Drawing Lesson with Kindergarten

Spring has sprung here in Nashville, which means it's time for some fresh Spring projects.  Much like Mr. E, I am kind of trying to avoid the traditional O'Keefe flower lesson (though, it is an old favorite).  I find that my plastic bug collection has come in handy.  Our Kindergarten students are learning about insects/bugs/nature-ish stuff in Science, and since I am trying to incorporate more common core into my lessons, I decided bugs were something we could have a lot of fun with.  I handed each student a plastic bug as they walked in, and we talked about similarities and differences between species.  We looked at the shapes/lines/colors that made up each bug, and then I demonstrated how to draw a much bigger bug on the paper.  Here are some of the drawings my kiddos came up with- not too shabby! As we finished drawing, I gave out sharpies to trace.  Students could use any color combination they wished, as long as they colored around the sharpie lines, not over them.

Still Life

Done by one of my more advanced students- my challenge was the bowl of shells.

Drawing by the same student for comparison.

Ahh, the dreaded still life. It's not that I don't see the value, but it is hard to jazz it up for the elementary crowd.  We started with just a basic drawing.  The 2nd graders just blew through it, without much concern for my oh so careful directions/instruction on scale/proportion and size.  So, I considered that a warm up, and we did the same still life again, only using a very simple view finder.  I introduced it as a tool, and asked that the students try it- even if they never used one again, just to have the experience.  Since the drawings were much bigger, and much clearer the 2nd time around, I broke out the tempera cakes, and let the students paint.  We then compared/contrasted our two finished works with a simple questionnaire, where I asked questions like which was easier, which was more challenging, which was more fun, etc.  I think they got the idea of a still life, and we are all ready to move on to the next thing.  On a side note, I have been working on challenging the more advanced students, so when I set my still life up, I included some harder items, which were strategically in the view of the students in need of a challenge.  I also know that I need to put things in place for the ones that struggle.  An example of this was that I put blue tinted water in the bottles, to make them easier to define.

A very Zentangle holiday project

So, I was looking for a way to channel the holiday energy of my 4th graders, and came up with this- we drew the basic outline of a holiday shape- I recommended pine tree, but due to some of my students beliefs, we also did snowman shapes and gingerbread people shapes.  Then, I had them section their shape off, and draw a line design or pattern in each section.  We looked at some Zentangle patterns for ideas.  After they drew these, we added a little pop of color by using watercolors.  I gotta say- there is something magical about the Zentangle.  My 4th graders were so peaceful and quiet during this- and the results are pretty good if you ask me.  After they dried, I cut them out and put them on green paper for display in the hallway.

An Artsy Start to the School Year

3rd Grade-Still Life with Black Glue Line

3rd Grade- Self Portrait using Guidelines

3rd Grade- Self Portrait Using Guidelines

2nd Grade- Me and My Family

2nd Grade- Me and My Family

I've now had all the kiddos in the art room for a few sessions. We're moving past the "warm ups" into the meat of the standards for each grade level. I'm really trying to work on drawing skills and craftsmanship this year. I'm trying to plan some lessons that will lead us into the fun of the Chihuly art projects, along with producing artwork that will work for our Original Works Yours fundraiser.