Love/Hate relationship

I am in a love hate relationship with 2 pt perspective- I LOVE that with a certain few rules, any student can find success- that it isn't about the talent, but the willingness to follow a set of directions.  I HATE the ongoing fussing at my students over the use/misuse of their rulers/partner-pokers.  It's a skill that we are required to teach in 4th grade as part of our MNPS standards, and, over the years, I've learned a few tricks.  First, on the opening lesson day, I hand papers and rulers, and we just make cubes-no worrying about it having to look like anything- just practicing.  I send the paper home with them that day- no grading/not a test/no pressure.  I also send them a xerox copy of one of my drawings so they have all the answers, and I send home a cartoon tutoring sheet.  When they come back, we worry about making a city.  And, I start off with them, gradually making them do more on their own.  I find that there is usually one person at every table who "gets" it quick (usually the math/science student).  And, I have learned to relax- not worry as much about perfect and approach this with a sense of humor.  Soooo- this year, I required 3 buildings, a few doors/windows, and the sidewalk and street.  After that, they could add whatever- some added signs and words, others made ghosts and aliens. 

Action Drawings (1st Grade)

This one loved the action lines

The 1st graders  have been loving the work of Keith Haring.  After doing the "cut outs" which I showed in a previous post, we continued our look at his work with action drawings.  Here are a couple fun ones.

Spring Projects

Kindergarten"Bugs". We made symmetrical paintings by folding the paper while the paint was wet, and then after they were dry, we used our paper sculpting techniques to add the extra parts.

Bug drawings. We concentrated on making small things big. We used chalk to color.


Having noticed a bit of a lack of effort in our projects lately, I have increased my efforts to encourage complete projects, with the use of good craftsmanship. Some fun spring projects, paired with a renewed energy towards effort has resulted in some great work.