Artist Profile

Grumpy Cat works in oils

Please profile the artist you chose to study in a New Post on your blog.  

Please all include the information from your brochure, but instead of listing it, WRITE THE INFORMATION MORE LIKE A LIFE STORY, IN COMPLETE SENTENCES AND PARAGRAPHS.

Include an IMAGE or SELF-PORTRAIT of the artist as well as IMAGES of 2-3 of the artist's most famous WORKS.  

Title Your Post Artist Profile: ______ (name of artist).  Thanks!

Please post this by 11:59 pm Monday, 6 April.

New theme: ART as inspiration

For our next unit, I'd like us to do some thinking and new writing inspired by ART, visual art in particular (painting, sculpture, drawings). I had a lot of hands-on activities planned for us in our classroom, but I hope you can still find something that sparks your interest working on this theme from home. Many people find drawing, painting, and making art calming and therapeutic as well--something we could all probably use right now.

Mandalas like the one above are one artistic element important to a variety of cultures, faiths and schools of thought...If we were in class I would have had you color one for your journal...If you're looking for something to do, you can create some interesting mandalas at this site.  Print them, color them, put them in your journal if you want to.  This is fun but not required.

Here's what is required, by 11:59 pm Thursday 4/2:

Leave a brief but thoughtful COMMENT (150-200 words or so) on this post answering one or more of these questions:

• How or why do you think art could be used as therapy?
• Can you think of other pieces of or types of art that are connected to certain faiths, disciplines or movements?
• What role does art play in your own life?
• If you could be any kind of artist, what would you be?  Why?
• What do your doodles say about your personality?  Check this site or others for reference.
• Why do you think Adult Coloring Books are so popular right now?  This article has some ideas.

Read everyone else's comments, too, and reply back if you'd like!

1,000+ Journal Ideas

Please continue to write 5 full-page journal entries per week, either in your spiral notebook or as a Google Doc you could share with me at mid-quarter.

You could use these prompts I found from The New York Times for writing ideas. Each prompt is also a link to an article/discussion on the topic.

Over 1,000 Writing Prompts for Students

I have these spiral notebooks with me and will happily mail out to you. If you'd like to have yours sent to you, comment here with your address or send it to me in a message on Canvas by the end of the day Wednesday:

Bella S (ready to mail)
Lilly P
Mia C
Avery A
Alex W
Mackenzie W 
Kambria B (ready to mail)
Jake R
Belita R
Ethan W
Hannah H (ready to mail)
Kenzie W
Lorna P 

Polish 3 Pieces for Publication

For your first assignment in this new work-at-home arrangement, I would like you to select 3 of your favorite pieces you have either published to your blog or written in your journal to take another look at and share to me for possible use in Think. Magazine.  These might be poetry or prose.

Think. is a book of student writing and photography I publish for the KHS English department every spring, and I am attempting to pull it off this year the best I can. I rely heavily on my Creative Writing classes for interesting pieces to fill the book.  We generally look for uplifting and poignant pieces with creative voice, an intriguing storyline, engaging imagery and details, and so on.  We generally aren't looking for pieces that are purely academic (research papers or literary analysis), mean-spirited or heavy on teen angst. : )

So please do the following by this Wednesday:

1: Copy and paste 3 of your pieces into a SINGLE Google Doc.

2: Title the doc THINK20 YOUR NAME.

3: Be sure that each piece within the Doc has its own creative title.

4: Make any necessary touch-ups to your pieces to be sure that they make sense, include enough details, have a logical beginning and ending, and are something you'd be proud and comfortable having published for the general public to read with your name attached.

5: Proofread your work carefully to eliminate typos and other mistakes.  Have someone at home do this for you if needed--even share to a friend on Drive for feedback if that would help.

6: Share the Google Doc to hfraser@sps.org by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, 1 April for 30 points.

Some notes:

I may use all of none of your pieces in Think. By submitting your work for this assignment you and your family are giving me permission to do so.  If you DO NOT want me to publish your work but you still want to earn points for this assignment, just type me a note at the top of your Google Doc telling me this.

I also need artistic photography for the book, so if you have any cool photos you've taken this year that I could include you can add those to your Doc or send separately. We don't use photos of people or faces.

Let me know if you have questions.  Thanks for your help.  I miss you!

Hellooooooooo...out there!

Oh my goodness.  Who knew when we left each other a couple of weeks ago that our whole world would go so haywire? I miss you all and wish we could be together in our cozy classroom writing and making new things. But alas, here we are.  

I will be using Canvas to communicate regularly with you all and I will be posting the assignments both there and here on our class blog. Please check both every day.  I will be sending a message to each of you individually on Canvas tomorrow to see how you are doing and what you need from me. 

I'd also like you to keep up with your journaling, and I'll be asking if it's easier for you to do so through Google Docs or your spiral notebook (which I can grab from our classroom and mail to you!). I'll provide some prompts, and I'd like you to fill 5 pages a week as usual. 

Leave a COMMENT on this post letting me know you saw it and that you're okay out there, and do the same for the Announcement I posted to Canvas.   

I am here for you and miss you lots! XOXO

We made it!

It's the end of third quarter!  You all have been wonderful to work with so far, and I'm looking forward to trying new things and seeing what you come up with in the next half of the semester.  The end of the quarter is a busy time for all of us, and you might be feeling as frazzled as this kitty.  It will all be okay... Just a couple of reminders:

Your journal is due today with 20 new full pages.  

All catch-up work needs to be posted to your blog by 10 am Friday morning to receive credit on your grade for 3rd quarter.  

Enjoy the break! We will be working with ART as inspiration to start quarter 2!

Choose 1: Music or Movie Inspired Piece

Option 1:

Create a New Post of at least 500 words on your own blog with the word "music" somewhere in the title and use the questions below (or ideas of your own) as prompts. 

• When you listen to music, what feelings/emotions does it evoke?
• What is your favorite song? Why? Is it connected to a certain time, event, or place?
• How has your taste in music changed over the years?
• Why do you gravitate towards certain types of music? Why do think you dislike certain types of music? (influences, history, parents)
• Do your friends listen to the same styles of music as you? What do you think this means?
• Without music, the world would be….
• Without music, my life would be…
• I admire the music of ___________, because he/she/they___________________...
• One event I connect to music, is the time when……..
• Is there any style of music that should not be tolerated? Why?
• Does music have the power to heal? How do you know?
• Music has the ability to change the mood of movies, television shows, and other performances. How?
• Is music poetry? What are some of the more “poetic” lyrics you can think of?
• What does music do for you that nothing else can?
• Would you ever want to sing or be a musician professionally?
• 
  

Option 2: (you only need to do one option, not all)

Write a new piece of 500 words inspired by MUSIC...maybe a new song or a narrative connected to a memory, fiction inspired by the lyrics of a song... anything!

Option 3: (you only need to do one option, not all)

Write a new piece of 500 words inspired by MOVIES...maybe a scene from a screenplay or a movie review...anything!

Add images to your post to make it visually interesting...

Remember: Your journal is due tomorrow with 20 new, full pages.