The Messenger
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving break, filled with time spent with family and friends. As we head into the final weeks of the calendar year, the next few weeks will fly by quickly, and before we know it, winter break will be upon us.
This week, we are excited to continue our tradition of supporting the Anoka Christmas Committee, Inc. through our annual Great McKinley Coin Collection. The Christmas Committee always shares how generous the McKinley community has been over the years, and we hope to keep that tradition alive by providing support to families in northern Anoka County. Please encourage your children to participate and help us make this a successful collection.
Save the Date: North Pole Treasures Holiday Event
We are thrilled to invite you to our annual North Pole Treasures holiday event, which will also feature our BIZ Kid$ program! This exciting winter event will take place on Thursday, December 12, from 5:30 - 7:30 PM. It's going to be a festive evening with:
- Holiday gift shopping
- A silent auction
- Photos with Santa
- Cookie decorating
- Reindeer food making
- Pizza will be available for purchase from Mansetti’s
We hope to see you at McKinley for a night of fun and holiday cheer!
First Trimester Report Cards
Report cards for the first trimester are now available online! Please log in to your Parent Vue account to view your child’s progress. If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to reach out to your child's teacher. How to print report cards
Thank You for Your Support
A huge thank you to our entire McKinley School community for your generous support of this fall's fundraiser. Thanks to your efforts, we are able to purchase 130 new Chromebooks and 25 iPads. This technology upgrade will greatly benefit our students and enhance their learning experiences. We appreciate your continued support!
Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season, and we look forward to finishing the year strong!
Kindergarten
Our Kindergarten artists will continue to demonstrate the ability to use lines while also introducing how we add shapes to our art. In our first project of trimester 2, we will look at the pieces of work by the artist Maurice Utrillo. We will talk about the shapes that he uses to make buildings. Artists will draw a house with a one sided perspective, a roof and shapes to add details to the house. They will add their own details to make them cozy.
First Grade
Our learning target in trimester 2 is mastering shape. In our first project, our talented artists will create a cityscape using color construction paper. Students will show an understanding of geometric shapes by adding geometric shapes to their buildings. Ask your artists to find geometric shapes in your home or when you are driving around town.
Second Grade
Second grade artists will learn about the Element of Art, space, this trimester. Our first project will be a seascape. Students will be introduced and apply the concepts of foreground, middleground, and background. We will also learn about how overlapping creates depth in their artwork. This is a really enjoyable project packed with lots of
wonderful mediums and color.
Third Grade
Our third grade artists will explore and apply the Element of Art, pattern, this trimester. Artists will demonstrate the ability to draw 3D landscapes that use different types of patterns to make their own landscape design. We will learn about folk artist, Heather Galler. She brings beautiful color to her artwork and this project is inspired by her wonderful approach to pattern.
Fourth Grade
Our focus this trimester in fourth grade art is Contrast and Emphasis. Our artists will learn about contrast and Emphasis and how to create it in a work of art. Our first project will be an Amate Bird painting inspired by traditional folk art created by the Otomi and Nahua Indians of Mexico. Drawing one abstract bird as a focal point, or emphasis and then painting with bright, neon paint is used to create contrast with brown paper. These turn out so beautifully!
Fifth Grade
Our fifth grade artists will learn about the artist Jeff Koons and create a work of art in the style of Pop Art. This type of art is using objects from popular culture and everyday objects to connect to things going on in our world. These balloon dogs are iconic and I think they will really enjoy adding their own medium choices to this Pop Art project.
