Arts Attack Teacher of the Month – October
Arts Attack Teacher of the Month!
The Arts Attack Curriculum has been taught in classrooms, virtual classrooms, after-school programs, co-ops, and homeschool settings for over 20 years. There have been so many wonderful teachers, parents, and volunteers who have used our program to bring the arts to education. We thank all of them and would like to introduce one special teacher each month as our “Teacher of the Month”!
Congratulations to Cheryl Mathison from Juniper School in Redding, California for being in our Teacher Spotlight for October!
My name is Cheryl Mathison. I have taught for 28 years at Juniper School in Redding, California. I taught K-4 grades at the beginning of my career. I have been teaching 2nd grade for most of my years in education. It has been my favorite grade because I see so much growth in reading as well as seeing growth in many other standards I teach. I was introduced to Arts Attack about 10 years ago when I had a Student Teacher in Summer School. I really like how it builds through the grades and it is taught by someone who can teach a variety of lessons that aligns with the standards. Some of the lessons can be challenging, but it shows the kids that everyone’s art does not have to look alike and I appreciate the samples. I also try to add writing pieces to most of the art projects too. Arts Attack has always been a great addition to my weekly lesson plans.
Here are some of the works of art that Cheryl Mathison’s class has completed so far this year:
Line Creatures, in this lesson students are introduced to the concepts of line, shape, texture, and pattern; and they identify examples of these elements or principles in the classroom and in artworks. They learn that line can have different qualities and learn to distinguish between line varieties. (Perception) Students do a line warm-up, and create a line creature using a variety of lines to create patterns, contrasts and interest.
Contour Birds, in this lesson students look at pictures of birds and go outside to look at real birds. They look for and identify all the variations of colors, lines, shapes, forms, textures and patterns that they see; and they identify any features that really stand out on the different birds. Students learn how to identify and draw contour line; they learn to overlap shapes to create space while drawing simple bird shapes.
Scarecrow, in this lessons students review the primary, secondary, and tertiary colors; and they identify examples of each of these, as well as textures and patterns, in the classroom and in pictures and props of scarecrows. They learn to distinguish between slight variations in color. Students review the primary colors and how to mix secondary colors. They learn how to mix intermediate (tertiary colors) as they make a color wheel, and then paint a large scarecrow outline, fill it with all of the colors of the color wheel!
If you would like to nominate a teacher that is using the Arts Attack Program please email us at info@artsattack.com