4th Grade: Birch Trees

Well, I wasn't going to post these since I thought winter was done- but apparently it's not quite yet!  First day of spring break and I wake up to find it snowing!   So here are my fourth graders winter birch trees.  They did an excellent job.  First we drew a line for our snow.  Next we painted above the snow with watercolors- I told them to choose either a warm color combo or cool color combo, but this student above mixed his and I loved the way it turned out.  On a separate sheet of paper we painted several birch trees using tempera and popsicle sticks.  I squirted black, white, and brown onto a styrofoam tray, let the students drag their popsicle stick through the tray, and then drag the stick across the paper.  Most could fit about 7 or 8 trees on a 9x12" paper.  Once dry, we cut out the trees, glued them onto the snow (at different heights), and then added our light gray cast shadows with watercolors.

6th Grade: Artist Trading Cards

I have been wanting to try these for a while, and thought the week before spring break would be perfect.  Above are my examples I made before class.  If you aren't familiar with artist trading cards check out this link: http://www.artjunction.org/atcs.php.  I will either have my 6th graders trade these with other 6th graders at their school, or 6th graders from another school in the district.  After discussing the history and idea behind these ATC's, I gave students 4 possible themes to choose from: 1.) Quote or Song Lyric, 2.) "Promoting Peace" 3.) "Going Green" or 4.) Choose an Artist.  Before begining I had to go into detail about mixed media and layering and showed examples.  I pre-cut rectangles of various colors for them (3.5" x 5") and allowed them to use- fine point markers, colored pencils, leftover painted paper and construction paper scraps, wallpaper leftover from my tar beach lesson, newspaper, magazines, internet print-outs, stencils, and rulers.  I told them they had to have: a background, a focal point, and embellishments.  They were off to a great start...I will post pictures soon.

*There are always students who just cannot seem to come up with an idea- so I made sure I pulled out all of my "artist" books, and GoFish Modern Art Cards, and GoFishVanGogh and Friends cards (http://www.birdcagepress.com/go_fish_for_art.php) for them to look at for ideas. I also had handouts of quotes.  Here are some of them:

"Only surround yourself with people who will lift you higher." -Oprah Winfrey

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." -Theodore Roosevelt

"Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
-Mark Twain

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create." -Albert Einstein

"We are for differences, for respecting differences, for encouraging differences, until differences no longer make a difference." -Johnetta B. Cole

"Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will live as one." -John Lennon
 
"We are what we imagine ourselves to be." -Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
 
"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams." -Henry David Thoreau
 
"Risk more than others think is safe. Care more than others think is wise. Dream more than others think is practical. Expect more than others think is possible." -Claude Bissell
 
"You’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way!"
-Dr. Seuss
 
"I know nothing with certainty, but the sight of stars makes me dream." -Vincent Van Gogh

2nd Grade: Wayne Thiebaud

I got the idea for this lesson from the MaryMaking blog, and wanted to give it a try!  My second graders loved this.  The only change I made was painting the backgrounds.  We learned about Wayne Thiebaud- there are some good books Delicious (I will post author soon!) and Counting with Wayne Thiebaud.  There is also a video from CBS Sunday morning about Thiebaud- I googled it.  After looking at his work and brainstorming as many "sweet treats" as we could, I had the students chose one paint color mixed with a big glob of white paint (good way to introduce tints too!).  We talked about how the thick paint looked like frosting.  They filled their entire page that first day.  Second day, we learned contour line drawing and drew an outline of our sweet treat on a notecard.  Next we cut it out and used it as a tracer on our background.  Lastly, they used oil pastels to color in and add the cast shadow.

(one of my demos)

6th Grade: Frank Stella 3D Collage

For this project, students looked at the work of Frank Stella and his painting styles. We started off looking at this site: http://www.nga.gov/kids/stella/stella1.htm and then I showed a powerpoint of many other pieces by Stella. We spent the first day just painting paper.  Next class, we used french curve stencils, rulers, construction paper, and pieces of cardboard boxes (for 3D effect) and glued everything together.  Lastly, we added lines and patterns with oil pastels.

My Artwork: Puddle Jumping Illustrations

I have several children's books in the works that I have started writing and illustrating over the past few years- but have still not completed...one day maybe I will have more time....  Here are a couple illustrations from my collection!  In honor of this rainy weather we've been having~

Adaptive Art: Potato Print Tulips

Before class, I cut several raw potatoes in half, and cut a "v" into the top.  I had trays (recycled lean cusine/smart ones trays work best for me!) of tempera paint ready to go.  I used spring colors purple, yellow, orange, and pink, and mixed a little white in to give it a marble effect.  I had students begin by tearing the dark green paper (12x18) and gluing it onto a bright colored background.  Next we tear medium green strips for stems, and bright green strips for leaves.  The paper tends to curl when torn into little pieces.  After gluing on stems and leaves, we printed the potatoes with the paint.  These turn out really cute!!

6th Grade: Chair Sculptures

I started this lesson by showing students a powerpoint of tons of artistic chairs.  We discussed how art can be both funtional and decorative.   Then I gave students a handout (that I will soon post!) with an empty chair (front view, side views, and back view) along with a list of things like: favorite hobbies, favorite food, favorite season, etc. etc.  They had to complete the list to brainstorm ideas for their chair and then sketch a rough draft of their chair design.  Next class I gave them a template (printed on thicker cardstock) to cut out.  (Will try to post that too!).  They had to assemble their chair and then add their decorative elements.  Finally, they wrote a sensory poem about their theme...I really tried pushing students to think creatively with their poem, but it was a challenge for a few of them.  Some of the details on these chairs blew me away!