The move to the fourth grade would appear to be a step toward a more competitive classroom with greater expectations for demonstrations of growth and improvement. Ms. Verderami said there's also a difference in the complexity of what the children do. In the fourth grade, the projects may require four or five steps. Ms. Verderami varies the items she uses in her teaching. I try to find something for each student.
Every child has a chance to succeed, because in creating art there's nothing that's right or wrong.
It's an expression of self. Ms. Verderami's students experience both realism and abstract art. One of the corners of her art room at Brookside features abstracts that started with the children's names. Each child wrote her or his name in block letters. Then, they extended the lines from the parts of the letters to the edge of the paper.