Pre-School

Looking closely and valuing what we see is an important part of learning, in science, social science, and in art. This drawing and collage of a common rural landscape is a good partner to the Holstein painting. Children enjoy the discovery that by combining simple shapes, they can make interesting and complex pictures. A barn and a tractor are complicated, but rectangles and circles are very possible.

Milk Comes from Holsteins

We live in a dairy state, and Holstein cows are a part of the landscape when you drive into the country. Learning a specific name is a first step in understanding and appreciating this important part of our daily diet and culture. Also, black and white cows are beautiful to look at and fun to draw.

Pre-School

Sometimes children think that a self-portrait is supposed to look like them, and this can make them anxious about drawing. They are told emphatically that a photograph, or camera picture, is not what this self-portrait is about. This picture is about how they feel, and on Mother’s Day, they all feel a lot of love. The fun of the scratchboard is an extra enticement to creating a beautiful expression.

Second Grade

Love of language and love of the visual arts are closely linked. Both express ideas that can’t be expressed any other way. Language arts and visual arts collaborated in this project by encouraging children to connect words with a clay vehicle they invented. The process invited students to extend their thinking into the realm of the abstract, and to develop their visual and verbal ideas.
We began by researching transportation, and drawing ideas for vehicles, some practical and some purely imaginary. The clay sculpture and poetry developed next, and we rounded off with a texture collagraph print that evolved from the sculpture.
The exhibit is in the sculpture case outside of Room 309, the upper school corridor that leads to the lower school art room.


Instructors: Ty Thayer and Carol Grams

Second Grade is Woven Together for the LS Art Show

All children in pre-school, kindergarten, first grade and second grade will have a piece of art in the 3rd Annual Lower School Spring Festival Art Show. The opening reception will be Tuesday, April 26 in the Chapel Gallery right after school.
Each second grade classroom is represented by a large paper weaving on the theme of the interdependence of plants, animals, and people. There were many sources of inspiration for this project. Most important was the second grade weaving unit, where children where introduced to the ancient art of weaving as practiced by the indigenous artisans of Peru. “We are all Woven Together,” is the theme for the comunidad charity of ArtAndes, and this was another springboard for the project.
In the classroom, animals and the environment have been part of their science curriculum all year. We also read, “As I was Crossing Boston Common,” by Norma Farber, which is a story about very uncommon animals, (like the zibet).
Children enjoyed painting and texturing the paper for the weaving, and then took great care with their small drawings of animals, people, and plants.


I hope you can stop by the reception and find your child’s contribution to the whole!

First Grade Printmaking for Lower School Spring Festival Art Show

A House is a House for Me in Artville

Children were asked to create a home for themselves in Artville. For inspiration we read “A House is a House for Me,” by Mary Ann Hoberman. We also looked at pictures of castles and other dwellings from around the world, as well as the architectural marvels of Dr. Seuss. Each student then designed their own building and turned it into a Styrofoam print block. Then they made many prints, trying different combinations of colored papers and ink.
After the flurry of printing was over, they washed their Styrofoam blocks, colored them with permanent marker, and used them to create a cover for the rest of their prints.
I also used their blocks to make a special print for each of them on translucent paper, as well as one on a large background they had prepared for the Spring Art Festival. There are two Artville banners for first grade; one for Ms. Tonkin and Ms. Murphy, and one for Ms. Bennett and Ms. Wegner.


The reception for the Arts Festival is Tuesday, April 26 at 3:30. I hope you can all stop by and find your first graders Artville home!

Kindergarten Butterfly Tree Stars in Lower School Spring Festival Art Show

The 3rd Annual Lower School Spring Festival Art Show reception is Tuesday, April 26, 3:30-5:30. All children in pre-school, kindergarten, first grade and second grade will have artwork in the show, represented in class and group projects. Third and fourth graders have had outstanding works selected for the show.
The kindergarten project is a Butterfly Tree, which continues this year’s theme of exploring the animal kingdom through art. I asked the children, “How are you like a butterfly?” They had a lot of good answers. People and butterflies have heads and legs. We also noticed that people and butterflies are the same on both sides, (with a few exceptions). After discovering symmetry, the class used permanent markers to decorate plastic bags and clothespins to make butterflies and hang them on a tree of wire and a wooden dowel.


I hope you can come to the show and find your child’s butterfly!

Pre-School is Part of the Lower School Spring Arts Festival

The 3rd Annual Lower School Spring Festival Art Show reception is Tuesday, April 26, 3:30-5:30. All children in pre-school, kindergarten, first grade and second grade will have artwork in the show, represented in class and group projects. Third and fourth graders have had particular works selected for the show.
It has become a tradition for pre-schoolers to make clay loons as part of their Minnesota study, and children tell me proudly years later that they still have their loon. Together with the popsicle stick trees, the loons make an outstanding display in the gallery.
I am also very proud of the pre-school prints, which are in the center of the gallery. Each child created a Styrofoam print block of a Minnesota animal, and then I printed the blocks all together on a large sheet of paper. They make a strong, beautiful statement about the joy and spontaneity of children's artwork.





I hope some of you can join us at the reception and share the fun of having
your child find their own artwork in the gallery.

I had a great day with the kindergarten at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The focus on hunting for animals in the paintings, sculptures and objects gave the field trip extra energy and purpose. We found many mammals, birds and fish. Crustaceans, insects, arachnids, reptiles and amphibians were more challenging to locate, but our kindergarten art explorers had a good time searching. We found a lot of insects in a Dutch still life painting from the 16th century. We learned that there were not supposed to be animals or insects in a still life at that time, but sometimes artists break the rules. Back in Artville, everyone had a chance to paint their own still life masterpiece, and naturally we broke the rules to include insects.

Magic Light Box

Thank you for the shoeboxes! I know how hard it can be to keep track of all these requests.
We turned them into special effect light boxes. Second graders studied “The Sky Pesher,” as part of the Masterpiece Art program. “The Sky Pesher” is an installation at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden that creates a constantly changing environment of light and color. You enter the piece through a tunnel, and have the experience of being in space lit by sky. The children were able to associate this piece with the Tunnel of Fun we created earlier in the year, and the idea of dioramas that they made in first grade.
Their light boxes are variations on the diorama idea, as they focus on the effects created by different cuts into the box and layers of colored tissue, cellophane and foil. The children were endlessly creative, and many devised solutions to the problem that I never imagined.


We all enjoyed the effects created by the boxes. Some students focused on creating interior spaces inside the boxes, others on the effect of looking through the box into the outer world. Some of the boxes even became quite amazing to look at on the outside.

First Grade Birthday Party

Birthdays are big news in Lower School. When they happen in Artville, we celebrate in First and Second grade with an art-cake. In Masterpiece Art, we learn about John Singer Sargent’s “Birthday Party.” Sometimes the children are slightly saddened by the smallness of this Victorian child’s birthday celebration. When we go a little deeper, they realize that dinner with the family is usually an important part of their celebrations too. The children also focus on the effects of color and light in the painting, and learn a little about the beginnings of Impressionism when they notice the fuzzy quality of parts of the picture. These young artists then painted their own watercolor birthday pictures, choosing from a variety of demonstrated styles and techniques. They also enjoyed adding a gold or silver background as a frame, thanks to a kind donation of fancy matt board scraps.

Masterpiece Sculpture in Second Grade

For this project, second graders have been inspired by sculptures from the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. With the help of parent volunteers, students have learned about “Spoonbridge and Cherry”, “Woodrow”, and “The Standing Glass Fish”. “Spoonbridge” is often considered a symbol of Minneapolis and we began by thinking of what could be a symbol for Breck School. Many students thought hands could mean helping hands, hands on learning, or all hands together. Others made molds of objects that could be used in the process of learning; tape dispensers, staplers, cups, heart shapes. These sculptures also reflect a technical understanding of the processes of construction, making molds, and using armatures.
After putting together their plaster cast with the wooden structure, students had to decide whether or not to paint their piece. Their choices were based on the effect they wanted their sculpture to have. They discussed the mood created by warm or cool colors, or the calm feeling of the natural materials.
The titles show how much their imaginations were invested in this project.

Kindergarten learns about the Animal Kingdom

The new Kindergarten science emphasis on learning about how animals are grouped (mammals, birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, fish, arachnids, crustaceans) has been an inspiration for collaboration in the arts.
Ms. Mazion kicked off the process with “The Calabash Cat,” in music class. Kindergarteners found musical beats in the patterns of the illustrations and danced the cat’s journey around Africa and into the world. Along the way, they found out that the cat is a mammal. In art, we created scratchboard cats emphasizing the idea of pattern, which is also part of the kindergarten curriculum. We developed the project further with patterned clay cats. Children learned how to attach two pieces of clay and how to make patterns with tools.


From mammals we moved to the bird kingdom. In art, we read “Shingebiss,” which is an Ojibwe tale about the merganser duck who invented ice-fishing. It is illustrated with the woodcuts of Betsy Bowen, an artist from northern Minnesota. The story resonates on many levels; scientific, multi-cultural, seasonal, regional, heroic, and aesthetic. After reading the story, the children discussed how mammals are different from birds.
We also learned that the circle is a sacred symbol for the Ojibwe, for the four directions, and for the drum. The children made a circle of birds with oil pastel and then added a paper border embellished with yarn and patterns. I was amazed at how many children were doing observational drawing.
We have plans to extend the unit further by making a tin drum that can be used in music class.

Second graders are beginning a weaving unit that will be interwoven with other projects, as children finish at their own pace during free-choice time. Weaving strengthens fine-motor skills and develops perceptions of pattern and structure. It also provides a great opportunity to reinforce learning about color, as children are asked to think about color schemes that may be warm, cool, or contrasting.
Teaching children to understand and appreciate our worldwide heritage of handmade crafts is an important part of their art education. The weaving project is inspired by the rich weaving tradition of the indigenous people of the Andes, which I encountered during my sabbatical visit to Peru. Our unit in art coincides with a study of Peru in second grade Spanish class.
A great family field trip might be to visit ArtAndes, which is a local weaving import shop, http://artandes.com/. They are open Saturdays 1:00-5:00 in the Northrop King Building, 1500 Jackson St. NE, and summers in the Mill City Farmers Market. There is an operational loom on display and many beautiful weavings. In the summer, Wilbur Quispe, master weaver from Peru, comes to visit and demonstrate his weaving techniques at the Saturday Mill City Market. He is very kind, and loves to have children try weaving on his enormous, hand-made loom.

Off to See the Wizard

This year the theme for the Tunnel of Fun is “The Wizard of Oz.” This story has a wealth of fantastic scenes, characters and emotions. It has been great fun to construct the tunnel as a story, with a sequence of settings. The project is a large, under-the-table diorama, which connects to the first grade house construction project. Children are being introduced to the idea of installation art, and the work of installation artist, Red Grooms.
Children are empowered by this giant construction project. They take ownership and pride in building something that contributes to a festive celebration of the whole school. Many children are kinetic learners, and it is great to see them shine with taping and building. I also love to see how quickly children assign themselves tasks; there are secret-passage designers, roof repair workers, sweepers, sign-makers, and creative wizards. Everyone is part of the Tunnel Team.
Second graders have been constructing and painting cardboard boxes to create Kansas, in black and white, the Emerald City, in tints and shades of green, and the Witches Castle.
First graders have been working on the haunted forest, lions, tigers, and bears, Munchkin Land and the yellow brick road.
Kindergarten has made bluebirds flying around the rainbow, the tin man, the scarecrow and many tornadoes.


All are welcome to visit the Tunnel of Fun. Wear crawling clothes, and don’t look back!

Six days after learning about the abstract language of line, first graders added the element of color to their paintings. They were given the three primary colors plus white, and all other colors came from their own energetic and inventive mixing. They made beautiful discoveries.

The Pre-School classroom curriculum is full of rich experiences. Visits to the apple orchard and the pumpkin patch help children learn to appreciate the sounds, smells and flavors of the changing Minnesota seasons. The Visual Art program reinforces these lessons, adding to the memory scaffolding that brain researchers tell us is crucial to all learning. Helping children recall previous experiences and motivating them to attend and focus on a related activity are also part of teaching children to think and work.

Plus, finger-painting is really fun. Children can hardly do too much of it. It is also a great way to experiment with color mixing. We blended blue and yellow last week (6-day rotation) to make the textured backgrounds, and in this rotation we used a variety of painting tools to create trees, leaves, and apples.

First grade learns the language of line, and ponders the questions, “can you hear a painting?” and “can you see music?”

This class begins with a lot of drama as we all act out the various kinds of lines; strong (vertical), dynamic (diagonal) and peaceful (horizontal). Along the way we also become bumpy, zig-zaggy, and round and round. We look at an abstract painting by Wassily Kandinsky and learn that he painted to express his feelings when listening to music, and we notice the variety of lines he used in his art. Some of the classes listened to “Hall of the Mountain King,” and some listened to “Night on Bald Mountain.” All of the line paintings are beautiful and expressive.


For the second part of the painting experience, we looked at “The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Chinese Painting,” and saw how Chinese painters use lines to show water. We practiced making thick and thin lines with a paintbrush. We listened to water music for this painting, including a song of the hump-backed whale, and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” Many of these paintings tell a story.













Children also had the opportunity to paint anything at all.

In the next rotation, we add color. Stay tuned.