically a member of this international museum and will be building their own personal portfolios. Families are encouraged to browse the museum and view school exhibitions and student artwork. Students develop a sense of pride as their work becomes published on the site and is viewed by friends and family.

I sent home a paper from Artsonia with your child's special registration name and a passcode so that families can register to the site. I look forward to filling these online portfolios with beautiful work all year long! If you need the access code again, feel free to contact me.

Here are a few more examples of the Kindergarten portraits I just uploaded to Artsonia. Check out the Ranney School homepage on Artsonia.com to see everyone's work.  http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Portrait by Michael

Portrait by Carina

Portrait by David

Note to families...
This art blog will be updated regularly with new posts sharing our daily activities in the art room and news about upcoming art exhibits. To respect the privacy of our students, names will always be limited to first name only and identifiable photos will never be accompanied with a name. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to write in the comment box below or send me an email at blevine@ranneyschool.org. I would love to hear from you!
    In my class, students are given the chance to explore different materials and fun new techniques as they develop their signature style. Some young artists love to draw with a pencil, some like to paint on canvas or create images in a digital format, while others prefer working with clay and molding three-dimensional forms. In my classroom, we use a variety of materials allowing all artists to experiment and figure out which type of art they like the best. At Ranney School, we place a strong emphasis on originality and celebrate artistic differences, always nurturing and encouraging the imagination of every student.
     Remember to check out our display of finished artwork and student portfolios in the Ranney home page of Artsonia.com.  http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839