Erickson Elementary Fine Arts

 February has been a fun month for art at Erickson as we work our way toward a clay unit coming up in the next few weeks. We once again have been working this year to bridge what the students are learning in the homeroom class with what we are learning in art class.   In Kindergarten we had a busy month. We started off by doing a Romero Britto inspired Valentine Heart project and are now reviewing weather with a silly drawing inspired by the book "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs"  by Judi Barrett.  First grade spend some time creating some incredible solar systems with their own chalk pastel planets. These really turned out to be amazing! Our sweet first graders are now working on a super secret first step to an upcoming clay project (this is sure to be a sweet gift for the family).  Second graders spent some time doing valentines lessons inspired by artist Chris Uphues and are now finishing up with their Ghanaian Kente Cloth inspired paper weavings....

What’s Happening at the Erickson Library? In Kindergarten Library class, we talked about point of view. Point of view the mouth and eyes of the story. In 1st grade, 2nd grade and 3rd grade library class, we talked about nonfiction!  We reviewed the text features of maps, captions, special print and glossary.   We looked at  nonfiction books to see if those books had the text features we learned.  In 2nd and 3rd grade we took "selfies" of all the text features we could find in the books! OH there are so many! In 4th grade, we learned how books are shelved in the library. We had a library Hunt, looking for books that were on the shelf and determining if they were fiction or nonfiction books! 5th grade we learned about different genres of books and the differences between the genres. Poetry vs. Novel and Verse, Historical Fiction vs. Informational and Memoir vs. Autobiography. We found some great books to read too! If you have any questions, please contact me at h...

    Erickson Music Edition:  February 2025        Happy almost March  everyone! Here is what each grade is working on: Kindergarten:     Kindergarten students are working on keeping a Steady Beat and finishing up their Sound/Silence songs. 1st Grade:     1st grade students are currently working on writing rhythms and practicing their Sol and Mi Solfege syllables. 2nd Grade:     2nd grade students just finished up writing Do-Re-Mi songs and will be working on Boomwhacker songs. 3rd Grade:     3rd grade students are currently learning how to play recorders and composing their own songs! 4th Grade:     4th  grade students are currently learning how to play recorders and composing their own songs! 5th Grade:     5 th  grade students are currently learning how to play recorders and composing their own songs! Musical:      Musical rehearsals are progressing well and we ...

Erickson Art!  We are so excited to get 2025 kicked off with some amazing student artwork! This year in art I have been working to merge our curriculum with what the students are learning in their CKLA (language arts) program. It has been so much fun watching the students make connections to their classroom and share what they have been learning from one room to another. Here is a little glimpse at what we have been working on this month with each grade! kindergarten is learning about native american culture and life in Mrs. Volkman and Mrs. Crossley's classes. In art we read the book The Indian Paintbrush  by Tomie DePaola and created a chalk pastel landscape inspired by the colors of the Indian Paintbrush flowers! First grade Students have been learning all about abstract art and are currently making abstract "three line" landscape inspired by the beautiful work of Etel Adnan.  Second grade is also spending some time digging into abstract art as well. They have been tak...

  Erickson Music Edition:  January 2025         Happy New Year everyone! As we begin the exciting new year of 2025, here is what each grade is working on: Kindergarten:     Kindergarten students are currently working on keeping a Steady Beat and singing/recognizing High/Low Sounds! Make sure to ask your student to tap/clap along to the beat of a song! 1st Grade:     1st grade students are currently working on practicing their new rhythm (Eighth Notes) and about to start learning Solfege syllables! 2nd Grade:     2nd grade students are currently working on composing their own percussion songs and about to start learning a the Do-Re-Mi solfege syllables! 3rd Grade:     3rd grade students are currently learning how to read music (ask them about Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge!) and are preparing to start their Recorder Unit in February! 4th Grade:     4th grade students are currently learning about time sign...

Digital Citizenship and Text Features! In 2nd grade, we are talking about private and personal information  and what could and should not be shared when online.  We discussed, although very tempting, that even if the award sounds really great and fun, that it might be a “scam”.  Students will answer questions through an online safety game and see how many skulls they earn! Nonfiction text features are also another topic that will be discussed in the library!  Besides understanding the definitions of  title and glossary, students will learn captions, index, diagrams and special print as well.  Students will take selfies of the text features in library class to show their understanding!