Grade 1 Windsocks

First graders have been doing lessons that involve color theory all year. We cultivated this knowledge with a fun end-of-the-year rainbow painting that was turned into a windsock. Windsocks are light cylinders that are mounted to show the direction and strength of the wind. Students were able to recognize and demonstrate use of primary colors, secondary colors, and which primaries make which secondaries through painting. First graders were especially excited to have something three-dimensional to bring home. Here are a couple of pictures of the students and their windsocks

Some lessons have been taught to multiple grade levels. Not all schools participate in the same lessons due to budget, materials, student needs, etc. Please leave a comment with praise, questions, or ways to polish.

Artists Who Finish Early

It can be difficult to keep students busy who finish their artwork early. Students always love to "free draw" but it's not always meaningful and sometimes is just a waste of paper. By keeping just a few large art reproductions on the cart students can play I Spy with a partner. Here are two kinders playing with Judith Leyster's Self Portrait
The girls were taught not only "Spy" objects, but lines, shapes, colors, and textures :)

Some lessons have been taught to multiple grade levels. Not all schools participate in the same lessons due to budget, materials, student needs, etc. Please leave a comment with praise, questions, or ways to polish.

Grade 5 Modern Mona

This popular lesson was a huge hit at my school's Celebration of Learning last year so I knew it had to be on display again this year. After grade five students learned about the Mona Lisa,  her history and what makes her so famous, they created their own modern version using a template of the body and oil pastels. These large drawings needed to be filled with details so any viewer would know exactly who the new Mona was supposed to portray. Backgrounds, clothing, and accessories were used to give clues. Students were also in charge of making a "frame", mounting their art, and setting up the display in the hallway and staircase for the Celebration. The three examples below were sent to another show called PS2015 and Gift of Art to the State of Rhode Island at the University of Rhode Island Providence campus

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Some lessons have been taught to multiple grade levels. Not all schools participate in the same lessons due to budget, materials, student needs, etc. Please leave a comment with praise, questions, or ways to polish.

Grade 5 Primary & Secondary Hands

Before fifth graders go on to the middle school we did a refresher lesson on primary and secondary colors. They traced their hands in black crayon, overlapping a hand on each side. Hands were only to be primary colors while the overlap was a secondary. The backgrounds could be painted a secondary color or black.

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Some lessons have been taught to multiple grade levels. Not all schools participate in the same lessons due to budget, materials, student needs, etc. Please leave a comment with praise, questions, or ways to polish.

Grade 3 Cherry Blossoms

Third graders looked at some Asian art that included CHOP MARKS, otherwise known as a stamp used in lieu of signatures on art, contracts, and personal documents. They made their own chop marks by pressing their initials using a pencil into styrofoam. Then they inked the new chop mark and pressed it into their paper. We used watercolor crayons to color the page around the chop mark. Students then used a real tree branch to paint a tree branch on their page. Once the branch dried students used some sponges to press pink and white cherry blossom flowers on the ends. They could also use tissue paper if they chose. Here are the final products :)

Some lessons have been taught to multiple grade levels. Not all schools participate in the same lessons due to budget, materials, student needs, etc. Please leave a comment with praise, questions, or ways to polish.

Kindergarten Klee Portraits

Paul Klee created this piece titled Senecio in 1922. Using simple colors and shapes, Paul makes use of various shades of orange, red, and yellow to reveal portrait of an old man.  Kindergartners made their own version using a COLLAGE technique on top of a drawing. They began with a circle then divided it using 3 lines. They could color the sections using any colors, not just warm colors like Klee. They used shapes to add facial features and they completed a worksheet where they circled materials used and counted how many of which shapes they used. Check it out!

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Some lessons have been taught to multiple grade levels. Not all schools participate in the same lessons due to budget, materials, student needs, etc. Please leave a comment with praise, questions, or ways to polish.

Grade 4 Dale Chihuly Sculptures

Grade four students applied some previous knowledge about ORGANIC SHAPES to this new lesson for the Celebration of Learning. They first learned all about artist Dale Chihuly, like that he lives and works in Seattle, Washington and also has a whole team of artists that help him make blown glass SCULPTURES. Here are the two videos we watched

Chihuly: Through the Looking Glass

Erica Hill Takes a Lesson in Glassblowing 

Then I gave each student a Chinet plastic cup that they could color using Sharpies. They could use any colors they wanted while taking into consideration some of the patterns and color choices Dale Chihuly would make. Once filled with color I took the plastic cups and put them in the oven at my house until they just started to melt. The FORMS that came out of the oven were unpredictable and students were aware and excited about that, these were our personal sculptures. The final touch was to make a coffee filter that related to the sculpture so we could nicely display the sculptures at the school art show, the Celebration of Learning. The coffee filters were just colored with washable Crayola markers and they sprayed with water. Here are the final SCULPTURES

   

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Some lessons have been taught to multiple grade levels. Not all schools participate in the same lessons due to budget, materials, student needs, etc. Please leave a comment with praise, questions, or ways to polish.