3rd Grade: Australian Dot Painting

Pretty simple project, and students get really into it!  First we talk a little about the history of Australian dreamtime painting and Aboriginal art.  Next we talk about how we could make it our own.  Students trace their hand with pencil onto black 8x8 paper.  They begin by choosing 3 colors of paint and use those for the hand.  We dot paint with the back of a paintbrush.  Next day when the hands are dry, students draw a simple background design with pencil and use white tempera for the designs dots.  Finally they choose a background color, that is different from their other colors, and fill in the rest of the space.  This was a nice end of the year project- the students were very quiet and determined while concentrating on their dotting! And the phrase I always love hearing...as other grade levels spotted these on my drying rack, "When do WE get to do that?!?!" :)

3rd Grade: Recycled Daisies & Dragonflies

For this project, we talked about being resourceful artists by using things that would normally be thrown out or recycled to make art.  I have boxes of painted paper (from past projects and the entire year's placemats we use) and stacks of magazines from my school's library.  We began by tracing the shapes for either a daisy or dragonfly.  I tell them that about half of their shapes should be painted paper, and the other half magazine paper.  Then students glue these shapes onto a bright springy colored construction paper and cut them out, leaving  a border.  Finally, they glue those shapes onto large black construction paper (18x24") and cut around the whole object.  There is something really interesting about the mix of the magazine graphics and the random painted paper.  These are very large pieces and look really cool scattered around our school walls. 

6th Grade: Recycled Magazine Vessels

My 6th Graders LOVED making these.  So much, that they've been telling me about making them at home too!  :)  Here are a few links with instructions I've gathered.  I varied my methods just a bit.  I taught students to fold from the corner of each magazine page to get longer "rods" or strips, and instead of using glue, we used scotch tape to tape the rods together.  Finally we used glossy acrylic polymer to varnish and hold them in shape.  Some students altered the shape of their bowl into ovals or squares by bending them withtheir hands while they were flat coils. Other students chose certain color schemes.

 Here they are drying upside down by my vent...

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/magazine_bowls

http://www.indiepublic.com/library/topics/946391:Topic:59641

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC47sJRHQF0

2nd Grade: Vincent Van Gogh Sunflowers

After learning about Vincent and his sunflowers, we did a step by step drawing of the sunflowers in pencil.  Students then traced over pencil with sharpies and added their name in the vase.  Second day we began painting just the flowers and stems.  Third day, we painted the vase, table and background.  I love how they all turn out so different! These made wonderful Mother's Day gifts as well!

Clay Tiles

Right now we are busy making ceramic tiles to be hung as a mosaic for our school district office.  I am thinking about doing a similar project and having it hung in our school somewhere.  I rolled out clay slabs, had each student make one mark into the clay, then cut the slab into tiles. After bisque firing, I glazed and fired again.  Here are some of the results.  Once the mosaic is finished I will post some pics! The above glaze is "blue grotto"

(malachite glaze)

(burnished steel glaze)

(copper adventurite glaze)

(canton jade glaze)