Sculpture Techniques: Construct -- A Schoolhouse Crew Review

In March I was asked if I would consider reviewing an art instruction book for ARTistic Pursuits Inc. 

Specifically, ARTistic Pursuits was hoping to find reviewers who had previously reviewed their one of their Sculpture Techniques books to review the other book in the series. A couple of years ago I reviewed Sculpture Technique: Build, so I offered to review Sculpture Technique: Construct.

When the book arrived, first thing I did was look at the Table of Contents to decide what we would work on. Photo is not too clear, so click on it:

The four units are:

1. Papermaking;
2. Creating Planes in Cardboard;
3. Creating Motion with Papier-Mâché; and
4. Creating Volume with Wire

Looking also at the required materials, between scrounging trash and my previous art supply acquisitions, I had everything I needed, almost. You'll never guess what the hardest thing was for me to scrounge up: newspaper for the papier-mâché!  Who would have thought, ten years ago, that free newspaper would be non-existent in so many households? I finally found some at the local coffee shop that had been read and discarded for whoever wanted it.

So now that I knew I was ready for any of the units/lessons, I handed the book to my son and asked him to pick something we could work on for art. He was immediately drawn to the wire art section. I was glad he skipped paper making for now. I've done paper making with my daughter(s), and I know it can be hard on my blender. If he decides to make paper later, I am ready (if not enthusiastic).

The section he selected gives instruction on making human, animal and other shapes out of wire. My son decided to make a human figurine.

Using floral wire that was left over from the flower preparations for my daughter's wedding in 2013, he quickly made a 5" skeleton frame for a human. 

The book then gives instructions on finishing the figurines in papier-mâché.

Um... My son has his own ideas and often does not read instructions. He asked me for clay. We had it, so I told him where to find it. He finished his (naked) figurine in clay. It turned out wonderfully!

          

Next I focused on the section about shapes and planes. There is instruction initially about layering shapes on a plane. Materials used were a recycled mailing envelope and paper from an old stash of construction paper, and this was created:

The next section we focused on gave instructions to create 3-dimensional shapes from those flat planes. I started with my supply of boxes that I had saved instead of recycling:

The cereal box was opened up and laid flat, then trimmed down to a size appropriate to the template provided in the book.

The cube template was replicated on the cardboard using the ruler and the pen.
The fold lines were creased.

Then the flaps were glued.

If you top a cube with a pyramid, you get a basic house construction, so the next shape tackled was the pyramid. Same concept, the template was transferred to the cardboard, it was cut out, folded and then glued. Then it was stacked on the cube. The pyramid didn't turn out as well as the cube -- probably the pattern was not copied as well.

 

I don't know what else my son will do from this book, but it would be fun if I could get him to create a papier-mâché animal and a wire figure of a boat or a fish, maybe a mobile. We'll have to see if I can get him to do some more work.

I appreciate ARTistic Pursuits permitting me to review Sculpture Technique: Construct for them. I have loved every book I have ever tried by ARTistic Pursuits, and I strongly recommend all of the books in the various grade levels. I encourage you to try one!

Other members of the Review Crew also reviewed ARTistic Pursuits products. To see other product reviews, please click the button below.

Zeezok Music Appreciation - A Schoolhouse Crew Review

In early March I learned I would be part of the group of Crew members who would receive the products from Zeezok Publishing LLC to review.

A couple of weeks later we received a fabulous package containing the complete program of Music Appreciation Book 1: for the Elementary Grades for our use. Even though I have a 16 year old son (no younger students), I requested this review to use as a part of my son's Music Appreciation course. Materials written for younger students can still benefit older students. Older students often get more out of the information, or retain more of the facts. The parent teacher can also supplement the program with more resources to bring the program to a higher level.

This Music Appreciation package includes books, with CDs of related musical pieces, to study Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Handel, Bach, Schubert, and Paganini. We were asked to let the Crew leadership know which one composer we wished to focus on for the review. That was a difficult choice -- it is such a great selection of composers! I settled on Mozart, though, so he has been the focus of our studies since we received the materials.

The materials arrived, and there was initial sorting, exploring, and trying to remember who we were starting with. Then the biography was pulled out, and the reading began.

Confusion ensued... How much do I read? Where are the assignments? We pulled back together to regroup. Key important resource, the student workbook! We were back in business with knowing how the program was set up and what to do when.  

Note that the workbook is 3-hole punched! Down the road I might put Music Appreciation into a 3" 3-ring binder with dividers for each composer! If you add duct tape to the lapbook and hole-punch it, you can store it in the 3-ring binder with the workbook! But I get ahead of myself...

In addition to the Music Appreciation program (which includes the workbook, composer biographies, and a box of music disks) we received the lapbook CD. It contains PDF lapbooks for each of the included composers.

The program can be used without the lapbooks, but the workbook is clearly designed to be used with the lapbook, assigning the student to do things in the lapbook as the student works through the assignments.

Printing a lapbook on your own printer uses a lot of ink, and my husband says it is less expensive to just go to a local shop to get your print outs. I downloaded my lapbook from the CD to a portable drive and headed to Kinkos. At our shop the black and white copies were $0.15 a page, but the color pages were $0.75 a page. I printed one or two pages in color, but printed the rest in B/W. My student can color it in later if he wants to.

So my student is not a lapbook kinda kid, but I'm a lapbook kinda mama, so I did a lot of the lapbook creation with only a little help from my student. 

   
Since the lapbook isn't his thing, it was mostly put together all at once rather than step-by-step while going through the workbook. That's a confusing way to do it, though. I didn't print out the sample photos or the instructions from the CD, and one of the lapbook pages come out of the workbook! We finally got it all figured out with a little help from another Crew member answering a question!

My son really enjoyed learning about Mozart, the Wonder Boy! I did, too. And I learned that in spite of my son's age, this program would have been better covered together (the two of us, teacher and student). There are places in the workbook that say things like, "Listen to music, Disk 4, track 25". My student wasn't keen on completing that type of assignment...

I have really enjoyed adding Zeezok Music App to our studies this spring. While this is targeted towards the Elementary Grades, we still found it enjoyable for a high schooler and an adult. It would not be sufficient to count for a high school credit (and doesn't claim to be), but when added to our other work we have done in composer studies it is a valuable and valid addition to my student's course portfolio. Sometimes it is nice to study some of your materials at a lighter level. The student still learns and retains a great deal!

The workbook study pages were broken down to study Mozart for four weeks. Each week assigned certain pages from the biography, certain comprehension questions, a listening assignment, a section about Mozart's character qualities, a section with interesting tidbits about Mozart and an assignment on the assembly of the lapbook. Certain assignments varied from week to week - assignments about the Mozart family, German words to know, information about instruments and classical music - a wide variety of information. So sad when I learned that Mozart died at such a young age (37).

This is Book 1... Is there a Book 2 you might ask? It is in the works and will be for the middle-school grades.

I am thankful to Zeezok for their generosity in extending this program to us to review. I highly recommend it to folks who might be looking for such a program. In my state "Music" is a required subject for instruction in grades K-8, and it can be difficult for many to decide how to fulfill that requirement. ("What do I teach? How much is enough? etc.)

So let me know if you have any questions, or if you decide to try this program after reading my review.

Other members of the Review Crew also reviewed this product. To see other product reviews, please click the button below.

Menu Monday for 5/9/16

Here is my menu plan for this week:

Saturday (5/07):

B: blueberry morning

L: Salad

D: Eagle COH

Sunday (5/8):

B: spinach omelet

L: salad/tuna

D: rib eye steak, baked potatoes, Caesar salad

Monday (5/9):

B: vegetable omelet

L: green almond smoothie

D:  turkey cutlets, noodles, spinach

Tuesday (5/10):

B: cocoberry blast

L: creamy kale salad

D: sloppy joes, carrots (potato chips?)

Wednesday (5/11):

B: blueberry morning

L: quinoa chili or leftovers                                                                                                                     

Thursday (5/12):

B: spinach omelet

L:  salad with chicken

D: grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup

Friday (5/13):

B: garden green smoothie

L: southwestern chicken salad

D: meatloaf minis, mashed potatoes, Brussel sprouts

Saturday (5/14):

B: Quinoa, egg and smoked salmon

L: Nori Wraps

D: spaghetti w/meatballs, salad, TX toast

Kwik Stix 12 Pack - A Schoolhouse Crew Review

In late March I learned we would be reviewing Kwik Stix 12 pk to review. 

This paint set was sent to us by The Pencil Grip, Inc.

The Kwik Stix arrived, and I was so excited! My student, a 16 year old boy, is not easy to excite, though. Not rude, but his initial reaction was sort of, "Whatever..." Kwik Stix is a solid form of tempera paint that dries in 90 seconds -- a really wonderful concept!

We found some time and I set him up to give the Kwik Stix a try. He found them fun! He created a mountainscape with a lake and trees, and images reflecting off the water.

When I first learned we would be reviewing Kwik Stix, I had visions of numerous reproductions of famous works by various painters.

(Reproduction of The Scream by Edvard Munch, 1893)

I love Van Gogh, and had visions of reproductions of Starry Night, or that one of Van Gogh's bedroom, whatever its name is, or one of his self-portraits. The fact is, though, these wide stick paint sticks don't lend well toward that type of creation. It is difficult to see where the paint will go -- you don't have the control of a paint brush.

I also thought about creations of nature study.

Kwik Stix can create nice art, but I needed to change my thinking from "Art" to fun. I mean, it's still art, but my brain was on Rembrandt and Audobon.  While you can overlay colors to create effect, you can't really blend colors to create new colors. I substituted orange for spaces I had hoped to have tan, so I guess it didn't turn out too badly. Kwik Stix does come in a package with more colors, so that is the way to solve that dilemma. My Kwik Stix 12 pk came with white, black, brown, red, yellow, orange, dark blue, lighter blue, dark green, lighter green, dark purple and pink. I was also sent an additional sample Kwik Stix sample stick, but it was a duplicate of a color I already had (dark blue).

In addition to the Kwik Stix 12 pk I was sent a pencil grip to try and comment on. I knew in advance that it would be included in our package. My son had been observed in the past holding his pencil incorrectly. I had purchased pencil grips and instructed him on their use. At that time, however, he had taken my instruction as a personal insult and had refused to use the pencil grips I had provided. So it was my plan to keep this pencil grip for myself to use and comment on. When my son and I opened our package from The Pencil Grip, Inc., I drew his attention to the Kwik Stix in the package. My son surprised me, though, when he picked up the pencil grip and said, "What's this?"

I was again surprised as he listened attentively as I explained that sometimes children don't hold their pencil properly, and these pencil grips are used to help one hold the pencil properly. I was again surprised as he picked up the pencil grip, looked me in the eye and said, "Can I have it?" So I let him have it. He stuck it on his pen and began using it. During the review period the pen with the grip would surface occasionally, but I didn't get a photo of it. Right now I don't know where that pen is. I know the grip is blue. He likes it!

I received an email today from the vendor giving me craft ideas for using Kwik Stix for making Mother's Day cards and balloons. They invited me to share the project ideas with you. You can see the directions here.

Kwik Stix 12 pk is suitable for early elementary (visualize a red house, black roof, on green grass, white sidewalk), middle elementary (pictures becoming more complex - flowers with petals, oceans with ships and birds), middle school and up. Each student will develop their style based on their age and their skill.

In summary, art supplies can fall into two basic categories:

1. Supplies the kids can access without permission and use without supervision (paper, crayons, colored pencils, construction paper, safety scissors, glue sticks, etc.), and
2. Supplies the kids need permission to get out and supervision to use (paints, sharp scissors, white glue, messy supplies).

Kwik Stix fall into the first category. It is always nice to have an activity box the kids are allowed to take out and use without permission and with minimal supervision. Kwik Stix are safe for this box for most kids! We like Kwik Stix! They get our "Two Thumbs Up!" seal of approval!

Other members of the Review Crew also reviewed this product. To see other product reviews, please click the button below.

Menu Monday for 5.2.2016

Running late! Here's the plan for this week:

Saturday (4/30):

B: omelet

L: Salad

D: dinner out

Sunday (5/1):

B: blueberry morning

L: leftover black beans and rice

D: French bread pizza, salad

Monday (5/1):

B: vegetable omelet

L: green protein salad

D:  creamy tomato soup with sausage, [grilled cheese sandwiches]

Tuesday (5/3):

B: cocoberry blast

L: creamy kale salad

D: salmon with vegetables, [noodles]

Wednesday (5/4):

B: green almond smoothie

L: quinoa chili

D: seared halibut, peach salsa and cooled potatoes

Thursday (5/5):

B: bone broth fast

L:  bone broth fast

D: bone broth fast [sloppy joes, green beans)

Friday (5/6):

B: garden green smoothie

L: southwestern chicken salad

D: Salad pot-luck at Care Group

Saturday (5/7):

B: Quinoa, egg and smoked salmon

L: Nori Wraps

D: zucchini pasta w/marinara sauce