Substitute lesson plans for the art room....

I was just working on my sub folder for the art room, and thought that I would share what my sub folder entails with everyone. Located within my sub folder are of course all of my class lists and seating charts. On each class list, I highlight any helpful students, as well as any students that may pose a problem. A map of the school and emergency procedures is also helpful. On the map, I point out the adult restrooms, cafeteria, teacher's lounge, etc. A copy of my discipline plan is a necessity as well. After that, I place my lesson plans.

I personally do not like to have the subs that are in my room continue with whatever lessons that I am working on with my students. I have had many projects ruined because a sub thought that they knew what they were doing. Instead, I have some generic lessons that any grade level could draw. These are the ones that are in my sub folder this year:

1. Pretend that you have been shipwrecked on a deserted island. Draw a picture of what the island looks like, what animals and plants are on the island, and how you are going to survive until help arrives.
2. Imagine that you are an explorer, tracking a never before seen animal through the jungle. What does the animal look like? Add lots of details, such as where the animal lives (in the trees, on the ground, cave, etc.)
3. Design a new shoe for a famous shoe company. Feel free to include some high-tech gadgets.
4. Be like Phineas and Ferb, and invent a really cool contraption. What will it do? How will it do it? Why do we need it?
5. You are a world famous astronaut, and your space shuttle has crash landed on a planet that no one has ever seen before. Draw a picture of what the planet looks like, as well as any inhabitants (aliens) that may come to greet you. What do they look like, as well as what do they eat and where do they live?
6. Create a flag that represents Lakeview Design Center. Remember that the school mascot is the lion.
7. Create a drawing of your favorite meal. It can be anything that you want, just make sure to add lots of details.
8. Become a video game designer and brainstorm a new idea for a video game. Draw out the characters, settings, etc. Add lots of details!
9. Your family has won the lottery, and you get to design your new house. What will it look like? How many rooms will it have? Draw it out for everyone to see!

Please feel free to use any of this information in your sub plans if you would like. Please know that you should always have a sub folder ready in case you are out unexpectedly. It is a pet peeve of teachers around the world to have to find plans for a sub in the room next door because the teacher didn't leave any.

Kindergarten Calico Cats

This is one of my favorite lessons to do with my kindergartners. It is a tissue paper collage with a painted outline. I give each student a 9x12 and a 12x18 piece of paper. Using crayons, I show the students how to draw a body using a large oval, and then add legs and a tail onto it. Then I show them to draw a cat's hear by drawing a circle and adding triangle ears, football shaped eyes, triangle nose and whiskers. Next, the students use black tempera paint to over their crayon lines, and then we let them dry. The next time the students come to art, they are given liquid starch and tissue paper squares. They brush the liquid starch onto the cat, and place the tissue paper onto the starch. Then they brush more starch onto the tissue paper to seal it. I talk to the students about overlapping the tissue paper, and give them time to work. After the cats dry, we cut them out and glue the heads onto the bodies. For a little bit of sparkle, try adding Crayola Glitter It! mixing medium into the starch. The students love this because then their cats are glittery.

Any Questions, Needs?

I plan on putting lots of lesson ideas on this blog, but if you need an idea or lesson plan quick, please feel free to leave me a comment, asking for what you need, and I will answer right away. I am starting my 11th year of teaching, so even if I am not teaching that lesson right now, I am sure that I have taught it in the past and will teach it again soon. I always keep all of my teacher examples, so I can post those pictures as needed.

Fourth Grade Color Wheels

My fourth graders are in the process of learning about the color wheel. I taught them that the color wheel is like a map, and on that map are located primary, secondary and intermediate colors. (I know that there is more to learn, such as complementary, analogous, etc. but we will get to this later.) After taking some time for the student to get this concept, I tell the children that they will be making their own color wheel, but that it is not going to be boring. I give them a 12x12 piece of drawing paper, a pencil and a ruler. The first step is to split the paper into 12 equal parts.



I have them fold the paper corner to corner (to form a triangle) twice, so that it makes an X on their square. Then I have them use the ruler to trace their fold lines. Next, I have them measure out 4 and 8 inches on all four sides. Finally, they draw line from each 4 and 8 inch mark into the center of their paper. This gives them a grid like the above picture. Next, they choose a design, and draw that design in each section, making sure to draw large. After the designs are drawn, the students label each section with the colors on the color wheel. At this point, they must show me their papers, so I can quickly check to make sure that the color are in the right order. I have them label each section with a color, so that while they are painting, they are less likely to make a mistake.

After they have drawn and labeled everything, the students start painting with tempera paint. They start by painting the primary colors, followed by the secondary colors, and then the intermediate colors. I give them the primary and secondary colors, but they must mix the intermediates. After the designs are painted in, the students paint the background of their color wheels black, so that the colors really pop.

This is my example, but as the students finish theirs, I will share a few. This is the third year that I have done this lesson, but the students love it, and they use their color wheels for other lessons.

First Grade Cityscapes

I have just finished a great lesson with my first graders. They learned about cityscapes, by creating a crayon resist painting, using crayons and watercolors.




We started by folding the paper in half horizontally, and drew an outline of a cityscape on the top half of the paper. The students pressed hard with their crayons, so that they can transfer the drawing onto the bottom half of the paper by refolding the paper, and rubbing it with something hard (we used the handles of our scissors). The transferred image is light, so the student trace over it with their crayons, and then color in their buildings, again pressing hard. Once the buildings are colored in , the student paint one side of their paper with blue watercolors, and the other side black. This way, they have a night and day picture.