"Gold" Medals

Gold Medals

3rd Grade

At my school, we have superheroes for each of the pillars of character (plus Pixie... superhero for our Purple Hands Pledge program).  The kids love them.  So when I did one of my latest projects, I asked the guidance teachers if I could include the superheroes.

See, I made "gold" metals out of clay and metallic paint with my 3rd graders. I thought the gold medals would be a good ideas with our character counts theme being the Olympics and the actual winter Olympics are coming up.  So, the kids had to partner up (with someone they don't usually work with), roll out their clay, cut out a circle, and design it for their partner.

I decided I could make a little contest out of it.  Each 3rd grade class has a designated superhero that they can design a medal for.  I will pick a winner from each class, and they will get to make their medal for the superhero and hopefully get a picture with them.  I'm super excited.  

Below is one example I made and give to one of the guidance counselor (don't worry I made another for the second counselor).

Geometric Pumpkins

Geometric Pumpkins

1st Grade

Randomly thought of this one around Halloween time.  A festive idea while reviewing shapes.  

Step 1.  Discuss the different types of shapes (squares, circles, triangles, etc.)

Step 2.  Discuss different shapes to use on jack o'lanterns.  

Step 3.  With a pencil, draw a jack o'lantern with different geometric shapes.

Step 4.  Color in everything on the page but the eyes, nose, mouth, and background.  

Step 5.  Paint the background with black watercolor.

Step 6.  Put glue on the eyes, nose, and mouth.

Step 7.  Sprinkle black glitter on the glue areas and shake off the extra.  

Email me/comment below for a full lesson plan (including standards, list of supplies, assessment, etc.).

Kandinsky Circles

Kandinsky Circles

1st Grade

Simple art lessons about shapes.  It is also a good lesson to follow up the Kandinsky Weaving lesson.  Show examples of Kandinsky's circle pieces.

Step 1.  Discuss the different types of shapes (square, circle, triangle, etc.)

Step 2.  Fold the paper in half twice to create 4 spaces.

Step 3.  Using oil pastels, create circles in each of the 4 spaces.  Use various colors.  Make sure to fill each section full of colors.

View my lesson plan with link below:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4wTaEoGrnE2XzdlRUJJNE1QXzQ/view?usp=sharing

Kandinsky Weaving

Kandinsky Weaving

1st Grade

I found this on another art teacher blog. This was a great lesson for the beginning of the year.  Since I started the year off with lines, Kandinsky works gave me great examples to share with my kiddos.  We went through a powerpoint I put together and talked about the different lines and colors he used.  His works also gave the students a great chance to look at abstract and decide their own meanings.

Step 1.  Discuss the different types of lines (zig-zag, curved, etc.)

Step 2.  Draw the different lines on the paper in ALL different directions.

Step 3.  Grab some different pieces from around the room that have a lot of texture.

Step 4.  Put the textured piece under the paper and grab some crayons.  

Step 5.  Crayon Rubbings!  Use the side of the crayon to rub across the paper to get the textured pattern from the underneath.

Step 6.  Watercolor time.  Fill the whole paper with different colors of watercolor. (Be sure not to a. have the kids mix it too much because then it will all turn brown and b. let the kids get the paper too wet or it will start ripping.

Step 7.  Allow dry time.  

Step 8.  Fold the paper in half hamburger style.

Step 9.  Cut 5 slits on the folded side of the paper (NOT the side with the edges... that will NOT work weaving).

Step 10.  Grab strips of colored paper. Weave them in and out of the slots. Alternate starting over or under the paper.

Step 11.  Glue on a sheet of black paper for a border.

Step 12.  With a white colored-pencil, draw different types of lines along the borders.

Email me/comment below for a full lesson plan (including standards, list of supplies, assessment, etc.).

Monochromatic Moonlight

Monochromatic Moonlight

3rd Grade

Tints and shades lesson for 3rd grade. 

Step 1.  Demo how to mix white in with the color to get tints.

Step 2.  Demo how to mix black in with the color to get shades.

Step 3.  Demo how to gradually go from the tints of the color to the shades.

Step 4:  Show what a silhouette is.  

Step 5:  Allow the kids to work.

Email me/comment below for a full lesson plan (including standards, list of supplies, assessment, etc.).

More Art Supplies

Guess what?!?  I got a small order of art supplies to hold me over for the rest of the year.  I felt like a little kid at Christmas opening up those boxes.  Why do art teachers get so excited about art supplies?  I feel so nerdy.

Warm and Cool Hands

Warm and Cool Hands.

3rd Grade

Found this lesson idea from Pinterest (you gotta love Pinterest).  Before I start the kids on this lesson, I like to talk about the different colors.  How does each color make us feel?  What does each color remind us of?  

Step 1.  Pick a shape and draw it in the top, right corner.  Keep outlining it until the entire page if full.

Step 2.  Trace your hand and part of your arm on the page.

Step 3.  Decide whether you want the hand warm or cool colors (with the background being the opposite one) and trace each section of the hand with the appropriate colors making sure you are following a pattern with the colors (i.e. red, orange, yellow, red, orange, yellow...)  I found outlining helps with the kids because then they remember to stay inside the space they outlined when coloring.  If they didn't, I saw a common mistake on coloring outside the hand outline.

Step 4:  Color the background with the opposite set of colors.

Email me/comment below for a full lesson plan (including standards, list of supplies, assessment, etc.).

Japanese Cherry Blossoms

Japanese Cherry Blossoms

3rd Grade

This lesson is simple enough.  I did this lesson during my student teaching.  My students thought it was so much fun.  Popcorn and straws... what kid wouldn't like making art with that?!?  It is different from "the norm" in the art room.  Plus, they turn out pretty cool if I do say so myself.  Plus, this lesson is the perfect opportunity to introduce historic art scrolls from Japan, talk about the significance of the cherry blossom in Japan, and the time of year the cherry blossoms bloom.  I couldn't believe how much of the little details and the fun facts my kids remembered at the end of the lesson. 

Step 1.  Paint the background with blue watercolor.  Let dry for a little bit.

Step 2.  Use watered down black tempera paint.  Use your paintbrush and put drops onto the paper. With a straw, blow the paint across the page.  Doing this will create the branches.

Step 3.  You'll popcorn and pink tempera paint.  Dip the popcorn into the paint and then press it down on the paper.  It will look like little cherry blossoms.

Step 4:  Either draw with a red pen or make a little stamper to create the little Japanese signature down at the bottom.

Email me/comment below for a full lesson plan (including standards, list of supplies, assessment, etc.).

AOE Winter Conference 2014

Yesterday, I attended an online conference for art teachers.  AOE (aka.  The Art of Education) did such a fantastic job.  They only did they introduce many speakers but they gave away some "digital swag"(as they like to call it), as well.  Super exciting, right?!?  I encourage you to visit the AOE website and check out all there online courses, blogs, etc.  You won't be sorry.  Anyway, after attending the conference, I have so many new ideas I don't even know where to start.  Honestly, it is a bit overwhelming.  I have started revisiting the each of the the presentations trying to pull out information/ideas that I can start implementing in my classroom right way.  Breaks are necessary though.  To help keep myself better on track and to share my experiences with it, I decided to blog about it.  Hopefully, I will have successful stories to share.  I sure know I will have failures, too.  Hey! If you aren't failing sometimes in the classroom, it probably means you aren't taking enough risks.

First few goals for myself:

1.  Add more songs into each of the grade levels. I have already been using a few art songs in the classroom for my lower levels kids, and it has gone well.  I need to introduce the songs to grades like 3rd-5th grade. Starting this week,  I am going to play two Greg Percy songs for each of my classes... "Red and Yellow Blues" and "Secondary Samba".

2. Add the Elements of Art and Principles of Art from the vocabulary wall to their own bigger bulletin board, so I can have more of them up.  I have just been putting these up as we are going (it's my first year... I don't have everything set up just right yet... need to experiment a little), but I want them ALL up for the kids too see.  I've also printed off posters that were not as wordy as the ones you buy from catalogs.  The ones I have now are more about pictures and fewer words.  Better for younger student understanding in my opinion.