STEAM
The Names Dress (With My Name!)
“There is no limit to beauty, no saturation point in design, no end to the material” – Salvatore Ferragamo Today I’m honored and excited to share the news that my name has been included in the Names Dress, which is on display at the Museo Salvatore Ferragamo in Florence, Italy! The Names Dress is a wearable, compostable conceptual […]
WeRMakers: Product ReDesign In Fifth Grade Art
“A designer is an emerging synthesis of artist, inventor, mechanic, objective economist and evolutionary strategist.” – R. Buckminster Fuller This is the third fall I have facilitated the WeRMakers Product Redesign unit. This is a project-based-learning unit that utilizes resources from Project Zero Classroom’s Agency by Design. A few colleagues and I participated in their online […]
A Time to Plan, A Time to Reflect on 2017/2018
“To everything (turn, turn, turn) There is a season (turn, turn, turn) And a time to every purpose, under heaven A time to build up, a time to break down A time to dance, a time to mourn A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together” – Pete Seeger (Ecclesiastes) “A […]
Light-Up Artwork with Paper Circuits
“Art history is littered with work that involves light.” – James Turrell, Artist Following the lead of artist, James Turrell, in the early days of April, we worked on drawings with oil pastel to which we added LED lights, by creating Paper Circuits. We used multi-colored LED lights, copper tape, a battery and a piece […]
Making Mandalas
Compasses, protractors, and rulers…oh my! Mandalas: Where art and math collide. As shared in the last post about Sketchbooks, this term we created Mandalas on the covers of our newly made sketchbooks. We used protractors, compasses, rulers, pencils, and markers. Here is a short video showing how to make them: Once the Mandalas were underway […]
GameMakers PBL Unit With 3D Printing
“I think it’s wrong that only one company makes the game Monopoly.” – Steven Wright Two summers ago I put together the GameMakers unit to engage sixth grade art students while utilizing cooperative learning, project based learning, 3D printing, Google Classroom, and Google Sites. We piloted it in the fall of 2016, with great success. […]
ETTSummit 2017
“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” Marcel Proust I’m just back home from two days at the EdTechTeacher ETTSummit in Boston and want to write a few lines to keep the inspiration alive that I felt there. I go to a […]
Exposition, Exploration, & Exit ISTE17 Part 6/6
“What is that feeling when you’re driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? —it’s the too-huge world vaulting us, and it’s good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.” – Jack Kerouac, On the Road Massachusetts to Texas I had to go […]
(Rock the Boat) Don’t Rock the Boat Baby & ISTE17 Part 5/6
“Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car in the night?” – Jack Kerouac, On The Road Middle Keynote Jennie Magiera kicked off Tuesday with an inspirational message in which she invited educators to tell their own stories as well as empower their students to tell theirs. She invited all of us in the auditorium to […]
Making Monday & ISTE17 Part 4/6
“I was halfway across America, at the dividing line between the East of my youth and the West of my future, and maybe that’s why it happened right there and then, that strange red afternoon.” ― Jack Kerouac, On the Road This post is about the rest of Monday, after my presentation, which you can read […]
We R Makers & ISTE17 Part 3/6
“He no longer cared about anything (as before) but now he also cared about everything in principle; that is to say, it was all the same to him and he belonged to the world and there was nothing he could do about it.” ― Jack Kerouac, On the Road Monday morning = Presentation Day But […]
Remember the Alamo & ISTE17 Part 2/6
“Why think about that when all the golden land’s ahead of you and all kinds of unforeseen events wait lurking to surprise you and make you glad you’re alive to see?” – Jack Kerouac, On the Road Pre-ISTE Upon awaking on Sunday, our second day in Texas, I was excited to visit the Convention Center to […]
Once Upon A Time Twelve – That Time We Fit The World In The Gym
This is a post about that time we fit the whole world in the gym with the Global Village project undertaken at Miscoe Hill School in the spring of 2007. This is the twelfth in a series of Legacy Posts about projects that happened early on in my art classroom. Recently I was able to tap into some archived […]
Once Upon A Time Eleven – The Courtyard Project
This is a post about the courtyard project undertaken at Miscoe Hill School in the spring and summer of 2007. This is the eleventh in a series of Legacy Posts about projects that happened early on in my art classroom. Recently I was able to tap into some archived photos that I thought had long ago disappeared. I’ve […]
Great Question: Why Are We Designing Games In Art?
As he entered the classroom yesterday, one of my sixth grade art students asked, “Mrs. Gentili, why are we designing games in art?” “That’s a great question, ” I replied, “Let’s talk about it with the class once everyone settles.” And we did. We have been engaged in a project-based-learning unit on Game Design for […]
MiscoeMakerCrew In SchoolArts Magazine
It was very exciting to learn that an article I had written for SchoolArts magazine has been published in the February 2016 edition. The article is about the MiscoeMakerCrew, a group of twelve students who met weekly after school to learn about 3D printing and designing 3D models. Here is the link to the article: […]
MiscoeMakerCrew #2
Just a quick post to share the work of this year’s MiscoeMakerCrew. We had been waiting for the roll-out of iPads to the fifth grade students, but as that still has not happened, we have found a work-around. We are using Tinkered on PCs in the computer lab to design 3D models. While this is […]
Thank You Again Mendon-Upton Education Foundation
Our Education Foundation, the Mendon-Upton Education Foundation (MUEF) is actively campaigning for donations right now. Flyers have been placed in local papers and emails have been sent to families in the school district. It is a perfect time to spotlight MUEF and the donation they made to the art departments of Miscoe Hill School and […]
On Being Named MA Art Educator Of The Year
Two weekends ago I received the Massachusetts Art Education Association 2015 Art Educator of the Year award. I found out about the award earlier in the school year and was congratulated and celebrated in the local media at that time. I took it all in stride then and November 8th seemed so far away. As […]
Geek Is Glam
This looks like a GREAT opportunity to explore and discover new and interesting things. And don’t forget, where there’s STEM, there’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) – because you can’t create anything great without design…! See it larger here: Geek is Glam
