Art for Dinner

The 2nd graders and I are using food for inspiration this 9 weeks.  It is part of their common core, and the 2nd grade classroom teachers were a bit hesitant about this theme.  I was not. I have some really great art projects stored up regarding food- cause this art teacher loves a good snack.  For this project, I had each student write a "Menu" which included their favorite food items.  I then gave them each a paper plate, and we drew the food (practicing scale and proportion, along with reviewing "bird's eye view").  They colored the food with crayon, and used water colors to jazz up their plates.  During another session, we used corrugated cardboard pieces to stamp black lines and create a pattern which would later serve as their place mat.  On assembly day, we added silverware (which was wrapped in foil) cups, and napkins. They loved the variety of materials, and I loved the opportunity to review concepts from the year, along with  seeing the personality in their plates.  We tackled this project while waiting for our coil bowls to get fired- next week we'll glaze them. 

Art Show

4th Grade- Cat Paintings and Clay Facades

3rd Grade- Word Art

Kindergarten-Birds on a Wire

2nd Grade- Bird Houses

1st Grade- Heart Weaving

Sign in, Summer Art Program brochures, and Artsonia Updates.

Cookies and punch- I brought in my nice plate and punch bowl-if I'm throwing a party, I try to do it right.

The music teacher and I decided to take back Youth Art Month this year.  He did his 1st and 2nd grade program, and I did the school art show.  We planned the event as one big "Arts" night.  Mixed feelings- We had a good turn out, but many parents did not bring their older kids, because they did not have a child in the program.  I did get a chance to talk to a lot of parents, and get some updated emails for my Artsonia page.  I like the idea of the arts night, but will have to think about how to entice parents in all grade levels to come, and not just because they are killing time waiting for the program.  Good thing I have a year to puzzle this out.

Slang Terms/Robert Indiana

I showed my 3rd graders the famous "LOVE" print by Robert Indiana, as we were talking about lettering, and word art.  We then generated a list of popular "Slang" terms that we use today- which also got us into a talk about texting shorthand.  From there, I asked students to pick a word or term that was 4 letters or less.  ( I promised them they'd appreciate my limiting them later).  After learning about block lettering, each student created the letters they'd use to spell their term, and drew/colored patterns inside each one (side note- I learned that some students colored/designed the negative space of their block letters- not sure if this is a right brain vs left brain thing?)  Anyway, after the designing was done, we took a break, and made our backgrounds using the simple tissue paper/starch collage method.  An oldie, but a goodie.  While the papers dried, we cut out our letters.  Then, we arranged them and stuck them on the background.  Now, some students were very quick, and able get their letters on the paper while it was still wet.  We still needed glue, but I found that they glued flatter.  The next step was to trace the letters with black string, for contrast.  Finally the students wrote other words with the same meaning around the negative space left from their words.  This project was done in many steps- it took a full day for the block letters/designs, another for the background/finishing of the letters, and still another for the yarn and the sharpie words.  And, I did have them make a list of their words before putting them on the project, to reduce spelling issues. There was a moment in the middle of this that I wondered what we had gotten into, but in the end, the kids loved the graphic nature of the letters, and I loved the relevance to their everyday life.  We had a great conversation about words we use with our friends vs words we use with our teachers, bosses, etc.  I had hoped that they would divide the colors between the letters and the background with warm and cool colors- and we worked on it, but in the end, the marker temptation was too great, and they just could not limit their colors. I am hanging these for our upcoming Art Show on Thursday, and just love as the other grades walk by wondering why they never do cool projects like this.

Primary/Geometric Birds

Birds are OVER, clouds are UNDER the wire.

Clouds are Organic, while birds are Geometric

The kiddos had not used the feathers, and were delighted with the chance.

I came across a lesson on Pinterest which used geometric shapes to make "birds".  It was just cute enough to try with the Kindergarten Crew.  It gave me the opportunity to review Primary/Secondary colors, as well as introduce Geometric/Organic shapes.  It involved so much opportunity for vocabulary, that it is a new favorite in my book.  I read a Bird Book to inspire us, which reviewed the concept of Near and Far.  We were able to discuss contrast, in the context of using a variety of colors- red beaks on red birds just don't show up.  And, Over/Under also came up too.  Such a fun little lesson, packed with so much good art information.  Little details like the wiggle eyes and the feathers encouraged the kiddos to stay focused and continue on even when a little tuckered out.  I am pleased with the results, and  I will be showcasing them in our upcoming Art Show. 

American Symbols

The Kindergarten students have been looking at American Symbols- this is a classroom standard that I agreed to work into my plans over the next few weeks.  So, we drew one of 4 symbols (Flag, Eagle, Statue of Liberty or Liberty Bell).  I provided both color and outline images for students to see, to help in this process. We traced our drawings with sharpies-I think tracing the lines helps cement them in the students' heads, as lines to stay inside/around. I have no proof, but have just noticed that when the littles trace, they tend to paint a bit more carefully. After painting those using appropriate color schemes, we drew a mini-self portrait, which was cut out and attached into the picture.  I taught them how to draw stars, and after some practice, they used silver sharpies to draw stars around their painting, as a picture frame.  Our focus artist was Romare Bearden, and his work "Roots".  While we did not delve into the deeper issues within his work, we did discuss Freedom, and symbols which stand for it.  I think it was a great attempt by my students to paint in a more realistic way. 

Latest Projects

It's been a few days since I've updated.  It's grading season, and we all know how that goes- I'm up to my ears in projects that need to be returned, or photographed, or graded, or FINISHED!  And, I'm kind of tired of the current projects- ready to turn over to a new 9 weeks.  Kind of the typical end of the grading period stuff.  I thought I'd share a few successes.

Working with the 2nd grade teachers on some "Wild West" work- crayon/watercolor cowboy scenes-YEEHAW

2nd grade cars for our Red Groom's city.  The girl with a bow cracks me up.

Lovin' these water bottle babies by the 3rd graders- check out her highlights!

Don't know why the belt buckle catches my eye- nice paint job on this guy.

Red Headed Fireball!  LOL

You'd think he was goofing around with the paint- but he really has green glasses- the hair was a creative touch.

4th Grade carousels- We looked at "Fox Trot Carousel" by Red Grooms.

The carousels were to have school imagery on them- love the pizza topper.

Torn Paper People Olympics



Her people are in the pool because she did not leave room for an audience.  Guess this is where direction following comes in?  Or, maybe it's a synchronised even.



I have a project that is my absolute favorite to break out.  It is the torn paper collage.  During Olympic season, I love to declare the Torn Paper People Olympics.  We really sieze the opportunity to talk about action, and detail.  I find that while the students would rely on pencils and scissors, in this instance, not allowing them forces the students to think more creatively, and we get some really fun pictures.  Due to my desire to work increasingly with the classroom teachers, I did this project with 2nd grade , and a bit earlier in the school year than I typically would because it fit in with what they are tackling in "Common Core".  The athlete performing a trick is themself, in order to work in the idea of self-portrait.  On the last day, I gave them sharpies to add any tiny details, and we used erasers to stamp the crowd.  As a writing connection, I am having my students write the commentary for their trick. This is where the classroom teachers are helping me. 

It's a Jungle in 3rd Grade

Continuing the garden type theme for the art show this year, I did   Jungles with 3rd grade.  We went to the link, we played the interactive (click on the link- NGA has some amazing interactives for art students) on the smart board, and we talked about Matisse.  Then, we began with the sky, and began to build up the jungle.  I taught how to make things "pop out" by using spacers behind, folding, or rolling, and we had an animal day as well, for which I broke out the watercolors and sharpies.  I think the results were good, however I am not sure the idea of overgrowth translated, despite my rallying cry that "no one mows the lawn in the jungle!  Ah well, they are pretty cute.  I  took the students to the computer lab and had them write a response to a couple of questions as an "artist statement" because I feel at the art show especially, that I increasingly need to show the correlation between art and the other subject areas.   Anyway- here's the sneak peek!