School-wide art show

I know I haven't blogged in a while, my friend Ted (www.artwithmre.blogspot) has been bugging and bugging me about it, but I have been very busy and a little forgetful! Anyways, now that some big things have been taken off of my plate, now I have time to post some pictures. One of the major things that I was dealing with was a school-wide art show. There are two art teachers here at my school, but with almost 900 students, this is still a lot of work. Most of my classes displayed their prints, but the kindergarteners displayed their bugs, and the third graders had photo collages up.

                    

I stole this idea!

So have I mentioned lately, that I love Pinterest? I have found some amazing lesson ideas, and this is one of them that I have very cheerfully "borrowed". My 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders worked on monochromatic self-portraits the last 2 weeks. They were assigned to use the "color" of their table (each of the tables in my room is assigned a color, so that I can call specific tables to line up, get their supplies, etc). I have a red, blue, yellow, green, orange, turquoise and a pink/purple table (the basket on the table is one of those colors that could be either pink or purple, I insist on calling it purple, since I detest the color pink, the kids call it pink, just to spite me I think! :P ). Anyways... once the students were done, they placed their papers into basket that were labeled with the colors, this saved me from pulling each class and having to separate them. I hung them up in the hallway today, what do you think?

One Point Perspective

So, a couple of posts ago, I explained how I like to look at other people's blogs to see what they are doing and "borrow" ideas to use in my classroom. I found a really cool picture at http://dolvinartknight.blogspot.com/ and commented that I was planning on teaching this lesson to my fourth graders. Well, my fourth graders LOVED it! They were very excited and it was a great way for them to relax before the big TCAP testing that is starting today in Metro. Here are a few pictures of the finished projects in the hallway, and a few close-ups of some exceptional ones.

We used markers for the base color (for example, in the ones above , they used marker for the blue and red), and then used colored pencils to shade in the edges.

Chihuly Chandelier

Here in Nashville, we have been very lucky to have multiple Dale Chihuly installations to inspire our students with. My friends Ted, Tina, Daryl and I were in charge of the elementary art teachers inservice (at the beginning of the school year) and we planned the whole thing around the exhibits at the Frist Center and Cheekwood. One of the things that we did was to challenge the teachers to have their students create a Chihuly inspired instillation at their own school. My students have been very busy creating these installations. So far, my third and fourth graders have finished their chandelier/tower (well, at least one of them). Here is is hanging outside of the school from a tree. We created an armature out of chicken wire, and the students brought in hundreds of water bottles. The bottom and labels were cut off, and the students painted the inside of the bottles in the school colors. When dry, the students cut them into spirals and then the bottles were glued into the chicken wire, starting at the bottom. Finally, the top layer of bottles were cut and curled like flowers and added on. A wonderful parent came out and hung it in the tree for me.

Where are the Wild Things???? They are in the art room!

The fourth graders in my school are finishing up a collage, based on the book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. I read them the story, and then the students picked out 2 pieces of 12x18 construction paper in the colors of their choice. One of the papers was cut down to 10x16, and the students glue the papers together so that there is a "frame" around the edge. Next, the students got to pick out a piece of animal print paper that is used to create the body. Next, the students used scrap paper to create the head, arms, legs,etc. of their wild thing, and then glued down wiggle eyes. Finally, the students glued down foam shapes in the border. This is a lesson that I found in the Sax catalogue, and have done it for years. The students are always excited to do this lesson.

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.