Welcome Back Anderson Artists!!!

I can't believe it is the beginning of a new school year already.  I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing summer.  I had a wonderful time traveling with my family and our dogs.  We had plans to go to the beach but we are flexible at home just like at Anderson and instead we went to Michigan.  It was AMAZING and I highly recommend a trip there if you ever have the chance.  We drove all the way there with our 5th Wheel travel trailer and our 2 dogs.  We spent time at the Great Lakes and at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Shore Area.  Lots of hiking and swimming and we even snuck in a little shopping too.

I am excited to begin my 12th year teaching art at Anderson and I know that we are going to make some masterpieces together this year.  If you made any cool art this summer I would love to see it and I can't wait to hear all your stories about your summer vacations. See you at meet the teacher night this Friday.

Yearbooks are Here!!!!!!!

Yearbooks will be distributed during the yearbook signing party.  The signing party will be hosted during students’ specials class times on Friday June 1^{st (last day of school)}.  All students will have the opportunity to fellowship with friends, join in some spirit songs and sign yearbooks.

Students who did not purchase a yearbook have the opportunity to make a signature book in art with Ms. Cromley or purchase a yearbook in the front office on Thursday May 31^st. 

We have a very limited number of these books to sell and it will be first come first served.  The all color yearbooks cost $25.00 and must be purchased using cash with exact change. If you purchase a book in the office we will hold it for your student and distribute them with all other yearbooks.

If you are unsure if you purchased a yearbook all classroom teachers, Ms. Cromley and Ms. Blandford have a list of students who pre-purchased a yearbook. If your student will not be at school to receive their pre-purchased yearbook please contact Ms. Cromley (cromleyc@friscoisd.org or 469-633-2342) to make alternate arrangements for yearbook pick-up.

                                                                   Thank You

                                                                    Ms. Cromley

                                                                           and

                                                                    Ms. Blandford

                                                                Yearbook advisers

Summer fun is here!!!!

We have had a fantastic year this year on the Specials Team. I work with some amazing teachers who also happen to be my best friends.  I am one lucky lady!!!

I wanted to wish all my students and their families a safe and fun summer.  Remember to go out there and create some art.  You can take a class, go to an art camp, or just bust out the sidewalk chalk and color outside in our beautiful Texas weather.  I will be going to Galveston Texas to the beach. Then I will be heading off to Branson Missouri and Nashville Tennessee this summer.  I would love to see pictures and/or drawings from the fun places you all go this summer.  Enjoy your vacation and I will see everyone in August.

                                                                             Love
                                                                                Ms. Cromley

5th Grade Initial Zentangles

I thought it would be fun to end the year with a crowd pleaser of an art project.  My 5th graders are making Initial Zentangles that I can laminate for them to place inside their lockers next year when they move on to middle school.  Hopefully it will be a nice reminder of the fun times they spent in art during their 6 years at Anderson.  I will miss you all and I wish you all the best.  Remember to "Be The Stars That You Are"!!!!
Love Ms. Cromley

Marbelized Eggs

Second Grade watched the Reading Rainbow Rechenka's Eggs by Patricia Polacco. We drew 3 eggs on our papers and created designs inside and then traced with Sharpie marker.  To marbleize our eggs we put a layer of shaving cream down on the table and then dripped either warm or cool liquid watercolors on top.  We then used the handle end of our paint brush to swirl the color throughout the shave cream.  We then gently pressed our papers onto the shave cream and peeled back to see the beautiful results.

Many of my students remark that it looks like frosting so.........to make this project edible you could use Cool Whip or Whip cream in place of the shave cream and then use food coloring instead of liquid watercolors.  It would be fun to dip cupcakes or cookies in the cream and see what happens.  I think you could even roll out cookie dough and then lay the cookie dough on top of the cream to create a marbleized surface on cut out cookies.  It is fun to experiment with art techniques and see what cool results you might get.

5th Grade is working on creating clay creatures.  They are using many different clay techniques that they have learned during each year at Anderson.  We are using the pinch pot method, scoring and slipping, handbuilding and slab construction. Clay is always a favorite with any grade and one of my favorites as well.  The pieces featured here are in progress and are at the greenware stage.  Stay tuned to see the awesome final results during the next few weeks.

4th Grade Creates Concentric Circle Cooperative Paintings

My 4th grade students have just begun their circle paintings.  They are creating paintings with concentric circles and then they will be able to add collage elements on top.  When they are finished we will cut the paintings into 1/4 and share our art with others to create a new painting for each student to take home.  Stay tuned for the awesome results!!! I found this awesome lesson (and altered it a bit for our purposes) on http://pamelaholderman.blogspot.com/2011/04/going-around-in-circles.html