Grade 1 Triangle Tigers

This project was special and fun because it was a step-by-step lesson where I did not tell students what the end product was going to be! Students began with a black crayon and followed directions one at a time beginning with a giant "X" on their page. After adding many TRIANGLES and some other shapes to their "X" most students figured out they were drawing a cat, however, their last secret direction was to add triangles for tiger stripes! They were also super surprised when, after coloring the tiger orange and background purple, I showed them that their crayons also had a secret...they are actually PAYONS (paint crayons). Adding water to Payons turns the crayon into paint just like watercolors. We added some green triangles with construction paper once the paint dried so that our project included all three of the SECONDARY COLORS. Below are just a few of the many different tigers students drew. I especially love this project because though all students had the same directions they're all unique!

    Askyra's Triangle Tiger                                          Allie's Triangle Tiger

Ann's Triangle Tiger                                                 Emma's Triangle Tiger

Thank you for checking out the blog today! Come back soon for more amazing work by the Smartest Artists!

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 2 Mixed-Up Animals

Second grade students have been learning all about Greek mythology and with that they have come to learn all about mixed up animals such as the minotaur and pegasus. They imagined their own mixed up animal and brought it to life using COLLAGE materials.  Can you guess what animal parts these are made of?

Students then had the choice to either write their own short story about their mixed-up animal or use a "mad-lib" type template to guide them.

Thanks for reading, come back soon!

~~ Miss Fletcher & Grade 2

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 Aboriginal Dot Painting

Students in fourth grade had already read Eagle Song in ELA, a story about peace within Native American tribes. We discussed the use of animals as symbolism in the story such as the eagle, snake, and turtle. These symbols are shown in the tree map below.

In art, we built upon the knowledge of the turtle symbolism by learning about the Aboriginal people, native to Australia. Aboriginals created intricate dot paintings using sticks often of animals that were used to tell stories. Students first drew a large turtle then filled it with a design inspired by the Aboriginals. Here are some students working on the dot painting of their turtle. We use egg cartons to keep paint organized and easily transported.

Early finishers contributed to a background for our final display or dot painted a letter for a title. Thinking Maps were hung along with the art to show our thoughts and learning process. 

Thank you for checking out the blog today:D Come back soon for new posts

 ~~ Miss Fletcher & Grade 4

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 UNDER the sea OVERlapping

Grade four students were taught some tips and tricks for showing OVERLAPPING in a work of art. You may want to use overlapping to show that one thing is IN FRONT or BEHIND another thing. This also gives the impression of SPACE within a 2D piece of paper. To receive a "4" on this project students had to show that four objects were overlapping in their Under the Sea painting.
Here is a picture of a student with in-progress work.

And here are some finished pieces!

These students not only used overlapping but they created an interesting COMPOSITION with original ideas! 

Great work, Eliza! Your forward facing shark is the star of this piece! 

Allison, your pirate skulls really turn your art into a story!

Silvia, I took two pictures of your art to show the incredible texture details! 

Thank you for checking out the blog! Check back soon for more:D

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.