Fourth Grade
I interviewed five students. They were the first group of kids I interviewed and left me eager to connect with more students as I worked on more interviews.
Does art help you?
"It helps me when I draw, I learn from my mistakes and it helps me become better. I think it does help you improve, and when something happens if it’s on your mind you can make you opinion out." The same girl went on to tell me how she enjoys drawing Disney characters, especially goofy because she likes to imagine the noises he makes.
"Yeah, because it’s fun and creative and helps you think and make more art."
" It helps me in school because we’re doing a poetry unit and my teacher says that having a creative mind makes you more open and is more important than you think. I think it helps me think differently because it helps you think of something very differently, it helps you see things differently and more creatively."
"It helps me know about different colors and helps me learn about art in different areas of the world."
" Yes, you’ll learn more about stuff. It tells you how to make colors, and art. You can become famous. Yes, being creative helps me solve things differently."
Is art important? How so?
" Yeah, it teaches people life lessons and helps them learn more."
"Yes, it helps you be more creative and helps you understand the meaning of art."
" Yes, because I think creative minds are better than dull minds."
"Yes, it’s creative and when you’re bored it gives you ideas of what you can do. It gives you ideas of what fun you can do with art. When you know about art it helps you know about how to make things more realistic, creative, fun or easy or hard.
"Yes, people can kind of put people’s imaginations in art, just not in words."
They also told me about what they have learned and how art should be available to all kids. They told me about their North Carolina pendants as an example of what they have learned about. They could tell me about the symbols, what they mean and they even showed me their journals. The students keep art journals to keep record of any research, planning and writing they do with their projects.
Does art help you?
"It helps me when I draw, I learn from my mistakes and it helps me become better. I think it does help you improve, and when something happens if it’s on your mind you can make you opinion out." The same girl went on to tell me how she enjoys drawing Disney characters, especially goofy because she likes to imagine the noises he makes.
"Yeah, because it’s fun and creative and helps you think and make more art."
" It helps me in school because we’re doing a poetry unit and my teacher says that having a creative mind makes you more open and is more important than you think. I think it helps me think differently because it helps you think of something very differently, it helps you see things differently and more creatively."
"It helps me know about different colors and helps me learn about art in different areas of the world."
" Yes, you’ll learn more about stuff. It tells you how to make colors, and art. You can become famous. Yes, being creative helps me solve things differently."
Is art important? How so?
" Yeah, it teaches people life lessons and helps them learn more."
"Yes, it helps you be more creative and helps you understand the meaning of art."
" Yes, because I think creative minds are better than dull minds."
"Yes, it’s creative and when you’re bored it gives you ideas of what you can do. It gives you ideas of what fun you can do with art. When you know about art it helps you know about how to make things more realistic, creative, fun or easy or hard.
"Yes, people can kind of put people’s imaginations in art, just not in words."
They also told me about what they have learned and how art should be available to all kids. They told me about their North Carolina pendants as an example of what they have learned about. They could tell me about the symbols, what they mean and they even showed me their journals. The students keep art journals to keep record of any research, planning and writing they do with their projects.
Fifth Grade
The current project that the fifth graders are doing are "stained-glass" animal portraits, for which they had to research the animal they chose. The five students I interviewed talked to me about their planning process, why they chose their animal and how they interact with art. All five students enjoy art class and believe that art classes should be available to all students. Their favorite projects include painting, sculpting and drawing. When I asked one student what his favorite part of art class was, instead of responding with a medium, replied with "I like seeing it all come together at the end of a project."
Is art important?
" Yes, it makes people feel better and its fun."
"Yes, very important. It’s important because it shows emotions and sometimes it can bring back memories."
"Yes, like some art can be concrete and be one certain thing but a lot of art can be interpreted in many ways. It can inspire people and be used in many different ways.
Does art help you? Explain.
"It makes me feel better, I have fun doing it. Knowing about line and color helps me make art. It's a good creative outlet."
"Yes, with me whenever I’m stressed out or not feeling happy I can put my emotion into the art and it can help me get it all out. It also shows me all different cultures and countries and how they view art. It’s cool to learn about. I’m a visual learner so art helps me learn in different subjects as well."
"It makes me look at things differently. You can take paining to a whole new dimension when you look at things differently than everyone else does."
"We always have art projects that are fun and different. We’ve done mobiles and paintings and now we’re going to work with clay. I like how different it can be. I think it makes me more creative. Creativity is a very big part of art and I like how I can challenge myself with it. "
" Yes, it makes people feel better and its fun."
"Yes, very important. It’s important because it shows emotions and sometimes it can bring back memories."
"Yes, like some art can be concrete and be one certain thing but a lot of art can be interpreted in many ways. It can inspire people and be used in many different ways.
Does art help you? Explain.
"It makes me feel better, I have fun doing it. Knowing about line and color helps me make art. It's a good creative outlet."
"Yes, with me whenever I’m stressed out or not feeling happy I can put my emotion into the art and it can help me get it all out. It also shows me all different cultures and countries and how they view art. It’s cool to learn about. I’m a visual learner so art helps me learn in different subjects as well."
"It makes me look at things differently. You can take paining to a whole new dimension when you look at things differently than everyone else does."
"We always have art projects that are fun and different. We’ve done mobiles and paintings and now we’re going to work with clay. I like how different it can be. I think it makes me more creative. Creativity is a very big part of art and I like how I can challenge myself with it. "