Welcome to Lines, Dots, and Doodles. This is the place for students, parents, and teachers to find out what has been going on in my art class. I have included pictures of my student's artwork and basic explanations of the projects. I hope when you leave this blog, you feel inspired to create. Feel free to browse this blog and borrow any of my art lessons.


Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Dali Clocks, 1st Grade

1st graders have been recently learning to tell time. When I was asked to create a lesson around this topic, the first thing the jumped into my head was Salvador Dali and his melting clocks. I began this lesson by showing Dali's "Persistence of Memory." My students loved talking about this painting. They love all the "odd" things that can be found in this painting.

To create our own "Melting Clocks," we drew unusual shape clocks onto construction paper. It is best to show the students where to put to numbers. (I found it easiest to put the 12, 6, 3, and 9 on the clock first) We then glued our clocks onto black paper. Only we didn't glue them flat, but bent to stick up off the page. My students thought this was cool!

Some of my students have told me that this was their favorite art project Ever! This surprised me, but I am glad when students are excited about their project.

Landscape of Rocks, 4th Grade



I wanted to teach my students about foreground, middle ground, and background. I also wanted to show students how to overlap in order to make one object appear closer than another. However, it needed to be simple in order not to frustrate them. When I found this project on the Art Lessons blog, I thought it was perfect.
Basically, we started by drawings rocks, which is great because it is hard to draw a rock wrong. Everyone had to have rocks in the foreground, middle ground, and background. We then used watercolors to color our rocks. The rocks could be as colorful as they wanted. It did not have to be realistic.


Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Grand Canyon, 5th Grade

Fifth graders have been recently studying the layers of the earth. When I was asked to come up with an art lesson with this topic, I was at a loss of what to do. After much consideration, I came up with this lesson. I began this lesson by showing students photos from the Grand Canyon. We noticed how sedimentary layers can be seen in the canyon.

To create these, I had the students draw a horizon near the top of the page. Mountains or plateaus were added on top of the horizon. Then, I had my students draw the rest of the canyon. The sedimentary layers were then added. Everything was colored in oil pastels. This was the fun part. I allowed the students to experiment with blending different colors together. Also, students used tooth picks to scratch into the oil pastels to add more details to the sedimentary rock.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Mondrian, 1st Grade

This lesson began by showing students the artwork of Piet Mondrian. We noticed how he used simple straight lines to create his artwork. He also limited most of his art to the primary colors. For our artwork, we cut strips of black paper and glued them onto white paper. Through putting down these lines, we formed shapes like squares and rectangles. Students colored these shapes using oil pastels. In honor of Mondrian, I limited my students to the primary colors (red, blue, and yellow).

I did this lesson when the students were learning about lines and shapes in math class. It was a great way to cross the curriculum.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Space, 2nd Grade

A few months ago, students were studying the topic of space in science class. This was the perfect opportunity to tackle the same theme. All children LOVE the topic of space and very much enjoyed creating their drawings.
This project is also rather simple. I give the students a lot of freedom in this project. They can either draw space as it really is, or as they imagine it to be. This means they are free to draw anything, even aliens! First, everything is drawn in pencil. Then students use oil pastels to neatly color everything in. Lastly, students use a wash of black watercolor to create the dark sky. Students are always amazed to find that the watercolors do not stick to the oil pastel. They think it is magic!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Japanese Landscapes, 3rd Grade

I was looking through my photos from last year, and I found this project. I had almost forgotten about this lesson, and was quite excitted to find these photos tucked away in a file on my computer. The focus of this lesson was artwork of Japan. I started this lesson by showing my students both Japanese architecture and art. We then used this as inspiration to create our own Japanese landscapes. I originally found this idea on the Incredible Art Department.
Basically, I had the students draw at least five hills onto their papers. I showed the students how to do this. Then I asked the students to create a Japanese Palace on one of the top hills. (I showed students various ways to make their buildings look Japanese). Then students were asked to either add a river or a road into their pictures. Finally, students were asked to draw a farmers house and a few crops. To complete our drawings, everything was colored with oil pastels. A small piece of black paper was glued to the top and bottom to make it look like a scroll.
I just love the results of this project!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Fantasy Castles, 4th Grade



This project is lots of fun! We start off by painting a really simple background with liquid watercolors (Just a simple sky, ground, and maybe mountains is fine). Then on another piece of paper, we draw a castle in black and white. I show them how to draw the pillars, simple windows, doors, etc. Then students added wild and crazy designs and patterns on the castle. Everything was outlined in black marker. Some parts could be colored in with the marker, as long as the students colored neatly. The castle was then cut out and glued onto the paper we painted previously.


I found the basic idea for this lesson on Deep Space Sparkle. I have modified it a little and added a bit of my own twist to it, but the idea came from here.