3rd - Before/After Self Portraits

My third graders take the first day of this project to draw the best self portrait they possibly can.  The next time they come to art I take them through a series of pictures on a slide show - each picture I ask them questions and trace different parts on the board.  For example - I put up a picture of my niece when she was a baby - I trace her head and then put a line through her eyes horizontally.  I ask the students where on her head are her eyes - they of course see they are in the middle.  I proceed to do this with her nose, mouth and ears.  The next picture is another picture of my niece at around two.  I start again as I did when she was a baby.  This helps the students understand that the eyes really do belong in the middle of the head and the hair fills up the top of the head.  The last picture I do is of President Obama - I choose him because he has very short hair and the picture is straight on.  I repeat the steps above to really sink in the proportions of the face.

After this exploration the students start a new self portrait using their new knowledge.  I walk around the room and fold heads in half to check for eye placements!  Most students will be really close.




When the project is over the students open their paper and compare their drawings - many students are shocked that they put their eyes so high!

1st Grade Tooth Fairies

The learning target of this lesson is to introduce first graders to profile portraits.  I show a slide show containing only profiles and I ask the students what they notice about all the pictures - most of the time students will say they are all people, they only have one eye...etc.  Next, I pause the slide show and have the students help me observe the picture.  As we explore the picture I trace the profile onto the board.  When we are done I turn off the projector to have a profile left.  I then explain rest of the project.

The project expectations:
- The tooth fairy needs to be sideways along the top - flying
- The face should be a profile (one eye, side of nose, half mouth...etc)
- Tooth fairy needs to be bigger than my hand (they tend to draw small)
- Tooth fairy needs a way to fly! (we brainstorm these and the kids get really excited - cape, jet pack, balloons, wings (fly, dragon, fairy, butterfly....)
- Tooth fairy should be flying over something (houses, park, zoo, forest, mountains...)


Students learn/review:
- profile portrait
- creative choices
- problem solving

4th Grade Bobble Heads

I started this project with 8th graders four years ago and now I do it with 4th graders.  Every year I am impressed by what my students create.

The head of the bobble head is an upside down pinch pot.  Students add clay by scoring and slipping.  The body is where the real creativity comes in.  I do not require the students to do all the same bobble head, or even the same type - so the body is a lot of critical thinking and problem solving on their end.

The guidelines I give my students are these:
- Something needs to bobble - preferably a head, but other ideas are welcome*
- Everything added MUST be scored and slipped to keep it together.
- The body must sit or stand alone
*I have had students bobble the top of a mushroom, pumpkin on a vine, turtle shell....

After the bobble heads are made and bisque fired the students glaze them as they see fit.

These always blow me away!

Kindergarten and Henri Matisse

The kindergarten students and I look at a bunch of prints by Henri Matisse (his shape ones) and describe what shapes and colors we see.  First, the students quickly name the shapes that have names - square, rectangle, swirl - then they get into the organic shapes - bush, leaf, tree, octopus.   We talk about how those shapes that look different to everyone are called organic shapes.

Next the students observe and report what they notice about the colors -- mostly solid, bright colors.  Most of the time one student in class will observe how most of the organic shapes sit on top of geometric shapes.

After our discussion/exploration of Henri Matisse I demonstrate how to make geometric and organic shapes with my scissors out of scrap paper.  I remind them how to use glue and turn them loose with their own papers.


This is a great lesson to work on using scissors while having everyone succeed in the learning target - a picture inspired by Henri Matisse.

1st Grade Pinch Pots

I teach my first graders how to make basic pinch pots.  The students make their pinch pot and then decide if they want to add a handle or lid or even both!  I demonstrate how to attach the clay by scoring and slipping.

After they are fired I let the students glaze their pinch pots - the results always fantastic!

Kindergarten People

I enjoy doing people drawings with kindergarten in the beginning of the year and at the end - it always shows such great growth!  Here are some examples from the beginning of the year.  I emphasized that their people needed to fill the paper, have eyes, nose, mouth, arms and legs.  I generally don't specifically ask the students to draw bodies - as some students are developmentally aware and others are still drawing cookie people (arms and legs come out of head).  The students generally will trace their pencil drawings with Sharpie and then watercolor.  The developmental range is beautiful.

Kindergarten Collage Monsters

This is a great project for the beginning of the year!  Students of all abilities can easily succeed at this project.  Before the students and I listen to the book, "There was an Old Monster" I give them a mission - a mission to pay close attention to the monster - what do the eyes look like, hair, fur, colors.....etc.  We listen to the story as we look at the pictures.  When it is over the students and I brainstorm about monsters - we compare and contrast the monster with other monsters (Monsters Inc, Sesame Street..etc).  The students often come up with the idea that monsters could be anything made up!  It could have lots of eyes, or teeth, arms, legs, spots, fur, wings.... etc.

At this point they are pretty excited.  We move onto a demonstration about how to cut paper or tear it depending on what they need to work on - also a refresher course on how to use glue.

I pass out scrap paper buckets to each table and let their creativity soar.

Students Learn/Review:
-How to use scissors
-How to use glue
-How to tear paper
-Problem solving/critical thinking
-Creativity

Kindergarten Mixing Secondary Colors

I absolutely love mixing secondary colors with kindergarten - it's magical.

First I read them the book, "The Dot" by Peter H. Reynolds.  Next, I pass out long thin sheets of paper with black crayons and ask the students to write their name and draw some dots - just like the book.  After students have some dots I pass out watercolor trays with only yellow, red, and blue showing.  The students jump right in and start to paint colored dots.

It doesn't take long before someone gasps and says, "Ms. Novak I made GREEN!"  All the other students get excited and I ask the student how they painted green when they didn't have green on their tray.  As I talk with this student I can hear other students discovering how to make green, purple, orange and all ranges of these colors.

The excitement and awe in their voices as they discover secondary colors is absolutely amazing.

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.

2nd - Monoprint String Art

Students use string and watered down tempera paint to make these wonderful symmetrical mono prints.

Students Learned/Practiced:
-Printmaking
-Mono-printing
-Using materials appropriately
-Symmetrical
-Composition

The students first put their names on two pieces of paper, put on a paint shirt, grabbed a magazine, and sat ready to go.  On their tables I placed water down tempera paint on bucket lids; red, yellow, blue.  I then put two pieces of yarn in each color (about 14 inches long).

Next, the students squeeze the extra paint out of a piece of yarn and place it on one of their pieces of paper - with one end of the string sticking out.

The students place the 2nd paper on top of the first (which has the string on it) and put a magazine on top.  Slowly pull the string out.  Peal the papers apart and repeat until finished.

Kindergarten Eric Carle Flowers

Students in my kindergarten class created their own papers to make flower collages like Eric Carle.

Students Learned/Practiced:
- about illustrator/writer Eric Carle
- how Eric Carle makes his papers
- using scissors
- composition
- gluing
- problem solving

We first read "Little Cloud" by Eric Carle.  I talked with them about brush strokes and the different shapes he used to make his pictures.  Next, we traveled to Carle's website and watched a quick slide show explaining how he makes his papers.

During my demonstration I have the students tell me what they remembered from the slide show.  When my demonstration was over the kids put on paint shirts and made their own beautiful papers.

 The next time the students came we read "The Tiny Seed" by Eric Carle.  I then explained that we will make our own flower, like in The Tiny Seed, with the paper we made from last class.  I do another quick demonstration to refresh their minds on using scissors and glue.

I turn them loose and watch the creating begin!

2nd Grade: Where the Wild Things Are

Students created their own Wild Things and then used chalk pastel to add color.

Students Learn/Practiced
- Observing artist illustrations
- Visual texture
- using chalk
- Imagination
- Composition

We first read the book, "Where the Wild Things Are".  Their job while listening was to observe the 'wild things'.  After the book we discussed what they noticed.  The students help me create a 'wild thing' on the board - 5 or more animals, each animal part needed to be given a visual texture.  After an exciting and silly animal creation I turned them loose to make their own.

The next class we used chalk pastel or colored pencils in a variety of colors to finish their wild things.

4th Grade Value Projects

Students were struggling with the idea of value.  They had trouble remembering the difference between contrast and value, so we did a mini project to help concrete value.

Students Learned/Practiced:
- Composition
- Color choice
- Value
- compass and ruler usage

I cut long strips of paper and gave students compasses and rulers.  They were to draw circles that did not overlap and filled the space.  Next, they used rulers to further break up the space.  The students needed to be careful to not let their lines cross.

Next, I showed them how each section, between the straight lines, was a 'color'.  Then within that section each shape was a different version of that color.

A few students struggled with finding the sections and the shapes inside - but after some one on one instruction they were on their way!

3rd Grade Self Portraits

It is part of our curriculim that each grade level do a self portrait.

Students Learned/Practiced:
- Proportions of a face
- Shapes and details of facial features
- Problem Solving
- How to handle frustration/asking for help
- Observation of colors/textures

For third graders, I choose to do a realistic self portrait.  I first had them draw the best picture they could of themselves - a 'pretest' if you will.  I looked at those and was impressed by what I saw.  The only thing they really needed direction on was where to place their facial features!

Next time they came we observed ourselves in mirrors and looked at each other to figure out where our eyes really are on our head, along with our nose, mouth and ears.

The students took this new information and started a final composition.

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.

Spray Paint Self Portraits (6-8)

Spray Paint Self Portraits:

Students Learned/Practiced
- Positive/Neg Space
- Spray Paint (new medium)
- Planning
- Cutting
- Process

This lesson was inspired by a lesson in the magazine Arts and Activities. The article was for an advanced high school art class and was much more complex -- I simplified it for my students and they had a blast!

I first took pictures of them with my digital camera with a strong light source from one side (the overhead). I then opened those pictures in Adobe Photoshop where I made them black and white -- no grey, just black and white. I printed them off and handed them out. I then explained to the students that all the white pieces had to connect -- if the white pieces didn't connect their stencil would fall apart, so in some places they would need to make up lines to connect it all.

To make their stencil I gave them single overhead transparency sheets that they taped over their paper and drew on with permanent/overhead marker to connect all the white spaces. The students then cut away everything that was black -- leaving their stencil.

Many students felt their stencil did not look like anything let alone them. So, we took them outside and taped their stencils to paper. I did a quick demo on how to use spraypaint and let them go at it -- keeping the away from any concrete/building. Almost every student would peal off their stencil and go 'ahhhhh. That is so cool!' and then ran to do another one.

Torn Paper Pirate Collage (3rd)

Students Practiced/Learned
--Tearing
--Collage
--Layering
--Glue
--Creating
--Problem Solving
--Listening
We first read the book, 'How I Became A Pirate' by Melinda Long. We then discussed what pirates look like -- what they wear, if they are clean, hats, bandannas... etc.
The students then choose their background color and dug in the scrap drawer for pieces to make their pirate. The students weren't too sure about tearing right at first, but really took off after they ripped a few pieces. Once they were done with their pirate they drew a background!