Events: Art Appreciation

Art Appreciation is a PTA sponsored program that brings parent volunteers into the classroom once a month to present an artist and lead the class in an easy project based on that artist. The goal of the program is to give students a brief overview of an artist that they might not be familiar with and to let them have an additional creative moment in their day. Supplies and lessons are all provided.

Use the link below to sign up through SignUpGenius.  Please choose only 1 date per student. Note that all sign up dates are set for the first of the month, but you may schedule your lesson anytime during the month based on schedules for you and your teacher.  After the initial sign-up period we will offer the opportunity to volunteer for additional dates if they are available.   Thank you for sharing your time to bring the arts to our students!

Art Appreciation Sign Up

Check out the artist and/or project scheduled for each month and grade!

Artist / Project Schedule

You email your teacher directly and arrange your visit. You can schedule the lesson for any date / time / length that works for both you and your child's teacher. Check out the workbook containing lesson dates and times for other volunteers during your month. Try to schedule your lesson on different dates or times to ensure the availability of shared art supplies. Please do your best to schedule your lesson within your volunteer month. 

Art lessons are 45 to 60 minutes long. Classroom schedules can be tight, so it's always a good idea to communicate with your teacher to understand the time allotted for your lesson. You can make changes and simplify your lesson if needed due to limited time provided.

After you have scheduled your lesson with the teacher, add your lesson date and time to the workbook below to share with the other Art Appreciation volunteers. 

Art Appreciation Lesson Dates and Times

You will be emailed a reminder a week prior to the month of your lesson with a link to this web page. Follow these steps to prepare for your lesson.

Review Project Information

• Click on the down arrow next to "Lesson Plans" then click on the link for your child's grade. 

• Click on the month of your lesson to open the project folder.

• All online folders should contain pics of sample projects and the Take Home sheet. For kindergarten, the folder will contain the picture of a book assigned for you to read aloud to the class before your project. You can check the book out from the Fairmount Library. For all other grades, the folder will contain a Google slideshow to present to the class. Some folders contain TIP sheets and other information. See *Note below.

• Some projects will also have information in the art closet filing cabinet. Go to the "What About Supplies?" section for more information on the art closet.

Practice the Presentation

• Review and practice the presentation for the Art Appreciation lesson.

• You will not be able to make any changes to the presentation in the online folder. If you want to make changes, make a copy of the presentation and update it. Be sure to send a copy to the teacher. You can also email a copy to ArtAppreciation@FairmountPTA.com 

Practice Project (Optional)

• Do the project at home prior to the lesson.

• This will help you understand how much time it takes, potential snags, and what it is like to do the project. You may want to add or take away from the project depending on timing.

Get Take Home Sheet Ready

• The Take Home sheet is the sheet that announces an Art Appreciation volunteer visited class. There are two Take Home sheets per page. There is a digital copy in the online folder and a hard copy in the art closet filing cabinet.  You can use the copy machine next to the school office to make copies. They can be color or black and white. Alternatively, you can use the online copy to print at home. It’s an important part of the program as it keeps the conversation about the artist / project and your lesson going at home!! (And it helps spread the word for recruiting volunteers!)

• Please leave one color uncut copy of the Take Home sheet in the art closet filing cabinet. You can also leave your leftover copies in the folder for other classes to use.

• * Note: With your feedback, we can build TIP sheets for all folders.

Art Closet

Take time to look over the online project materials, then take a trip to the art closet at least one week prior to the project lesson to check for supplies. The art closet is located on the stage in the school. Enter through the door near the office. 

Entering School

Before heading to the school, please email the secretaries to let them know your arrival plan. They will ensure there aren't any drills or other activities that will prevent you from entering. Be sure to show your ID and obtain a visitors pass anytime you are entering the school.   

Jill DeRango: jderango@dg58.org

Andrea Laama: Alaama@dg58.org 

Filing Cabinet and Take Home Sheets

In addition to the supplies, there is also a metal filing cabinet that contains folders labeled by artist and divided by grade. These folders contain a color copy of the Take Home sheets (2 per page). Make enough color or black and white copies of the Take Home sheet to hand out to your class. Alternatively, use the digital copy to print out at home. Please make sure one color Take Home sheet that has not been cut in half is left in the folder. Some folders also contain project examples and other information. Feel free to add a project example or other useful information to the folder for future use.

Prepping Supplies

If you would like, you can gather the consumable supplies you'll need and set them aside in a container with a note attached with your lesson date. Please do not hold supplies to the side longer than a week. If there are extra consumable supplies in the folder or cabinet, please use them before printing / making new if you need them for your lesson but feel free to modify your lesson to an original idea. (Some consumable supplies are in the hanging folders after the 6th grade folder in the bottom cabinet.) Note that consumable supplies are things like paper that one student will use up and shared supplies are things like markers that students can share.

Ordering Supplies

If you need additional supplies, let us know by filling in the google form. We will purchase the supplies and leave them in the closet for you. Please allow up to two weeks for delivery. If less than two weeks before your lesson, please contact the Art Appreciation coordinator directly after submitting the request:

Supply Request Form

Click on the grade for your lesson. Go to the newly opened tab and click on the month of the lesson to view the materials for your lesson. Note for Kindergarten that you will need to check out the book from the Fairmount library for your lesson as there is not generally a presentation available.

Kindergarten 

1st grade 

2nd grade 

3rd grade 

4th grade 

5th grade 

6th grade 

Here's a general outline for you to follow for your Art Appreciation lesson:

• Check in at the front desk. Don't forget your ID! 

• Gather your supplies from the art closet and return to the office. They will call the teacher to let them know you are ready.

• Do the presentation.

• Do the Art Appreciation project.

• Hand out the Take Home sheets.

• Clean up all materials and messes. Make sure you leave the classroom as nice or nicer than you found it.

• Take a picture (if desired).

• It is nice to take a group picture with the students showing off their final project.

• Share pictures with the teacher and/or the office. You may want to give them permission to share on Seesaw or in the newsletter as they see fit.

• Please do not post pictures of other kids on social media. Some student's parents have not consented to sharing pictures!

• Return shared supplies to cabinet.

• Please keep the cabinet neat and return the shared supplies to their proper place.

• Make sure the color full page version of the Take Home sheet is in the project folder in the file cabinet.

• Feel free to add your art sample to the project folder. Try to keep it down to 8.5" x 11" if possible. 

• Put unused consumable supplies in the project folder if another class can use them.

• *The kids like to help hand out materials. They will also help with clean up.

We would love to hear your feedback for your project. It can help us improve the Art Appreciation program. Fill in this form any time after you have completed your lesson.

Art Appreciation Feedback Form

Can I practice the lesson?

You are welcome to take home any supplies from the art closet if you'd like to do a sample project at home or if you are needing to prepare any materials (i.e. pre-cut shapes or templates). If you do remove anything, please leave a note inside the art closet indicating what you have borrowed just in case another volunteer is looking for that item.

What are "Take Home" sheets?

The Take Home sheet is the sheet that announces an Art Appreciation volunteer visited class. There are two Take Home sheets per page. There is a digital copy in the online folder and a hard copy in the art closet filing cabinet.  You can use the copy machine next to the school office to make copies. They can be color or in black and white. Alternatively, you can use the online copy to print at home. It’s an important part of the program as it keeps the conversation about the artist / project and your lesson going at home!! (And it helps spread the word for recruiting volunteers!)

What if I want to change the lesson?

Have a great idea for a lesson that's different from the idea listed in the folder? That's great!!! You are free to do any project with the students you feel is appropriate. Please share your projects with us at ArtAppreciation@FairmountPTA.com. We're always on the lookout for fun new ideas.

What's the best way to set up for a project?

Most classrooms are set up in table groupings. You can utilize the trays in the cabinet and set up a supply station in the middle of each group. Paper plates, egg cartons and disposable cups are great ways to set up that require no clean up. It's nice to cover tables if your project is messy. You can use newspapers or the teachers' lounge has large format reams you can use as well. There is also a box of file folders in the art closet. These make great surfaces to protect desks from sharpie, oil pastels and glue. Please do your best to leave the classroom in the same state you found it.

How do I get the google slideshow presentation onto the classroom smartboard?

All teachers have access to the Art App google drive and will be able to pull up the lesson for you. There can sometimes be a video link embedded in the slide show. Just click the link during your presentation and it will play.

Why doesn't the google slide let me make changes?

In order to maintain the integrity of the project folders, they are read only. If you’d like to make changes, just download it to your personal computer and you will be able to make any revisions. The revised slide show can then be emailed to your teacher for presentation during your lesson.

What do I do after I've presented in the classroom?

We’d love to see any photos that were taken during your lesson (ArtAppreciation@FairmountPTA.com) and always enjoy feedback (Art Appreciation Feedback Form) on what worked and what didn’t. Projects can be sent home with students right away along with a copy of the take home sheet. If the projects require drying time, just make the needed arrangements with your teachers to distribute when dry or complete.