On the first day of school every class in every grade level read the book Snippet. In the book, by Diane Albers, the geometric shapes wouldn't allow the irregular shapes "snippets" to play and build houses with them. One brave snippet challenged "Square" to see how interesting the town could be if all the shapes were included!

Student then chose a triangle and rectangle or square to build the foundation of his/her own house before using found and cut 'snippets' to make each house in their class neighborhood unique!

Each grade level began the year with a project featuring a patriotic theme. We defined patriotism as showing love or support for one's country.

We looked at American flags from history and present day, counted the number of stars and stripes and even saw ways that different artists show the American flag in unique ways.

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Students worked on line drawing and cutting skills with an emphasis on scissor safety and correct use. Student's also practiced gluing technique ("dot, dot, not a lot!") to use an appropriate amount of glue. We finished with an introduction to printing by stamping our stars!

Students took inspiration from real leaves as we observed like scientists and artists to find the lines and shapes to show the leaves, stems and veins. After practicing in sketchbooks artists drew a final leaf shape and transferred it to a foam printing plate. Students observed a printmaking demonstration and learned the correct terminology for printmakers tools such as brayer, bench hook, ink, printing plate and barren. Working in small groups with the teacher to master the printing process, students were able to make multiple prints using a variety of fall inspired ink colors!