2nd - Radial Sun Designs

I modified an old lesson of mine - 3rd grade Radial Sun Window Clings for the 2nd grade Original Works fundraiser.  Instead of doing these on plastic window clings the students followed the same basic steps, but on a piece of 8.5x11 piece of paper.

The students learned/practiced:

- Radial Design
-Concentric Circles
- Shape
-Pattern
-Line
-Hot and Cold Colors

Lesson:  Students were given different sized round objects to trace in the middle(ish) of their paper.  Once the students do 2-3 concentric circles they fill each layer with simple shapes.  Many students will do a pattern of shapes.  We discuss how the shapes have to go all the way around the circle to make it a radial design.

Once the student fills the circles in with shapes and does a row of shapes around the last circle they draw lines across the paper in the background.  The students and I talk about different types of lines and how far apart they might choose to make their lines - they will need to color it!  

After all the drawing is done students trace with a permanent marker. 

Now comes the fun part.  The students and I review hot and cold colors.  The hot colors belong in the sun, or concentric circles and the cold colors should be in the sky - or around the concentric circles.

When students are coloring we emphasize not seeing any white since white is not hot or cold, and how they should color in and around their shapes instead of over top!

This is one of my favorite projects.  All the students succeed, the colors are bright, and they are stunning when they are completed!

3rd - Silouette Trees

 I do not remember how this project came to me - I think I was trying to do something else and a mistake turned into a pretty awesome project.

This is the project that 3rd grade did for their Original Works fundraiser project.

The students were given a piece of 8.5x11 piece of paper and a strip of masking tape - about arms length.  The students tore the masking tape with their fingers, making rough sides/edges.  As the students tore the tape they built their tree.  The thicker pieces for the trunk, small tears can be used for tiny branches - each piece can be added to the tree.

Some students chose to do a landscape, others portrait style - some students have one tree or many.

After the tape is used and the students like their composition - they color over the tape, filling the whole paper with oil pastel.  The students can make patterns, sunsets, random colors - anything they can think of - they must fill the whole paper with solid color.

Once the paper is filled with color, peal the tape off very carefully.  If the paper rips a little, it's okay - a bonus branch.  I demonstrate this for the students and show them how sometimes mistakes can turn out pretty awesome.

The end results are wonderful!  All students succeed and all projects look very different!

4th Grade - Repeat Letters

 

I did not come up with this project on my own.  I saw a project like this for middle school or high school students on another art education website, though I can not remember which one - I apologzie. 

I modified the lesson for my 4th grade students.  I used this lesson in the beginning of the year for the 4th graders Original Works fundraiser.

 Students Learned/Practiced:
-Folding
-Pattern
-Bubble Letters

Lesson:
Students started out with a normal size piece of paper (8.5x11) and folded it in half twice both directions (hot dog/hamburger).  Students should have 4x4 rectangles.  Next the students needed to pick a word - I suggested last name, season, color, food, animal - something that someone would want to buy, since this was for our O.W. fundraiser.

The students then drew a letter in each box making sure to almost fill the box with the bubble letter.  The students continued this until they ran out of boxes.  NOTE: The words wrap around - in other words, the chosen word may get broken in the middle.

Once the students filled their paper they planned out their colors/patterns.  Each letter that is the same should look the same - so all the A's should have the same color/pattern - all the P's should be the same - ect.

We also talked about the idea that there should only be white were white is planned - so when they are coloring in a spot red - we should see no white through it.

Kindergarten Auction Items

The school I currently work at has a fancy dinner and auction for people of the community as a way to raise money for the district. The elementary art teachers were approached and asked to do a project of our choice with the students to auction off.

It took a while to come up with an idea that was easy enough for the students to do, but interesting enough that people would want to buy. I browsed around an online poster shop looking at their 'fine art'. I found "Man Find in Zahala" by Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

I decided that my kindergarten students could use this as a jumping spot and make their own version.

I projected Hundertwasser's picture on the whiteboard and asked the students to raise their hand when they could tell me a color or a shape. Together the students and I noticed the bright colors, the concentric circles, the green lines in the background......

So, I passed out rough drawn circles on paper and had the students cut them out. They then drew their own concentric circles with oil pastel, then water colored over top. When they were done they drew their own green line for the background of the board.

When everything was dry I glued their circles down and drew the black lines.

Next time the students came I showed them what they had created and had each student sign the back of the board.