I had previously posted about the sea animals and fish that we were working on in 5th grade. Each class created a different creature. Here are the jellyfish that one of the classes created, hanging in the hallway outside my classroom. Materials: tissue paper, balloons, paper mache paste, paintbrushes, scissors, and glue stick These were fun, simple, and colorful creations. We started with a balloon, pre-cut tissue paper squares, and paper mache paste. Using a Sharpie, draw a line around the balloon so you know where to stop adding tissue paper. Then, with the paintbrush, add a layer of paste to the top half of the balloon (the entire area above the line). Next add a layer of tissue paper squares to the paste and repeat the two layers again. 3-4 layers of tissue paper is probably good. The strength in the shape comes from the layers of tissue paper, not how much paste you put on. Finish with a layer of paste and then let it dry. They need a few hours to dray completely. The balloons in the pictures above were drying in my classroom. The following week, we added the tentacles. To create the tentacles, draw a spiral line and then just cut on the line. Glue sick was plenty strong enough to hold the tissue paper tentacles into place. One hanging alone is pretty, but hanging them in a group in a hallway really made them standout. Materials: disposable water bottle, newspaper, clear tape, pipe cleaner, Model Magic, glue stick, tissue paper, and paper mache paste. Next, add color to the sea horse, using tissue paper and paper mache paste. With the paintbrush, wet an area with the paste. Stick a tissue paper square onto the wet area and use the brush to make the tissue paper lay flat. This really works around even the most curved and bent areas. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the completely finished sea horse. Some students used more than one color of tissue paper and others just kept it one color. We stopped after the tissue paper. I thought about having the students add other details on top, but they all looked so colorful and beautiful as simple as they were so I had them stop. They look so nice hanging next to our group of jellyfish.
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We've been able to get a good start on our weaving projects in 5th grade. This is the first time I have ever taught this particular weaving lesson and I have learned a lot along the way, as well as the students. I'll post more about our process later, but I'm very proud of the progress they have made so far. It's never easy teaching something like this to a group, but they have been awesome students and many of them have become teachers as well.
The 4th grade will be learning about the solar system so I decided to incorporate it into our artwork this month. The artistic concept that we are focusing on in this project is creating a 3 dimensional sphere on a flat surface, using a highlight and shadow. The outer space scene that they created could be realistic or imaginary. Some students wanted to make the planets in our solar system, while others simply wanted to experiment with different colors. Outer Space SceneMaterials: watercolor paper, black & blue liquid water color, salt, drawing paper, circle templates, pencils, chalk pastels, oil pastels, compass, glue stick, scissors. Concept/Skills Covered I can use a variety of art tools and materials. I can create a 3 dimensional sphere on a 2 dimensional surface, using a highlight and shadow. Then we got to work on the planets.They needed to make at least 4. I have circle templates that the students traced onto white drawing paper. We cut the circles out and then add the chalk pastel. Color in the circle with a color. One side of the circle needs a sliver of white and the opposite side needs a sliver of black. We carefully blended the white into the color and the black into the color, trying to make nice smooth transitions and value changes. The following week we used a compass to draw a large sun and colored it in using oil pastels. The glowing rays of the sun were done with chalk again. Once the sun was complete we were able to arrange and glue our planets into place and add other details like rings if desired. If you ask me, these pieces of work are out of this world! Check out others in our Artsonia Gallery.
In Like a Lion... With 2 to 4 inches of snow expected in the Chicagoland area today, Spring has certainly come in like a lion. In second grade we talked the phrase, "In like a lion, out like a lamb," and what it means. Then we watched the story, In Like a Lion Out Like a Lamb, by Marion Dane Bauer on YouTube. Next, we created a drawing of a lion's head. We did a "my turn, your turn," drawing and the students worked along with me step by step. Lion Project Materials used: Brown construction paper for drawing of head, pencil, Sharpie, oil pastels (white, yellow, and brown), scissors, glue stick, colored construction paper for background, liquid tempera paint (white, yellow, and brown), paint brushes. Concepts/Skills covered: I can use simple lines and shapes to draw a lion's head. I can color with and blend oil pastels to create the texture of fur and give the face form. I can paint with tempera paint to create the texture of fur. We started with a pencil drawing and the students work step by step with me. Initially, when I showed the class the finished picture they all doubted that they could do it, but as we worked they realized that they we were drawing lines and shapes that they already knew how to draw. It's all about how you put those lines and shapes together. We also discussed how you could tweak a few things and make a variety of different animals, using the same steps. Once we completed the drawing, they traced it with Sharpie and we began using the oil pastels. I demonstrated using the brown first then coloring over with yellow. This blending will create the texture of the fur, as well as give the face form. If we colored with only one color the face would have a flat look to it. (We did something similar to this at the beginning of the year with chalk pastels.) The following week, we cut out the head and glued it to a colorful piece of 12" x 18" construction paper. Using liquid tempera paint, we painted the mane. Again, we used the colors white, yellow, and brown. I demonstrated how painting with wet paint on wet paint allows the colors to blend a bit and make nice streaks, creating the texture of the hair. We didn't even rinse out our brush in between color changes. Now that we've finished up these lions maybe Spring will start to act more like a lamb!
The 5th Grade made some very beautiful drawings of tropical fish this quarter. I found pictures of tropical fish for them to draw from so that they could work on making them look realistic. The color did not have to be realistic. Instead, they could make creative choices with color however,they had to demonstrate smooth transitions in value changes with their colored pencils. The background of these fish drawings was done with liquid watercolor paint with salt sprinkled on top. You can see more of our fish on our Artsonia Gallery. While we wrapped up this drawing project we had some fun and made some 3 dimensional animals as well. Sea Turtles:Materials Used: Balloons for shape, tissue paper, paper mache paste, cardstock for the body, tempera cake paint, scissors, & glue stick
Grades will be available on Wednesday, March 25 at 4:00 pm. Information on Art grades is available here.
Below are the concepts and skills that we have that were evaluated this quarter. Last week, most of my 3rd grade classes completed their 3 dimensional clouds. This week we took a look at how artists are inspired by clouds and use them in their artwork. The artist that we focused on was Georgia O'Keeffe. After watching this video that I found on YouTube, we looked more closely at a few cloud paintings by O'Keeffe. The students had a choice of two projects, inspired by O'Keeffe's clouds. The materials we used for our projects were chalk pastels, white tempera paint, student created cloud stencils from construction paper, and blue construction paper for the backgrounds.
The third graders at Grande Park are learning about the water cycle in their sciences classes right now. I thought it would be neat to make large 3 dimensional clouds to go along with what they are studying. When I was doing some research online I came across this website that explains how to make a giant cloud and knew that we had to try out the process. I had the students work in groups of 4 or 5 . I gave each group about 6 balloons. With small rolls of masking tape, they taped the balloons together to form the shape of their cloud. (*Warning* The only time a balloon popped was when someone tried to remove the tape from the balloon.) Next, they began to cover the group of balloons with large strips of newspaper and paste. The type of paste we used was a paper mache paste from School Specialty. It didn't matter very much if the paper went on perfectly smooth, because later on we will cover the whole thing with a layer of stuffing and it will hide all imperfections. However, to make sure that the structure was strong enough we needed to put at least 2 if not more layers of paper on. We have an hour for class, so when they came in I did a quick demonstration and let them get right to work so that we would have enough time for paper mache and clean up. I put the clouds on top of my cabinets to dry and then later created hooks out of pipe cleaners and hot glued them to the tops of the clouds. This way, as we were working on them, I could hang them from my ceiling and wouldn't have to find drying or storage space for them. The next week we painted the entire structure with white tempera paint. As the paper gets wet with paint it loses some of it's strength. The students had to be careful with weak spots and not let their brushes crush the cloud. Since I had already glued the pipe cleaner hooks and added string, I hung them from the ceiling to dry. (You may be able to skip this step. The last step of adding a layer of stuffing covers the clouds pretty well, but I wasn't sure if we would really hide the newspaper so I had my students paint.) We are on the last step this week, adding stuffing. I purchased 5 50oz.bags of poly-fil (the stuff you fill stuffed animals and pillows with) from Walmart last week. We have made 23 large clouds and have 6 more to complete. I still have 2 bags that I haven't even opened yet. This stuff goes far. I gave each table two containers of Elmer's Glue and paint brushes. They painted areas with glue and then pressed on a thin patch of stuffing. Large clumps of stuffing will not stick well. I had them pull the stuffing apart and flatten it with their hands before attaching it to the cloud. They are looking awesome! I intend to move them out into the hallways of our school by March so that everyone will get to enjoy them. To further our artistic study of clouds, next week we will look at artwork by Georgia O'Keeffe and create a 2 dimensional piece using chalk pastel and colored construction paper. (Check out our follow up project here.)
This week the second graders have been working on a fun project to wrap up our discussions about portraits, as well as use up many of the paper scraps I have accumulated throughout the year. We created a collage of a monster face. Above is my example that I showed the students before we began. We talked about how monsters can have a variety of textures on their faces and how shape and color will help us create an interesting face. Then we watched actress Rita Moreno read the book, I Need My Monster, by author Amanda Noll. The website, www.storylineonline.net features a wonderful collections of books read by famous people. I utilize this website in my class as well as at home. My daughter loves to listen to the stories. I asked the second graders to be active listeners as they watched the story and collect ideas for their own monsters. Then we got to work, using construction paper, black Sharpies, scissors, and large glue sticks. I saw so many different monsters being created with lots of different personalities! The second graders handled this new process of collage quite well and made some magnificent monsters!
As we wrap up the second quarter of school, I like to take the time to talk with the students about the skills and abilities that I expect to improve and grow as we work our way through the school year. We have been talking about our fine motor skills and how the art room is a place to practice and strengthen those skills. I'm not sure if many of them had really thought about the projects that we do as muscle control exercises. I compared art class to gym, describing how they only get an accurate foul shot in basketball by practicing over and over, teaching their muscles what to do to be successful most of the time. The same thing happens in art class. Many of them can't believe that I draw a circle on the board that is pretty close to being perfectly round and even. They always ask me, "How'd you do that?" I've trained my muscles to know how to successfully draw a round and even circle by practicing the successful motion over and over, for many, many years now. We've started a lesson in both fourth and fifth grade that I think helps my students slow down and really think about the lines and shapes they are making, as well has strengthening their creative decision making. There is an art "movement" that seems to be spreading sometimes called Zentangles or Zen-doodles. Basically, it's the process of using line, shape, pattern, and contrast to develop interesting and complex designs. I have collected a few example packets for my students to look at for inspiration or even follow step by step as they develop their own "tangles" and designs. We spent one class period practicing our Zentangles inside the shape of circles throughout their drawing paper. The next class period we used a letter, and filled the negative space of the paper with their tangles. Below is my finished example that I showed them when I demonstrated this lesson. To create the outline of the letter the students traced a stencil. I have many bulletin board letters that I've collected. They are great for successful lettering in art projects. The students then filled the negative space around the letter with the tangle designs. Here's where the "Zen" part of the Zentangles came in. My students were so focused on what they were creating. Today I even handed out a "Character Counts" ticket to my fourth grade class, because the past two art classes have been amazing. Their entire mind and body is focused on what they were doing. I was able to turn on some instrumental music while they worked and not a single student broke from the focus they were giving their project. It was AWESOME! That's the kind of work environment I've been striving for all year!
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Grande Park
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