End of Another Year

Well, Friday ended my 16th year of art teaching, and this summer brings some pretty exciting changes for me, since my summer project is finishing my pregnancy.  It has been an interesting year balancing pregnancy with the day to day workings of an art room.  And, it will be a strange start to the year, having a substitute begin for me, and coming into the room later. (By later, I mean about 2 weeks into the school year) but, different, nonetheless.  I thought I'd end the year by showing off some quick little Dragon Contours that my 4th graders did.  To add a splash of color quickly (since at the end of the year, you cannot guarantee your schedule) we did a bleeding tissue trick.  I only asked that they try to use cool colors on the dragon, and warm around it. I like the variety of dragons- everything from fierce to cute.  I gave the students some idea sheets, but made sure that they were too small to trace.  Also, I encouraged them to use parts of many dragons to invent their own, rather than just to copy.

Dragons

The 1st graders and I have had a great time reviewing some art room basics, like patterns, cutting, paper sculpture techniques, and marker use.  And, it is all jammed into one really fun project...Dragons.  We drew and colored patterns all over a long strip of paper which we would then accordion fold and use for the body.  A green paper was cut into a tail, and a black marker used to create a line design on the tail.  The head was a project in itself, as it was a folded puppet head which we then embellished with paper sculpture techniques.  Eyes, mouth, hair, horns, teeth, etc.  Fire, tongues, and other details were strongly encouraged by me.  We used green scraps from the tail paper to cut out feet.  And, while they finished on the last working day, I put straws on the tail so that one hand works the head and the other works the tail.  The students were beyond happy with their paper dragon puppets.